The Jubilee lunch, a run and the Royals

Not one for making a fuss, I entered the Diamond Jubilee weekend with a fridge full of BBQ and picnic food, bunting, Union Jack serviettes, and a grumpy face at the weather. I was persuaded to continue with our plans, so we packed the picnic basket, the neighbours and the kitchen sink, which included the croquet set and off we went to the Jubilee lunch, on the cricket pitch in the rain. It didn't rain too much however; the Brigadier organised the parking, the Compere did the BBQ'ing, and I was bitten by Lola the Labrador. To be fair to Lola, I was holding a dog snack and nothing comes between a Lab and food, not even my finger. It bled, a lot, but not wanting to alarm the children, I didn't make a fuss. Until last night, when it was red and painful and Mr B, who is not a doctor of dog bites, finally took a look at it and decided something needed doing. To cut a long story short, I have antibiotics, have had my tetanus updated (not at the Royal Surrey County Hospital who mistakenly thought I wanted a rabies shot! but that is another story), my finger is still sore but everything is OK.

Just as well really, because today was the big day for Godalming. Waverley Harriers hosted the inaugural Godalming 10km run. It was a fantastic occasion, supported by Sport Godalming and planned around an afternoon of activities for 'Sport for All'. We had a lovely visit from Prince Edward and Sophie Countess of Wessex who spent quite a long time talking to everyone and ending their tour by chatting to the Surrey Cadet Corps, who were impeccably turned out. 

I marshalled the race from outside the Charterhouse pub (honestly). It was a busy afternoon but all the runners said how much they enjoyed the run, which was won by  a Waverley Harriers star, Lee. These are my photos of the day.


Linking up with Ready, Steady.. Mummy!

My Best of British

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Little big dog

I wrote about Themba's story earlier in the year. This brave little dog has overcome so many challenges, and now it seems that his aortic stenosis is getting worse. The recent hot weather has made him more susceptible, and I have been horrified to see him collapse, lose continence, fit and froth, and at one point I even thought he had stopped breathing. I rubbed his chest with my knuckles and shouted 'Themba, can you hear me?' There was no response. I ran inside and brought the ice tray out to the garden where he had collapsed. I pushed ice cubes under his lips and started chest compressions, a la Vinnie Jones in 'Hard and Fast' hands-only CPR. He came round with a start, his tongue rolling about, his eyes wild. I know now that he wasn't in cardiac arrest, he had fainted and stopped breathing. It took him over an hour to recover so we lay together in the garden, with Brin, until he was OK to walk back to the house. He's just too heavy for me carry.

The irony is that MrB is a cardiologist. He sees this kind of condition in human patients all the time. He runs the cardiac resuscitation program, but he wasn't as home when Themba collapsed, and he couldn't be contacted by phone either, as he was dealing with an emergency at the hospital. We are used to that, and we cope very well.

Themba has a referral for a canine cardiologist. She will measure the gradient across the aortic stenosis. This will give us an indication of the severity of condition. We hope that beta-blockers will help to control his heart rate, and that this may prevent further collapses. We are restricting his exercise at the moment, although he is actually a very fit boy. I'll keep you posted.

And in the meantime, have a fantastic Diamond Jubilee weekend. You can catch up with the Greensand Way runners, running 108miles for charity, or pop along to the Godalming Jubilee Run and fun day* on Monday 4th June. I will be marshalling the run at the intersection outside The Charterhouse pub.

*Message from the organisers: The Fun run is now full. To prevent over crowding, the entry to the Fun Run is capped at 275. Please do not attempt to enter this event on the day if you have not already registered.

5k and 10k run: Online registration will close Sunday 20:00. There's absolutely no entry allowed on the day. So please enter before Sunday 20:00.

With almost 720 registered across the runs and family fun run it is important to arrive in good time and read this website or the emails you receive. Details of parking are below and the race day itinerary will be released soon.

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Everything but the kitchen sink

There's so much to say today, now where do I begin? I think I'll start with the Canadians on Shackleford Heath. The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (now disbanded) were headquartered at Peper Harow House near Shackleford from 1943-1945. I understand from local historians that some of the planning for the Normandy invasion was carried out there, too. Shackleford Heath has a number of fascinating concrete structures embedded in the undergrowth. As the tree-felling 'derby' continues a pace in the woods, previously untrodden paths are being exposed, and we have been able to get a glimpse of what the Canadians may have been up to. There are tank servicing bases, and some fortifications remain, pill boxes and gun emplacements. Many of the paths have concrete bases. You can read more here and on the Shackleford website too. The rodeo on the common is part of Shackleford folklore.

I may be wearing a raincoat,
 but I'm not getting out

We enjoyed our walks today, in spite of the inclement weather. It didn't start very well, though, as the little big dog wasn't too sure first thing. Even though he had his best raincoat on, he still refused to get out of the car. A tempting treat always does the trick, though.

Wet dog!

Dry, happy dogs!

Sadly, the annual bluebell run through Winkworth Arboretum had to be cancelled tonight. It isn't fun running in the rain, and everyone is still recovering from the London Marathon at the weekend. Still, there's always the Godalming Jubilee Run to look forward to.

The final session of dog walker training took place yesterday. In a supreme effort of subterfuge, I left the dogs at home and drove over to the neighbours, from where I could watch the proceedings. The dog walker arrived and the dogs jumped in the back of the van, happy as larry! So it's just me then. Anyway, that's great news as the boys are off to kennels next week whilst we are on holiday in South Africa - more on that next time!

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