It’ll Be Alright On The Night (Maybe)

I’ve been dreading going in the car this week but I knew it would be unavoidable at some point. That day has arrived and yes, the traffic was awful.

My knees are still a bit sore so I make use of the sachet of joint aid, or whatever it’s called, that they slipped in to my goodie bag on Sunday. It’s quite a pleasant drink actually. Whether it does any good or not is another matter.

It probably ought to be me taking L to the romantic film this evening rather than Daughter, as it’s our anniversary today, but never mind, I’ll make it up to her at the weekend. I shall take her somewhere romantic on Friday, like the Plough... with the dogs, she’ll like that.

I think tonight’s film is a good one to have avoided to be honest. It’s called ‘Leap Year’ and it’s a romcom, so you can deduce the entire plot from just those two bits of information and save yourself some money.



I have a vital Crufts training session tonight but first its MD usual class. What starts out as a bad session turns into a good one when it is pointed out to me that the reason he’s cocking things up big time tonight is because tonight’s course is mainly anticlockwise, meaning he is on my right. When going clockwise, he’s fine, as he’s on my left. So something to work on there.

There are no such positives in Doggo’s training session later, as we practice for next week’s Team Agility event at Crufts. The four of us in the team try various different sequences, e.g. who runs first, second, third etc without any of them working. So we return to plan A which means Doggo and I will again run first, just like last year. None of the dogs seems to get on together tonight, which does not bode well. I’m sure it’ll be alright on the night, maybe.

My specific problem was that Doggo just didn’t seem to like having other dogs around him on the start and finish line at all, which when it’s a team relay is kind of unavoidable. This has never bothered him before. So I think its best that he goes first, then he might not realise it’s a team event, until it’s too late.

In Case Of Emergency

I had hoped to cycle today and would have done, had it not been so wintry. L had planned to do her Cheshire Cat training around Holme Pierrepont and that’s not happening either. Looking at the forecast, the weather isn’t going to make cycling very feasible for a while.

I console myself by supplementing my lunch with assorted goodies from L’s Christmas presents. This is totally legit by the way. She asked me to dispose of all the edible gifts she received and I didn’t like to refuse. Hence the reason they are now all in my drawer at work. Save for one small box, which I’ve hidden in the bedroom, in case of emergency.

In the evening, MD starts his new class, with cage. L is worried he might be cold in his cage and suggests an extra blanket. She’s missing the point. His cage is not supposed to be comfy as he’s not supposed to spend much time in it. He’ll only end up in it if he’s a bad boy and I’m sure he’s not going to be.

In fact, MD does very well. He only gets caged a few times for barking and each time he was provoked by another dog being the first to bark. That is until later, when we do some start line sprints which means there are dogs racing across the arena. He can’t resist having something to say about that and becomes a more permanent inmate.

Relaxing later in bed, I see something large and black crawling up the duvet, it’s almost as large as a pint sized collie but it’s not MD, who is asleep across the bottom of the bed. This creature’s got eight legs and, in fact, climbs over MD as it moves towards me. From its lofty position on MD’s back I’m sure it winks at me before continuing its journey upwards, along L’s thigh. At which point I warn L that we (the four of us) are not alone in the bedroom, we have an unwanted visitor. I can immediately tell from the expression on her face that she thinks that I best put a stop to its crusade forthwith. So I chivalrously but regretfully slay the beast. L seems grateful, very grateful. So I don’t get to read any of my books again tonight.