Princess Picalilli

jun_28, a photo by ian_pullen on Flickr.

El Guapo, or Herbie as he is now known, is a pretty lucky dog. I am thinking that there are not many blind and deaf dogs, with wobbly legs that were one week on death row, and the next in a house where he has been showered with luxuries, including his very own companion. This is Princess Piccalilli and she is Herbie's eyes and ears. Admittedly, they haven't completely adapted to their new roles yet, however I am sure over time Herbie will regard her less as an annoying pest and more of a helpful companion. They both wear bells, although that is a bit pointless as I don't think Herbie could hear it. Although he can hear some things, we're still learning what his hearing range is. Princess Piccalilli is without special needs, and is about 4 months old. She represents a new generation in  the Pullen household. She came from a vet and we think she spent time at the vet's surgery meeting all sorts of people and animals, as nothing seems to worry her - big dogs, small dogs, blind, deaf and wobbly dogs, blind cats etc, she takes it all in her stride! They sleep together in the same puppy crate, and I think this is nice for both of them.


Why Princess Piccalilli? Her original name was Cincienta, which means Cinderella. While I quite like that, I knew we'd end up shortening it to Cindy, which I don't like. I like Tinkerbelle's name as it gets shortened to Tinks which is good as she is a little tinker. So we were trying to think of a name that was similar. Piccalilli is perfect as she is, of course, a little pickle!


And why Herbie? Well, because he looks like a Herbie. And after the vet nearly expired in an hysterical heap after we told him El Guapo (the handsome one), we decided that it would Herbie's feelings if every time he was introduced the other person started guffawing. So, Herbie it is!

Pattie Session

jun_24, a photo by ian_pullen on Flickr.

Part of this morning was dedicated to making a variety of different types of patties to stock the freezer. This was mainly the result of me coming over all Jamie Oliver on Kate's birthday and serving falafels on a bed of baby leaves with a fresh mint yoghurt dressing.

As the salad came straight out of a bag, we realised that, with some forethought, we could have a range of perfect summer meals that were ready in less time than Ready, Steady, Cook.

We now have a freezer that's part loaded with enough patties to keep us going for about 15 days - assuming we eat nothing else.

Case of the Missing Melon

It is that time of year when the melon man comes once a week with a crate of melons. We buy a mix, which is a couple of melons and a couple of watermelons. The exact quantity varies, but this week it was two of each. Ian put one melon in the fridge and the two watermelons and other melon were in the pantry. After we came back from picking up El Guapo, we realized we'd lost a melon. After a hunt round the pantry, kitchen etc  we decided that Rosie must have taken it. Proof came the next morning with heavily seeded deposited being left on the patio. She had't left a trace in the house, so she and Bentley must have devoured the whole thing.

Our lime tree seems to be growing its leaves back. The clever little tree lost all but three or four leaves, which I guess was all it needed while it was getting itself sorted. Now, if you look closesly, you can see that the leaves are beginning to form over the entire tree. We have one tomato starting to form. Another two and we'll have equaled last year. The peppers have started to flower too. However the cottons aren't doing as well as I'd like and one of our marrow plants completely disappeared. On the plus side the prickly pair continues to do well, so perhaps that's what we ought to specialize in.

El Guapo continues to settle in. He is a happy little chap. He doesn't want much from life, just a nice place to sit and a few cuddles. The vet was very surprised that the perrera had released him without a chip, which supports what I thought I understood about him being smuggled out. It is easy to see how someone could have taken pity on him. He would be very different to other dogs, as he doesn't bark or get excited, but he is very affectionate - and of course he'd be easy to smuggle out. We have the paperwork in place now and that will be backdated so that the records will look right at the dog pound, so noone will get into trouble.

El Guapo

Welcome to the latest member of the family. This is El Guapo and he is probably the cutest little blind, deaf and toothless 'abuelito' (a pet name that is given to older animals) that you are likely to meet! He was taken from the dog pound in Seville, and needed a home where he can be looked after properly. El Guapo is tiny and it must have been a very scary place to be, even if being deaf and blind he wouldn't have known too much about what was going on around him.

We went to get him yesterday from a very nice couple who work at an animal refuge. They made us feel decidedly normal, as even we don't have piglets, kittens, cats, dogs and a baby roaming round the one room of the house!

He had the name 'Guapo' (handsome) however that is a temporary name, and I don't suppose he will get to learn a name. We are currently calling him El Guapo, after the character in the Three Amigos.

We bought him home yesterday and there was the usual frenzy, however they soon lost interest, particularly as they didn't get any reaction from El Guapo, which I think they thought was a little odd. He is pretty good at finding his way around, however as he is smaller than Tinks, the steps look massive to him! He is a bit wobbly on  his feet, and was very stiff this morning when he woke, so I wonder if he may have problems with his joints.

This was him before he was trimmed - http://www.flickr.com/photos/44631057@N07/

I think he was a much loved pet somewhere along the line, as he is very happy with human contact, appeared to enjoy being trimmed yesterday (which our other dogs could learn from) and very happily snuggles up on our laps. Hopefully we'll be able to give him a few happy years.

Jesus Paints the House

Jesus is currently painting  the outside of the house. That still makes me smile. You'd think I'd be used by now to Jesus being a popular name. We've had the back of the house painted, the front of the house and the rooms at the front of the house that were looking a bit sorry for themselves. He's just done the walls and has put on a sealant which hopefully will stop the paint from being damaged from damp coming through the wall where the outside height is above the inside. He's a good painter and it probably doesn't cost a lot more than us buying the paint and doing it ourselves. Paint is very expensive as we found out last year when we painted the barn and realised that the retail cost of paint worked out pretty much the same as what we'd pay a painter! 

Schools break up next week - which means I'll be starting summer classes the week after. I have a lot booked in already, but I am hoping that next year I'll be able to cut back as I'd like to spend the time developing Marchena35. I am pleased with how this is coming along. I looked at some statistics recently and found that the site is getting a small number of visitors daily. About 100 or so, from Spain and south american countries mainly. This was quite a surprise as the site is new and I've not really done anything to promote it yet.

I've got some new games and I'm working on finishing others including the bunny game. This is a parachuting bunny who steals carrots. I've been worrying for the last couple of weeks whether it is good for my game 'hero' to be a villain. However, I am guessing the young players won't mind. He has five carrots to choose from and he has to land on the one that shows the correct time. Otherwise he blows up.

The next project includes the evil Major Grey vs the super hero ColourMan.

Puppy Pile

This looks like a hideous accident, however it is the way that the dogs choose to sleep. It's like a game of puppy pile-on!

Here is Roland with Bentley - Roland will happily share his sleeping space - even with a very big dog!

In the Hall, No-one Can Hear You Snore!

Roland and Babbity Bumble protesting against the lack of fresh tuna and sausages with a sleep in.