A fig mistake...

One morning this week I noticed that one of the fig trees we see on our morning walk was covered in rich, ripe figs. As we've learned from experience, picking figs is a sticky job, particularly if we're popping our scrumped findings in pockets, and as we were about as far away from home as we could be on this walk, we decided to wait till the next day and bring a bag and do it properly.

So, the next morning I filled the bag with lovely figs and we had great plans for all sorts of figgy delights (I've overcome my fig aversion - although now I've reminded myself of it.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_wasp) . But when Ian cut open a fig, it was dry and bitter inside.

On closer inspection, our entire haul was like that :(

What we had forgotten is there are two fig harvests in a year and the first one isn't edible.

No wonder there were so many figs on the tree, no one else was scrumping them and even the wildlife was giving them a wide berth.

While it's summer hot here at the moment, the heatwave is passing us by...

...which is good. 

However, it is warm enough for the village swimming pool to open, which it does this weekend!

Blast from the past...

I found this photo of Ian and Basil when I was looking for something. No wonder the little old ladies used to cross themselves when they first saw Basil! This reminded me of how he would squeeze into the most unlikely places, he had no idea of how big he was!

Here's a picture of Daisy running through the grass. She's not a great fan of the dry grass, I think it is probably prickly on her feet.

Daisy goes in for her rabies jab either today or next week. It's been a long process of puppy vaccinations etc but I think this will be the last of it. 

Bobbins is looking well and happy after her operation. The swelling has gone down but the stitches are still showing - which looks rather as if she is wearing false eyelashes!

Ludvig Practicing

It's been REALLY difficult to record this, as although Ludvig will practice his noises in front of us, he knows when I try to record him and becomes quiet! This is him practicing 'time for....'

We are teaching him 'time for...' and that will then be followed by a command - for example, 'time for bed' or 'time for play'.

He seems to focus on a word or two and then practice it, as he is doing here, trying different sounds and noises while he forms the words. His practicing 'time for' is something very new and it's really interesting watching the process

 I can also hear him saying 'is ludvig a good boy' and towards the end a few barks.

There's also a 'lovely mummy' and a few 'hellos' in there.

Worryingly, at some point he also seems to be saying 'kill' which is a little surprising...

Bobbin's Eye

Bobbins is going to have her eye removed on Wednesday as it has become ulcerated. We knew her eye would probably be removed at some point. They will make a decision then whether to close her other eye.

I think it will be a straight foward op and the thing she'll regret the most is her daily sausage treat after her eyes are cleaned.

Horace went to the vet too for his trim. He's feeling quite sorry for himself.

I decided it was time for him to get trimmed again as he has become very static, where he spends most of his time snuggled up under blankets or duvets - and at night he looks like he's covered in tiny fairy lights!

Daisy is continuing to grow - here she is looking deceptively good in the patio and tangling Ian up at the castle.