Right, lets try this again

Evening All,

I realise it has been nearly two weeks since my last post so I have a fair bit to fill you in on

The dogs - well they can tolerate being in the same room together, and have been about a foot apart so they are getting better but she will still growl if she is in her bed and feels like Bruno is too close. Bruno just wants to play and be friends but I'm hoping she might settle a bit more once she is neutered. Owen did suggest getting a muzzle for her and just letting her and Bruno acclimatise that way without the fear of teeth being involved on her part - Bruno I can safely say 99.9% never shown any form of aggression in the 8 years I have had him. None the less they would still be supervised at all times but I get the feeling she has been the smaller dog in a house or attacked at some point and that's why she feels the need to protect her safe zone.

I did speak to a rescue though who have put me in touch with a man who fostered a very dog aggressive Staffordshire terrier for them to the point she would attack their other dogs, the end result after hard work and dedication is her and the other 3 dogs he fosters are all sat nicely with their treats and playing together - so it is do-able - I just need to persevere. This is as close as we have them, and there was an initial disapproving growl but once they settle there is nothing and they will both sleep happily. Just persistence and reassurance I think but I'm happy with this at the minute.

We did take them for a walk 'Up The Bwlch' which is a big mountain behind our house (in case you wonder its pronounced BULLK) with both dogs and Holly, we decided to let Mabel off lead and keep Bruno on and she was fine toddling along with her little coat on and was approaching Bruno happily and even barged him out the way on two occasions  then on the way home we swapped and put Mabel on lead and Bruno off lead, and they were fine and she was pulling to go after him but as soon as he went towards her face she growled, Owen wasn't watching what he was doing and panicked and yanked her up her up by her collar and lead...... didn't help but they were ok after that. Made for a nice walk - cant wait until they can both be off lead together but for their own safety we aren't pushing it at the minute - slow and steady wins the race - and besides she isn't neutered yet and I am under no circumstances having puppies so its separate bedrooms for the two of them unless we are with them. Still you sometimes forget how pretty your own little bit of the world is so thought Id share some with you.

 and my favourite one that Im kind of proud of if Im honest being that I have a photographer boyfriend

Secondly, the health visitor is coming out Monday - I have had a slight saga with health visitors - my last one was horrible and seemed to have it in for me because I was a younger mum - honestly she turned up unannounced when Holly was 2 days old, Id been home a day after leaving 3 boys fending for themselves so you can imagine the state of a small 2 bedroomed flat then, I was still in my PJs and in the process of breast feeding when she turned up. Needless to say it didn't go well and she felt the urge to read me the riot act about if I was too young and incapable to get myself together with my second child then perhaps I should consider adoption. Anyway I barely went to the midwife clinic after that - think the last time Holly went was September 2011? but she has had all her inoculations etc. and the other midwife Paula came out to do Holly's two year check and she was lovely......anyway now that battleaxe has now left, they have a new one called Gemma apparently who wants to come out and introduce herself.....which in itself makes me nervous after the last ones antics so needless to say I have been in cleaning meltdown since.....only problem is I cant find anything else to clean now so I'm finding myself doing pointless and random little jobs, the only thing left to clean is the stairs which is all rubbish and the dining room table.....which I'll do tomorrow.

Thirdly, a bit of good news - the books to read list - I had an email last week saying Id won myself a copy of 'The Kite Runner' so that's a bonus - and I will get round to actually doing some reading at some point!

Fourthly, my supervisor who I have had for the last 8 years is leaving.........to become a funeral director. Its something she has always wanted to do and she has passed all her exams so she will be leaving soon. Shes been in the coop for the last 30 years and something she said hit home with me the other day.....she said 'I came here out of convenience, my children were in school, it was local, and was money coming in....but it wasn't what I wanted, just what I needed' and I think that is true of me at the minute - my job serves a purpose, its local, I have no travel fees, when both kids are in school I am 10 minutes from them if I need to get to them. I can drop them off, go to work, come home and pick them up straight away...........but I've always done shop work and its not something I really want to do. I'm a caring person, and I would love to either look into caring for either animals, or the elderly. So I think I will start looking into either part time jobs that involve caring for elderly people  or look to volunteer and see if the local nursing home has any need for volunteers purely so I can gain some experience. Holly doesn't start nursery until September so I can at least make a start on putting a CV together and looking for jobs......I don't want to be stuck behind a till forever.

Lastly but I suppose it goes with the previous comment or epiphany  but I would love to sponsor or adopt a child but in a weird way thanks to my work I have found something else. Its called 'Lend With Care'. The idea is that people in third world countries have found a business venture to help provide for their families but they need funding so you can donate money - the minimum is £15 (unless it states lower than that) and then you loan them the money, it has a repayment plan for you and once the person has gotten all donations for the amount they need ie if they need £100 and 6 people donate him £15 and one would donate £10 - then the loan is active, given to them to start their business venture, and then they have a repayment plan, which then pays you back your £15 and then you are free to donate it to someone else to help them.......which I thought was a good idea. The link is here if anyone wants to have a look.

Apart from that not much else has happened in the world of Sammy............we are all ok, well the kids and Owen are ok - I have white spots on my tonsils, a lovely sore throat and I'm convinced the heating isnt working despite Owen telling me the house is like a sauna............either way I'll muddle on as us mums do and I will be back tomorrow to share my musings.

Lots of Love

Sammy
x

p.s have also decided to give myself an inspirational quote each week, as something for me to ponder over and think about so this week it is the following....

PPS As I wrote this post Mabel was in the kitchen because she had been growling and snarling quite nastily to Bruno earlier tonight, we let her back in, she came over to the sofa me and Bruno were sitting on, Owen followed her. She jumped up and Bruno rolled over, she had a sniff of his boy bits, and at one point they even were nose to nose smelling each other - queue lots of praise but me and Owen are still being cautious. We just put Bruno outside for the toilet, left her in the living room and he is jumping at the gate so she's told him off with a little growl but still that was real progress for her so I'm happy.