Update on Willow

I'm aware that I've not been blogging much recently. This is due to being stressed to the eyeballs through not finding employment and Gareth and I not having our own place and also the fact that we are not living with Willow (she's residing with my parents). So I figure an update on Willow is due! (Glyn has since returned to his previous owner as they are now in a position to have him).

Since Willow's eczema, she has been on a food increase to up her weight which was a little on the low side. She has been revelling in getting away with various things that were previously banned, such as invading the empty dog food bag:

Willow is not the only one taking liberties recently as Molly refuses to adapt to living with two other dogs to the extent that she often ignores their existence:

Willow still hates fireworks, and is becoming more and more resourceful in trying to hide away from them. This is probably not the most hygenic place she has found to disappear in though (the pans were washed after!)

She is still her narky self however, and has recently decided that since she only sees me twice a week, she doesn't really have to listen to me. This was brought to a head yesterday at dog club where she spent her time ignoring anything I said, pre-empting commands, trying to eat the other dogs and just generally being a grand pain in the arse. To look at her you wouldn't think it, but boy, do I have some work to do on this dog right now!

The one with all the photos

As promised (although somewhat late!) here are the photos of some of my first chocolate making, my nephew's 4th birthday

Two chocolate bowls I made for my Grandad's

birthday. The contents of which are shown below...

These are not particulary good, but I'm learning!

It was my first try at creating a mottled

effect with two types of choclate.

I currently only have access to a few photo's of Tom's birthday as I'm using the my Mum's photo's and her camera battery died during the birthday. Once I get the photo's off my camera I will some more:

Tom opening his present from his Nan and

Grandad.

My parents dog, Molly, is very popular with

Tom and Lily, so she was pretty exhausted

by the end of the visit!

yawn

Nothing going on just now. Absolutely nada.

Update and stress

I spent last week with my sister and her family as it was my nephew's 4th birthday. It was fantastic being able to spend some decent time with them all as I haven't really seen them much in the last few years when I was at university. It's horrible not really knowing your nephew and niece that well, but I feel that I now know them a bit more. I even became my niece's best playmate for a couple of days after engaging in hop scotch - which my dad kindly fobbed on to me! - and a blanket-over-your-head-means-I-can't-see-you game. I will post some pictures up when I can, but at the moment things are so upside down I don't know when that will be.

On a bit of a negative note, I had to take Willow to the vets yesterday as she had developed a sudden red sore on her side which had spread to her lips. She'd obviously been licking it incessently and her fur had started to fall out in clumps. The vet said it was a hot spot, or rather severe wet ecsema. She's now got some cortisol spray to apply onto the area so it should start to clear in the next day or two. The vet said it could be due to a number of reasons, but I think it is stress brought on my her inconsistent and unsettled life right now - Gareth and I appear every few days then disappear, last week Mum, Dad and I vanished for a week etc. It doesn't help that Willow and I are probably over-bonded and I think she's not dealing with being apart from me well. The stress theory would also account for her losing 1kg of weight in less than two weeks. I've increased her meal ration which I'm sure she will be pleased with.
I'm now left wondering if I should move back in with my parents if Willow isn't coping. I know I should probably not have my living base dictated to by my dog, but I can hardle sit her down and explain to her that yes, the situation at present is not ideal, but I'm looking for a job and then we can all move back in together. She just doesn't understand why things are the way they are just now.
She's not happy, and neither am I. I hate living away from my own dog, and I hate feeling like I'm getting nowhere in changing it.

Job Centre

I had the depressing experience of signing on yesterday. To be honest, I felt more like a cattle about to be branded for all the social skills and warmth the staff have.
Apparently they are supposed to help you find work, when I asked what else I could do to increase my chances, the advisor merely suggested the Job Centre machines. Does that mean I've been wasting my time on websites, newspapers and trawling town for 'wanted' signs? They are not terribly concerned with what job you get, just as long as you get a job - I wasn't even asked what my degree is in, which surely would have helped to match me to jobs? I also need to go in the day before visiting my sister to sign a 'holiday' form and change a meeting date, despite me telling them that I was going away over that time. And they wonder why so many people are angry about their systems?

Night out

Gareth and I met up with an old school friend and his wife a couple of nights ago. At first it was a little odd as none of us has seen each other properly for 5 years since Gareth and I went to uni. But we soon relaxed - I'm sure the alcohol helped with that (although I only had a glass of wine and a Bailey's at the end of the night - sometimes I get drunk very quickly on small amounts, and as I didn't really want to make an ass of myself I erred on the side of caution!)
I swear you get over 25 and then you can't handle late nights like you once did. By midnight my mind and body was screaming for bed! We stayed a bit longer, then headed back.

We've all decided to make more of an effort to see each other, especially as Gareth and I don't know if we'll stay in Plymouth. Plus, I'd like to get to know them better as so much time has passed we've all changed a lot.

I can't believe the Union Rooms charge entry to get in - it's not like it's a club or anything!

Boring update

Still no luck on the job front. Although most of the closing dates are approaching so hopefully I will hear something positive soon.

Glyn is doing well at club, especially considering I've not been able to train him as much as I'd like - it's awkward travelling to and fro between houses as the dogs are staying with my Mum until we can find somewhere to live. It really highlights how unsettled things are just now, but it is a good motivator; neither Gareth or I like living away from our pets! Draco (the snake) isn't particularly bothered. He has light, heat, and mice so nothing's changed much for him!

To be honest, there's not a lot happening, hence the long gap between posts.

Too odd for odd jobs!

Rather ironically, it turns out I'm too 'unorthodox' to work in B&Q, according to the psychometric tests that constitutes their application. Funny, I'd have thought being creative would be an advantage working in a DIY store! I guess Homebase just aren't as picky.
The job hunt is still continuing, and I've applied for many jobs of all sorts of descriptions. It is starting to get depressing spending hours on an application and then not even hear back either way. I think I can reel off my employment history for the last 10 years, including dates, times and reasons for leaving and salary, by heart now!

Bad tempered chocolate!

As it was my birthday recently, I received a heap of cool stuff to get me started with making chocolate craft. Yesterday was my first attempt at tempering chocolate. Tempering is a process used to invoke desirable qualities in chocolate such as shiney exterior, smooth texture and general niceness! You start by heating small pieces of chocolate until it reaches its melting point of 44C then take it off the heat (using a bain marie makes life easier than guessing with a microwave) and stir in some more small pieces of choclate till that melts. The aim is to achieve a temperature of 32C so the chocolate becomes 'stable' enough to work with. Once I'd done this, I rather messily ladled quantities of chocolate into some moulds, tapped them on the side to dispell any air bubbles and put them in the fridge for half an hour. As a first attempt, I was quite chuffed as they had a passable shine to them. Although I still need lots of practise as the chocolate melted quite quickly in the hands which is a sign that it wasn't tempered correctly. I'm sure my family will not mind me practising some more!

Thanks to my family for helping with starting me in becoming a just-for-the-fun-of-it chocolatier!

Gimme a job!

I had an assessment today for a temporary data entry job over the christmas period. I think I should get through as I was 3.5 times faster than the requirement and had an accuracy of 98% (baseline pass was 80%). Bit of a relief because if nothing else crops up between now and then it's still some form of income.
I'm currently filling out several applications for a range of jobs - everything from librarian to zoo keeper! I'm not terribly fussed over what I actually do for this year, as long as I get some form of experience of further qualification/training. At the moment, just getting a job is the focus!

Interesting Times

In keeping with how Gareth and I usually work our lives, our plans have taken another U turn. We are now trying to find a house to rent and share with a friend who has just moved back from the US (the same friend who we got Glyn from), and his fiance when she moves over here in a few months time. It's quite exciting as we had thought we would be living between our parents' houses for quite some time yet, and despite getting on well with our parents, this isn't an ideal setup for a newly married couple! Living with our friends is a happy compromise.

It's certainly upped the ante on job seeking, and it does mean we will be staying in the South West for about a year, but it will give Gareth the opportunity to gain some work experience in a finance job before applying for the highly competitive trainee accountant positions across the country.

Castle Drogo

Castle Drogo

Image from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-castledrogo

Yesterday my mother-in-law and her partner took us to a National Trust property near Exeter. The property was called Castle Drogo and is the last castle built in England. It surprisingly large inside considering the outside looked quite compact. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos despite taking the camera with us. There was an additional tour (at cost) that took you on a quick (and don't underestimate the word!) visit around the roof. To be honest, the tour was not really worth doing unless you are particulary desparate to take in the views which, to be fair, were quite amazing - an endless panoramic of Dartmoor.
After a picnic outside the castle, we walked around the gardens and shop. Then decided to walk along one of the public paths. My mother-in-law, feeling unwell from a cold, chose the shortest walk (0.8miles) so we set off. The signs were not the most comprehensive and we ended up following the signs for what turned out to be the longest walk (3.5miles)! Fortunately there was a quiet country pub in the middle of the walk set in the foot of a valley. The walk back was somewhat teasting as everytime you walked an ascent, a descent quickly succeeded and you ended up on the same level. Considering Castle Drogo's car park was at the top of the valley, this convoluting route was proving irksome!

We had a great day, although I did feel for my mother-in-law walking the route back as she was feeling quite rough by the end. We all had early nights last night!

wedding photo's

In no particular order, here are some wedding photo's (I have heaps more, but figured I wouldn't bore people too much with them all!):

Gareth and me

My sister Paula with my

nephew Tom

My niece Lily putting stickers

on our wedding certificate

envelope!

Mum, me and Paula

Cutting the super chocolate

wedding cake!

Signing the register - now officially a 'Mrs'!

Gareth and the best man, Thom.

Wedding

Bit late, but here's a quick entry on our wedding two weeks ago. I'll add photo's at a later date!

As the wedding wasn't till 5pm, we had quite a leisurely morning with little panic. I think my friends Nat and Magic were pleased with this as they had travelled down from Aberdeen and Inverness respectively the day before! After a brief bonding session over some balloons randomly exploding in Nat's face, it was time to collect some of the other guests who Dad would be driving to the venue.

As we were about to head to Kitley House, it started pouring it down with rain! Fortunately it didn't last and we were able to have the photo's outside!
Once there, we went to the bridal suite and we totally blown away by the sheer size of the bathroom - it was bigger than my old flat! I put on my makeup, then the hairdresser arrived. My sister, her husband and my niece and nephew soon arrived and despite the numbers (Nat, Fin, Mum, Gerry and my sister and co., it wasn't crowded!
The time went pretty quickly and it was soon time to be strapped into my dress (thanks Nat!).

My niece was perfectly happy to be 'Princess Lily' for the day and was put into her dress with no problems. My nephew however was having none of it, so it was quite a challenge for my sister and Mum to coax him into wearing his outfit (both the kids' outfits were made entirely by Mum).

At about 17:10 (running late of course) my Dad led me down the stairs to the ceremony room. We entered to the music of Eels 'My Beloved Monster' and went and stood by my future husband. Unfortunately, I can't remember precise details of the ceremony as I was quite excited! But we signed the register with Eels' 'Beautiful Freak' playing then we went out onto the grounds for Pimms on the lawn! After copious amounts of photo's, it was soon time to head back in for the meal. We'd decided to opt for an alternate starter and dessert (pigeon or soup, and pancotta or lemon tart) which caused a little disagreement regarding the pigeon! (personally I thought it was fantastic)! The main (beef wellington) went down well though!
We had fortune cookies for our favours, and some of the fortunes were quite apt! The best man had 'people will be listening to what you have to say' and Nat had 'Be nice to pigeons, one day you will be a statue'!

My dad's speech was fantastic, as was Gareth's. Tom (the best man), despite his nervousness, gave what is probably the best best man speech - an opinion shared by many of our guests!

As we weren't having any dancing, the chocolate wedding cake was served in the evening with coffee before we had more photo's - Gerry did a fantastic job throughout the day!

We both had a great day, and hope our guests did too. Hopefully we didn't neglect anyone, as it was difficult circulating enough to make sure we spoke to everyone. If we did forget anyone we apologise!

When Gareth and I headed to the bridal suite, Gareth was equally amazed at the size of the bathroom before we exchanged gifts. I was totally knocked out by the surprise honeymoon to Paris Gareth had arranged (see previous post), and I think Gareth was happy with the nude photo's I'd posed for!

My sister's blog also includes a post on our wedding: http://podheim.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-08-16T20%3A07%3A00Z&max-results=7

Her blog makes an entertaining read about the day to day antics of my niece and nephew: www.podheim.blogspot.com

Honeymoon

This is a somewhat unexpected post for me as until the wedding day I didn't even realise we were having a honeymoon! Gareth had been planning a honeymoon to Paris for some time without my knowing and revealed it at the end of the wedding day. I was totally knocked away as Gareth is not normally the best at keeping surprises! So it was quite a manic packing session the day after the wedding as the flights were that afternoon - I ran out of socks during the trip as most of them were still drying at home on the radiator!
On the first couple of days we got the stereotypical tourist trips out of the way and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (although I think we spent more time queing than actually on the Tower itself), saw the Arc de Triomphe after walking through Champs-Elysees (we couldn't believe that a beer and an orange juice cost £10!). We also saw Notre Dame Cathedral, the outside of the Louvre (we didn't have time to properly enjoy the art so didn't go inside - apparently it takes 9 months to see everything allowing 5 minutes per piece).
The highlight of our trip was seeing the Catacombes. While we can't say that we enjoyed it as such, it was very atomospheric and illuminating.

Our favourite area of Paris was the Latin Quartre, where we saw an old ampitheatre and just generally enjoyed the ambience (apparently the area is popular with students and down-and-outs!).

Gareth in front of the Eiffel Tower

At the top of the Eiffel Tower


Gareth looking for the Arc de Triomphe

The Catacombes - rows of skulls and femurs

We also enjoyed several pastries and crepes from the stalls scattered around Montparnasse (the street our hotel was on). Dangerously, our favourite place was just 2 mins from the hotel! We were also fortunate to be about 15 mins walk away from the Jardin de Luxemburg, which had some nice if not strange artwork throughout the grounds!

Weird art in the Jardin de Luxemburg

We ate in several restaurants, although we returned to Le Dix Vins for a second meal there as the food was simply fantastic. A lovely Irish couple who we'd only just met even bought us a glass of champagne when they found out we were on honeymoon.

It was a fantastic honeymoon, even the grumpy nightporter, and the dubious security of the hotel didn't dampen our enjoyment.

Reader's Digest

After spending the day doing housework to get it out the way before the wedding, Mum, Dad and myself were having a chilled evening cross-stitching, quilting and watching TV. The dogs were happy with Glyn and Molly playing tug together, and a contented gnawing sound could be heard from upstairs. Figuring it was probably a Nylabone, I didn't think anything of it until, on heading to bed, I discovered the delightful little git had been gleefully chewing the spine of one of my favourite books. She had completely eaten the binding so now the pages are just about managing to hold together - through sheer willpower on their part I'm sure!

I'm pretty gutted as the book is a fully illustrated hardback copy of Industrial Light and Magic that was a gift from my sister for completeing my A'Levels (at the time I wanted to do a degree in animation). Ironically, Willow was also an A'Level gift from my parents. Willow has never been fond of competition, but at least she literally has a good taste in books.

3 day countdown!

My wedding dress is back from the dressmakers and fits fantastically! It has now been safely stashed at my future mother-in-law's as we have three rather hyper dogs. Hyper dogs and wedding dresses don't mix well - especially when the former shed hair just for something to do.

The weather in Plymouth is pretty dire at the moment, so we have given up hope of a sunny day this Tueday. However, it's the meaning of the wedding day, not the weather that makes it, so although it would have been nice to have sun, we're just happy that we are finally getting married after over 7 years of waiting!

Once again, exciting times are on the horizen as we've also decided to open up the locations we're prepared to relocate to for work. At the moment we have no ties (i.e. no mortgage or kids) so it's the best time to a different area to move to. In all honesty, Plymouth is not the best place for either of us regarding work - zoology is a somewhat dead degree here unless you do marine, and there are more accountancy opportunities further afield too for Gareth. So, we may be on the move again in the next few months.

pre-wedding drivel!

I don't think my toe is broken after all my whinging - guess my pain threshold isn't as high as I thought!
I had my hair tinted this morning, so now my copious amounts of white hair (bear in mind that I'm 26) have been tamed. I started going grey when I was 14, so you can probably imagine how much grey coverage I had acquired! I normally dye my hair throughout the year but was putting it off till before the wedding in case different dyes reacted and I ended up with orange hair or something on the day.

Do your worst...

With less than a week till the wedding I have now broken two nails after growing and tending them for 9 months. I'm not normally fussed over the appearance of nails at all, but I decided to at least attempt to make them presentable for the wedding. Typically, both breaks occurred whilst out with the dogs, so I will blame them entirely for it!
I have also got what I suspect to be a broken toe. I did a particulary good job of stumping it yesterday and now the nail is black/bruised and the toe itself has swollen quite considerably. It may just be the nail is bust, just to keep with the recent theme of kerritin abuse.

With any luck, this is the only thing that goes particulary wrong prior and during the wedding day - a couple of broken nails and a busted toe is not traumatic enough to spoil the day!

Cadover Bridge

With 12 days to go till the wedding, I haven't really had much time for blogging! Gareth and I have also been busy looking for jobs, and for a rental property. However, we decided to put the latter on the back burner for a number of reasons. Primarily until we actually have an income, but also we don't know where we'll end up and don't want to be stuck with a 6 month minimum contract when we need to move.

Last Sunday we went for a picnic to Cadover Bridge, Dartmoor, with my sister (Paul), her husband (Mark), our niece and nephew (Lily and Tom) and my parents. It was absolutely boiling even at 4pm, so lots of sunblock was sloshed around - I'm guessing peely skin on the wedding day isn't that appealing.
I also encouraged Glyn to swim by tempting him with a tennis ball. I got him to swim around me a couple of times before he decided he could manage alone and went to the other side of the bank. Once there, he lost the ball then promptly had a poo before realising he was stuck. I had to wade across the river to get pick up his poo and give him a shove back into the river so he could swim across. My family thought this was highly amusing until Karma intervened and Lily pooed in her swimsuit, so my sister had to change her!

Everyone seemed to have a great day, especially Molly (parents' dog) who found a flock of ducks to chase - they didn't look particulary worried by her presence and kept swimming back.

I will upload some photos soon (famous last words!)

Quick update

Just checking quickly so that people don't think I've lost the ability to blog! I will post a more detailed entry later when I have a bit more time.

I've now moved to Plymouth from Aberdeen after graduating with a 2:1 honours degree in zoology (photos will be added soon!). I'm now focussing on the wedding plans - one month away - and trying to sort out some space for stuff at home. Gareth and I are moving back in with my parents until we can afford our own place (jobs will probably help with that!) so it'll be a bit cramped for a while (4 adults, 3 dogs, 1 parrot and 1 snake makes for limited room!)

Race for Life 2008

I've just got back from completing Aberdeen's Race for Life on the beach. Despite the weather being horrendous this morning, the rain held off for the afternoon race which was a bit of a relief! I had pulled my right thigh muscle a few days prior to this race, so wasn't looking forward to the slippery road surface making things complicated! Despite this injury, I knocked 4 minutes off my time last year, which I was happy with considering my fitness/training has not gone to plan between doing fourth year of uni and organising a wedding!

I've included some photos, but unfortunately the camera battery died before the end of the race - I can assure you I was as fresh-faced as at the start! ;p

Stretching before the race - notice the typical white legs acquired through from living a long time in Scotland.

I'm pretty much dead centre in this photo -

the one with the skull bandana

Well, I'm off now to jump in a hot bath with a cup of hot chocolate. Glyn appeared to enjoy the day too as we took him along for the experience - we left Willow at home as the weather wouldn't have helped her arthritis and she would've eaten any other dog that happened to be there.

Hen weekend: Not the Jack the Ripper Tour!

For my hen weekend, I had planned a trip to London with some friends, my sister and mum to see the Jack the Ripper Tour. So, Nat, Fin and I met Mum and Paula after their bridesmaid dress shopping (the online company I originally ordered my sister's dress from never delivered; despite taking the money - a claim is in progress!) we took the tube to the hotel. That's when things started to go wrong... for reasons unknown, two tube stations were closed so everyone was booted off the train and we had to walk the distance (we could possibly have worked out an alternative tube route but don't know the tubes that well!). By the time we got to the hotel, the tour was due to start in 10mins. After checking in, we ordered a taxi at reception, then dumped our stuff in our rooms with no time for changing, makeup or even brushing our hair! When we met the taxi we found the receptionist had only ordered a taxi for four, despite there being five of us - we had some choice words about her! Rather than abandoning some of our number, we phoned the tour and asked if we could meet them somewhere, so we were back on the tubes (after paying a cancellation fee for the taxi!)

Missing the start of the tour.

Pod, Mum, Fin and Nat

We ended up missing the meeting point - tubes again! So phoned the tour and asked if there was anywhere else we could meet. Long story short, we missed that point too, but the tour had kindly left our tickets for the boat ride part of the tour with the staff at the quay. Once we realised that we were not going to make the tour at all, we were all able to relax and thoroughly enjoyed the evening - in some ways it was a better evening than if we had made the tour as everyone got to chat properly and get to know one another (paula had never met Fin or Nat before).

Paula, me and Mum

Fin, me and Nat

More things we didn't see;

the invisible man

Later that evening, we went out for a meal (I had mushroom lasagne which was fantastic!). We headed back to the hotel and were asleep before 10:30pm with no influence of alcohol - not the typical hen weekend!

In the morning, Mum, Paula and I (Nat had to leave early) met Fin in Oxford Street where we all settled in Borders - THE bookshop! - before heading off our separate ways. It was great seeing everyone again, especially as I hadn't seen my sister and Mum in about a year, and don't see Fin often since she moved to London.

P.s. Nat and I worked out we used most methods of travel during this weekend; planes, buses, trains, boats and cars!

Not an update

Yes, yes, I know I haven't updated my blog in ages, I will do so once I'm back in Aberdeen - it's pretty manic sorting various things out in Plymouth just now!

Last exam: Bioethics

Yesterday was my last exam ever at university. It was for Bioethics and it went well I think. Although to be honest I spent a lot of the time counting down to freedom!

In the evening Gareth and I went for a meal with some friends on my course to celebrate. We went to Rustico which is an Italian restaurant I'd never been too - it's amazing that after 5 years in Aberdeen there's so many places I still don't know about! The food was nice, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves - a combination of excitement, exhaustion and house wine I think!

It still hasn't quite sunk in that I've finished my degree (graduating apart). I woke up late today, but can't quite get it in my head that I have nothing I have to do all day! I also realised there is only 10 weeks till the wedding, so doing a degree has certainly made the time fly with that respect!

Ew! de toilet

I was cleaning the floors today so had to move the dogs' water bowls out the way and put them on the side. Halfway through I stopped for a cup of tea then I heard Glyn lapping water from another room. It took awhile before I realised that there shouldn't be any water down for him to drink and went to investigate. The charming boy was happily drinking from the toilet bowl in lieu of their water bowl. Nice. Just glad there was no Loo Bloo or clearner in there at the time!
I always thought drinking from the toilet bowl was in the same category as burying bones, names like 'Fido' or 'Rover' and fetching slippers; there may be an element of truth to some of them, but generally they're just stereotypes. Guess I was wrong there with the drinking toilet water one!

Advanced Vector Biology exam

Thankfully, this exam wasn't half as horrendous as Wednesdays exam. The questions were very similar to the past papers, so there were no shocks! Considering this is my weakest subject, I think it went ok. I managed to write a lot before resorting to writing rubbish, although it's always hard to tell how well an exam went until the results are out. Think I managed a pass at least!
One exam left to go on Tuesday! Wohoo!

Advanced Behavioural Ecology exam

Oh dear.

It was one of those nightmare exams where you read down the question list thinking 'not that one, or that one...' until you run out of questions. The first one I answered wasn't too bad actually (on dispersal mechanisms), but the other one I was talking out of the proverbial throughout. Unfortunately, an area I didn't really understand came up which immediately eliminated that one (something about temporal and spatial postitive and negative auto-correlation) so I was stuck with a question I would rather not have been left with.
It also didn't help that I didn't realise the invigilator had said we could start, so I just sat there merrily looking around until I realised that it was gone 9am, and everyone was already writing.

All in all, poo.

10 days to go

Just a quick post to prove I've not fallen off the planet.

My first exam is in 10 days, and I've been revising a fair amount. I took today off as I was practically falling asleep whilst sat staring blankly at notes! Had an exciting day polishing, tidying and wasting time on Facebook!

Back to study tomorrow though - not long till I'm done with uni completely!

On the digestion of socks

Glyn eats socks. Not just the absent-minded chewing, but we actually caught him swallowing a decent sized section before taking it off him - they're allowed socks with knots in as toys, but after this incident I think we're going to reconsider that idea! He looked a little diappointed, and Willow especially so; we've already had to hide her favourite toys because Glyn likes to gut and thoroughly kill any soft dog toy!

Hen night plans

I've booked my hen weekend (I hate the term hen weekend/night, it conjures up images of too much drink and phalic hats). We're (Mum, my sister and two friends) heading to London to do the Jack the Ripper tour and then see some museums or something the next day. I know it's not exactly traditional, and borders on the downright geeky, but if it had to be the stereotypical hen experience, I'd refuse to go!

I've also worked out I only have 27 days till my last exam, so the postings here may become even more sporadic than usual! After that, and the wedding, I should hopefully be able to post a bit more regularly!

Ball games

We took Glyn to the vets for his annual booster on Wednesday. And to castrate him. When we handed the lead over to the nurse the ungrateful sod didn't even look back! Perhaps he'll think twice about happily going off with strangers in the future.

We picked him up about 7 hrs later and he was the most subdued we've ever seen him. The drugs were obviously still having an effect! We got him home and let him collapse into sleep - after taking the obligatory photos to prove he does occasionally stay still.
He looked so sorry for himself! I think he was putting off going for a pee in the garden as he didn't drink any water for ages once he got home - I left some water in the pasta I had to boil for him to make sure he was getting fluids. Funny, as all the bitches I've known/owned in the past didn't seem so fussed, and spaying is a much more intrusive operation than castration. Typical bloke I guess!

I should probably add that unfortunately our friend who owned Glyn can't take him with him when he emmigrates, so he will be staying with us. We're happy to have him as he is a great dog, but I feel bad for our friend as it's a horrible decision to have to make.

Glyn looking stoned from the drugs. He was

not particulary impressed with us.

More on Glyn and Willow!

The photo below further highlights the differences between Willow and Glyn. Glyn is very affectionate and huggy, whereas Willow, as you can just see in the background, usually slinks off to her own company!

Yin and Yang

Willow and Glyn are pretty opposite in personality. Willow is dominant, tempermental and highly strung whilst Glyn is submissive, happy and easy going.

The Yin Yang that is Willow and Glyn!

But they do have moments when they get along! I'd like to say the photo below wasn't posed, but that wouldn't be completely true.

Glyn revealing his physical warping powers:

He's actually smaller than Willow, but sometimes

he looks a lot taller!

The home stretch

I'm back at uni after the Easter break and there's only four weeks of lectures to go! Then I have about 10 revision days before the exams start (my last exam is on the 27th May). It's probably not good that I still have no motivation, especially as my third year marks don't count toward my degree, so it all rests on this year.

I've also decided to get my fitness back. I'm not exactly unfit anyway, but I've certainly lost fitness since coming to uni - the lack of time and tiredness don't help with making healthy eating choices and regular excercise! I will up the ante more after the exams, but I'm attempting to do at least 4 sessions a week (running, Tae Bo, Kung Fu and the gym) instead of the 1-2 a week I currently do!

MOT at the vets

I took Willow to the vet's this morning for her annual booster, which is pretty routine. So I was a bit surprised to find out she has a slight heart murmour.
The vet it's nothing to really worry about, but just be aware of any symptoms arising (i.e. tolerance to excercise reducing, coughing at night, weight lose etc.). She's turned out to be a pretty defective example of her species with arthritis occurring when she was only 5, and now a heart murmour aged 8.
On the plus side, the vet did say that because she is pretty fit that her heart is compensating (my words) for the irregular beat - it's sort of righting itself (I don't claim to understand cardiac physiology!), so at least she is healthy aside from the murmour, arthritis, aggressive tendencies toward other dogs, and other neurosis she's acquired over the years!

Edinburgh Zoo

For Gareth and mine's 7th anniversary since we got together, we went to Edinburgh Zoo yesterday. I think Gareth planned that more with me in mind as I don't think it's necessarily something he'd choose himself! We wanted to make this one a bit special as it's the last 'since we got together' anniversary we'll be celebrating as from the wedding, we'll switch the anniversary to that date (it gets expensive else!)


I was very excited as the zoo have maned wolves and African hunting dogs, but as it was raining and snowing (it is Scotland after all) they were hiding or sleeping! Oh well. We had an ace time, and even got to hold a hissing cockroach - perhaps not quite as exciting as holding the python they had, but that wasn't an option!

Gareth with a jaguar - it was pretty much the only animal

except for the penguins who wasn't hiding from the weather!

Emperor penguins striking dodgy deals with each other

Edinburgh Zoo: Home of the only eight-legged zebra

Axolotl : Neotenous salamanders - they retain juvenile

characteristics into adulthood, such as external gills.

In the evening we went out into Edinburgh city centre to a Chinese and Japanese restaurant where we had sushi and sashimi, and I also got to try saki. It was a really nice meal, and we didn't disgrace ourselves with the chopsticks - although I am out of practise! Saki is ok, but I found it a little on the sharp side once it had cooled (I didn't realise you could drink saki hot, but there you go; live and learn)

We finished the evening off with a couple of drinks in the hotel bar where we went beyond sobre, but not paralyectic before retiring to our room.


We left the hotel fairly early this morning to mosey around Edinburgh before getting the train back. Gareth found a good whiskey shop, so he was happy!


It was a fantastic anniversary, and we're abolutely shattered now. It's nice getting away, but also nice getting back to your own bed.

King of the Kongs

Due to the weather and my disinclination to lose any toes or fingers, the dogs didn't get out today. Instead, we stuffed a Kong with peanut butter, grated cheese and a free sample of James Wellbeloved sachet of wet food (they normally get dried food) for one of the dogs, and gave the other a rawhide chew. I thought Glyn's approach was quite funny as he was almost sat on his head to get the Kong instead of holding it with his paws.

He soon got bored of trying to get all the food out and patiently waited for his turn on the rawhide. Willow, however, ate the entire chew then promptly stole the Kong away to her cage. She not the best with regard to sharing!

Rambling and running

I managed to get out for a run today as the weather held up - I swear I even saw the sun a couple of times too! I was out for about an hour, so I may regret that tomorrow after not running for over a week. Either way, I'm glad I got out - I think I was getting cabin fever!
I can't believe I've only got 6 weeks left at uni (plus any reading time before the exams). I'm glad it's nearly over, but the finals have certainly crept up and I haven't even started revising yet. Oh well, going to enjoy the last couple of days off I've given myself before getting back to the books!

Five (bags) a day

Gareth did a home shop yesterday as neither of us fancied braving the snow to go shopping. It arrived this afternoon and much to my amusement I found four bags of bananas (24 bananas in total) and three bags of apples (18 apples in total). Instead of ordering individual items, he'd accidentally ordered multipacks! Baked apple anyone?

Spring in Aberdeen

Willow enjoying the best Aberdeen

can offer in Spring weather.

She doesn't mind the snow and can't see why everyone makes such a fuss about a little dusting - but then she does havea thick coat and an ancestry full of outdoor workers.

I dreamt last night that I transferred to Plymouth uni for the last 4 weeks of my degree; I think that perhaps I've had enough of Aberdeen's weather!

Piercing and ramblings

Thought I would show a photo of the piercing I got last month in my conch (the rounded bit in the middle of the ear). Conch piercing (middle piercing)

- still healing!

My favourite still has to be the scaffold - it took about a year to heal properly. Probably because when you have it done both bits are pierced at the same time and the scaffold is put in from day 1, so everytime you knock one bit it shunts through to the other part of the piercing.

Scaffold piercing (the bar at the top)!

On an unrelated note, not long after signing up for the 2008 Race for Life, it snows. It's spring! It makes motivation to go running very difficult - especially as I have Reynauld's disease, and when my toes go dead I can't tell if I'm standing on them with my other toes or not. Not the best running conditions! Grr. I guess it's the Tae Bo DVD for cardio training until it cheers up a bit.

Meet Broad Hill

I thought I would introduce you all to my nemesis, Broad Hill. It doesn't look like much, but when doing hill training and you have this bugger three quarters into your run, it's suddenly much steeper than it looks!

Willow gives some sense of scale (and smugness as she doesn't bat an eye when ascending).

The bottom of Broad Hill

Starting to look less appealing

'What's taking you so long?'

More results and the joy of Ebay

Unbelievably, the results for the bioscience exam are out. I got an 18, so I was happy with that. At least having the results back gives you a form of motivation - not knowing what level you're at doesn't help.
The wedding plans are going ok too. We pretty much have everything sorted except the flowers. I say 'we' but really we're directing from Aberdeen whilst our families are running around in Plymouth sorting it all out! Although I have discovered the art of buying nice but not extortionate (sp?) accessories through the power of Ebay!
Unfortunately we can't make it down over Easter to get the notice of marriage as we won't have all the documentation together by then (the disadvantage of not living in the city you're getting married in), so we will be making a spontaneous trip down once we have the relevant stuff.

Dogs. Again

Willow is still hoping Glyn will vanish as this picture of her hiding under the computer desk in the back-room reveals, despite the fact she enjoys playing with him!

Glyn by contrast takes everything in his stride - he's quite a laid back chap as this blurry picture of his cheeky grin shows:

Thread II

Environmental modelling sucks :S

Race for Life

I'm running this year's Race for Life on the 22nd of June, so if anyone would like to sponsor me you can do so using the widget opposite. Thanks!

I've just started thread II of my fourth year courses (the last two modules I'll be studying here, wohoo!). The bioethics looks like it'll be interesting - at least there is no spoonfeeding of information, so lots of discussions. I have the environmental modelling courses this afternoon, so I'm with-holding judgement on that one!
There has also been a slight change of plan, instead of my parents coming up and then we all travel back, we've decided to travel back for a week instead - it turns out my parents were primarily travelling up just to bring pets/stuff home in preparation for moving back! It's way too far just to come up for that, so we're visiting and getting wedding stuff sorted when we're in Plymouth. It also means I should have more time to revise for the exams in May.

Results

For some unknown reason, the rest of the results for last semester have been delayed. So I only just received the result for my review essay - about time! The next exam session is in May! Anyway, I got an 18 which I was pleased with; sorta makes up for my disappointment with my thesis mark! To be honest, I probably would have been disappointed regardless of my mark.
So, just waiting on my result for the exam/webpage/general essay course now (I know I got a 19 for the general essay, but that might not mean much if the rest of the course went bad)!

I'm sure Aberdeen knows when my parents are planning a visit; it's been snowing today

Not the best start to the week!

Willow has been somewhat out of sorts since she's gone cold-turkey after her thieving sugar-fest. She was a bit sick yesterday evening and we thought that was it finally out of her system. Then I woke up at 3:30am to the distinctive sound of a dog heaving it's stomach contents all over the last clean dog bed. So after sorting out the bed and finally finding something for her to sleep on I headed back to bed. Then began the sultry sound of Gareth snoring. Grr! I was not among the most awake this morning in the flat, and I had a small presentation to prepare with my group before the lecture this morning. I dutifully arrived, everyone sorted into their groups to head off to prepare, and I realised I was the only from my group there. It also became clear that the paper I had to present wasn't the easiest to follow. I managed to bung something together, and luckily the rest of the class were nice enough not to rip shreds out of the presentation - I didn't really understand the paper as it was heavily reliant on equations and modelling systems (there were a couple of equations there that were two lines long, with about 3/4 nested equations within...), but fortunately I could avoid talking directly about them!

Hopefully the rest of the week will pick up - roll on Easter break!

Some rare moments of relaxation

Glyn making the most of his invite for a hug.

He's misleadingly white here - I think the mud

fell off all over the floor after playing in the

garden. He is a bit of a mud-magnet!

Evidence that Willow and Glyn do occassionally

get along together. Although I think Willow

was trying to squish Glyn, and Glyn was trying

not to look concerned at having Willow's

teeth that close to his head!

I like candy...

Well, Willow has surpassed herself. Yesterday Gareth and I got back from grocery shopping to find that Willow had stolen a bag of dermera sugar from the kitchen side and eaten the lot (minus about two coffee's worth). She's never stolen from the kitchen sides before so this was a little odd. She had also soiled her bed which totally confused me as dogs just don't mess in their own beds.
Anyway, she was feeling a little sorry for herself and kept asking to go out into the garden after drinking lots of water. She wasn't actually sick, but she has been in a bit of a mood today since her sugar crash (she was a nightmare yesterday when she was on a sugar high!)

By contrast, Glyn has been the eptiomy of good behaviour. Although I''m fairly sure this is in part due to his introduction to livercake - he's suddenly very responsive to first commands since discovering this canine cullinary delight! I think he is going to be a great dog to train with.

Photos

As promised, here are some photos of Glyn and an unimpressed Willow - although she is beginning to think he may be ok for the occasional game.

Top left: Willow is not happy

Top right: Glyn looking a bit confused about it all

Left: Glyn knackered after a long walk

Below: A pack bonding session