Excellent – I am struggling with the smallest Kronos who is a similar age (5 at the end of August). He can ride a balance bike perfectly… well… other than Saturday when he decided to go warp factor 9 and put his feet down to stop! Didn’t end so well….

His pedal bike he can do with stabilisers – take them off and he refuses to try. It is infuriating!

Guess they will go back on and he will progress when he is good and ready.

I went Li Ion – it’s the future don’t you know!

davidtaylforth – so glad I switched from Greens/Libs and voted for Labour seeing that break down! First time I have ever voted Labour but I knew it was going to be tight so tactical was the way to go.

I wonder if it is time to give up my GP membership… not a big fan of Mr O’Hara.

Stay up until it all gets depressing, then go to bed… wake up and check that I was right to be depressed… go back to investigate emigrating!

Then give up on it all and walk around being grumpy at all the self serving wealthy folk that seem to live around these parts for about a week 😉

It has been said before…

Although I will be most put out if they are better on guitar than me 😉

And they are not to touch the Les Paul 😀

Better picture of him from today:

4th June 2017 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

He hasn’t come home yet, a few more weeks yet. But the rest of the family were able to meet him for the first time, and they are all utterly smitten!

_DSC0620 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

More Belter (16″) action!

1st June 2017 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

Just need to get the Mish off stabilisers (big brother never needed them, but we have been struggling with the pedalling bit with Hamish. I think he is more or less there though). He was rocking the balance bike!

Should I plant some around my outdoor sex cauldron to act as a screen?

I was put on Fexofenadine last year (the full fat version at that), after getting really, really bad hayfever for the first time! Always had it fairly mild, but I think the combination of camping on a freshly cut football field on a hot and sunny weekend pushed me over the edge!

Took it for 2 1/2 months then came off until Spring and started again with what was left of my supply before getting a repeat prescription – which will probably be renewed late next month to see me into September.

Just wondering if I should try a permanent Loratadine or similar instead and keep away from the heavy stuff?

May have another go sometime – I had put together a nice little loop for the way home from a job, which turned out to be a lot longer (in time terms) than I had anticipated as a result of struggling to find the track up the moor and then getting bogged down when I got there!

The herd of cows didn’t make life easier having churned everything up!

I went up that way a couple of years back Boxelder and stuggled finding the way up to Whitemoss from Miterdale. I got to the old outdoor centre and then the track just disappeared and it became a slog through the bogs until I found the good trail coming up from Boot to the stone circles.

I was heading the other way – back to Boot – so no idea what it is like heading to Burnmoor Tarn.

I don’t know if the trail up Tongue Moor that passes above the tarn from Miterdale is any better? Or the one up from Boot along Whillan Beck?

I just remember that slog… it was an absolute nightmare! Which is a shame as the ride up Miterdale itself had been rather pleasant.

It gets well freaky, and I wasn’t the only one “enjoying” it.

But yes, never described it as full on fear and loathing, but that would be a pretty damn accurate description… particularly of the really odd stuff that happened whilst asleep and having really, really lucid/visual/messed up/trippy dreams.

I will never, ever touch the stuff again.

To the extent when I was told the cure would be yet more Larium – and a higher dosage – I decided to take my chances with the plasmodia instead.

The recurrences are now very, very rare – I think the last one was around the Swine Flu outbreak. I had that first then hit by the malaria the week after… fun times… and they are certainly getting less severe too, so I think I made the right choice!

Far better than being institutionalised in the name of being “cured” anyway!

Oh God… not Larium – NEVER LARIUM… or Mefloquine as it is sometimes labelled.

Bad ass hallucinations (particularly lucid dreams) and destabilising for even pretty mentally robust people.

Plus I got malaria whilst taking it. Twice.

If I had any inkling of the side effects of Larium I would have stopped, during the prescribed taking it before you go period I was absolutely fine. Got into the jungle and it all went very, very odd pretty quickly – and then I was on it for a good couple of months. Got the souvenirs though (Vivax & Falciparum) to enjoy anwyay….

So dull and uncool it hurts

Would the school fees not decimate the wage difference anyway? I think most boarding schools are north of £30k/year these days….

I guess the other option is to see how she does in the German school, and if it is an issue then explore other options as to what suits your daughter best.

They are – although they are wondering why they can’t have him now!

Lilac merle with blue eyes… so he is a little different to the usual. We just worked out he was born the day after Jake died too, which has nice symmetry 🙂

Puppies by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

He is the one at the top – not coming home with us until the end of June though.

Ooops

24th May 2017 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

I may have arranged to go and see a pup tomorrow late morning.

Perhaps….

(Border Collie)

Gah – overload!!!!

I am so on the phone tonight about a pup 🙂

Oooh… so unfair.

“Liked” on FB of course 😉

Pics will be forthcoming as soon as we have a new canine friend. Currently Ed the Mainecoon is sitting on me to prevent too much dog searching mind!

Goddammit!

Went for a walk this afternoon… last time I had a dog still, just aint the same!

I think something is going to happen imminently (next few days perhaps!)

Tracey… I think your puppy pic may have just broken me.

Just sent an email about a merle collie 😉

I also have a second plan which involves a rescue springer. Liverpool is a bit of a hike though!

I am very much keeping an open mind on either adopting or going for a pup – everyone knows what I am like though, I will *find* something (or… more likely… it will find me!)

Do like the idea of a Sprollie – saw some pups advertised somewhere not too far from here so will keep an eye out. Loads of Springers and Collies in the Lakes so should be a relatively common mix 😉

Thanks for the ideas.

And pics 🙂

Having deficit of doggy love at the moment and talking to any I see in passing as a result (even more so than normal!)

Yep – Cockers are in the list too, but I see very few of them around here and they tend to want a terrifying amount of money for them!!!

Drill a pilot hole and put a self tapping screw in with a washer (short screw) and capture the connecting wire under the washer?

I was looking smaller than a lab… quite happy with the idea of a cross though, just depends what we come across/fall in love with (I happen to have a service job at an animal shelter in a couple of weeks… which could be dangerous!)

Jake was certainly neurotic at times, mainly because no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t heard 4 cats into the same room at the same time – especially if it was the room all the persons were in too! He was both hugely intelligent and daft as a brush at the same time 😉 Absolutely fantastic dog, companion and friend – we went through a lot together, all the hardest things in life to deal with and he was there by my side.

4th May 2017 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

Oh – thanks andyl, I will give them a try.

🙂

z1ppy – yes, absolutely agree…. BUT…. most rehoming places seem to get all shirty if you have cats and it is easier to get a puppy used to cats in the first place.

I was lucky with Jake – he was a rescue.

(I am in the Lakes so finding a collie pup is really not difficult… a few springers about and, for some reason, a LOAD of pugs and other little dogs)

It is an option if I stumble across one 😉

Sounds like you have had about as much fun as me over the last few years. My life has turned around, but I carry a lot of the baggage still.

I don’t know how you go about getting help though – it is something I should have done years ago really… but did the “being strong” thing, which I seem to do all too well… without giving myself any time to deal with everything.

Hope you do better than me and work it out though. I met someone who has helped me through stuff enough for me to keep functioning and start to see the light at the end of the tunnel (I think) – but it has been a long and slow process which would probably have been quicker and better with professional help.

Me – I can never admit a weakness face to face though. I blame the public school system for that (and a lot of other things)

Yeah – we are having this too, mainly with my youngest (4 yrs 9 months). Fortunately they love pasta with tomato sauce (and hotdogs in it, but I try and limit quantity of those since they are evil) – and I can hide a LOT of good stuff in the tomato sauce!

They grew up eating garlic and onion in the standard sauce so that gave me a good flavour load to work from, but I can blend in spinach/kale/other green stuff without them noticing. Sometimes throw some peppers in too. Found it a great way for stealth health!

Trying to expand their taste horizons, the older brother is fantastic and will try/eat most things.

Excellent news – we have had a terrible day here, so really glad to hear such epic good news 🙂

I do like those Triumph Scramblers 🙂

Although I am having secret lustings for a great bike Triumph Thunderbird Nightstorm 😉

Been a while since I got up there – was lovely today though (and yesterday).

You can almost see my house from the top… possibly the roof with some binoculars 😉

Riding time is stupidly limited, but I do love to get out now and again.

Mine – 90th Anniversary Moto Guzzi Griso SE. It is lovely… temperamental… but lovely!

17th June 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

I took it to Shetland last summer… actually… summer is a bit generous, the top temperature was 13 deg C!

I used to have one of these ones:

Trimetals

It was very good, and I would have one again if it was required!

I was off for a long while – broke my ankle in September ’15 then had to wait until May ’16 for surgery. From there I was off for months in recovery, slowly building up strength and stability… before tearing a muscle in my back in November or December last year!

I have just started getting out again recently, but only sporadically at the moment – and nothing too ambitious as yet! TNF at Grizedale is still a bit much for me!!!

Hopefully the next few weeks should see things improve now though. It is horrible being out of commission for so long though – we couldn’t do much as a family either as I just couldn’t walk more than a few hundred meters. We just had to struggle on really, but lost a good 18 months.

Get your Angus Young on with one of these:

Epiphone SG Special

Throw in an Orange Crush amp:

Orangey Goodness

I think that would be a cracking set up for learning myself. Should have enough change for a wee bit of overdrive.

I quite like the look of this….