Booties

Today was a lovely day thankfully, the sun was up bright and early as were we, Stitch and my beloved went for a business walk and I watched them from the garden gate.

The electric was on full power and washing was put on and out before I took the wee one out for his walk, today was all about lead walking and keeping to heel, this poor hound must be sick of this training but it will stand him in good stead for walking in town, and anyway Victoria Stilwell says ‘its all about consistency’.

I didn’t do very much today at all, Stitch had a second walk this afternoon and a game of football, he really is quite funny with the football now, he has even managed to move it off the spot not very far admittedly but at least it moves, he keeps this up he will be getting a pair of booties very soon, or maybe two pair.

Did you know you can get rucksacks for dogs, I'm not talking about strapping a rucksack to your dog, I mean a carrier for your dog to go into on extra long walks, no good for big dogs they would break your back, well unless you hung their back legs out the bottom so they could assist, also you get pushchairs for dogs or pull along bags I really could have a great time buying all these useless dog tools, but the one I do fancy is this one 

A front or back carrier for those long treks in the Troodos! I can just see my beloved wearing this, or maybe pushing one of these!

The Dark Side

First thing this morning Stitch and I headed off for a long walk around the countryside, for some unknown reason Stitch has become a little weary at certain junctions of our walk so today I put the lead on him, he spent a little while of the journey chewing at his lead, but then settled down, once we got past the rather nasty Alsatian I let him off the lead and he was no bother at all, we trundled through the lanes and played with stones, myself throwing them and Stitch chasing them, he became quite good at dropping them in order for me to throw them again and today I even managed to get him all the way past the horse whilst throwing stones before he even looked at the monster of a beast, we arrived back and I prepared the supper and placed it in the slow cooker before taking my shower.  Starting supper early proved a blessing as the electric went off again around 11am, washing machine stopped mid way through and beef no where near ready, I turned off the washer and left the beef as surely the electric would power up again soon. This really is supposed to be a civilized country but the amount of power cuts we have had over the last two weeks is becoming a tad on the ridiculous side.  Something else I can’t get my head around is the internet in Cyprus, it is stupidly expensive and also pleases itself when it’s on or off, oh how I miss Israel with their high speed internet and stable electricity supply, beautiful beaches and party atmosphere, I must stop now as I’m becoming melancholy….

I left the house around 12 just as the electric decided to spring into life, I needed to get some doggie supplies from the vet as the collar for flees and ticks we purchased when Stitch received his neutering did not appear to be working, over the last three days we have removed 2 ticks, well I held Stitch and my beloved removed them YUK, the collar is supposed to protect them for 8 months, I didn’t think it was doing much of a good job so I went to the vent and bought the monthly supply of Advantix, and headed home.  Having told the vet my hound is 4.5kg I thought nothing of it until I was home and realized he had given me a dosage for a 10-25kg dog, so then I had to go to the chemist get a syringe minus the needle as I really didn’t need that thing and then try and measure out .4ml of fluid from a 2.5ml container, all the while trying not to spill it, touch or ingest it, eventually I managed to get the necessary dose and administered it onto Stitch’s back, job done.

This evening I was organizing the supper when I turned around to find a cushion on the floor, I laid it back on the sofa and continued with my preparation only to turn around again and find Stitch on the sofa! He was taken down and placed in his crate, time out does nobody any harm.  After a minute or so I took him outside and for a walk before bringing him back inside and then for the rest of the evening he didn’t speak to me, obviously had the right hump with being taken off the comfy sofa, but having gone through toddler tantrums and teenage nightmares a dog with the hump didn’t upset me one little bit.

Trying to get Stitch out in the dark is quite amusing, we took him out for a couple of pee visits but he just does not like the dark, even when we carry torches when he thinks it is too dark he just stops, I am beginning to think this dog is definitely not the nocturnal variety, which is great in one respect because he is little and would get himself lost out there without the benefits of lights, but when you want him to pee outside and not all over the house he really has to learn to embrace the dark side. Now I have to say he really hasn’t had many mishaps in the house, only two that I can actually remember, unless you count the fact that we mistook his whine for a moan when he actually needed to do his business, and you can’t hold a dog responsible for mixed messages but even that has only happened three times since we took charge of him. 

Classy joint

Today was not such a nice day, the weather was miserable and the rain very heavy, no dog walking this morning, I might love my doggy but walking in the rain is not one of my favourite past times.  So Stitch and I headed off to Limassol on a mission to find chinese supplies, after three failed attempts using Waze and ending up in housing estates I gave up and drove to the center of town for a coffee before trying one last time to find what I needed.  We parked up and headed up the main street, Stitch on his lead and behaving much better with the traffic today.  The trouble with Startbucks in the old town shopping area is that the wind whistles up the street from the beach, and sitting outside was a little like Russian roulette, you just weren’t sure when that Café umbrella was going to topple over, and although they were very well secured something hit a chair a few tables down which had pup dog cowering under my table, I decided it was safer to drink and run so we headed again for another Chinese supermarket supposedly 2.3km away.  Once again Waze had me in the middle of Limassol surrounded by houses and no supermarket to be seen, sod it I went to the butchers instead bought a heap of meat for the freezer and then headed home to Kolossi and the local supermarket, not Chinese you understand.

On the way towards the supermarket I spotted a beautiful rainbow and could not believe how wide the bands of colours looked, I stopped to get a photo and it was only then that I remember that I had my sunglasses on still, when I took them off to snap the rainbow I realized how my glasses had changed the colours slightly and it’s true life really is better through rose tinted glasses, or even polarised.

Stitch and I finally headed home and I set him on the ground as leaping out of the car is thankfully a habit he hasn’t worked out yet, and to be honest he is so small picking him up isn’t a problem, now getting him in the car is…. He seems to relish the fact that we are going out but his cross between excitement and chase me get a bit clouded when it comes to getting the little devil into the car, I have now taken to picking him up before I leave the house.  Anyway I let him run around and then he came in the house, went out again and then stayed in, I happened to turn around just as I caught him peeing on the mat at the door, I suppose I should be grateful he chose the mat and not cocking his leg up a wall but I still told him off and put him outside, and the rug in the washing machine.

Our presence was requested at the Angel so after supper we toddled along just for an hour and had to suffer a puking cat in the bar, we really are getting to some classy places, I have and will always hate cats with a passion and puking cats really do nothing for me, and the fact that one of the patrons decided to clean up the puke was really quite endearing until she used a mop to do it and therefore spread the puke all over, honest could she not have just used tissue then the mop.

Hallucinogenics

Stitch and I went for an early morning jaunt around the tracks, luckily no horrible hounds were met, but I do have one hell of a story from over night, maybe I should get to that later as I would hate anyone to think I was on some kind of hallucinogenic or worse still drunk.

As usual I carried Stitch passed the horse, I think next time I will put his lead on and walk him past that way, because it does nothing for his butch demeanour when he gets carried by his human because he is scared of old neddy.

I took Stitch in the car with me as I was on a mission to find 5 star dog food, having googled the brand we use I have discovered it gets a very poor rating of 2.5, and I thought I was buying good stuff because of it's maker, just goes to show you can't judge a book by it's maker. So having phoned a local pet store and been given an address I headed into Limassol and remarkably I found the store on my first attempt, the lovely gent helped me out with my new food which is called Acana mmm mmmm made with all the best ingredients and the % of meat is far higher than that of our previous brand, puppy will be so excited, I know I was.  On the way home we collected a Starbucks then headed for Lady's mile beach front, I drove all the way along the mile until I could go no further and parked up, there was a lady in a bikini and her three children playing at the beach, I did ask 'I presume the water is warm then?' to which the reply came 'not bad', personally I think she was crazy, after all she was Australian.  Stitch and I headed off along the beach, and would you believe that stretch of the beach was actually sandy, and not builders sand either, although a tad less golden than I prefer it was proper sand.  The restaurants along the front are getting ready for their summer visitors as there was lots of painting and tidying going on as Stitch and I walked past.

Stitch had his first wave walk, I threw a stone which he dutifully chased and got hit in the legs by a small wave, he walked straight out and didn't go near the water again. He did however chase stones along the beach, and seaweed which was drying out on the shoreline and getting lifted by the wind, it was a beautiful day, but I still don't think it was warm enough for bikinis to be donned. 

After our walk and watching a plane leaving Akrotiri and a helicopter arriving we drove home, then I remember I needed meat for our supper, I really must be better organised when I'm out, I feel a little like a yoyo at the moment, I'm no sooner in the house than I remember something I forgot and have to leave again.

Speaking of forgetting, something I would like to forget just now is my incident through the night, the NON hallucinogenic one, I woke to a dog barking and knew when I woke it wasn't Stitch as it was a big bark, I looked out of the bedroom window to see a massive dog in the garden barking because he couldn't get out as the gate was shut, my beloved shut it to stop the rabbits, anyway I shouted at the dog, and he shot off the way he had entered and it was only when I shouted again because now he was outside the wall that I noticed the two headed dog, I joke you not, I was completely spooked, now this was not the three headed Hogwart's kind, this was a pushme-pullme which shot off across the field with the normal dog when I shouted.  I was so spooked I got back into bead hid my head under the covers and went back to sleep. I chose not to mention it to my beloved until the timing was right.

Supper was made and another new recipe was tried, this time it was Pork with brandy and caramelised onions, the result was delicious although the meat could have been a little more tender, but that may have been my fault as I have always had a problem with browning off meat, I kind of white it on all sides which is not the best way to deal with meat when your cooking method is on the hob and not roasting. Note to self LEARN TO BROWN MEAT CORRECTLY.

Tarantula

Stitch and I were first up this morning, after taking him for a walk around the garden I gave him his breakfast then my beloved arrived downstairs and we all sat in the garden taking in the sunshine, breakfast sorted and then it was wood delivery, Angelos had organised for a load of wood to be delivered today which was quite handy as the bags we get from the old lady in Fassouri although large only last two days, so now we have enough for at least 10 days.

Stitch launched himself on the footstool again and was once again stuck on top, although I say launch what he actually appears to do is throw himself at the stool get as far on as his chest then scramble like spiderman the rest of the way up.

This morning I had a phone call with the demonic one who is busy just now with driving lessons, god help the people of Elgin. She has decided that everyone else in the family gets a regal name and she gets the demonic one, henceforth she will be known as Queenie! So Queenie is still waiting for her man to get back from Afghanistan and not too patiently, it doesn't help that his return date has been extended.  My granddaughter was in the kitchen eating sandwiches, obviously losing teeth hasn't stopped her from chomping, but at six years old you kind of have to get used to tooth loss.

We found out this morning that a friend up the road had an incident with a tarantula last night, good lord above there are tarantulas in Cyprus, best I don't get any in the house or my beloved will be off, at home in Turriff I had to remove the spiders in the house as my beloved preferred to kill them, I really can't see me dealing with a tarantula not for love nor my beloved.

We took the pup dog for a walk in the early afternoon and I don't know how this happened but as Toyah would say 'its a mystery', but end up we did in the bar, sitting outside supping on vino and feeding Stitch mixed cheese flavoured bruschetta crisps, now we have a rule in our house that the hound gets no food from the table and so far I have managed to keep on top of my beloved with this rule, but being in the bar wasn't like we were eating dinner so we shared with the pup, and he really rather likes them. I always said I would never have a dog because training would be a nightmare with my beloved and the children because I have very specific rules for dogs, one of which is no food from the table I really can't stand that hangdog look they give you when your eating, second rule no dogs on sofa, and thirdly more importantly no dogs in the bedroom, so far all these rules are being adhered to, well except the bedroom one, as today I took the hound upstairs whilst the wood was being delivered. He just sniffed around the room and the bathroom and didn't find any of it very exciting, oh and I had to carry him upstairs as he hasn't quite figured out the glass stairs.

Pissouri

I woke before my beloved this morning and took Stitch out for a walk around the countryside, everything was going well until we came across a horse, now I could see the horse was tied up but obviously Stitch couldn't and refused to walk past, I had to go back for him, pick him up and carry him past, all the time his eyes never left the horse, when I put him back down on the ground he butched up and barked at the horse, go figure.....

We took a drive today investigating Cyprus again, we drove through the back roads until we reached our final destination, poor Stitch was in the back of the jeep and having trouble with his seat going up and down and round hairpin bends is not easy for a little dog on leather seats, at one point I swear he was holding on by his toenails, eventually I popped him into the footwell of the front passenger seat and he settled down to sleep for the rest of the journey, normally in my little car he is on his mat that we purchased in Jumbo, purely to keep the seats clean but it is also anti slip, so next time we journey in the jeep we must remember to swap the mat over.

We found ourselves in Pissouri a beautiful village set up high in the hills, we drove around and little then headed down to the jetty at the beach, Stitch was taken for a walk along the beach front, we ignored the no dogs sign as we decided he was on the lead so this would not be a problem, it was absolutely roasting today as we walked past the lovely looking Columbia hotel and around to the jetty again, refreshments were required as we sat and watched the sea, and the colourful people walking past.

Pissouri Jetty

View from top of Pissouri across the vineyards

After refreshments we headed back to Kolossi this time we took the motorway, Stitch was very grateful, and so were the leather seats.  Supermarket stop first, wood next, the old girl gave us extra wood I think she likes my beloved, plus the dog.  Our evening was spent in front of the fire, my beloved has become quite the firestarter now, well once I taught him how to make one that is, his first few attempts although very pretty were diabolical but now he is quite the whizz.  

Stitch has learnt a new trick, not one we are too chuffed with though, when we went upstairs today after leaving Stitch blocked in the living room we heard whining coming from downstairs, and when my beloved investigated the cause he found Stitch stood on top of the foot stool that was there to block him in, the reason he was whining was because although he had managed to climb up he was too scared to jump down, I still haven't figured out how he got up, well unless he used his feet to climb the wall that is.

Stitch likes burying his head, he appears to have an inferiority complex, I quite often watch him when he is walking in front of us and he reminds me of one of those big muscle builders you know the ones, they appear to be bandy legged because they have so much thigh muscle, well Stitch's back legs walk the same way, it is like he throws his legs around to walk, but then he jumps like a cat when spooked by geckos so he is my muscle bound scaredy cat.....pretending to be a dog.

Venting, everyone loves to do it

When I eventually came down this morning the boys were already up and at it, Stitch had been fed and was bounding all over I threw his ball and he chased it around the living room, he hasn't quite got the idea of fetch yet, he loves his orange teddy and has managed to rip its rope from it's backside, mainly because he does the terrier thing and shakes it into submission, the squeaky ball gets chewed and chased but the fetch really does need some work.

What a lazy morning for me, I could not be bothered to get dressed, and around  10am received a message from my dear brother telling me to get out of bed and bell him, cheeky wee shite! my phone was upstairs so I had missed his call, I dutifully called him back to find out he had only called to vent off steam about being stuck on the M25 between two junctions and had been there for three hours, so after a lovely venting phone call we said our goodbyes. I have to say it is nice when you get phone calls, especially little bro the unconscious comedian.

We took a day trip to Oriklini today which is the other side of Larnaca, a lovely village not so sleepy today I have to say, and I really had to keep my wits about me when travelling through the old part of the village as the windy streets made only for one car were actually two way, there was a lot of breathing in and hoping the car would shrink.  We discovered one of the best restaurants in Cyprus, well thats what we were told, we didn't go in but will go back, apparently people come from all over Cyprus to go to this restaurant, and had we not been shown where it was we would never have found it.

We passed a motor cyclist on our tour whilst going along the motor way, why oh why do they not wear helmets in this country is beyond me, but there really should be a law against hairy motor bikers with overspill on the butt, it was most unattractive to see his butt hanging out of his jeans, luckily he had a wide tyre at the back to hold his weight up, now don't get me wrong a nice butt is something to behold but it really should be covered and kept in your pants...

Poor Stitch had spent most of the afternoon in the car, he didn't complain although the tilt of his head when we were waiting for our Chinese back in Kolossi was enough to say WTF, we took our food and Stitch home fed the poor hound, ate supper and then took him for a moonlight walk of Kolossi, the stars were out in abundance and being in the countryside mean't lovely views without the streetlights dimming the array of twinklers in the sky.  Our neighbours have many greenhouses as they are something to do with the plant nurseries around us, and last night as we arrived back at the house we could hear what we believe to be frogs, the noise is quite amusing from where we live, but I really wouldn't want to live right next to them as they are so loud, first time I heard them I thought it was some kind of mechanical device making the noise until I realised it was actually animal not mechanical.

Green tree frog

The small green Tree Frog lives mainly in the lowlands but can be found in the valleys of Troodos.

The small green Tree Frog, Hyla savignyi (or Hyla arborea ssp savignyi) can be found, as is to be expected, in areas with fairly lush vegetation and fairly near water. It is mainly a lowland frog but it can be found in the valleys of Troodos.

Green toad

The Green Toad is the most widespread of the Cyprus frogs and can survive in fairly dry conditions for long periods.

The frogs can often be seen on reed and rushes in the reedbeds at Phasouri and in the area north-west of Akrotiri Salt Lake. They are also often seen on the vegetation on the banks of streams and other water-courses. 

The Green Toad is the most widespread of the Cyprus frogs and can survive in fairly dry conditions for long periods.

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

Today was a trip to Moni, a quiet little village outside of Limassol, we met in with a couple of friendly Russians and a South London boy all very pleasant, then off back to Limassol pick up an iced americano as the electric had been off at home since 8am, not a great start to your day when you need a coffee fix, Stitch was then taken for a walk around the village and we had a frappe in a little cafe and sat speaking to the owner about funerals of all things.  We now know that when the bells ring loud and proud it is a celebration and when they ring low, it is for a funeral, they also ring a second time with funerals when the deceased is taken to the cemetery, great conversation over your frappe I must say.

Stitch met in with an overly friendly bitch labrador who was huge, she definitely was more butch than bitch. We had a conversation with the owner before going about out business again.

Electricity service was resumed and at least we could make our own coffee, but I do like a coffee out, it's one of my small pleasures in life, especially like today when the sun is shining.

Stitch is still hunting rabbits, and today was no different, we had gone out into the garden and had not seen the rabbit hiding behind the tree, but when we did the chase was on, Stitch will never catch those rabbits but he does like the chase, and when he comes back he spends ages running around the garden on their scent.  We realised that the paw prints on the patio actually belong to the rabbit and not Stitch as we had presumed, so now we have washed them away and hopefully Stitch won't launch himself out the patio in an attempt to catch a rabbit, maybe.  One day though he will fall in the pool as he is in such a hurry to catch them he has had a couple of near misses so far.

Dementia

Tuesday

Trying to remember what you did yesterday is no easy task, I have to say trying to remember what I was doing five minutes ago can be even trickier, so here goes, yesterday it was an early morning march around the countryside for Stitch and I, my beloved was off for a jaunt to Larnaca, so Stitch and I set off, firstly we came across a very nice gentleman who started speaking to us, telling me about his own little pooch who is a similar size to Stitch, then the gentleman offered me some grapes unfortunately he was pointing at oranges at the time, and not holding out a glass so I politely declined.  Then we met in with a boisterous golden Labrador who was in danger of pulling his human off his feet, the two dogs sniffed each other and then parted ways, not long after that we came across an Alsatian sitting in his gated garden, he took one sniff of Stitch coming his way and he was all over that gate, but thankfully not over it, I had to go back to collect Stitch as he just couldn't muster his testosterone levels butch enough to get past it, so he was carried like a baby, every now and then looking up into my face as if to say 'has he gone, has he gone'.

Stitch can now play football, since we bought him his little squeaky golf ball he has taken on the mighty football, he doesn't get it very far, but now at least he tries to push it around, his own golf balls he just loves and chases it all over the house and garden, not quite got the hang of the 'fetch' yet, but as long as he is not distracted by visiting rabbits, or god forbid geckos he will bring the ball back. He now will complete the down instruction and so now Im working on the stay command, this one is proving a little more difficult for him as he will stay as long as he sees me, but if I go behind the table and he can't see me he moves off the spot, so now I have to try the stay command whilst I'm in his line of vision. Getting back to the rabbits, the silly hound is convinced they live under the decking surrounding the pool, every time he gets through the patio door he rushes around the pool looking under the decking, fortunately he can't get under it, and the funniest thing about having four sets of patio doors and three other large doors is the confusion it causes the poor dog, especially when he forgets which door he went out of and walks straight into the glass of a closed one.

Wednesday

This morning was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and the hound was having a mad moment running around like a mad thing, then it was a trip in the car up to Paraklissia a lovely village just up from the St Raphael hotel on the beach front, then down again into Limassol and home again, nothing much was happening today, Stitch and I took a walk down a few dead ends just for a change, then did a quick tour around the countryside before heading home again, but not before Stitch found something in the grass that made him jump straight up like a cat, I have no idea what it was but he didn't want to leave it, whatever it was.