Chickens in a box

We're down in Sussex for a few days visiting the family, it's been ages since we've been back and with the weather so glorious, Eddie's been making all sorts of plans for outings for us. It's a beautiful county and great to get out and about. Yesterday we went for lunch at The Hatch  followed by a walk on the Ashdown Forest. Then it was off out to see Sue and Jim's new house and enjoy a Mexican feast with the family. My great-nephew Oliver who is seven, loves the new house, and offered to show the boys and I some of the horses that lived down the track. We all set off to go and say hello. Having stroked the two horses in the field nearby, we walked down into some pretty woodland, following the stream there down to another gate with two shetlands and a larger pony in it (me picking my way along in heels and my new tea dress that I'd brought to wear for the supper). The boys had great fun crossing the little stream to see the horses in the field on...

Today the builders turned up and got serious. Armed with drills, saws, hammers and God knows what else, they proceeded to tear the kitchen down. This meant boarding-up all the doors in and out of the old kitchen so that we now only have access to the cooking area via the front door and round the side of the house. The noise has been indescribable and inescapable. Dolly and I ended up barricading ourselves into the snug, but it didn't make a lot of difference. Fortunately I didn't have any calls until later on, and Dolly tucked herself into the gap in the desk where my legs go, curled up and went to sleep. The crunch came at 4pm when I had two very important back-to-back calls. I asked another mum to pick James up from school but of course when he got home he couldn't work out how to get in the house. Emerging from the snug I hissed at Will to go and get him. The penny dropped tortuously slowly (possibly deliberately so). Call number two and this time I asked the two b...

"I just saw one of your mates in Waitrose, she asked how you were," said Eddie breezily as he came in with the shopping on Saturday morning. "I told her you were a woman on the edge." It was a fair summary, but in my defence, trying to organise a dinner party in a building site is less than ideal. Add in a puppy and two not-very-small-constantly-fighting-boys and it's a recipe for the total shredding of nerves. Onwards to dinner planning. I made it to the bath and surrounded myself with as many face and hair masks, exfoliators and bath salts as I could. I opened my book (Circe, by Madeline Miller) and prepared to spend half an hour in peace and tranquillity. "Mummy! William won't let me watch Maze Runner." It's James - outraged. "Tell him I said you can watch it and he has to turn over." That should do it, I thought (wrongly as it turned out) and go back to Circe, who's about to meet Odysseus for the first time. "Mumm...

It's week two of puppy training and Dolly surpassed herself on the 'Stay'. Sadly our moment of glory didn't last long as I admitted to the group that I let Dolly have the occasional mackerel fillet as a treat. There was a pause. "You give her what? Mackerel?" Asked the instructor in hushed tones of utter disbelief. "Well..I worry she might not eat enough." I stammered, while the rest of the class shuffled their feet and looked intently down at their shoes. With an almost imperceptible shake of her head, the instructor turned away. The shame. The mackerel shame. I am clearly a terrible, irresponsible dog owner who will ruin her puppy through over-indulgence.

Peace, quiet, order and house - all in the process of being demolished as we embark upon our epic kitchen extension. It's been seven years in the planning. In that time Eddie has painstakingly restored every room in our home and it looks stunning. How he does it I have no idea. If it was down to me we'd be living in a tumbledown cottage in the middle of nowhere, with a garden full of weeds and chickens. Thank goodness it isn't. This morning we were woken by the dulcet tones of a hammer drill forcing its way through what's left of the orangery foundations. Trying to concentrate on a conference call with that racket, plus a defecating, urinating, hyper-active puppy, was a considerable challenge. Straight onto mute, turn off video, grit teeth. 

Having a puppy is like having a baby...we had forgotten how exhausting young creatures can be. House training.  We watch Dolly like a hawk and try to estimate when she's likely to need the loo. We take her outside when we think she's about to go, hang about for ages while she potters about, has a wash, eats the hems of our trousers etc. Admitting defeat we come back in and Dolly wees on the floor. The 3.30am wake-up call is particularly unpleasant. I've taken to bringing my Kindle out with me to offset the boredom of the wait. Puppy training On Saturday we went to our first puppy training class where Dolly was the smallest, youngest and least disciplined. She gnawed her collar, attempted to eat her lead, and when that failed threw herself to the ground and had to be carried to the training area. Recall Dolly ignored me and went off to play with all the other dogs. Sit Dolly ignored me and wrestled Eric the beagle. Food manners Dolly attempted to bite my h...

Six months ago our lovely Bella passed away and I took on a new role at work. Fast forward to today, and we have a new puppy - Dolly! - in the house, and I have gone back to the role I left. Add into the mix the fact that our kitchen is finally underway and half the house is in the process of being demolished and it all makes for total and utter carnage. Last week nearly broke me. The upheaval at work, clearing up the indescribable horrors that emerge from Dolly when you least expect it...Everything everywhere, and all covered with a fine layer of dust. But now that the dust has settled, literally and metaphorically, I can honestly say that I have never felt more confident that I am 100% in the right place, on the right track, with the right people - and dogs. It feels good. Dolly aged nine weeks.