We had a slightly longer walk again, Lydia and I, and a quiet one apart from when a man on a motorized scooter passed by with his dog running ahead of him.
I spotted them in time to be able to take Lydia to a reasonable distance and he made sure that the dog didn’t come our way, which I appreciated.
Lydia did bark and lunge a bit but also sat when I asked her to, which I promptly rewarded.
I’ve had another day of rest with my cold, unable to meet up with friends for lunch and I’ll miss the Buddhist class tonight.
I do think the resting is paying off though, while still not recovered I do feel a bit better.
Lydia and I had a longer walk today than yesterday, showing signs that my cold is getting better, and resting up is helping.
Gone are the days when I was working and had to push on, often leading to further complications such as coughs and chest infections.
I’ve rested up most of the rest of the day and then made tea for Trev and I, including pasta with a stir-in sauce and toasted red peppers. It was tasty and made a change.
Lydia has been my constant companion throughout the day. She didn’t even want to go outside after she’d had her breakfast like she usually does, although she did have a bit of outside time this afternoon, barking at whatever she thought she needed to bark at.
It was a short walk for Lydia and me this morning as I have a cold coming on and it is a very grey rainy day here.
Lydia didn’t seem to mind, though she resisted when I tried to put on her raincoat before we left the house. Luckily, the rain held off a bit for a while.
Back to bed now, both of us having had our breakfasts and I’ve had a few cups of tea.
‘Feed a cold and starve the flu’ is a saying I’ve heard. I also think it’s good just to keep warm and drink plenty of fluids which is what I’ve been doing.
After a short walk this morning- it was grey and raining and I gave Lydia a ‘rub-a-dub-dub’ with a towel before she went back into her crate, in the car – I did some shopping, at Aldi.
It was busy – very busy – but I got a parking space, and did my shopping, dropping it off at the front door when I got home before taking Lydia round the back way as usual.
I now have the beginnings of a casserole on the go, and food in the fridge.
Lydia is fast asleep on the carpet. I’ve been resting too although deep sleep eludes me at the moment. Still, I’ve done what I need to do for now and can relax a bit.
The sheep at the neighbouring smallholding were out to watch me and Lydia as we returned from our woodland walk this morning.
One of the sheep is being trained by a young girl who lives at the smallholding, and I often see the sheep following her round, like a dog. It is very sweet.
The scents and sounds in the wood bring out all Lydia’s hunting instincts and she’s still making attempts to remove the K9 bridle every so often. I’m getting firmer in my ‘No!’ and ‘Stop it!’ responses because I don’t want her to hurt herself and I want us to both be able to enjoy our walks. I think we are continuing to ‘get there’ as she did settle down and also did some lovely loose-lead heel work which I promptly rewarded. We were out for about an hour and a half altogether which I hope helped her to walk off some of her frustration.
We’ve now both had our breakfasts and she’s lying down looking very relaxed, with some gentle music playing.
I don’t have a need or any plans to do much today and I’m going to enjoy doing very little. I’ll be more productive tomorrow but rest for the rest of today.
I took Lydia with me to the Buddhist Centre, having first been for a walk in the morning.
She was fine in her crate in the car while I worked for an hour – sweeping up leaves around the accommodation blocks – and then I took her out to stretch her legs and sniff around. She seemed to like it, and spontaneously sat when a man walked by – not a hint of a bark at all.
I worked for about another hour, took her out for another short walk and then we headed for home.
I felt so much better after my afternoon exertions than before and worked up an appetite for a lovely – and quite spicy – lamb curry this evening.
We’re both quite tired now – ready for a bit of relaxation followed by ‘sleepy time’.
She lifted me from a negative state of mind to a more positive one, just by being herself and being with me.
We had a lovely walk, coffee and snacks then headed for lunch.
It was quite a busy place. Mandy bought food and I bought drinks.
I’ve been struggling with a lot of things but Mandy helped me to feel confident that I can get through to the other side, or at least keep going, even if the other side is a bit of a way off.
We’ve known each for a long time, Mandy and me, from when we first worked together,, about 40 years ago. I wanted her to be my friend then and am so glad she is now.
Lydia and I had an early walk, so that I could catch the train to meet Mandy. I think she’s had a good day too, and now it’s time for her tea.
The theme of the Buddhist class tonight is ‘Habits of Happy People’. I’m looking forward to it, not least because it’s a while since our group convened, when the last course finished before Christmas.
Lydia and I had an easy walk this morning, with no real attempts on her part to pull out of her bridle. In fact she walked steadily ‘to heel’ most of the way.
Quite remarkably, when a valuer from an estate agent came to look at the house, she didn’t even bark at him – from her crate – when we opened the door to the room where we’d put her. He said he had five dogs at home so she must have recognised him as a ‘dog person’.
Today I visited my friend who now lives in a care home.
There were a couple of other people in the lounge with M when I got there, and Betty soon joined us.
I’d taken with me a magazine and some sweet treats – flapjack fingers and brownie squares – to share. I suddenly realised I was hungry so I had two pieces of flapjack.
Dorothy didn’t want anything initially but later helped herself, which I was pleased about. Lillian was asleep when I first passed them round but M and Betty enjoyed some of the brownies.
After reading a story, which M seemed to like, I passed the treats around again and this time Lillian was awake so she had a brownie. When I later offered them again she wouldn’t accept one, saying she didn’t want to take it from me, because it was mine. I couldn’t persuade her otherwise. I can’t thank Lillian enough for saying that as it’s shifted something internally in me at such a profound level.
I read another couple of stories and by the time I left all the treats were finished, but I’ll take some more with me next week. There are still a few stories left in the magazine.
Lydia and I made progress today on our walk. We encountered dogs, a horse and several vans with barely a bark, though I did manage the situation intensively, making sure that she felt reassured and rewarded as she faced her fears.
We were back with mild weather again this morning when Lydia and I had our woodland walk.
She tried a couple of times to remove the bridle and I persisted with a firm “No” each time. I also made her look me in the eye and we held eye contact so she knew I meant it. And for most of the time we had a good walk. I rewarded her for the positives, as usual.
I did a short meditation before taking her out and a longer one after breakfast, followed by the Liberating Prayer.
Though still struggling with some significant aspects of my mental health, I can feel a change happening internally, as if a lot of tension is being released. I know I’ll keep having to work at it, but it’s encouraging. I also slept well last night after going to bed early and being prepared to just lie there until I dropped off.
Later I planted up a hanging basket and trough with the plants I bought yesterday and they do look so much better than they did before, with a bit of winter colour and foliage. I also swept and tidied the front yard, put some boxes in the garage, did a tip run and I’ll be going to Qigong soon.
Trev has been to a couple of estate agents so we’re moving along.
Glad About 
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