New regular posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, extra ‘news flashes’!

Sunday September 20th 2015

Oh dear. No sooner does Ji. get to watch Isis playing with  her gym ball than I spot that it has deflated very slightly and developed a wrinkle. I rush out to retrieve it but am too late. She detects the wrinkle. A quick nip and phluuuuuuuuut. A rectangular slice of the surface peels back and the ball is soon flat. Well, it was inevitable. Sigh. Unperturbed, Isis runs off,  the ex-ball in her mouth flapping in the breeze.

Now what? She needs a huge, indestructable ball. I have a Belisha Beacon in the front room (as you do) which, turned upside down, will make an interesting vase. But it’s too small for Isis. And I bet no one makes giant ones. I ponder for hours but no solution comes to mind. Then, clank, clatter, clonk. I rush out. Isis has overturned the large aluminium now pedal-less  pedal bin in which I intended to plant something interesting. She is enjoying rolling it around. Well done, Hairy One. Yes, a plastic barrel or maybe a small water butt might do the trick. I’ll keep an eye out.

I’m very pleased with myself today.  Deciding months ago it’s only fair that Isis shares her garden with me, I think long and hard about how this might be achieved. At last I tackle  the project. Googling ‘how to erect fence posts’ and digging three holes proved enough for last week. This week I take a huge step. Off to Wickes for graded base, cement, timber, very long screws and a pair of hinges. Then I put in three posts with two mesh panels attached.

Today I hang a little gate. Amazingly, it’s almost straight. Puffed up with pride, I stare at it for minutes on end.

Isis makes me laugh. Unlike any other dog I’ve had, she has no interest in ‘helping’ me in the garden but plays by herself until I have finished. As soon as I have retreated indoors, she hurries up to the spot where I’ve been working. She walks all round the work space, sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. Then she pushes the fence – or, today, the gate – several times and very forcefully with a paw as though to make sure that it really is there, and sniffs it thoroughly again before a final patrol.

At the moment there are still gaps she can walk through to access ‘my’ garden. She’ll  not be pleased when the fence is complete.

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk