Remembrance Day.Never Forget.

Check Bonfires for Sleeping Hedgehogs Before Lighting

Sky Dive for Dogs.

This week I took two more dogs for a walk at Appledown Dogs Rescue Centre http://www.appledown.co.uk/ as my sitter who fills in for me as a carer was late again giving no time to visit the canal and do the shopping in the set time available.
First dog walked was....

SHUCKLE

A happy Staffi who loves his walks.

The other was.....

TORTERRA

Another Staffi who just wants a new home.

There are two young ladies from Appledown Lou and Becca who are going to do a sky dive to raise funds for a fence to enclose a small part of the field to enable the dogs to be let off their lead for training and assessment.

The pictures below show the area in question with an old fence already in place which would be no good in it's current condition.

The picture below shows the amount of sponsorship raised so far which now only needs another £500 to reached their target.

I do like their aim...

Unfortunately due to the weather conditions this year the jump has been postponed till March or April next year. More time to reach their sponsorship target I think.

Finally a picture for the narrowboaters. 

It's in Eaton Bray. Well it's the thought that counts :)

Boots the dog.

This week the sitter that takes over my role of caring for four hours a week was late again so it cut down the time I could visit the boats on the canal so instead I just had to go to Appledown Dog Rescue http://www.appledown.co.uk/  and take a dog for a walk. This week it was BOOTS, no not the one that lives on Narrowboat Bones  http://mortimerbones.blogspot.co.uk  but .....

BOOTS

A lovely dog who walks to heal, knows his commands and would love to find a loving home before Christmas. I spent an hour giving him a walk then had to leave to do the weeks shopping.

Slobbery old dog taken for a walk.

No blogs for the past two weeks as I have been busy looking after poor old mums health problems but this week I managed to visit Appledown Rescue and Re-Homing Centre to walk a dog for an hour and this is him.....

FRANK

A lovely dog who walks well on the lead but tends to mind his own business and refuses any offered titbit.

Frank is a Shar-Pei. See here for details on the breed..

http://www.spcgb.org/

He's looking for a forever home...any offers????

Next week who knows just depends on the weather again and my caring commitments.

More Dog Walking at the Rescue Centre.

I could not keep away from walking the dogs at Appledown Rescue Centre http://www.appledown.co.uk/  this week.We have had a lot of rain so I thought their need was greater than mine wanting to look at narrowboats. First dog walked was called....

SOCKS

This is a beautiful dog who walks perfectly on the lead, knows commands and has lovely soft fur.He would love to be someones best friend for life. I would have kept him myself if I could. 

The second dog I walked was called...

BELLA

Another lovely dog, a bit boisterous and needs a little training to walk to heal but a perfect dog looking for a forever home.

I hope all these reports on dogs don't get a bit boring but being a carer who has 4 hours off a week this is the only thing I can find interesting or I could go on about the trials and tribulations of looking after someone 24/7

Next week it will be down to the canal to look at the narrowboats depending again on the weather.

Preparing and Sowing a New Lawn

First of all I must just report that Polly the Lurcher I walked this and last week at the rescue kennels has found a new home with another Lurcher.Here she is giving me the eye the day before she was re-homed.

This week I have been busy in the garden.Thinking ahead it would be better to have grass than flowers when renting a property especially as next door has one of those 'wild' gardens full of nettles and blackberry's which would take over if left for 6 months and of course if I got a dog then grass would be a lot better for a good run around.

I used some paving to make a path down the side of the bushes which would help in controlling the weeds from the hedge and enable me to mow up to the edge of the grass.

Down one side of  the central path, the left hand one in the picture, I cleared all the greenery and dug the top 5 inches of soil, removing most of the weeds,stones and roots.With a rake I levelled the earth and broke up the lumps of soil then walked over it to slightly compact the top layer and again raked over to give a fine tilth ready for the grass seed.

You can see from the picture the left hand side of the path is the same as the seed bed looked before I started. 

UPDATE ON THE LAWN AFTER 41 DAYS FROM SOWING....  03/11/12

As you can see from the picture below I removed the bushes from the left hand side of the central path and seeded the bed.Timing is so important with the weather and this was perfect as it hasn't stopped raining since I sowed the seed.The grass will fill out over the winter and spring so be ready for summer next year.

You will notice that the bed is mostly in shade from the bushes which has dictated what type of grass seed I am using. I have put a log border around the new small plum tree and cherry tree to stop the grass invading the tree trunk.

Since the picture was taken I have removed the support stakes as they were not doing much good and the trees are solid in the ground.

Rain is due this weekend so I put fertiliser down on Friday which was washed in by rain Friday night, today I have sown the grass seed, raking it in the top soil then firming it down with the back of the rake.

The picture below shows the fertiliser and seed I used.

Now all I need is the rain. The left hand side of the garden will be done in due course.

Next week who knows, if the weather is bad it will be visiting the narrowboats on the canal. 

I have just bought a new 6' leather dog lead to walk the dogs at Appledown Rescue Centre 

http://www.appledown.co.uk/