Busy busy busy

I don't know about the dog being tired, but we certainly are. We had a good (some would say great, but I couldn't possibly comment) meal last night, pea soup and boiled ham, but it was quite salty, despite my endeavours to soak the meat for 24 hours first.

This in turn meant some tossing and turning in the wee sma' hours. Heigh ho, up we got at eight to find a glorious day outside, so despite the fact that it was just a month since our last trip to the service wharf, off we went. We're not expecting the weather to be anything like as kind for the rest of the week.

Pump out, diesel and new gas bottle later, back we came. I actually managed the turn into our pontoon without having to go astern at all, although there was a steady cross wind.

Elanor and Sally rolled up just after lunch, and I went with them for some field exercises. Sal has unfortunately worked out what sheep are for in the past few weeks, having previously ignored them, so since there were now some white woolly things in field 1 we took her to field 3. Here we had an excellent time sniffing about and tyre chasing. Just as we were finishing, the farmer turned up with two stock trailers full of pregnant ewes.

Fortunately, we saw them first and Elanor was able to get Sal back on the lead before he opened the tail gates. What would have happened if we'd been behind one of the bunds in the field when he arrived, I don't like to think. All's well that ends well and all that, but if he was planning to let sheep out in what is otherwise a dog exercise field, it might have been a good idea to close the gate some time before.

As it is, we'll not be able to run Sally in field 2 on Tuesday; all the fields are contiguous and although they are separated by sheep proof fences, Sally would be well able to leap from one to another if the sheep caught her eye.

She'll have to make do with a long towpath walk instead. I guess it's a problem of the time of year, when farmers are looking to hold about-to-lamb ewes in fields near the centre of the farm.

Once we'd done all that we went back to Elanor's; I fitted a new latch to her bedroom door, and Sheila gave some help cleaning up the remains of previous sealant from the bath ready for resealing.

As I say, one way or another, we're both weary. Fortunately, we can have cold ham with mash and steamed green beans for dinner, preceded by more pea soup. It might mean another disturbed night, but it's worth it.