Dogs and cats

I've just finished reading a book about dog psychology in preparation for eventually getting a dog. Very fascinating I must say. They aren't really that complicated but it does seem amazingly easy to get things wrong! Throughout the whole book the most important aspect was to make sure to get the dog to realize it wasn't the alpha male and avoid doing the things that made the dog think it was.

For example, never let the dog sleep in your bed (unless you sleep in the dogs bed apparently), never let it go through doors first, never feed it first before you eat your food and let it have food from your table, never let it look down on you. You dog owners, do you really manage all these things or have you just been lucky with yours, that they still know their place in the pecking order?

One thing is for certain our cats have perfected all the above traits and are obviously the alpha males in our house! I've always suspected cats are much better at training humans than humans are at training dogs.... a demonstration of Tikka enjoying being pampered by one of her many slaves....

William's birthday

Today is William's birthday! He is now 9! He has been extremely excited as we hinted that he just might get a Nintendo Wii, something he has been wanting for a long, long time. He first got up at 6 o'clock but we told him it was too early and he went back and reappeared at 7 when he heard that we were awake. Here are some photos from this morning.

And yes, he got a Wii, and I connected it up and had a go playing on it after I dropped him off at school. (Need to make sure I'll practised enough to beat him at the games!)

On Friday a few of his friends will come for a sleepover party so today will be just us and William has requested his favorite food for tonight, Spaghetti Bolognese.

Waiting...

I can't wait to move now. Things are happening slowly with all the solicitors involved. Buying properties in the country is a hassle as there always seems to be issues with who owns what (such as bits of road and bits of fields here and there!)

Our neighbours here are really sweet and have organised a farewell party for us. Almost seems a shame to move! But I feel less an less attached to the house now, which seemed impossible before we decided to sell, but you just get used to the thought of moving as the weeks go by.

Tomorrow we are going to have a look at William's new school.
Exciting!

Finally some biking!

Went out for a mountain bike ride today for the first time since Christmas. It was quite cold which meant that the ground, which has been so wet and incredibly muddy for the last year, is now lovely and rock hard since it is frozen! There was some nice singletrack and also a wonderful opportunity to try out my new Christmas gadget I got from John for Christmas, a bike GPS!

Clearing out the cellars

The big clear out of the house is continuing! It's amazing how many things you don't really need when you really think about it! The first week we took almost everything to the tip because it was basically rubbish (broken plastic toys, old packaging and hideous Christmas decorations not used for 10 years). Then we took 3-4 big bags of clothes, shoes and ornaments to the charity shop. The third round was harder because now we had to choose whether to throw things away that potentially could be used but we didn't have any need for(but wasn't worth selling). Or to hang on to them just because throwing them away would seem so wasteful. Then I remember Freecycle! I can really recommend it because we now have found new homes for two child's bikes, a buggy, a fish tank and a coffee table and people are happy to collect when it's convenient for you! Perfect!