It has been cold, with some snow but mainly lots of rain. The snow was fun, the males made a snowman at midnight, and Meg destroyed it with enthusiasm the following morning.

The rain is not so much fun. Everywhere is muddy, which means Meg is constantly covered in mud, and however much I try to hose her down (which she hates) it still seems to end up inside. The kitchen floor is gritty and I waste lots of time with the vacuum cleaner. (This feels an utter waste of time, because it doesn’t stay clean, and I’m not sure that having a dirty floor matters too much. But I do it anyway.)

Today Meg was very annoying in the evening, and it felt unfair because we had enjoyed a nice day together. I took her to the woods early morning, and we had a good long walk, Meg chasing sticks, me enjoying the peace of the woods and the few flakes of snow that drifted down. At home I hosed her (which she protests about, and nearly wrenches my arm off, but she is completely covered in mud because she wades through all the puddles so it is necessary). Then I left her in the utility room to dry.

I worked most of the morning, and when Meg was dry enough to be let into the rest of the house she lay next to me, chewing her toys and farting. She had a run in the garden while I ate lunch—followed by another short stint in the utility room—then she followed me round the house while I did some cleaning, occasionally barking at the cat, mostly just following me and poking her head into cupboards that I opened, adding her toys to piles of laundry, watching from a distance when I cleaned the sinks. It was companiable.

I needed to buy food for dinner, so Meg came in the car. When I went into the supermarket I tied her up outside (she seems to enjoy this, as she watches everyone and often gets attention from dog-lovers on their way into the shop). She walked back to the car beautifully, stopping for traffic and not pulling on the lead. When we reached the car she paused before jumping into the boot. She paused for about 2 minutes, letting me know that this had not been a ‘proper’ walk, and she was not ready to go home, and perhaps she wouldn’t get back into the car. Then she jumped up, into her crate—discussion ended—and we went home.

A lovely day, and then she was bad. I put her briefly into the garden while I started cooking dinner, and then called her to come in. No sign of her. I shut the door, thinking that when she returned the door would be shut, and she would learn to come faster next time. Except she didn’t come. I called her at regular intervals while cooking dinner, but she ignored me. It was dark, and cold, and I was tired. I didn’t want to traipse up the garden to collect her, and I needed to cook dinner. I felt defeated. I knew she would be doing something bad, but I didn’t have the energy to go and sort it out. After about an hour, Meg decided to come back inside. I let her into the utility room. She was completely covered in mud. I couldn’t face finding out why, so I left her in there. After dinner Husband hosed her down (which was very kind of him because he’d been working in London all day and was probably as tired as I was). Then I put her into her crate for the evening. She protested and barked, letting me know that she wanted to come and watch telly with us—but she was wet, and not allowed on the carpets, so we put up with the barking and I felt cross. It was a shame after such a nice day together that Meg had ended it by being annoying. I know she’s a dog, and doesn’t know any better, but it feels personal. I feel (irrationally) that if I have made the effort to include her and give her lots of attention/stimulation, then in return she should be good. It doesn’t work like that with dogs, and that feels unfair. But that’s life isn’t it. Life is not fair, not very often, and we just have to get on with it. Went to bed feeling grumpy.

Hope your day is full of beautiful scenes and better than my evening–though sometimes we just have to cope with the bad bits of life. Thanks for reading.
Take care.
Love, Anne x