Topsy turvy

We are getting more exercise than we have had for years.

This is not a bad thing and dear Ebba enjoys showing us all the scary aspects of our village. We never knew that we lived in such a state, in such a Dickensian novel. Ebba is not frightened of mailboxes and that is nice. It makes collecting the post a bit dignified, at least. (A long time ago I had a horse that never stopped, suspecting every mailbox he saw of foul play. You had to be impressed by his tenacity in this matter, if nothing else).

Jokes aside, Ebba is doing better all the time; it's just hard for a dog, when all the stuffing has been knocked out of you. Being a complete sweetheart helps and she certainly is one of those. She feels a bit big to us. Why I don't know, as we hang out with Mindy, Mandy, Molly and My, but maybe it is because she is inside our house. Ebba does not believe in the concept of "the long way around" so she moves over things. One stylish leap and the sofa in the middle of the room is tackled, one mighty leap and the shopping bags in the kitchen don’t get her this time either...

Ebba is a young dog with a healthy dose of energy, so it's just for us to grab the nearest bottle of multivitamins and get our act together. We already love her to bits.

Living in the middle of nowhere helps when you take on a frightened dog that is starting to see life as a bit of fun, again. No one next door to complain when Ebba finds her tail highly entertaining at 10pm or when she gets the giggles over the fact that she gets to be in our bed. You just have to wait it out and enjoy the fact that she finds her inner puppy to be in good form, although the timing could be better. At some point I have to tell her to stop, as we do need some sleep in our home. My socks seem to amuse her a lot, too and bits of cucumber can be found under mats....

Why Ebba feels the need to chew on my arm is a mystery she does not share with us. Maybe I am a safety blanket or her teeth feel extra active when we go to bed, we don't know. She does have bones for chewing on scattered around the whole household and my socks...

When Mr. Chip arrived, a long time ago, the company Lumene had a series of skin products made from birch tree extract that I really liked. Mr. Chip was a young fox terrier with a good sense of smell so why I had to walk around smelling like a Finnish forest, was beyond his comprehension. He got so obsessed with this problem that I had to swap to the less forestry line of skin lotion. Now I worry that Ebba might be obsessed with calendula and bees....

It's still early morning. Ebba is asleep on the sofa, stretched out and gathering strength for this day that will slowly start. Our dear sheep are munching away in the stable. I gave them some hay at 6am, as it's raining outside and we don't have to hurry in the morning. The hens will get up with the light, so only Monty is awake, tooting out into the darkness.

It's lovely when the blanket of autumn settles over us again and leads us towards Christmas and a new year. Summer is the best time for our animals but I do feel we all deserve to enjoy some of the mellowness of autumn, too. Ebba is chasing flying leaves, the hens get a break from egg laying and our sheep get to part with their heavy coats of wool. And we all get to start thinking of making Christmas presents...

My dear husband is the playgroup leader for our happy dog, so he does not get much of a break. He does seem happy enough, though, so I'm not worried.

Happy wintertime to all and everyone!! Be well and eat chocolates, it helps....

Some say that cats are not affected by SAD (seasonal affective disorder), whereas dogs can feel the darkness depressing. Cats apparently mirror their owners emotions, so if its people are sad, the cat slows down too. We turn on the therapy lights and hope that everyone will feel the benefit of them. Mice and men....