In her element

This morning we woke up to Bruce, the spaniel, walking on three legs only. On investigation it appeared that his foot was slightly swollen and obviously painful - so an appointment with the vet was booked. The vet was really gentle with him and decided he had probably stood on something sharp and an infection had set in so I came away with one anti-biotic and one ant-inflammatory medication and a bill for almost £70....and a few days of no walks for him! He feels very sorry for himself and his spaniel eyes are huge and speak volumes.

It was a really super day with blue skies and warm sunshine so in the afternoon my daughter and I took the two bigger boys and Cara for a long walk around a nearby lake and she was in her element - in and out of the water throughout the walk. There were a lot of geese on the lake but, to my surprise, they seemed intrigued by Cara rather than frightened of her and simply watched her antics while the boys threw sticks into the water for her to chase. The boys were very good and went round the lake on their bikes for an hour and a half. James, 5, was on his first proper bike and Ben, 3, on the Scute bike. This is an amazing bike as it teaches youngsters to ride a bike without the need for stabilisers as they learn to balance on it, pushing it along with their legs.