Good Friday

A few weeks ago new neighbours moved into the house across the road from us, which is a new build and was completed earlier this year. We went over to introduce ourselves and they seem very nice - he is originally from Tanzania and she is German, but they moved here from Cape Town where they were living for two years until it all got too much for them - they did not like the crime, the security issues, the frequent power cuts and the severe water restrictions. They have two large German Shepherd dogs and as is common practice in South Africa these dogs are outside all day, they are not allowed in the house and are not taken for walks. As a result these dogs bark all day, and any person or car driving past is barked at. As expected, the neighbours have all complained at the constant barking and in fact their neighbours next door have two little girls who are terrified to go into their own garden to play as the dogs bark at them. They do look rather scary!  I went over this morning to give them some food waste caddy liners I had bought as they did not know where to get them from, and they told us that they were quite upset about all the complaints they have received about their dogs. I gently explained that in the UK dogs live inside the house, when one goes out one's dog is left inside and most importantly they are walked every day to alleviate their boredom and to prevent barking. They could not get their heads around this idea that dogs live inside the house....I foresee further problems for these people with their dogs so I hope they can resolve the problem. 

It was a beautiful sunny day, and so warm. We had a BBQ for lunch and then after lunch I had to go back to the optician to have an eye scan and a field vision test as the eyeball pressure test earlier in the week had flagged up an increase in the pressure which they wanted to check further. It seems the results from today are all within the normal range so now it will be monitored annually.

After the optician Gavin and I walked along the river and this lovely swan was following us...

I still have some cold symptoms and don't feel quite 100% but I am sure I will be better tomorrow. Lots of vitamin C and rest - reading my highly recommended new book, A Gentleman in Moscow. 

I started and finished my photo book on Murdoch today. I actually enjoyed doing it and looking back at the photos of all the lovely holidays he had with us walking in the Swiss Alps every summer of his life, except for 2 years when we did not go in summer.