Pepper, sir, ma’am?

 

Pepper, sir, ma’am?

There’s something very satisfying about grinding pepper or salt with a hand-held mill. On occasions when a waiter has offered to grind pepper over a dish, I have always wanted to grab the super-sized mill and do it myself.

Now, we have been given a mill of our own. It was a joint birthday present for Barry (February) and me (April). It is the ‘London’ design wooden pepper mill, made by Cole and Mason, a company founded in 1919 to sell gifts.

Cole and Mason soon expanded into a business providing many different kitchen and household accessories, from a solid (and extremely heavy!) granite pestle and mortar, to wooden serving utensils and acacia chopping boards. If you want a stylish salt pig, a garlic keeper, or self-watering devices for pots of herbs, or a nifty worktop carousel for herbs and spices, Cole and Mason is the place to look.

1946 was the year in which their first wooden pepper mill was launched. Since then, they have developed different mills, from spice mills to acrylic mills, and mills made from stainless steel. Some are electronic. There is even a rather interesting-looking nutmeg grinder for those who wish to ensure that nutmeg is ground without knuckles.

The mill came with a small, neat information booklet, with instructions in English, French, German and Spanish on how to fill and operate the device.

Gilbert the Good – enforced rest

 

Gilbert the Good – enforced rest

Roxy, Gilbert and Jellicoe

Barry and Janice went out this afternoon and left all us animals at home, but before they went, Janice noticed I was limping and holding my paw up. They had an appointment, so couldn’t look at me more closely then, but when they reached home again, they tricked me with words like ‘Treats’ and ‘Chicken’ and ‘Chews’ just to make me get up and trot towards them. I wanted to stay in my bed because my paw hurt, though I wasn’t whimpering or shivering. They thought I was a bit quiet, though, so Barry ‘phoned up and took me to see Selene-the-vet. She’s only five minutes away by car.

Everyone at the vets made a fuss of me, and I was pleased to see them all – they’re so friendly and always give me a couple of yummy biscuits.

Anyway, it turned out that my paw has a cut on the pad. I’ve just come home and I’m a bit fed up because I’ve been told I mustn’t go out for a walk for seven days! SEVEN days!! AND I’ve got to wear a boot on my foot every time I want to go out to do the necessary – that’s going to be a bundle of laughs, I can tell you.

Jellicoe, Gilbert and Herschel

I’ve got some medicine to have once a day with my food to take away the pain and make sure the cut doesn’t get infected. There’s also some stuff to mix with water to bathe my paw. Janice groaned when she heard that, remembering Dominie-who-went-before me and how when her paw was bathed, she shook the mixture off her paw and all over the place, principally over Janice. I’m sure I shall be a good boy, though. My paw has to be bathed twice a day for five minutes. I think Janice is looking forward to that, because she laughed when she read that out to me.

It's going to be hard seeing Roxy go out for a walk, knowing that I can’t go out for SEVEN WHOLE DAYS! Roxy says it will soon pass, but I will miss it, especially the ponds.

Yesterday, Barry threw a big stick into the pond for me to retrieve. (They have to be big sticks, so they don’t get caught in my throat.) The stick must have been quite old and damp because it sank, and I spent ages diving under the water to find it. I could smell it, but I just couldn’t locate it. Eventually, Barry called me out because he was getting worried about me getting too tired.

When we went back this morning for our walk, he wouldn’t let me go in the pond. I think he knew I would be hunting again for yesterday’s stick. He told Janice I’m the most persistent retriever they have ever had, and that’s quite something. I am a very good boy – well-bred, don’t you know!

Time for supper now and my first dose of medicine. Seven whole days! SEVEN whole DAYS . . .

TTFN

Gilbert

Jellicoe, Gilbert and Herschel 

 

Gilbert the Good – Christmas Epistle

 

Gilbert the Good – Christmas Epistle

Andrew mentioned that I hadn’t written a blog post recently. My last one was in August this year.

I am pleased to report that I’ve been going out for long walks in the forest with Barry. It feels strange to go out without Roxy, as I really like playing with her, but at the moment, she goes out first and then I go out afterwards. I like meeting people and playing with different dogs, but Roxy is my best playmate, followed by Arthur, Susannah’s dog.

 I can’t wait for Janice to get back into walking. Maybe, when she’s had her injection on Friday, she’ll be able to walk further than the end of the drive, then we’ll all be able to go out together, like we used to. Paws crossed!

It's been a strange year. Susannah came to stay for a few weeks with Arthur and the cats. Now she’s moved to London, and we all miss her. She’s coming to see us soon and that will make Roxy and me very happy, especially as Arthur will come with her.

Barry has been back and forth to different hospitals for months. I don’t know what months are, but I think it means a long time. He’s had so much blood taken that I think his arm must be empty by now, and he needs a photograph album for all the pictures he’s had taken of his insides. I can’t see the point of that. I mean, you wouldn’t want to frame them and put them on the wall, would you? Everyone seems to be pleased with him, though, so that’s good.

The angle of this photograph makes Jellicoe appear bigger than his brother, but he's much smaller than Herschel.

Jellicoe is much happier since he had some teeth out and his breath certainly smells sweeter. He’s spending more time with Herschel, even sleeping in the same bed – one of our dog beds - though they still squabble from time to time.

Here's Jellicoe with Roxy.

Most of the time, Herschel and Jellicoe like to cuddle up with us, and that’s really nice.

Here's Herschel with me. He's looking quite cross, but he's not. He's just relaxing.

I hope it won’t be so long before I write another blog post, but it has been a busy year and we all hope that next year will be much, much better.

Meanwhile, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2025. Make the most of every day and try to ‘Always look on the bright side of life.’

 TTFN

Gilbert

Gilbert the Good - Would you like a carrot?

 

Gilbert the Good - Would you like a carrot?

'Did you say carrot?'

Our humans ask us that almost every day, as if we’d ever say ‘No’.

(What? Oh, sorry, ‘No, thank you.’

Me and Roxy have a carrot most days.

What? Oh, sorry, Roxy and me have a carrot most days.

What? Oh, sorry, Roxy and I have a carrot most days.

What? Oh, sorry, Roxy and I each have a carrot most days.

Some people are so fussy about the way we speak.)

Honestly, we have to watch our pees and queues here, you know. I don’t really know what queues are, but I don’t know why we have to watch our pees.

(What? Oh, sorry, it’s ps not pees, and qs, not queues. It means minding our pleases = ps and thank yous = qs. Clear as mud, that is.)

'You did say carrot, didn't you?'

Anyway, me and Roxy, I and Roxy, Roxy and me, Roxy and I really enjoy our carrots. Janice tried to photograph our expressions when she asked if we would like a carrot today, but they change so quickly and she’s not very good at the photography lark. Barry’s much better, but he’s very precise. Focal length and aperture and lenses and all sorts of other things have to be considered and that’s why he ends up with dozens of photographs of one thing, trying to get the perfect shot. Janice is a point and shoot person so that’s why so many of her photographs are out of focus, or are shots of feet, or smudged windows, or the ceiling. Anyway, she tries her best and you can’t ask more than that.

How do I know about these things? I listen. I listen really carefully. Roxy listens, too, and sometimes she hears before I do, especially if I’m in a deep sleep.

I can hear a packet of biscuits being opened in another room, or a pear being sliced. Janice wondered if we could hear a banana being peeled, but that would just be plain silly.

(What? Oh, sorry, I’ve split an infinitive. Let me see if I can sort it out. I should not have said ‘that would just be plain silly’ because I split ‘would’ and ‘be’. So, I’ll try again. ‘

That just would be plain silly’. Is that better? No, it’s clumsy, so should it be, ‘That would be just plain silly’? That’s quite difficult to say, too, so perhaps I’ll simply say, ‘That would be plain silly’ or simply, ‘That would be silly.’

I’m a dog, for goodness’ sake. Some people expect too much.)

                                                Crunchy!

To resume . . . Added to that, I have an excellent sense of smell. We have been playing retrieving games indoors and in the garden. It’s great fun. Herschel and Jellicoe join in, too, but their noses aren’t as powerful as ours so they don’t find treats as quickly as we do.

                                            'I do like carrots!'

Roxy eats much quicker than I do. She finishes her carrots and chews in half the time it takes me and she’s always looking for more food. Actually, she’s quite greedy, like most Labrador bitches. I suppose they have to eat as much as they can to build up their energy reserves in case they have puppies. I don’t think Roxy will be having any puppies.

TTFN

 

Gilbert

Sixteen years

 

Sixteen years

Sixteen years have passed since these photographs were taken. Our Dalmatian years lasted for 30 years, the last one, my velcro dog, Frodo the Faller, leaving us 9 years ago.

                                        Frodo the Faller, my velcro dog

I’ve heard all sorts of stories about Dalmatians. Some people asked us if black-spotted Dalmatians turned brown in old age, or did the liver-spotted turn black with age? One person told me that liver-spotted Dalmatians were not regarded as proper Dalmatians. They are ‘proper’ Dalmatians and some breeders try to specialise in the liver-spotted variety. Many people were surprised to learn that the puppies are white when they’re born, developing their spots from the age of about two weeks until 18 months or so.

                                    Dominie of the thunderous paws

It is a fact that puppies born with coloured patches used to be destroyed at birth. Whether this was because it was thought the patches might become cancerous or because it demeaned the breed or the breeder in some way is unclear. Patched puppies are no longer destroyed and haven’t been for more than forty years. They make fine pets, though they will not be destined for a show career.

                                        Buddy Liver Spots

Like most white or piebald animals, Dalmatians have a tendency to deafness, but this is being addressed with careful breeding and BAER testing (Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response) of registered breeding stock. There are some unregistered breeders so deaf pups are still born. With careful, patient training they can be wonderful dogs, but they require a lot of work.

                        Buddy Liver Spots and Frodo the Faller

We greatly enjoyed our Dalmatians. They were fantastic running companions for Barry and would also walk for hours with me. Now we lead lives more suited to rambling, Labrador Retrievers have become our companions once again. We have come full circle. We started with a Labrador, then had the Jack Russell years, which overlapped the Labrador. The Dalmatians ran concurrently with the JRs for a while, and then led back to Labradors.

                Jenna. the little Labrador with the enormous paws, with her tracker and cow bell, never happier than when retrieving

Halfway

 

Halfway up the stairs

There is a bedtime ritual in our house. Herschel usually grabs his bed space an hour or so before the humans then Janice and Gilbert go up and make their preparations.

 Some time later, Barry stokes up the fire, checks the doors and windows, makes sure the fridge and freezer locks are engaged, to foil the ever hungry and resourceful Jellicoe, and tells Roxy it’s time for bed. She trots ahead and goes partway up the stairs, then sits and waits for him. She usually stops on the 7^th or 9^th step. Then they have a conversation about the day, talking about the things that have happened and what might happen on the morrow. There may be biscuits involved.

Sometimes, Gilbert decides to go and find out what’s holding everyone up (especially if biscuits are involved!)

The photograph of Roxy and Gilbert brought to mind the little poem by A.A. Milne, though the child in the verse, Christopher Robin, is halfway down the stairs to begin with, and then halfway up.

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair

Where I sit.

There isn’t any

Other stair

Quite like

It.

I’m not at the bottom,

I’m not at the top;

So this is the stair

Where

I always

Stop.

 

Halfway up the stairs

Isn’t up

And isn’t down.

It isn’t in the nursery,

It isn’t in the town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

Run round my head;

“It isn’t really

Anywhere!

It’s somewhere else

Instead!”

The poem was included in the collection of poems in ‘When We Were Very Young’, with illustrations by the inimitable Ernest Shepard. Harold Fraser-Simson, a composer of light music, and best remembered for his musical, ‘The Maid of the Mountains’, set many of A.A. Milne’s poems to music, including ‘Halfway Down’.

It is a very sweet song and became well-known after it was used in ‘The Muppet Show’. In the first season, Robin the Frog, Kermit’s nephew, sat and sang it on a flight of stairs. It was one of Jim Henson’s favourite Muppet songs and was sung at his memorial service.

The song also featured in an episode of ‘Family Guy’.

 

Gilbert the Good – in good faith

Well, the first shock of my 1st birthday was that I wasn’t given my breakfast! To be fair, Roxy didn’t have any, either. That was alright, though, because I knew I would be going out soon.

I trotted off happily enough to the vets. They were very pleased to see me. I mean, I don’t want to be immodest, but they’re always delighted when I appear, and it’s mutual. 

I knew I was staying there for the day but I couldn’t tell you what happened because I seemed to be asleep for most of it. When I woke up I had a little snack but my paws weren’t working properly and I was still a bit wobbly when Barry came to take me home.

 My tummy and tail end both felt a bit very sore but I couldn’t investigate because I was wearing a peculiar garment, an all-in-one affair that felt really odd. Barry calls it my leotard and Janice says it’s a babygro. I think puppygro would be a more fitting name. I look quite smart in it, I must say.

The humans all decided that the puppygro would be better than the Collar of Shame. Jellicoe and his brothers had to wear them once and he said they were horrible.

                   Left to right: Isambard, Herschel and Jellicoe model their Collars of Shame.       

Jellicoe had to wear a babygro - a kittengro - a few years later after an operation. He's been through the wars!
                                                                                                                      

Gus-who-came-before-me had to wear the Collar of Shame when he was a bit younger than me and he hated it, You can read what he thought in this post.

   I was glad to get home and Roxy and Herschel and Jellicoe all gave me a good sniffing. The next day I felt much more myself and was looking forward to a good gallop and some rough and tumble play. I wasn’t allowed!! 

I was told I had to ‘rest and recuperate’ whatever that means. It seems to mean that I mustn’t jump about and if I do I have to go into my prison crate – so boring. Janice gives me a biscuit to make persuade me to go in it. Sometimes Usually I know what she’s up to and wriggle round to lie on her feet. That way, she can’t move!

Every time I want to go out, the body suit has to be undone and pulled over my back and tucked in so that I don‘t pee on it. I still don’t know what happened to my tummy and tail end but they aren’t so sore now. I had to go back to the vets to be ‘checked’. I wondered if I would come out of there with little squares of colour all over me, but I didn’t.

Then I had to go back to the vets AGAIN for another check and this time I came home with some antibiotics because one of the wounds (What?? ONE of the wounds? How many were there?) was looking a bit inflamed (Really? Flames coming out of me?)

I’m going back again (this is getting tedious) later on today (Monday) and maybe the vets will take the stitches out. I worried when I heard that. If they take the stitches out will I fall apart? Honestly, I went to the vets in good faith and they really are trying my patience. Anyway, I'll let you know.

Roxy went to see them a few days ago. They said she’s got some lumps. It’s quite usual for older dogs to get lumpy. They stuck a needle in her and took 'stuff' out of one of them to ‘send off’. (Why do humans like sticking needles in us? Poor Jellicoe gets them stuck in him all the time.)

Janice has hauled my puppygro off me twice now to wash it. It does feel nice to have clean clothes – but much nicer to go without.

 TTFN

Gilbert

 

Gilbert the Good - time to go to bed

 

Gilbert the Good - time to go to bed

My humans stay up too late so I have to remind them when it’s time to go to bed. I bring Barry his slipper, just one – I can’t carry two at once. Janice doesn’t wear slippers so I climb on her lap instead. She does make funny noises when I do that, but I suppose I am a lot bigger than I used to be.

Here I am on the day I arrived.

Herschel, Roxy and me 

I was ever so pleased to see a big dog in my new home. It was so nice to cuddle up with Roxy. Now I’m bigger than her and she’s gone back to looking like a little dog again – well, as little as a Labrador can look. My humans say she’s not as small as Jenna-with-the-big-paws.

Once I’ve persuaded the humans to lock up and turn off the lights, we all go to bed and then we can relax until the morning. I think if I didn’t remind them about bedtime they would stay up all night and that wouldn’t be good for any of us. It’s all very well napping during the day, like the cats do and us dogs (and sometimes the humans) but it’s important to have a proper sleep.

 The humans say it’s to recharge our batteries, but I haven’t got any of those, so I don’t know what they mean, really.

TTFN

Gilbert

Gilbert the Good - a Monty Don dog

 

 Gilbert the Good – a Monty Don dog

I told you a while age that my humans call me a Monty Don dog. Monty Don presents a television programme called Gardeners’ World and there are two dogs that help him, a Golden Retriever and a Yorkshire Terrier. I’m more the size of a retriever – well, I am a Labrador Retriever, so that makes sense.

Anyway, I think I could offer my services to Monty Don if he ever needs a stand-in, say if his dogs are on holiday or something. I like helping in the garden. I even bring things indoors sometimes – the odd branch, perhaps, or I particularly like flower pots and I don’t mind if they’re full or empty.

               I like to stick my nose in when Janice is weeding. Some of the things she pulls up look quite appetising. She pulled up a lot of mint the other day as it was growing everywhere, even in the pond. I like mint. It smells wonderful.

.Barry has been pruning trees and then he does something called ‘graunching’ which is very noisy. I stand well back. I don’t like loud noises.  He uses a big machine and wears things on his ears and over his eyes – I don’t know how he can see what he’s doing! Then he puts all the graunched bits back on the garden. He says the graunched bits are now called ‘mulch’. There’s a lot I don’t understand but I’m willing to learn. I could graunch some branches for him if it would help. He wouldn’t even have to take them off the trees.

I like smelling the flowers. My humans told me that Buddy Liver Spots liked to stand among the plants in the conservatory. He hated getting wet, so never went swimming, and always walked round puddles if he could, but loved to run through long wet grass. He was a Dalmatian, though, and I’m a Labrador, so we are quite different.  My long-ago relatives used to help the fishermen haul in the nets in Newfoundland and I’m sure my distant cousins still do. All Labradors have partially webbed feet so we’re all good swimmers.

I don’t like going into the garden when it’s raining and neither does Roxy, but we love to go walking when it’s wet. Bertie, who came before me, didn’t like going out in the rain when he was a puppy. If he needed a pee he used the cats’ litter tray. I haven’t done that and I’m too big now, anyway. I’m a good boy – I know that because my humans keep telling me I am.

Anyway, back to being a Monty Don dog. I think  I’d enjoy being on television. Lights! Camera! Action!

 

TTFN

Gilbert

Gilbert the Good – feeling guilty

 

Gilbert the Good – feeling guilty

It wasn’t my fault, not really. We were having fun near the big pond in the forest when I saw two dogs coming towards me and raced to greet them.

Unfortunately, I tripped Barry up and he flew gracefully through the air and landed headfirst. He tried to stand up but he felt woozy and had to lie down in a mosquito nest in a ditch. I mean, he didn’t choose to lie in a mosquito nest – it just happened to be there.

He couldn’t stand up without falling over so an ambulance came. The ambulance people checked all his vital signs and found them suitably vital but decided he should go to hospital as he had banged his head. Meanwhile, James came to take Roxy and me home. 

Then Gareth, Susannah’s brother, arrived to help.

When the doctor said Barry could be discharged, Susannah and Gareth suggested that it might be better to wait until he could stand up without feeling dizzy and sick and needing to sit down again. So, he stayed in hospital.

The next day he came home and we were ever so pleased to see him. Nothing was broken and it was just his brain that had been shaken about like a jelly. He slept a lot at first, but now he’s tickety-boo.

Susannah’s sisters, Bethan and Gillian, came on different days to satisfy themselves he was okay.

This all happened almost six weeks ago.  Susannah has been taking Roxy and me out every morning but now Barry’s head is fine and Janice’s knee is much better so they are walking us again and everything is back to normal . . . but I still feel a bit guilty.

TTFN

Gilbert

 

 

 

Gilbert the Good - proper swimming

Gilbert the Good - proper swimming  

The other day I thought I’d help the humans with putting the shopping away. They didn’t seem to think that my bed was the right place to put the mackerel pâté. I dunno, I suppose they’re right - it would be too warm. I was really careful carrying it, though, but then we Labradors are known for having soft mouths.

Roxy and I aren’t having brazils regularly any more – too fatty, apparently. It makes sense – if the humans only have three a day, one a day for us dogs is too much. We still have our carrots every day and celery some days and I’ve discovered I almost like lamb’s lettuce, but Roxy doesn’t.

Arthur came to play when Susannah had to go to London. It was all nice and quiet until Jellicoe came in with a baby magpie in his mouth. The humans tried to get it away from him but he wouldn’t let go so they had to shut him outside and leave him to it. We all tried to help but it was no good. Poor magpie! I think it died of fright. I dunno why Jellicoe wanted it – he didn’t eat it or anything. He just walked away and left it on the ground. It’s a good thing we dogs are bigger than him or he’d hunt us down, too. 

 Barry’s got a new harness arrangement thing that means Roxy and I can both be attached to him at the same time.

 It takes quite a long time for him to get into it. Janice wonders if he could attach a parachute to it. 

Anyway, the weather has been beautiful lately and we’ve been having wonderful walks in the woods. 

Roxy and I really like it when we go to the ponds. We went to the big pond the other day, where Roxy first learnt to swim. We did some proper swimming - no paws touching the bottom. It was exciting! 

The humans said when Roxy was young she always used to hold her head up high when she swam, as if she didn’t want to get her hair wet. 

 I nearly managed to get the stick away from Roxy . . .

  We were still quite damp when we got home but we soon dried off on the furniture. It's so  kind of Janice to put clean covers on the chairs for us.

We're  going out in a few minutes, so I've got Barry's shoe for him. I'm a very helpful chap.*

*Janice says: It's the wrong shoe, but we won't tell him that. We don't want to hurt his feelings.

*Janice says: These are the boots he needed.