Off leash

Well, well, well...

Today was a lovely day indeed!!!

I managed to throw my back out about two and a half weeks ago, much assisted by Stella Petronella.  We had gone for a lovely long walk, and were almost back when the man ran up behind us at the end of his run!  Stella was delighted to see him, and delighted to run on with him, which wasn't the idea.  So I called her back, put her on leash and the man headed off again.

Have you ever seen footage of sport fishermen with a tuna on the line leaping the tearing, and tail walking?  Yeah.  Like that.

For 20 minutes.

I had to sit down after the first few horrific jolts, and we sat there for 20 minutes, waiting for her to call down enough for us to go on.  All the while, my back was tightening up.  Ho hum.  Once she settled enough we could walk on with her off leash, cause she pulled hard at the best of times and like a train at the not so good.  Not something I wanted to deal with.  I messaged the man and he came and met us for the last section of the walk where she'd have to be on leash.

Surprisingly my back wasn't too bad after  I lay down for a bit, and so I took her into town that afternoon and she pulled like an absolute tank. The. Entire. Time.  Got home fine, but after I sat down for a bit I was all seized up.  Ibuprofen and a walking stick for a few days.  Blessedly I got better pretty quick!  Then Stella got spayed, so she wasn't doing any serious walking at all, what with stitches and then not being allowed off leash, running or jumping so she could heal.

As a bonus though, my sister in law came to stay for four days and we had a lovely time visiting Amsterdam and the Netherlands!  The real gift though is that she has a new dog and has been to doggie school and she got us and Stella trained in the course of about a day and a half so that she doesn't pull on the leash!!! (much)  (most of the time)

It has been less than a week, but she will walk, with no tension at all on the leash, for long stretches, and the tension on the leash when it is there is light, though I am aiming for none as the norm.  This alters when there is another dog around, (utterly captivating!!!) but we're getting there.

Friday she got her stitches out, and today, bliss, she and I headed out for a lovely long walk, about 2.5 hours, most of it off leash and she was pretty good while she was on leash too.

Bliss - and many many thanks to my sister in law.

My favourite colour

I thought for years that my favourite colour was yellow!  I think it's lovely, bright, cheery, sunshine-y (if you'll allow me that half word).  Then my kids made me realise that I was wrong.  We were in a gallery, and I rounded the corner into a new room and exclaimed spontaneously, "Oh, isn't that painting lovely!!!!"  One of them turned to me and said, with a slightly weary tone, "Of course you love it mom, it's blue." 

....pause.....

Well that was a shocker.  Really? Do I do that?  Then again, I adored being on the boat in the Bahamas and let me tell you, there, between the sea and the sky, let's hope you like blue!!

So I started looking out for myself doing that, and yep, they're right.  If I complement someone on a shirt or a sweater, it's usually a lovely shade of bright blue.  Strangely, I wear very little blue myself.  Wonder what that's all about.

Anyway, this is all to say that I did it again today, rounded a corner in the Rijksmuseum which I was visiting with my delightful sister-in-law and gasped aloud, "Now that is lovely!"   Allow me to show you.

 

I apologize for the blurry photo, and more so to the artist whose name I didn't write down, but it was very large, very bright and very very blue!  

Lovely.

ps.  We also saw an exhibit called Velazquez and Rembrandt.  Rembrandt...oh my, I adore every single thing he's ever painting or etched or drawn.  There is a sense of kindness to his work, a reverence for the people and animals and a feeling of caring.  Velazquez still leaves me a little cold.  

Rembrandt's son Titus

Vermeer, famous for his paintings of young women in window sills, actually paints the most astonishing landscapes, we saw one in The Hague, and there was another today.  They are truly amazing.

Sadly slightly cropped by the phone format.

And then there was this.  Now, still life paintings, meh.  But this?

Honest to goodness, it just glows.

All the above much more amazing in real life, but still!!!