Bees on the brain

You've gotta love our bizarre British weather: last week we had a virtual heatwave, but as we hadn't a clue where my summer clothes had been stored I had to wear the same t-shirt (the only one which had evaded the seasonal clothes changeover) all week, with a short-sleeved pyjama top being pressed into garden duty; the t-shirt bag finally came to light yesterday, & as hubby helped me to bag up my cold weather clothes we joked that we were probably putting a curse on the weather. I'm not so foolhardy as to think that I can say goodbye to jumpers in April, it's just that there's not room for both extremes of clothing in the wardrobe: I always keep the bagged-up clothes on standby for several weeks, but really didn't expect to be needing my long-johns again this side of October. But that's exactly what happened this morning: it was so cold first thing that when we nipped out to the shops I needed my thermal undies (rescued from the winter bag), & yet by mid-morning was in the garden - in a t-shirt; mid-afternoon saw me in bed with a hot water bottle, & we had to put the heating on!

A bit of serendipity prompted our early shopping trip today: our garden bench had a couple of broken slats, & last night hubby said that if only he had an electric planer he'd be able to make some new slats of the correct shape. It so happens that I'm signed up to the Lidls newsletter (they often have really good offers), & what should have appeared on their list of 'Monday deals' but an electric planer; so that's where we dashed off to this morning. Unfortunately Jack didn't think much of this; we'd made sure that he'd 'done his business' before we went, & we were gone for less than an hour, yet once again we came home to find that he'd crapped on the floor. I have to admit that thoughts of an outdoor kennel did pass briefly through my mind as I detained him in the garden whilst hubby cleaned up, but I know that that isn't a solution; he can't help getting so stressed, & we just have to be patient in building up his confidence. In any case, Jack is such a loveable character that we could forgive him almost anything: he's brought life to our lives, & makes us laugh every day. Today he was prancing around the garden after bees again, & managed to lasso our fledgling apple tree; later he came to me with his nose covered with sawdust after he'd been 'helping' hubby try out the new planer; but when he's not being a loony he will sit as close as possible to either one of us whilst we're busy doing something, yet doesn't interfere or get in the way, & is so quiet that it's easy to forget he's there - hence the sawdust-spattered nose.

I was going to blip the nose, but he wouldn't keep still enough to get in focus; instead, here he is at the instant he spotted a bee - a split second later, he pounced, and missed.

Things we've learned about Jack today:
He still has a bee in his bonnet regarding bees (& probably always will).
It's not just us cuddling which makes him jealous: if we hold hands he will nuzzle his muzzle in to try & unlink them, & if that doesn't work then he starts licking & 'play biting' them.