Eddie The Eagle

Fearing the wrath of animal lovers worldwide, I was sure this photo wouldn't be today's Blip . However looking at it on the PC, saw that he didn't look half as bad as he really was. We had just got out of the vets in Memmingen after he had been doused all over with a large amount of flea lotion and undergone a long massage by the vet working it in to every single hair. He looked like the proverbial drowned rat.

We had gone to the vets for a late appointment as in the morning Eddie successfully managed to jump the 30cm off the sofa on to the floor but then was dragging one hind leg and could hardly walk. Fearing a bone may be broken or a hip out of joint, he came with me to my afternoon quarterly inspection at the specialist Internist (all OK, blood test done , result next week) and then we drove to the vet around the corner. They X-Rayed him but only just. as it was such a small target area. No broken bones, nothing disjointed but the ligaments pulled apart. So a painkiller jab and an injection full of liquid painkiller to give him orally once a day for the next four days. The fleas were spotted and I started scratching myself like mad in the vets! Were told the dogs and cats at home were also to be treated regularly for the next three months as they would by now all be scratching too. Frontline will be doing good business from us.

Eddie is anything but the wild climbing creature in the photo. He is a wonderful, laid back, friendly guy and loves Flash above all others. Favourite resting place is in Flash's bushy tail. Luna is still curious but unsure. The other four cats keep their distance.

Day started with me taking the John Deere with grass mower attached up to the agricultural engineers. They will check it out but probably the bent hydraulic cylinder is too bent to straighten and will have to be replaced. Left the mower and returned home: 5.7km averaging 24.8km/h and descending 100 metres - used the GPS to see if I broke any speed limits. It does record I apparently hit 32.8 km/h but I doubt it.

After lunch Farmer Franz came with a trailer full of unsorted quarry stone/gravel/sand to make a firm base alongside the horse stables as I need some area to store various machinery. In return, gave him a basket full of home produce : 24 eggs, tomatoes, gherkin and salad cucumbers, honey, grapes and as decoration, a cutting from our hop plants.

I then took off for Memmingen with Eddie and returned to find Franz had put two tanks of slurry over our fields - I hope that wasn't revenge for the oversize gherkins or the still somewhat sour tiny grapes that have about 6 seeds each. Luna loved the slurry as we learnt (smelt) in the evening. Are Border Collies the only one's that have the motto "Show me a pile of stinky, moist muck and I will show you how to flatten it"?