Month: October 2026

I went Tesco shopping to ensure that I could get my 8p per litre off fuel voucher!  We had used nearly a tank being away, so well worth it!

It is Margate Restaurant Week the 2nd -6th November, when you are able to book for a 3 course meal for £20.26. We have booked two. The Buoy and Oyster and Quince.   

A short walk for Ellie, these tablets are horrible, making her legs wobbly. We will be very pleased after her dental procedure on Tuesday and she can start healing. So, a quiet day. Mal went to the allotment and returned with French beans and a lot of apples. I have to say when I was in Tesco I struggled to find English apples and I refuse to buy them from New Zealand when orchards are full in the UK.  Sad to say I don’t think the average person even looks to see where “fresh” food comes from.

We watched the Spurs game (v Man U and had a few texts with Oscar as he supports them) 1-1 was the result and I have to say Spurs played better apart from the disgraceful red card.

I cooked prawn and tomato linguine using some of the mass of tomatoes from the garden and garlic from the allotment.

We were due to catch the 9am ferry but they let us on the earlier one.

We love the Isle of Wight but being honest it wasn’t much of a holiday taking care of Ellie as the pain killers made her have wobbly legs, made worse by the slippery floors in the lodge, even though we had taken three of our non slip runners to cover some of the floor. Plus she was waking up quite a bit during the night, bless her. Mal did a lot of carrying her. BUT it is such a lovely place to stay in the middle of woods but we just couldn’t walk Ellie much.

It was nice sitting out on the terrace and playing cards with a drink or two!!

Back home and unpacking and sorting. I have loads more tomatoes on my plants!  As I did the driving Mal cooked.

Then of course another episode of Traitors (in between the Hammers game which they drew).

Ellie appeared to settle a bit better and still hadn’t woken us up by 7.15!!

A cold morning but the sun was out.  The view from our terrace out towards Portsmouth.

Just after lunch we went into Ryde. Mal and Ellie sat in the park and I looked around the High Street and had a nice chat with the Manager in Cancer Research. I also bought some CD’s for the car as Mal is fed up with the ones we have in there at the moment. One of the charity shops wanted £4 each!! We sell ours for £1 each but in Age Concern I bought a selection at 50p each!

We watched Traitors in the evening and then started packing

 

No fog horn to wake us this morning obviously because it was raining, so no sea mist! We have been so lucky with the weather up until now so no complaints.

We went to Arreton Barns Craft Village. There are a lot of craft shops there and also the pub The Dairyman’s Daughter where we spent some time. There is also the Maritime Museum.

On returning back to the lodge, I received a form to complete from the vets prior to Ellie’s dental op next Tuesday but the price they put on there was not what the vet had quoted, in fact double! As well as that they put the wrong date on ..Saturday instead of Tuesday! I had to contact them straight away and panic over they had included possible extractions, which was not explained! We didn’t need that shock when we are on holiday!

Previous insurances have covered teeth but not the one we have at present which is for older dogs. She is worth it!! We have moved her gabapentin tablets from first thing in the morning, lunchtime and last thing at night and cutting one out. The vet prescribed four a day but she is losing control over her legs(side effect) Hopefully this will help and still reduce the pain.

Mal is carrying her a lot and helping her stand.

 

Needless to say the fog horns went off at 6am again! We are too close to the sea mist. We have stayed at this retreat before and haven’t heard it before.

A little help from Mal and Ellie went for a short walk, had her breakfast, meds and then fell asleep again!

A rather lazy morning, playing cards and games and then off for lunch to The Blacksmiths Arms. The view is  amazing but today seemed a little colder and so ate inside.

The food there is always excellent. AND my favourite dessert ever. Mal joined me and he had the same today and couldn’t believe how good it is and full of raspberries. – White chocolate and Raspberry Creme Brulee

Ellie just slept on the floor and then afterwards had a walk in their huge garden.

I have to say we are not doing as much as we planned but it really doesn’t matter as long as Ellie is OK.

Football in the evening and England won!

 

Another morning being woken up by the fog horn and again  we have a sea mist. Well, you can’t actually see the  sea! It is in between the trees.

We have decided to return to the full dose of Gabapentin as Ellie had a bad night and was up and down and panting. She is taking Metacam as well which was why we were a bit concerned but back to what we were told.

So, we had an easy morning and then drove into Shanklin. A short look around and then into The Steamer for lunch. They do the most delicious Fish Chowder. It is also in such a lovely position opposite the beach. This meant a short walk for Ellie with her wobbly legs. She looked so pleased with herself when she managed to walk into the sea and paddle. I have to say when Mal carried her up the front steps of the Steamer so many people said “Aaaaaah”.

As usual Ellie just lay below the table and we gave her some fish at the end.

We came back to the lodge and Ellie lay on the terrace next to us as we had a few games of cards.  She seemed much more settled in the evening but her legs are wobbly and having no carpet is not helping her standing. We have tried to cover some of the floors with runners we bought from home.  She woke us up at 1 and again at 2.30am, where she struggles to stand.

We were woken up at 6am by the fog horns going off as we are so close to the sea and there was a thick sea mist.

It wasn’t long before the sun came out and the mist cleared. We decided to go to Osborne House as soon as it opened at 10 am so that we could park the car very near the entrance which meant Ellie wouldn’t have to walk too far. We had to do it all in easy steps and then sit for a while. We are English Heritage members so it didn’t matter that we didn’t stay all day. It is such a beautiful house and gardens.

We chatted to a guy and his greyhound and he lives in a house on the estate. It was the house where Victoria’s very good friend Abdul Karim lived –  Arthur Cottage    so he walks his dogs in the grounds every day but has to pay for English Heritage membership!

On the way back we went to Quarr Abbey as the cafe gardens there are really nice and had a pot of tea.

We realised that Ellie had done more than enough walking for one day and so came back to the lodge.

We tried to reduce her Gabapentin as she has a bit of a wobble walking .

Our dinner was all ready in the slow cooker.