I must be getting old...

They say that time passes faster as you get older, and it seems to be rushiung past quite well at the moment, so I can only put it down to advancing years. I really ought to update the information at the side of the blog to show me as 51 years old now, but I'd probably still pass for 50. (In the dark, with the light right behind me at least) So maybe I'll leave it a bit longer.
Best news of all, as you will see from the previous post, I had a visitor. And not the widow of the Finance Minister of the republic of Ivory Coast with a tempting offer of 30 million dollars, as many of my emails tend to be. It was someone who did not leave their name, but effectively accused me of being a 'grammar bully' as I was once called. Probably a reasonable label, but please don't let that put you off submitting a reply. If you want to put me down, see if you can spot the three typos which I and one other found in 'Prisoners Property and Prostitutes'. You are welcome to point them out, providing you bought a copy of the book first of course!
So April is here already, spring is springing and the birds are chirruping merrily. This means being disturbed by the little sods every morning and hayfever hitting me in both eyes as I make the first coffee of the day. But I do seem to prefer spring and summer to winter nowadays, the reverse of when I was in my teens and twenties. It may be an age thing, but is more likely because I now have to pay the gas bill.
Pixie the Jack Russell was speyed a couple of weeks ago - amazing that within a matter of hours of an operation that lays humans low for weeks, she was jumping on and off the settee and picking fights with Rosie, the other Jack Russell. 'Keep her quiet and restricted for a few days' said the vet. Short of setting her little feet in concrete or administering anaesthetic it was a doomed instruction, but they have to say it for liability purposes - and because it is good advice, even if the dog doesn't understand it.
Tomorrow we go to Hartpury near Gloucester for the Blue Chip Winter Championships. It's a show jumping thing which my daughter qualified for, so for us it consists of three humans and the two Jacks sleeping in the horse truck for four nights. Naturally the horse gets a stable with all the comforts of home. OK we don't have to take the dogs, but they make useful hot water bottles if the weather is cold. Ironic the Winter Championships are in April, but it tends to be a good event and April is a better bet for a show with outdoor arenas as well as the majestic indoor one..
Now here's a real long shot - if you are at Hartpury between the afternoon of Tuesday 5th April and the following Saturday morning, look for a blue and silver Iveco horsebox with an angular paint design and a registration number ending in KGK, make yourself known to me and I'll GIVE you a copy of the book. And sign it. If only you knew how it hurts to make such an offer! Shows how unlikely I think it is to happen - the next blog may reveal all, but I'm not taking bets.