Benji looking in the village library

Benji looking in the village library, a photo by Bev & Paul Mynott on Flickr.

Benji looking in the village library to see which book he would like to read before going to bed. He's a little worried, as he thinks it must be a very small village to have their books in a telephone box, and he wants to know where the librarian sits!

Benji & Tony in the stocks

Benji & Tony in the stocks, a photo by Bev & Paul Mynott on Flickr.

Benji and Tony try putting their heads through the holes in the stocks! Paws crossed they don't get stuck, or we would have to dismantle the ancient stocks to free them. Teddy suggested we could just leave them overnight as a punishment!

Benji & Tony in the stocks

Benji & Tony in the stocks, a photo by Bev & Paul Mynott on Flickr.

The village of Hellman's Cross in Essex has preserved their ancient stocks and whipping post. Benji and Tony went to explore the stocks, where naughty bears would have been taken.

Tony & Benji check to see if the village library is open

Tony & Benji check to see if the village library is open, a photo by Bev & Paul Mynott on Flickr.

We went for a drive on the August bank holiday and spotted this unusual and rather dinky village library. Tony and Benji went to have a closer look, but were disappointed that none of the shelves were low enough for them to check out books for bedtime reading.
This unusual library was seen at a place called Hellman's Cross Village, near Bacon End in Essex.

More horror tales from the dentist's chair!

So, Bev was back at the dentist to get her crowns and a filling done, but if she thought that was uncomfortable, she was in for a shock when the dentist cleaned her teeth!  Eeek, it felt like she was doing it with a needle, and poor Bev spent ages spitting out blood afterwards!

So, she is now the proud owner of an air flosser, a gadget to speedily floss her teeth morning and night - no more painful dental cleans for her!  And while the air flosser does its job, it is incredibly messy, with Bev splattering water and mouthwash all over the tiles, mirror and her chin!  Oh dear, Mr Tidy (aka Paul) won't be happy, as he'll have to clean it up (from the tiles and mirror, not her chin - she can manage that herself).  We've been using it too, but not between our sharp little teeth - it's great for cleaning between our toes and to blast dirt from other areas of our furry bodies, but don't tell Bev!

Kitty's Glucose Curve - great progress!

We had to take Kitty for his 3-monthly glucose curve this week, so that the vet could see how he was getting on with his insulin injections.  He has been absolutely fantastic recently and is his old bouncy, feisty self again.  But image our amazement when we were told that he was doing so well that they don't need to see him again for 6 months!

They did point out that he has now put on all the weight he lost and more, so he is now a whopping 6.2 kilos, which is 13lbs 6oz!  Eeek, no wonder my legs go numb when he sits on them for any length of time!  But he isn't fat, he's just a healthy fighting weight, though the vet doesn't want him to get much bigger.

Scary! Be afraid, be very afraid!

We think Bev has rather a scary reputation at work, just like she has at home.  She was introduced to a new person at work today as "This is Bev, but don't worry, her bark is worse than her bite!"  Err, you obviously haven't seen her when she gets *really* angry, though you're probably quite safe at the moment as she can't bite you until she's been back to the dentist!

A Business Case for a Highlighter?

Oh no, we all know that local government departments are trying to cut back these days, but some of these cuts are just silly.  How silly, you ask?  Well, one of Bev's colleagues went to the stationery cupboard for some highlighters, and was told that "not just anyone can have highlighters, you know!  You need a business case for having them!"  What?  This has all the hallmarks of the great post-it note fiasco, where they bought really cheap ones with little or no ink - they stuck to jack shit, fell off desks and stuck to people's shoes, ending up all over the building.  Now people have to sellotape them to documents!

We know that cost savings are important, but when another colleague said he had to wade through the boss's luxurious shag pile carpet just to get to his desk, you have to ask yourself where the real cost savings could be made!

We're dreaming about that luxurious carpet and wondering if we could sneak in during the night, rip it up and bring it home - and of course, we would need to take some highlighters so that we could change its colour :-)

Oh no!

Oh no, as Bev bit into her breakfast yesterday morning, a large filling came out!  Disaster!  Actually, on closer inspection, it was part of the tooth that had been prepared for a crown, but it will need to be fixed before the crown can be put in place.  So, poor nervous Bev has to phone the dentist tomorrow morning to make another appointment and she has to sook (suck) her food until it is fixed!  At least the nerve had been removed from the tooth, so despite half the tooth falling out, Bev is in no pain :-)

Oh no, Bev has been at the dentist!

Having comforted Bev last night and told her not to worry about her 15 minute dental appointment - after all, how much pain can they inflict in 15 minutes - she staggered through the front door an hour later looking as though she had been in a fight!  One side of her face was swollen and lopsided (the Hunchback of Notre Dame sprang to mind but I wasn't daft enough to say it), and the rest of her face looked as though it was covered in bruises!  On closer inspection, the blue colouring flaked off - it was from the stuff they use to take impressions of your teeth.  She is now shell-shocked but recovering, though she is not looking forward to her next appointment on the 20th July. 

So, what did she have done?  Well, she had a huge injection, an old crown removed, root canal treatment and a pin inserted, with a temporary crown until her new crown is ready.  She also had another tooth prepared for a crown, and next time she goes to the dentist she will also have a filling.

Oh dear, I wonder if they let an old teddy bear come and hold her hand while they are poking around Bev's teeth.  If not, we'll need to terrorise some old codger for his supply of temazepam!

Olympic Torch being carried by Paul McIntyre

Olympic Torch being carried by Paul McIntyre, a photo by Bev & Paul Mynott on Flickr.

During our grand tour of Scotland, the Olympic torch was conveniently coming to Stirling, so Paul and Tony went off to see it and take some photographs. Here is Paul McIntyre holding the torch - Paul has Becker Muscular Dystrophy.

Tony wants his photograph taken

Tony getting too close to the camera, a photo by Bev & Paul Mynott on Flickr.

Tony wants his photograph taken and he wants it taken NOW! He got bored while Paul fiddled with the buttons on the camera, and Tony decided to see what he could see through the lens.