Bye Bye Bad Boy Bobby

Enjoying the Winter Sun

Bobby, bad boy Bobby. I got fed up with not being able to trust him. He goes off and takes Bonnie with him, and they have been chasing sheep. Also, I couldn't just leave the door open. Always having to check which dog was chained up. That is not my kind of life. And I don't have the time to train him.
So last Monday we tossed a coin. Heads, he goes to the municipal kennel. Heads it was. So off he went.
I felt a bit bad for him but so much better for us.
Then I got a message from our neighbours who live in Germany most of the time, that they would take Bobby to Germany. One of them would fly out especially to get him! Yikes!
So I zoomed back to the kennel and retrieved him. Just for one more week, I told myself. Anyway, he and Bonnie went out on Saturday evening and attacked the sheep again. We had an angry farmer come and visit. I felt so bad.
I know just how bad it is, having had sheep in my childhood, and dogs that do bad things...
We await a nasty bill. Bad boy Bobby is banned from the sofa and has to spend his days on a chain outside, and unfortunately, Bonnie has to be, too. I hate this, but I will not let it happen again.
On a brighter note, I made friends with a women via FB, who had seen photos of my cob studio and she came from Denmark to visit! It was her first time in Portugal and she is loving it. She is staying in my little house in Sao Luis and getting a feel for the rural life. We picked oranges off the tree for juice. That always feels good.
The garden is slowly beginning to reawaken and look cared for. Bean poles in place. Peas peeping through the soil. We planted a few more trees. It has been a great winter. Dry and sunny with amazing sunsets. Cold at night but that feels good when you're warm inside.

The Vegetable Garden

The tobacco plants got very big and I finally cut them down and hung them upside down in the green house. When the first plant's leaves had gone pale brown I took them off the stem and brought them up to the house and broke them up into smaller bits and it smells lovely. R tried smoking some but it kept going out, so we have ordered a clay pipe to puff on! Neither of us are smokers, but the odd puff of home grown can't be bad.

Isabella in the Green House Beside the Tobacco