Shadow is now at 29 weeks since her last season and the waiting game goes on. This is not exceptional for her. Her last nine seasons have varied from 23 weeks and one day to 35 weeks. However she is steadily passing the timings of the other intervals. It makes life very difficult to plan anything and our Mistress ends up keeping her diary clear for weeks and weeks. All we can say is that it will start eventually. The thing our Mistress is most alarmed about is having to spend another autumn sleeping in the utility. Her main concern is that when the spiders start coming in for the winter they tend to come in that way and when she takes her glasses off she can\u2019t see very well and it would not be the first time she has simply become aware of a black shape scuttling past her mattress. To say it freaked her out is an understatement. She was hoping to be through the sleeping in their stage by the time they started their march indoors, but that is not looking likely. One day she wants to bring up a litter in the summer so that they can play outside more easily and she can enjoy the fun. Shadow has only ever managed to give birth in autumn and winter and it is looking as though this litter will follow exactly the same pattern. Ari is now hoping the litter will be born on his birthday and if she starts between tomorrow and Friday that is quite possible! That would be typical of Shadow keeping things neat and tidy.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t told you how the vegetables are doing for a while. I\u2019m going to say this quietly, but I think the parsnips are taking over. They are huge and if there is as much going on below the soil as above it there is going to be a good crop. The carrots are not doing so well and some of them don\u2019t seem to be bothering to grow at all. It\u2019s too early to tell with the peas and squash! We\u2019ve got one cherry on the cherry tree too. I don\u2019t think the birds have found that one.<\/p>\n
Alfie\u2019s Diary \u2013 the Book as well as our other books are available HERE<\/a><\/p>\n You can find short stories to read at www.alfiedog.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"