WELL it's been a bit like the good, the bad and the ugly here lately.

The bad is definitely the sale of my awesome Honda 230; in fact I felt the same way when we had to deliver the weaned puppies to their new homes, not a great feeling.  I was starting to make up excuses as to why it couldn't go yet but ran out of them in the end; after all it was the recipient's birthday. So I loaded her up and off to town we went and I did shed a little tear when I dropped her off at her new home; admittedly not as many as when we re-homed the puppies but close.

Bike-less isn't a nice feeling after riding one every day so 'the good' is I have a 2012 Honda 250X complete with lowering link for us vertically challenged individuals on order from E T James & Sons in Wales.  Arthur was quite pleased initially but then had the brainwave that he would give me his 570 Husaberg and buy me a lowering link for it and then he would get the Honda 250R.

Now a Husaberg is a close cousin of KTM and I'm well known locally for my dislike of that particular breed, thus it was a big 'no way' from me plus it's so powerful I am pretty certain I would kill myself on it while trying to gather at Race Point.

Arthur though has no such concerns and is so on a roll and overly excited about the possibility of finally owning a decent bike he has been putting pressure on me whenever he can.  The other morning we got up 3.30am so that he could prepare  to go Stevedoring at Port William; within 10 minutes of waking he said; "just think you would have the most powerful bike in the Falklands."

I did point out to him my expectation that I would suffer the loss of life and limb, to which he responded, "win win for me then, new Honda 250 and £80,000 from your life insurance."

I wasn't so impressed with his cavalier attitude to my demise so in order to prepare him for a wifeless future his request for sandwiches a few minutes later was duly refused; after all he'll need to learn to look after himself.

Not that this has put him off the idea of commandeering my bike when it arrives – proof being that when  I ordered the bike graphics and they asked if I required a race number added, Arthur suggested they include his, "just in case I need to borrow it dear."

Stefen is currently in Wales not far from where my bike is situated, so he kindly offered to drive  there and 'pimp it' for me. I'm not convinced this was an entirely sensible idea after hearing him and and his Dad 'discussing things'. Apparently 'I' will be needing wider foot pegs and colour coordinated levers? So I'm now thinking that the sweet little gathering bike I ordered originally could be getting a fairly radical racing facelift. I  just hope I can hold on to it when it arrives because I anticipate husband appropriating it immediately on arrival in order to ,"tame it enough for you to ride Elaine," just as he does with my horses.

The ugly has been Yuppy, the 3rd placed dog trialling bitch, being spayed and a suspicious lump removed from her back. It was a very traumatic time for Arthur who was very close to being sedated by the vet before Yuppy.  As she recovered, being the incredibly clever dog that she is she played the, "I have had two huge operations and must be pampered game."

Before the operation we were told she should have a warm place to sleep and soft bedding to recover after the op'.  So I spent a few hours making a huge dog bed out of an old king size duvet folded into four, complete with a fleecy cover. Yuppy loved it and settled right down on it in our porch and that is where she stayed for far longer than anywhere near resembling necessary. Any mention of her being recovered enough to be moved back to her kennel was met with huge puppy eyes from both Arthur and Yuppy.

Oh, one more good thing, finally after 16 years of marriage Arthur bought me the perfect Easter present a good bottle of red wine. I can't believe it's taken him this long to realise the best way in to my good books is to ply me with booze.