Climbing the stairs carrying a mug of tea in one hand, a hot water bottle and an iPad in the other, with a cat on the stair in front of me and a dog on the stair behind me. What could POSSIBLY go wrong??
Nothing, as it happens. Sorry to disappoint, especially given my history of ‘on the stairs’ incidents.
It was the festival of Imbolc this weekend just gone. Half way point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox which means lighter and brighter days are definitely on the way. I celebrated by opening all the house windows to allow a nice breeze to blow through all the rooms, and by taking the Shark Hydrovac for its maiden voyage. After a slow start - ‘Where’s the water? Why isn’t the water working?’ - the machine soon got going and I can award it a big tick and gold star. It’s very easy to use and I am pleased with its cleaning abilities. Bravo me for biting the bullet and making the purchase.
This weekend also saw me acting the role of ‘The Fairy Dogmother!’ A couple of weeks ago, Nell and I met a nice lady, who lives in the village, out walking one of her two dogs. We know this lady quite well - Nell especially loves her on account of the pocket full of treats this lady carries with her. Anyway, this lady has a five year old Yorkshire terrier and an eight month old Yorkie/Daschund/Chihuahua cross. And it was the Yodachi (I made that up because I can’t be arsed to keep typing out the long-winded phrase ‘Yorkie/Daschund/Chihuahua’. Which I just did…sigh…) and she was looking very stressed. The lady, not the Yodachi.
It transpired that the Yodachi was given as a gift to the nice lady’s elderly mother who is well into her eighties. Who does that? Give a puppy to an elderly lady as a surprise gift? Nut cases, that’s who. Anyway, this puppy, who was very sweet but very enthusiastic about life, was causing the nice lady a lot of stress, but being a responsible dog owner to the Yorkshire terrier, she felt she had to take on the responsibility of coping for the puppy because her elderly mother couldn’t. We had a brief chat, the nice lady gave Nell a treat from her pocket and we went on our separate ways.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the stress and anxiety in the nice lady’s face, though. And when I saw her again the following day I said, on a whim and with a bit of intuition, ‘If you ever have a thought to re-home this puppy, then I might know of someone who could be interested.’ And the nice lady looked at me and said, immediately and without hesitation, ‘Yes, please. I can’t cope much longer.’
The puppy looked a bit like this. Only with more dark chestnut colouring across its head and a whiter chest…
Well, I went home, thinking that at some point in the next few days I would contact my friend, who lives in Kent, and mention this puppy to her. Reader(s), within half an hour of me arriving home, this friend from Kent telephoned.
‘I was just going to ask if you and Andrew (she calls Lord Malarkey ‘Andrew’) would keep an eye open for a little dog for me,’ she said. ‘Andrew might have a stray come into his surgery, maybe?’
You see, she had lost her own dog the previous Autumn to an unexpected and fast developing brain tumour. It was all very sudden and very sad.’
‘I’ve had a miserable Winter without a dog in the house,’ said my friend, who is very much a dog person and has looked after dogs all her life. ‘I’m on the look out for a new companion. Something small. A terrier-type.’
Well! Serendipity alert!! Of course, I immediately told her of this puppy. I popped back to see the nice lady and took some photos and videos of the puppy which I sent on to my friend. For a week, I acted as a go-between for the nice lady and my friend, whilst tentative enquiries were passed between the two about the puppy and a potential adoption. And then they got phoning and texting between themselves. And here we are, two weeks later, and the puppy has a new and loving home and the nice lady in the village is much relieved that this is so, even though she will miss the puppy and feels a little guilty about having to let her be re-homed. But as she said, ‘I have to do what’s best for the dog, and this is the best thing.’
My friend travelled up from Kent on Friday and stayed on a camper-van site for the weekend, making several visits to the nice lady for walks and play times so the puppy could get used to her before they set off for Kent on Monday. She brought the puppy around to us a couple of times so she could play with Nell. The two of them had a high old time scooting around the garden. Andy gave the puppy a check up and declared her very fit and healthy. Everything went very well. My friend is delighted with her new puppy companion!
The nice lady gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses as a ‘thank you.’ And my friend took us out for a meal as a ‘thank you.’ I’m just glad everyone is happy!
As the puppy set off for her new home in Kent, Andy said, ‘It’s a good job J (our friend) saw this puppy before I did. I’d have given it a home if she didn’t want it.’
‘I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘One dog is quite enough. Especially one called Nell.’
Comments