Spending Time with Hoolie...

When you're a dog person as I am, dogs punctuate certain moments of your life in a similar fashion to how particular songs do. Hoolie, the black Labrador that you see in the photo to the left, will, for example, always be the dog who stayed with us throughout Mavis's funeral. He was a real comfort to have around.

Hoolie is the latest dog to have passed through Barkingham Palace as a home-boarder. Having stayed with us for eighteen nights, he's also the dog who has spent the most time with us in one stay. At the risk of reading like a sycophant, I absolutely loved having him stay. Again, similarly to the case of 'the Doodles', some dogs just take you by surprise with their charm. Hoolie is, for me, an almost perfect blend of energy and calm. He can have moments of incredible energy which makes for great walks. He certainly loved running around the fields with Ellie, and even allowed Ellie to practise her herding on him. But then, in the house, he just relaxed and you barely knew you had him. Though I did consider calling the Guinness Book of Records to see if he could take the title of world's fastest eater. I swear that it took longer for me to put the food down to the floor, than it took for him to swallow it!

It didn't take him long to learn what a soft touch I am, as he managed to join me on the sofa after just a few days. That is one area where he most certainly does differ from the Doodles. Having two JRTs on a sofa with you is nothing like having a dog the size of Hoolie on the sofa with you, let me tell you! Don't tell the Doodles, but I've had to put Hoolie in joint first place for the title of my favourite boarding dogs.

Ellie got on really quite well with Hoolie too. There were several times where she just laid her head on his chest and went to sleep. Isn't romance a wonderful thing... And then, to tell you what a charmer Hoolie really is, a day or two after he left, he sent us some flowers to thank us for the stay! Hmm, thinking about it, maybe he sent them to Ellie? Regardless, they were a lovely gift, though we do wonder what other trouble he's been getting into with his online credit-card shopping!

As Hoolie left on the Wednesday, two pugs, Bert and Ernie, joined us on Saturday (Yesterday.) They are now with us until next Saturday. They have come at a good time really. We believe Ellie was entering into a second phantom pregnancy. She was showing all the signs again. However, Bert and Ernie seem to have distracted her, which is a good thing as we want to get her spayed next month.

So far, they are proving to be good dogs. An occasional bout of energy, but they spend most of their time sleeping together. They really are very cute when you see them together....

In other news, Ellie is doing well. As mentioned already, she is on the cusp of another phantom pregnancy, but we're hoping that she will through this one as we so desperately want to get her spayed next month. Aside from that, it can't be nice for her. The discomfort in my fingers has now turned to bouts of pain as opposed to just discomfort, which is not helped, I suspect, by the cooler weather we are experiencing. I shall be very glad to get to the hospital at the end of November. There are already certain tasks that I am finding quite challenging and it is this that I want to remedy more than anything. Luckily, I can still operate my camera, but the time spent at the computer to process the photos, is just too much at the moment, due to my fingers being locked around the mouse for prolonged periods. I am shortly purchasing a brand new professional camera so that the time needed to make post-processing edits is minimised. That should help me incredibly. (Not to mention those who are waiting to see their photos, I suspect.)

My brain seems to have dried up in regards to thinking up new tricks for Ellie to learn. Maybe it's just because we've had quite some time of having Jan's mum's illness to deal with, as well as the problem of my fingers. Jan's mum is now at peace and hopefully things will start moving on my fingers after the hospital visit so that we can get back to normal at Barkingham Palace.

Finally, both Jan and I would like to thank everyone who helped us both during the illness and passing of Jan's mum, Mavis. Whether that help came by way of cards or messages of support, offers of dog-sitting, company, or anything else, it was hugely appreciated. Thank you.

A Tribute to Mavis....

At around 20:30 tonight, we received the terrible news that Jan's Mum, Mavis, passed-away after her cancer. It is common to read of people passing away after 'losing their battle with cancer' but that wouldn't be the right statement in this case. Battle infers some sort of struggle and she never once struggled. Mavis never really battled with cancer. She lived with her illness courageously, with dignity, and without one word of contempt or self-pity. She took the available treatments, even the experimental ones, but always accepted, from the day she heard the news, that she had to be positive and live on as normal, as though she never had it. In fact, she once told me, when I asked her how she dealt with it, that she didn't have cancer. She just had 'something' and that is what the doctors were treating. What it was, she didn't need to know.

It is fitting that I write this entry in Ellie's blog as Mavis loved Ellie so very much. She never tired of seeing the new tricks she was learning on her many visits, and she constantly told anyone who would listen what a good dog Ellie was and how many different things she could do. When on the phone, she would always ask how Ellie was. Ellie, in turn, rewarded her fondness with her usual enthusiastic licks and wiggles. We will remember, with great fondness, the times that Ellie and Mavis shared together. Indeed, only a week before her death, Ellie enthusiastically jumped onto Mavis's bed to make sure she got her goodbyes in too. We all perhaps like to think that our dogs know things in such circumstances, but what I will say is that seconds after I received the news of Mavis's passing, Ellie jumped onto my knee and just laid there. Maybe she just reacted a change in my mood, who knows. Draw your own conclusions, as I will.

From a personal perspective, I have a great deal to be thankful to Mavis for. Around five years ago, I was seriously ill and, without her selfless support, in so many aspects, I probably wouldn't be alive to write this piece now. She gave so much of her time and helped in so many ways throughout those many many months. And that really was the essence of Mavis - selfless and giving. My own life has been such that I was never really able to experience normal family life. Mavis gave me a decade of real motherly love, caring, and affection, and for that I shall remain so eternally thankful.

Both Mavis and I were avid snooker fans and she would come and stay with me each year to watch the televised events. Something that I always looked forward to. Before she died, she told me, "When you watch that snooker, remember, I'll be there." And you know what, I reckon she just might be. Though I suspect that watching those events might be a little tougher for a while.

Mavis, if you're reading, thank you, and let's hope for a Mark Selby win this year, eh? Love you always.

It must be love, love, love....

It's a busy time for home-boarding here at Barkingham Palace. I now have the rest of this week free, and then it's dog guests pretty much all the way through October, with half of November potentially booked up too already! Still, that means we must be getting something right.

For the past two weeks and a few days, we've had Caesar and Cleo, a pair of wire-haired Jack Russell Terriers, staying with us. They've stayed with us before, but never for that length of time. It was an absolutely amazing stay.

Because they stayed with us for longer, we got to see more of their personalities this time. They are just two of the most charismatic dogs I've ever known. Cleo has a habit of always sleeping under her blanket, but she forgets that she is under there when she wakes up. Ergo, you just just see a blanket hovering across the floor. Caesar, now he's a one dog laughathon from start to finish. He loves to be the centre of attention and will do almost anything to make sure that he is. Caeasar and I gravitated towards each other from the very start. He is everything that I love in a dog - he's cheeky, he's energetic, and just so full of spirit! He could also sleep for England. I don't think we have ever laughed as much as we have with these two. I did consider keeping them but I think their owners, Max and Becky, were onto my plan pretty early on. Foiled again!

I was supposed to be enjoying my regular walk with (whisper) my favourite dog (end whisper) Teal'c the Rotweiller, yesterday evening, but Jan's Mum was taken into the hospital the night before. I think I have mentioned before, but if not, Jan's Mum has terminal cancer, with only an expected few months to live. However, she's a tough ol' Northern gal, and keeps on defying the odds. God bless her. All being well, she should be out of hospital again today.

Anyway, I naturally cancelled my walk with Teal'c but am trying to squeeze one in before the end of the week when we take another dog in for over two weeks. I have to get my regular Teal'c fix, you know. And secretly, going by the way that poor ol' Sue (Teal'c's owner) gets dragged to my door when she arrives, I think Teal'c likes to get her Maz fix too. :) What can I say - I'm a dedicated Rottie fan through and through...

Then, in between dog stays, we've been trying to decorate and get some bits done around the house. We have to try and make things dog-proof as much as possible so it's always quite a challenge, but I think we have a decent enough balance.

On the issue of my ailing fingers, blood tests have now ruled out rheumatoid arthritis and gout. (Gout was never really an option but it had to be ruled out before the next stage.) The latest theory is that my immune system has gone a little crazy and is attacking my own joints because it doesn't recognise them as belonging to me. Apparently, it's not as uncommon as it sounded to me at first. I also believe this is essentially what arthritis is anyway. So it's a referral to the rheumatology department at the hospital now for further tests. Suffice to say that my fingers are still immensely painful at times, particularly when they get cold. I'm having to use my laptop for much of the time now as resting my fingers over the mouse for prolonged periods seems to make them much worse too. But I'm confident that we'll get to the bottom of it and get rid of the problem as easily as I seemed to encounter it.

Oh yes, and then there is Ellie. Remember her? A Border Collie? :) She has been doing great. It's fair to say that her training has lessened of late, because of other things going on, but that will get restored in due course.

She's being amazing really, considering the number of different dogs that come into her space. She seems to get much more bent out of shape over bitches then dogs. When the two JRTs come, for example, she obsesses over Cleo but barely notices Caesar. It must be a woman thing. :) That said, she always laid down with Cleo, not Caesar.

Our latest game is that I drop the ball surreptitiously as we are walking. Then, at some random point I will call 'Ellie, find it!' and she has to find the ball. She's really very very good at it! I'm going to start doing it with other objects soon I think. I'm very impressed that she never gives in searching. I've also become better at not giving any clues away as to the location of the ball. I try my hardest to stand like a statue. Not easy on these colder morning I can tell you!

So there you have it - a busy but fine time at Barkingham Palace. Until the next time...