Bramble counting sheep on holiday near Kirkcudbright (with thanks to gordonrasmith for the photograph)

And NOW.........

Dearest Reader - Greetings.  Sorry to be away so long.  Here is a ‘catch-up’.

My left arm is now nearly healed after the final fracas 3 weeks ago with the Springer/collie cross dog that we had been trying to re-home.  My right hand is healed but quite sore at times after the first fracas within 24 hours of his arrival with us 6 weeks previously.  He is a beautiful dog, an excellent retriever of tennis balls, and shows strong evidence of some previous obedience training - but he also has serious issues which the Dogs’ Trust at West Calder promised would be addressed carefully before they would consider any attempt to re-home him again.  (So I am not at all sure why he was re-advertised just 2 weeks after we had returned him with a full and honest report.  I sincerely hope he doesn’t bite again, because he wasn’t messing about).

We now have another new 4-footed member of the family.  She is a black,13 and a half-weeks’ old, Standard Poodle puppy called ‘Bramble’, who went on holiday with us to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula for a few days, and is just gorgeous!  She is fantastically soft, very cuddly, will now (usually) ‘sit’ to command and has learnt ’lie down’ over the past 2 days, retrieve a ball from across the room, stay dry all night till her toilet trip into the garden the next morning, and falls asleep whenever the chance arises.............

Last Saturday saw us take a trip towards Biggar to replenish our depleted feathered flock, returning home with 3 new hens, currently too young to lay.  However, Meena did NOT appreciate newcomers to the coop, shouting her disgust to everyone within earshot......... continuously......... this was upsetting the 3 newbies, upsetting both human heads of the household, and in serious danger of upsetting the neighbours. Meena can also be a bit of a bully, and the smallest bird, at just 14 weeks, is still really quite small and likely to be quite vulnerable.  So Meena and Myna were removed to a box in the back room for the first night, being returned to the outside run an hour after the others were up in the morning.  Myna got on with having her breakfast, but Meena was still not having it.  Continuous shouting saw her returned to the indoor box for the morning.

Rapid arrangement of alternative accommodation for the 2 mature birds was necessary, to give the newbies chance to settle in and grow a bit bigger before the Big 2 get back to the regular henhouse again. The shed was therefore emptied to find the spare pen and erect this next to the house, with a new carpet of bark chippings, feed, water and a night/laying shelter for Meena and Myna.  The established henhouse and run was also cleaned out and refurbished with fresh bark, feed and water for the newbies. 

A couple of hours remaining before Evensong allowed re-potting of the geraniums for over-wintering indoors. There had been ice on the car windscreen that morning, so this seemed like a good move.  We will do the same for our lovely bay tree once we have some fresh compost - having barely survived the low temperatures of last winter it probably has no chance at all of getting through another winter outside..... tho survival indoors is probably also unlikely .......

Master Catlet thought the whole proceedings were for his entertainment, creeping around and checking out the newcomers – these were ‘perching’, so were evidently ‘birds’ and required serious scrutiny, as opposed to the ground-loving older hens who are noted for standing their ground when Bart gets closer than they consider respectable.

Bramble wanted to join in too and ensure a riotous melee....... She was most disgruntled to find herself removed to the kitchen until all activities had been completed.

What hilarity ! 

We have yet to settle into a harmonious routine.  Further re-arrangement of hen-housing will be necessary for the winter, as the back of the garden is further away and quite chilly when the temperature drops.  Names are being discussed. And we have the luxury of another week of holiday to be scheduled before the end of the year - hoping for a few days near Kirkcudbright to give Bart his first holiday and allow  Bramble to run on the beach every day.

I shall try to be back soon.  All best wishes, x

And then it all went wrong.......

Since I last wrote, we have been having further problems with Hannimal Hector – serious biting (without any warning), and a major tail-bushing fracas between Dog and Cat (fortunately Cat is young, VERY fast and relatively sensible, so remains uninjured....not so ChickPea........).

We were loathe to give up on the dog without first trying to properly – and appropriately - address the behaviour. So a fully validated behaviourist, provided by the Dog’s Trust, visited us last Friday, spending a significant amount of time with us, giving us most valuable advice and a very clear programme of exercises to follow. She was kind, and very sensible. “Be safe” was her Ultimate Directive.

All seemed to be going nicely over the weekend as TH worked with the programme. Dog seemed quite comfortable with the first exercises, gradually progressing from Day One to Day Two of the set regimen.

Come Monday, after he had been breakfasted and well (and quietly) walked by ChickPea, she felt the time was right for her to start on the earliest exercises with him too. Not so. Dog was NOT having it.

So Hector went back to the Dog’s Trust at the beginning of the week.

It was the only option. Each time he bit someone he was building his confidence, and under-mining ours. Not the way to a happy, safe or joyous future for the four of us (let alone bringing the hens into the equation). He had made some good progress with us along the way – he was beginning to walk more comfortably on the lead, he was a little less restless in the house, he was allowing TH to touch him a little - but we were not up to giving him what he needs just now to deal with the biting issues. We hope that returning him to the rescue centre with extensive reporting of the issues which arose will assist rehabilitation for his future.

But we are still sad that he had to go, and the home is desolate without a canine member of the household..........

Staying Awake on a (late) Summer’s Afternoon

(With considerable difficulty, that is.....) 

These past few weeks have been hectic.  Hannimal Hector the new hound requires some serious behaviour modification, especially where golden Labradors are concerned.  Also in terms of basic handling (difficult to manage a dog with a cut paw if he doesn’t like his feet being touched), basic walking on a lead, relaxation when there’s more than one person in his company, and grooming. 

Who knows the ‘Why’ – perhaps inadequate basic handling when he was a puppy, perhaps an attack by a golden Labrador - but certainly all this needs to be remedied before we will have a dog we can even trust a little.  Dog Behaviourists appear to abound on the internet – tho credibility and qualification seem rather less available.  As the Dogs’ Trust have an in-house ‘behaviour advisor’, we have made arrangements and an appointment to gain guidance ASAP, well aware that we may inadvertently be presenting conflicting or inconsistent demands without realizing that we are so doing. 

In the longer term we are planning to attend Dog-person Training Classes (aware that these occasional signs of aggression need to be a thing of the past by then) and hope that occasional forays towards Agility Classes may be good for body and mind (as these sessions appear to clash with choir rehearsals, he’ll have to make do with ‘occasional’ I’m afraid).

Get-along-ability with the Feline Fella is making (rather slow but) steady progress – lots of space-sharing (initiated by cat, including managing to spend the night in the dog’s kitchen when ChickPea was away), and respectful nose-to-nose sniffing (initiated by both dog and by cat).

Today a new sleeping place has come into the house.  Bought for Dog, (as we will be going away on for a few nights’ holiday and a moveable ‘known’ bed seems like a good idea to help Dog cope with more new experiences) Cat was into it just moments after it was accessible, checked it out carefully and pronounced that it could stay. Surprisingly he then settled elsewhere, allowing Dog to take possession.

Peace has now settled upon us – TH asleep on the sofa, Big Cat asleep on the chair, and Hector Hound snuggled into his new bed.  Disturbing the harmonious silence to initiate dog walk in the park can wait another five minutes........

Welcome.......

The dog-shaped gap in the household has been unbearable. Thank you to the West Calder Dogs’ Trust for providing a new family member to enliven our lives.......

A New Star has Entered Heaven

A much loved friend died recently, aged just 51.  We maybe didn’t see him often – one of those people you hope to get to know better in the future.  He was one of those rare people who brings sunshine and hope into a dark day, who finds an unexplored corner in your troubled situation which proves to hold a key to a way forward.  A fine guitarist, adept mediator, coffee connoisseur, encourager of the downhearted........ a thoroughly fine chap.  Words are inadequate to describe him.  His passing leaves an unfillable gap in very many lives.  May you rest in peace, Tim.

Reluctant Christian

It occurs that maybe I mis-named this blog. Maybe I should re-name it the name of this post. ‘RC’, even. (Now, THAT might be fun – limitless potential for confusion - I’m sure I could find all sorts of interpretations of ‘RC’, eh .....)

So why didn’t I ? Come to that, why don’t I........... why won’t I ?

Part of it is the intervening history of this label ‘Christian’. Christ, the historical person, MUST have been quite a man. To have influenced individual people to such a degree that they gave their lives to take His teaching throughout the world and effect such an impact upon the globe, the Man Who Started It All MUST have been Quite A Man.

But also over the intervening hundreds – ok, thousands - of years , many, many crimes have been committed under the banner of ‘Christianity’. Do I REALLY want to be associated with such a history by embracing the label of ‘Christian’ ?

You see where I’m coming from ?

But what of ‘The Man’ – that astonishing figure that started it all – without the assistance of newspaper, TV or internet.

And what of the remarkable people – both males and females - who have been astonished, inspired and motivated to positively influence, astonish and inspire the world – all through their own personal understandings and encounters with ‘The Man’. Many of whom gave up their lives because they refused to deny this faith.

Maybe I do feel reluctant – and perhaps scared – to wear the label of ‘Christian’. If this means ‘being Christ-like’, seeing the world ‘with the eyes of Christ’, caring as passionately about the world as did ‘The Man’ himself, extending love to those who need love - then rather a lot seems to be required.

So – REJECT all this ‘church’ and ‘Christ’ stuff - why bother with the whole ‘Christianity’ thing at all ?

Well....... there’s the heart of the question. Try as I have through the years to turn away from this way of life, the integral demands involved, the personal questions and challenges raised........... Try as I may, turn and run.....wherever........however............. whatever.......... I keep meeting the essential truth and challenge of ‘The Man’.......Christ himself........... and repeatedly encounter that amazing love that will not let you go..........

‘Reluctant Christian’ ? ........ Too right. But, somehow, and equally, ‘Committed Christian’.