Keeping up appearances.......

Seasidegal58

I wish I could work part-time but my firm wouldn't pay me full wages! Still only two years to go..........:)

Your dogs sound great! I love GSs - one of my favourite breeds. I've heard too that black cats aren't very popular these days - I read that it's because they don't photo well in selfies!:eek: well then if you're that worried about the colour of a cat, then perhaps you shouldn't have one in the first place!:mad:

Honey_Bear

I've heard that said about black cats, too. Madness. Both OH and I had black cats when we met but we've both had other colours along the way. When Devil Cat died that was the first time either of us had been catless for well over 35 years (we've only been together 25). Empty house, even with a dog, sort of sterile atmosphere without anything winding its way around your ankles, curling up on your lap while watching television, and nesting on (or in) the bed overnight. Can't be without them, that's all there is to it.It's a bit like someone asking if you're a dog person or a cat person. Duh? I'm an animal person.

I gave OH a set of craft magnets and a pile of Devil Cat photos for Christmas because our fridge and freezer look a bit bald and we can't find enough affordable (cheap!) fridge magnets we like so we're making our own. Just what is the point of a selfie?

I wouldn't stand on either of our cats quite so often if they didn't both sleep on the stairs, or a the top of the stairs, or put their tail under my foot in the kitchen when I'm cooking. Careless. The lodger's taken to going downstairs to his room in the dark. Slightly worrying.

Being without a dog at the moment is very odd, sort of like having time off from a job you love. Because I adopt Oldies I've lost four in ten years, one after the other, and I really, really thought we'd have Kelpie for another three or even maybe four years if we were lucky, so it was a horrible moment when I realised he was dying. I knew exactly what was happening because unlike most people I go through it so often. In a former life I worked on a vet's farm and then went to agricultural college so the amount I learned about animal husbandry has stood me in good stead over the years. It's funny (funny peculiar as opposed to funny haha) how individual they all are; the hardest part of losing Kelpie was knowing that his personality had gone forever; of all the billions of animals and people that have ever existed in the world since creation, Kelpie was the one I most needed for weeks after he'd gone and I just couldn't get my head around the fact that he'd gone forever; no longer existed in any shape or form. This gets harder as I get older.

I definitely need another dog; preferably a collie cross, preferably female, and this time I'm desperate to have a slightly younger dog because I'd so like to have one for longer and not have to go through this again quite so soon. Everything I've seen so far that I liked has been a rabid cat chaser or someone else got there before me, so we've planned a couple of very short breaks in March to take advantage of the empty house syndrome and I'll get stuck back in afterwards ... but keeping a gentle eye out in the meantime just in case I miss the perfect dog.

When it comes to huge projects that we wouldn't have even contemplated if we'd really known what we were taking on - well, yes, we've all done that. But then again, although two years feels like forever when we're in the middle of it, afterwards, when you think about how long you're going to be there and how much you're going to love it, two years isn't such a long time after all, is it? Miserable while it lasts, like chicken pox, but once it's done it's done for life!

joeyjimbles

So sorry to read about your losses HB, I missed that earlier, you are so good to these old and neglected souls. Our motley twosome are still going strong though got a shock when I realised Doglet was 10 this weekend - I still think of him as a pup, as does he I think - though he has definitely slowed down a bit, for a terrier.

Happy - we are still here. OH did change job but he travels around for it which is tough on him and he's often away 3 days a week but not always overnight, and he can work from home on other days. DS1 is in his second year at uni so no halfterm for him - their semesters and exam/assignment routine is quite odd so he went back for exams in January, then had 10 days break and has only recently started this semester's course. DS2 is on half term.

Honey_Bear

Thank you Joey. He was a lovely dog and is much missed.

HappyNow

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

I've heard too that black cats aren't very popular these days - I read that it's because they don't photo well in selfies!:eek: well then if you're that worried about the colour of a cat, then perhaps you shouldn't have one in the first place!:mad:

Ha, seriously about black cats not looking good in selfies??! Personally I love that panther look, but over the years I've had cats in every colour except ginger (co-incidence, not prejudice against gingers!). Every single one has looked great in photos, way better than I ever do!

HappyNow

joeyjimbles wrote: »

Happy - we are still here. OH did change job but he travels around for it which is tough on him and he's often away 3 days a week but not always overnight, and he can work from home on other days. DS1 is in his second year at uni so no halfterm for him - their semesters and exam/assignment routine is quite odd so he went back for exams in January, then had 10 days break and has only recently started this semester's course. DS2 is on half term.

Wow, 2nd year at uni already - I have been away a while! I imagine he's loving it? Although from what I remember from my kids, year 2 was a bit panicky because they suddenly realised they'd done literally no work in year 1 and had a lot of catching up to do. That could just be my family though......

HappyNow

Oh Honey, that awful empty house feeling when a pet dies. Awful, awful, awful. And alongside the grief at losing the animal, suddenly the house has changed too and the one place where you should have sanctuary becomes part of the problem. Quite right to open the door to new animals - for their sake and yours. Would you not consider a rescue puppy? Give yourself a good 12/15 years before going through this again?

Loving the home made fridge magnet idea. One to nick I think. And not only cheap fridge magnets but a cheap Christmas present too. Double boom!

Honey_Bear wrote: »

the hardest part of losing Kelpie was knowing that his personality had gone forever; of all the billions of animals and people that have ever existed in the world since creation, Kelpie was the one I most needed for weeks after he'd gone and I just couldn't get my head around the fact that he'd gone forever; no longer existed in any shape or form.

This. Exactly this. My dad too.

Well that was a chipper post. I'd best get to bed before I get too soppy!

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

Ha, seriously about black cats not looking good in selfies??! Personally I love that panther look, but over the years I've had cats in every colour except ginger (co-incidence, not prejudice against gingers!). Every single one has looked great in photos, way better than I ever do!

Ditto about photos, and we've got masses of great photos of Devil Cat, black as your hat; and I actually prefer them because our first family cat was black. I've had a ginger; she was a sort of stray that I sort of took with me when I moved after she had kittens in the bottom of my wardrobe. She went to the vet to get spayed on removal day, the kittens were weaned the same day and I rehomed them about a week later - all planned. I loved her to bits and she's the cat I miss most.

HappyNow wrote: »

Oh Honey, that awful empty house feeling when a pet dies. Awful, awful, awful. And alongside the grief at losing the animal, suddenly the house has changed too and the one place where you should have sanctuary becomes part of the problem. Quite right to open the door to new animals - for their sake and yours. Would you not consider a rescue puppy? Give yourself a good 12/15 years before going through this again?

Loving the home made fridge magnet idea. One to nick I think. And not only cheap fridge magnets but a cheap Christmas present too. Double boom!

Quite, on the double boom! This is an idea that will run and run here! I no longer look at my photograph albums, they're all in the attic and have been for years, so this is a great way of seeing the ones that went before without it being a big deal.



I've started the application process for this little girl, so yes I would consider a rescue puppy but I know at least one person is ahead of me in the queue so I'm not holding my breath. Everyone wants puppies. I narrowly missed out on a six month old one in Kent a few weeks ago but I'm not in a rush. Eventually the right dog will come along.

HappyNow

Well she certainly ticks all the boxes. That face! She's a mix of my two favourite breeds and will have lots of smarts. I'll keep everything crossed for you. Frustrating if someone beats you to it but, as you say, the right one will be along when the time's right.

Mr H and I were just talking about old photos and how it's nice to know they're there even though we don't look at them that often. Quite sad to think that nowadays most photos are stored on computers rather than paper. I remember the excitement of collecting a film from the chemist that had been dropped off a week earlier. And the disappointment when half were blurred or a finger had been over the lens. Somewhere near the bottom of my todo list is a pile of tiny ancient photos brought back from Mr H's mum's house that all need sorting through. He's no idea who most of them are and his mum won't remember, but it still seems wrong to get rid of them so they'll hang around forever.

Honey_Bear

Adorable, isn't she. Unfortunately, she is also a cat chaser, after all. I had a long conversation with the rescue involved, and we agree that our kittens and that puppy are not the right mix, so I'm not taking it any further. OH and I both think our kittens are developing their personalities at a much greater rate since we lost Kelpie and think that they may have been rather frightened of him, and cautious around him, so we're determined to let them have the space and freedom in the house they need. That means that we're doing to have to rule out those potential adoptee dogs that say they'd be okay with a savvy cat. Our new dog has to be 100% cat okay, and those dogs are out there, because I've had three of them already.

Old photographs. My father had a huge box of family photographs and we tried to make sure they were all annotated before he died, but there were a lot that weren't. I offloaded the problem by making sure my younger brother had them all. *snigger*