Awaiting news

Apparently the romantic liaison between our puppy parents went well over the weekend and a good time was had by all. We won't know for a month whether it has resulted in puppies so I feel the closest I will ever get to being an expectant parent! Here is a picture of the handsome happy couple!

Progress

Today was warm and sunny and a perfect temperature for a short bike ride. The bike ride itself was perfect for working off the slight hangover that I still had this morning. Yesterday lunchtime we had lunch with our neighbours and other friends to celebrate the fact that they have finished building their new roof. This was quite an achievement and has meant that for most of the winter they have been living under a tarpaulin, in fear of a storm. We celebrated from lunchtime until early evening.

The bike ride took me around the lake. There were two vehicles there; a couple taking their dog for a walk and a minibus with some of the monks from Plum Village, who were lying in the sun. It was a truly peaceful scene and when I told Ian later he comented that a lake like that in the UK would probably be packed and would charge £5 a day for parking.

We are still progressing with the house. The kitchen is now completely wired, the wall in the hallway closed off and the ceiling frame in the sitting room in place. In the meantime we are planning a trip back to the UK at the end of the month and our shopping list is growing! I am looking forward to seeing friends and family but I can't say that I am missing my homeland at the moment.

We may be getting the first two of our livery horses in May from Ian's friend but before we can do that we have to get some fencing in place so that may be the first job to do when we return. The other animal we hope to get soon is our dog. I will write more on that on another occasion but for now I will say that if all went to plan our new dog was conceived this weekend!

Norma keeps going

I wrote about a year ago that my cat Norma was getting older and more frail and that there would come a time soon when I would need to consider having her put to sleep. Despite my concerns at the time she has kept going, although now each week I notice that she is that little bit thinner and that she doesn't always seem to know where she is. I have been having thoughts of taking her to the vet more frequently but knowing when the time is right is hard. However, I think I have found a good indicator. Tonight I cooked her some white fish as a treat. It has always been her favourite and when it was steaming in the microwave in her younger days she would climb on top to get at it. Well, that is a bit beyond her but as soon as the smell wafted out she was up, pacing the floor and miaowing (rather loudly as she is deaf). As soon as it was down on the floor she pounced and ate the whole piece in 5 minutes. I will keep this as my indicator of her quality of life. When she is no longer interested in coley fillets then I will know that the quality of her life is no longer good.

It's a dog's life

One of the things I am really looking forward to when we eventually get to France is to have a couple of dogs. I have always loved the idea but never been in the position where I could give one a fair life. There are plenty of abandoned dogs and puppies in France so I am sure when we were there we will have no difficulties in finding one suitable. However, Ian has always had a soft spot for Jack Russells and he has had part ownership of one before and knows their little foibles quite well. Jack Russells are quite rare in France but in the UK they are common and often find their way into animal rescue centres as they can be more of a handful to manage than people expect. I think we would make quite good dog owners. We will have the space, we are fit and energetic and would enjoy a dog that needs a little more than a bowl of food and its tummy rubbed once a day.

So, with that in mind I started looking on various websites for Jack Russells in need of rescue. There were quite a few but in all cases Ian and I would not qualify as prospective doggy parents because we both work full time and all agencies have a policy about not allowing dogs to go to homes under these circumstances. Also, they will not allow us to take a dog out of the country. In addition we have never actually owned a dog before which means they will not let us take on any dog that may be more challenging. (The fact that we have chosen not to have a dog before because we did not feel that we could offer one a good home is not taken into account and we are placed in the same category as someone who has never owned a dog and is not interested in them).

I do understand the thinking behind this but it is just an interesting reflection that if you have two children then you are positively encouraged to go out to work full time and leave your children in day care!

Ian's neighbour Chaverley has two children and has just acquired a large dog as 'a favour to a mate'. The dog is very good natured which is just as well as although she doesn't work at all she still leaves him shut in the house all day while she goes out!

Dreaming on a cold, wet night!

As I sit here there is a gale blowing outside and the the rain is lashing at the windows. The little weather icon on the side of the page does not do it justice I'm afraid as despite the heating it feels cold. On these type of evenings there is nothing nicer than sitting on the sofa with Norma and Mandi.

Meantime our discussions on what to buy to take to France are becoming a little surreal. We need a staircase to go up to the office in the tower and quotes from France have been around 6000 Euros (which seems to be the starting place for most things in France). Someone is selling a second hand complete oak staircase that was removed from a house after a month of use for £800. Ian is convinced it will fit and apart from the considerable saving it is a little better from an environmental point of view. However, the problem is that the staircase is complete and in a yard in Essex, we don't have a trailer or anywhere to store it and as yet are not sure how we could get it down to the Dordogne. Still, where there is a will there is a way so if you see a blue ford transit towing a staircase on your travels you will know it is us!

Mandi's return

One day you are in the next day you are out, or vice-versa! My cat Mandi was actually named Mandelson, after Peter. For a while everyone thought it was rather funny but in recent years I have got the the point where I don't even bother to explain the true origins, just saying that it is an abbreviation that stuck. The most anyone ever queries is why my male cat has a girl's name. That is until last week and the reincarnation of Peter Mandelson in the government. After years in the wilderness Mandi has returned!

Cats...!

Norma the cat is now suffering from age-related hearing impairment. In her youth she could hear the sound of a tin opener from 100metres and would come running before the lid was off the can. Now even when I call to remind her that it is dinner time she doesn't hear and I have to go up to her, tap her and show her the food before her youthful excitement takes over and she runs to the kitchen, (or at least attempts a run!)

Mandi on the other had has a new game called 'pat the window blind'. He jumps up onto the window sill and pats at the venetian blind so that it makes a noise. This and the 'tap the lever on the office chair' game keeps him occupied for hours.

Flying dogs

This morning we have been relaxing and hiding from the rain! We have brought the bad weather with us and rain has set in, but it is an excuse for a rest and we both need it! We have also been playing with Zoom and Appy; Roger's collies!

Puss Puss

This is a picture of my neighbour's cat. He is called puss puss and is mostly very friendly although you wouldn't think so looking at him here. He is sitting on top of the empty rabbit hutch looking very contented!

Dogs

As well as llamas, when we eventually get to France Ian and I would like a couple of dogs. I have wanted dogs for ages but my lifestyle has never made it possible. We have been debating many options, from rescue dogs to breeding West Highland Terriers, Miniature Schnauzers, Jack Russells (Ian's favourite not mine) and Collies (my favourite). I was initially put off the idea of acquiring a rescue dog through a French rescue agency on the grounds that we would probably not have much idea of what we were getting and I suspect that the agencies in the UK would not like to re-home a dog that was immediately going to be transported to France (to people that are not experienced dog owners). Anyway, while looking for something else I came across details of an organisation in the Dordogne (run by English people!) who rescue dogs from the French rescue organisations. They have some rather cute looking dogs so it looks like at the moment the rescue dogs are back on!

Fur balls

Mandi has fur balls again! This is a regular occurrence but this time they seem to have got worse and I am currently picking up one a day. As he does not seem to be moulting that much I got a bit concerned and looked it up on the Internet. Amongst other causes I learnt that the
most important cause of fur-balls is over-grooming and in Mandi's case I'm sure this is explained by his neuroticism! This quote says it all!

"watch for the times that your cat seems to want to do something and is thwarted: they will often stop and perform a vigorous licking of their fur in mid-activity, this is obviously nothing to do with real grooming but may be an expression of frustration."

I'm afraid this is Mandi all over!

However I liked this explanation best from Catastrophes:

Furballs: A cat's point of view

We've talked a little bit about the psychological dangers of excessive licking, but there are practical considerations as well. Licking and furballs go paw in paw. Like the human phenomenon known as "a hangover," a furball is a warning signal of overindulgence for a cat. And also like our human counterparts, the medicine can be as bad as the sickness. Quite frankly, the cures for both are disgusting. Furball medicine is nasty, but at least it's not a raw egg floating in tomato juice in your bowl. The truth is that furballs bother the Higher Power more than they do us, particularly because they seem to strike mostly in the presence of fine furnishings. If you don't want to call attention to the problem, be smart and hack discreetly. If drawing attention is the real cause of your furballs, then there's work to be done.
Fur belongs on the outside, and I will keep it there by any means.

Mandi

My other cat is called Mandi which is short for Mandeleson. Everyone thinks he is a girl but in fact he is a rather inadequate boy-cat, being the victim of many beatings and thrashings by the local toms. He also has a bit of a problem with hairballs and this time of the year I often come home to a nasty mess on the floor, which, on closer inspection turns out to be a hairball encased in body fluids of some description. My vet suggested a nice tasting paste to give the cat when the problem arose, so I cleverly pasted the required amount around Mandi's mouth so that he would lick it off. Unfortunately he was not grateful and in order to express his feelings took himself to the one area of the vegetable garden that the slugs had not yet reached and proceeded to cr*p all over the Swiss chard. He also does not like to have his photo taken! I had 15 goes to get this and it is the only one where his head is anything like facing forwards!

Talking of slugs, Ian collected a large plastic carrier bag full of the b*ggers this morning (after it had rained). We tied them up and put them in the dustbin and now I have visions of them crawling up over the edge to get out!

Work continues to entertain!

We were all quite surprised to receive the following email on the staff intranet the other day. I have of course removed or changed any names but I also felt obliged to modify a little of the language by the substitution of asterisks for some of the letters; something that did not seem to bother the sender!

PHILOSOPHY SOCIETY
Thursday
8.00 pm
Stallion Street
George Tailor (Brightside University)

On F*cking Animals

Bestiality remains a taboo sexuality in the UK, despite ample evidence that, at the margins, it is a small but active sexual culture. In short, we don't f*ck animals, and we don't support those who do, Indeed, Section 69 (I kid you not!) of the 2003 Sexual Offences Act restates the criminalisation of sex with animals in a restricted and phallocentric way. The problem with this state of affairs, even if you are not predisposed to curl up at night with a four legged loved one, is that the ethical foundations that such a law is based on are compromised, and above an aesthetic rejection, opponents find few sustainable arguments to support their opposition. In this discussion, I want to survey the failures to make ethically sustainable arguments against bestiality, offer some alternative arguments that might work better, and also explain why having a coherent and sophisticated view on bestiality is so important to understanding more mainstream sexual relations.

George Tailor is Reader in Sociology and Social Philosophy and Centre Director of the Centre for Research Ethics and Ethical Deliberation. His main research interests are in ethical thinking, sexual ethics and radical theories and politics.

ALL WELCOME

Of course this created a lively controversial debate over the intranet with each person including a duplicate copy of the original email in their reply; thus ensuring that the potentially offensive statement was repeated over and over! The funniest reply was this:

I went home last night and looked at my cat Treacle with new eyes.....then thought NO WAY!

The final email came from computer services requesting that the
discussion be removed from the Internet and placed on the discussion forum!

Carter the Maremma

This is Carter the Maremma.

He is my brother's dog and was in his element while we on holiday as he likes nothing better than having his flock around him! Carter is gentle indoors and will come and see you to have his neck and head stroked. However, his instinct to protect is well ingrained and if he doesn't like the feel of someone he will make his unease known (including pissing all over an American's shopping when he didn't like the look of them and growling at someone who shouted at us).

He was a challenge to train by all accounts as he has a slightly unpredictable streak and when he gets an idea about something (such as chasing a dog or hunting a rabbit) he will take off with no warning! Last time we were away (and he was younger) he headed off downhill after a small dog with my sister lying on her back on the ice, gripping his lead for dear life and being pulled down the hill! Pain does not deter him. Another year, in the summer, he poked his nose in a rock and got bitten by a viper! His nose swelled to twice the size and he was pretty unwell for a few days but that has not stopped him trying to do it again!

Norma and her food

This is Norma in her favourite spot; that is next to the food bowl. The only other time she looks at me like that is when she wants a fuss. Otherwise she just looks grumpy!
Actually she can get pretty grumpy even around food! If it is not forthcoming after several seconds of staring like this she follows me around making a sort of whine like miaow and pretends that she is starving. She does this with all the neighbours as well; many of whom succumb to her pleading and threaten to report me to the RSPCA for not feeding my animals. Fortunately her large belly gives the game away!

What happened to the cat flap?

I noticed last night (while making a cup of tea) that it was really cold in the kitchen; especially around my ankles! I couldn't work out the problem at first until I looked down and saw that the cat flap was missing. It took me a while to figure out what had happened and many theories went through my mind. The first was that someone had been trying to break in and had tried to get in by removing the cat flap, sticking their hand through and somehow unlocking the door! I soon realised that this was unlikely as the door was still locked and nothing was missing. I was confused as I couldn't see the cat flap anywhere. However, after a look outside with the powerful torch I found it half-way up the garden, the door broken beyond repair. Later I noticed that Mandi had a few cuts and scratches and I figured that the most likely explanation was that one of the neighbourhood cats had come in for food, Mandi had tried to fight him off and they had both gone crashing through the cat flap in a hurry. I have ordered a new cat flap but in the meantime it's still cold in the kitchen! Ian says that if he catches any other cats in the kitchen he will take them outside and pee on their heads and that should stop them coming back!