Come and find me

Hello all my bloggie friends.
Steve has helped me set up my new blog.
www.alwaysforeveryoung.blogspot.com
Come and join me for some fun and lots of giggles

Another countdown

#Six: Visit cemetries

I have visited a cemetery twice with Steve and enjoyed it. It's one of his favourite places, but I didn't think I'd like to be there as much as I did. One can either have a philosophical discussion or merely just take in the ambience.This one, although just off a very busy road in London, was peaceful, quiet, wild flowers all abuzz with bees, rustling of leaves, and the many gravestones, although old and almost unreadable, felt comforting. (I drew this last Summer while I was there). Will go again soon.

#Seven: Relish my 'joie de vivre'

I do have an incredible joy of life, and try to relish it as often as I can.

#Eight: Brag more about my granddog

This I do very very often.

#Nine: Go dancing

We had a few dances at Mark and Carla's boat party but I was so ill I couldn't enjoy it much. Maybe we will try an afternoon 'tea dance' as they have in London for the oap's (old age pensioners). I should fit in well there as I am one of them now!

#Ten: Fight the bulge

I fought the bulge, won and then lost again!

Towards the end of 2006 I was told by the doctor to lose about 12 pounds for my cholesterol. So I joined Weight Watchers (on line) and lost 9 of those, feeling great and looking good.I have put them all on again these past 6 months, so will endeavour to re-join WW and get rid of them (for my health's sake, not because I want to).

#Eleven: Do more drawing/painting

Thanks to the wonder of blogland, I have done this thoroughly and will continue to do so. I just need to pluck up the courage to go to some more art courses (the last one with the 'Weasel' was a fiasco and hurt my confidence a lot). But I have so much to learn.

#Twelve: Fall in love again

We have become so bogged down in our daily lives that we hardly even notice each other anymore. I realised this had happened a lot to us recently. We were in a rut and knew it. I began to get that familiar old feeling of being 'closed in'. But, somehow the magic of that day on the beach watching our son getting married seemed to make us both realise how much we had drifted apart, and now we are definitely back on track, 'seeing' each other again. Hope it lasts.(Of course, 2 hours on a nudist beach helped a lot too!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Midnight has come and gone and I am officially 60.

I said that this birthday was turning out to be an 'arty' one and indeed it is.

Carla ( my lovely new daughter in law) painted this adorable picture of Snuffles , using acrylics; it's an exact image. And she claims she's not artistic!

She's cute, don't you think? The dog of course!

Notice how she has signed this picture with her new initials (Carla of course)

One month of marriage and she is still so excited about being a 'Mrs'.

Thanx a million Mrs R, I love it.

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday to me me
Happy birthday to me!

Tangent: Snuffles is home

Steve brought Snuffles back this morning, and I feel better already.

She went to stay with him while we were in OZ, but now we don't know what's going to happen, so we've got her home again.

She's happy and so am I.

Thanks Stevie.

Fifty-three: Thank God for Snuffles

Here she is, my first painting of her.
Snuffles is my granddog (as I don't have any grandchildren).
We were teaching in Kuwait at the time. She was for sale (aged 3 months) because she was being hurt by the 18 month old son of her owner. She had been brought over from Thailand, to Kuwait, along with a Rottweiler.
The moment I set eyes on her I fell deeply and irrevocably in love, and had to have her.
She is a Shih Tsu, weighs only 4.8 kgs and has the sweetest nature I've ever known in a dog.
She's fast asleep on the sofa with a contented, postitivelysublime smile on her face.
I think I'll let this 'sleeping dog lie'!

Tangent: Draw your teacher

I was so thrilled when Lynn decided to draw me, so I asked my class of 5/6 year olds to draw me today, and these are some of the (best) results.

One even drew Snuffles (I took her to school last year to do a lesson on 'caring for your pets').

All quite different, yet all seem to capture my large earrings, prominent glasses, short hair and (hopefully) joie de vivre!

Thanx Lynn, I love the picture!

Tangent: French Dog?

Parlez -Vous Francais?

OR

Shalom Kelev.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No, it's Super Dog, wearing Steve's Yarmulke (Kippah) last Friday night, saying the 'brochah'.

Doesn't she look cute?

Tangent: Playing in the Pond

We went to Fryent Park with Snuffs for a walk and she loved it. There are lots of trees, twisty turny paths and untended bits of grass. Here and there you come upon a pond in the middle of a clearing. Snuffles never shows much interest in these stretches of water, but today she went wading straight in, and kept going. It was hilarious and we couldn't stop giggling. Unc was shouting, 'get her out of there, she's gonna drown', and all we could do was giggle. She turned round and looked at us as if to say 'what're you laughing?'....

She didn't go swimming, she definitely didn't drown....just turned round and wandered out again, looking throughly bored with the whole thing. It was so amusing!

Tangent: A tribute

First bath, 3 months old, (2001).

I looked down at Snuffles lying contentedly at my feet, after stumbling on Bernie's site and tears came to my eyes. There are so many selfless people in this world, and she is one of them.

They say: 'a dog is not just for Christmas, but for life'. So many people, well meaning as they might be, get a dog- either it's foist on them, or they are feeling sentimental, or accept it in a very weak moment, without realising all that this huge responsibility entails. Soon enough, this little bundle of fur has wreaked havoc in their lives causing arguments, hysteria, regret and downright anger.

These dogs, just like out children, don't ask to be born, nor can they choose the home they are in or the people who care for them. They say 'it's a dog's life' and ( as in Snuffs case) that means 'heaven, but in many of Bernie's dos' cases it means HELL.

Please take a moment to read her blog and perhaps to contribute something to a worthy cause. She is definitely on my list of charities from now on and I shall be sending any old doggie things accumulated over the years to her.

Please help.

Bernie, I honour you.

Twenty-eight: Find out more

about the other dogs in my life.

I have four important charities that I sponsor. Cancer research, Leukaemia, Guide Dogs and Cuddles ( knitting/crocheting for premature and stillborn babies.)


I sponsor a puppy each year to be trained as a guide dog. An inital photo and description including their character and likes/dislikes is sent to me. So the journey begins. I get regular photos and updates of their progress and feel very proud when they 'qualify'. They move from trainer to trainer for each phase, starting at 6 weeks old, and, lastly, I am introduced to their new blind owner, who also gets fully trained for weeks in handling his/her new pet.


Let me introduce them:







Zita: Born 2004, German Shepherd, confident, cheeky, inquisitive, friendly, loves sleeping.
















Panda: Born October 2005, Labrador/Retriever, wilful, feisty, fearless, loves food.
















Duggie: Born february 2007, Golden retriever/Labrador, very playful, loves cuddles.





I'd really like to find out how Zita and Panda are getting on in their new lives and even to meet them, as they feel like my own dogs. Probably an impossibiltiy, understandably.

Tangent: A thought

yes

it would

so i live my life

loving both

having the best of both

a shih tsu to love and adore

and memories of my 'bullies' I once had.

Tangent: Snuffles gallery

Tangent: Children's art

This was a drawing done of me in the playground at a school in Kuwait by a seven year old girl in the Summer of 2000. I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I look at it. What pure innocence. What clear vision. What inescapable beauty. Not because it's me, but the love and fun shines right through. The sandals, so simply drawn, the hat perched on top of the curl short hair, the long dangly earrings, the glasses, the cheery wave all depict me- how I look physically, but also my feelings about my precious profession, teaching.

This was a drawing done of me with Snuffles, who I took to school to meet the kids one day, 'show and tell' all about 'How to care for your pets'

Remi (6) fell in love with Snuffles and drew us walking her to the park. Again the pure simplicity, the colours, the sweetness and the happiness are so apparent.

The other day Remi drew this for me at home, showing her and Harshini, her best friend in the class, actually her best friend in the whole wide world(evident in their posture) with me looking less rotund but having all the qualities of the very first picture done 7 years before.

Last Thursday we did a lesson about 'Same and Difference' and the children had to draw my TA (teaching assistant) and me and then write 5 ways that we are the same and 5 ways that we are different. These were three of them, and we couldn't stop laughing.

You certainly see which one is me, and even catch a glimpse of the pink hair in one of them. Yes,the sandals, the earrings, the glasses, the short hair are all still there, but mostly the quality and purity, the freshness and simplicity, the perfection, absolute sublime perfection.

Surely these rival Picasso any day.

Only wish I could see the world through their eyes.

What you think bridgemor?

Eight: Brag more about my 'granddog'

Snuffles, as you can see, is the most beautiful, cutest, wondrous, affectionate, gorgeous, loving little 'granddog' that anyone could ever be blessed with.

I know, I know, we all love your pets, specially the snake in the back shed and the crocodile in the bath. But Snuffles has an unusual history which I'll briefly tell you about and then I intend to brag some more.

We were teaching in Kuwait six years ago when I saw a picture of the sweetest little puppy stuck on a tatty piece of paper on a tatty notice board in the local supermarket, with a tatty phone number beside it.

What can I say? It was love at first sight; utter, blinding, overwhelming, breathtaking love. Never in all my (nearly) 60 years have I fallen so quickly. I didn't know her breed, if she even had one, I didn't know what her nature would be like, or what to expect after only having kept bulldogs before. Bulldogs are another one of my passions.

I rang the number and a man with very broken English told me that he had got 2 dogs from Thailand, one a rottweiler and one a 'small dog'. He informed me that his small children were hurting the 'small dog', but I suspect he wanted to get rid of her because he would've preferred another rottweiler.

We arranged to meet the next day in the supermarket's car park, exchanging car colours for recognition.

After waiting 30 minutes,we had almost given up, when he arrived and, there sitting on the back seat was this bundle of love, pure absolute love. I can't say anything else except that I was smitten, gone, completely gone!

After a bit of haggling we bought her there and then and took her straight to the vet, who informed us that she might be a shih tzu and also that she had a blood disease and may not last the next few days. Oh no, my heart was broken. How could this be happening? After just one hour with her in my life, I felt bereft.

He started treating her and within a few days she was completely well. Don't quite know what happened to the blood disease, but there you are, he performed a miracle on her ........

She was everything a naughty puppy should be, but delightful, with instant cartloads of pleasure.

The following year, when the Iraq war broke out,teachers were urged to leave, but couldn't take their pets with them. What a huge calamity. What were we to do with Snuffs?We spent more time worrying and discussing her than any other problem we might face if we left.

One of the Sri Lankan cleaning ladies at school heard about our predicament and offered to look after her, which we accepted very thankfully. She promptly moved in for eight weeks and bonded with our Snuffs just as we had. Without her help, we would have had to get rid of our precious 'child' as we no one knew what the outcome of the war would be.

That was an awful time for us, but soon we were reunited. The following year we decided to return to the UK.

We sent her to do her quarantine in France with some friends of ours, and when she entered the UK our reunion was better than any you might see in a Hollywood tear jerker.

It was hilarious the first time we took her to a park here, as she had never stepped on grass before. She was a real desert dog, sand , sand and more sand.

After six years my love for her is as strong if not stronger than it was then. She and I have an incredibly close bond and she is my shadow.

She is the happiest, most contented little soul that I have ever had the pleasure to share my life with and if I were ever reincarnated I would love to come back as Snuffles, providing I could have me as her owner.