Let me introduce you to Willow.
Willow came to live with us this year. She was very excited about it. She was very excited about everything.
Edna was less excited. Edna was a bit wary about sharing her home with another dog. Especially a small, fluffy bundle of puppy-energy.
Everybody else loved her. How could they not? She was such a little cute-bomb. Even when she piddled in places she shouldn’t, or chewed things she shouldn’t, or did all sorts of other things she shouldn’t.
Edna got to like her. And Willow liked Edna. They both loved running round gardens or fields and high speed. They both liked to eat – dog food or human food, whatever they could get their noses into. They both had a pretty relaxed attitude towards property: basically, if they could reach it, it was theirs, and if you don’t want your slippers chewed, don’t leave them around. With so much in common, it’s not surprising that they became great friends.
It’s probably fair to say that Willow has been the major event of the year! Of course, a few other things have happened: Tom and Charlotte announced that there’s a baby on the way – so that will be the major event of next year! I published another book, which will probably be the major non-event of the year. (Though it's worth getting just for the brilliant cover art by Andy's girlfriend, Joanna - see below).
But other than that, things keep ticking over.
My Dad is still living with us: at 91 he is very frail and doesn’t get out much, but he is still quite sharp and still doing a lot of reading. Matt has been living with us since he finished at University, but by the time you read this he will have moved out to share a flat with his girlfriend, Demi. Andy is currently living in the Wirral, as part of his intercalated year at Liverpool University: he’s very busy but enjoying it. We’re looking forward to seeing him back home for Christmas.
And Annie… never stops! She is involved in so many different things, working in the Church and the community, networking with other people and groups, sorting out funding applications, organising a fashion show, marching for Climate Justice. She does so many different things that I have to sit down and rest just thinking about it!
Sometimes she gets a rest as well. One good one was our main holiday in August this year: down in Devon on Great Rock Farm, then Little Haven in Pembrokeshire for a week in our camper van, Dixie Baby. Both were opportunities to get away from work, enjoy some great scenery, and treat the dogs to long walks with new smells!
Which brings me back to Willow – and Edna, her adopted sister. The great thing about our two girls is the love they bring into our lives. And perhaps you might be thinking, that’s not really love! Maybe it’s pack instinct, or perhaps it’s just because you keep feeding them. Fair point. But even if the way they love us is only doggy love, that doesn’t devalue it: they are loving us the best way they can – and we value that.
I think that’s a good lesson to reflect on, especially at this time of year – to love the best way we can, to value the love we receive.
Happy Christmas!
Willow came to live with us this year. She was very excited about it. She was very excited about everything.
Edna was less excited. Edna was a bit wary about sharing her home with another dog. Especially a small, fluffy bundle of puppy-energy.
Everybody else loved her. How could they not? She was such a little cute-bomb. Even when she piddled in places she shouldn’t, or chewed things she shouldn’t, or did all sorts of other things she shouldn’t.
Edna got to like her. And Willow liked Edna. They both loved running round gardens or fields and high speed. They both liked to eat – dog food or human food, whatever they could get their noses into. They both had a pretty relaxed attitude towards property: basically, if they could reach it, it was theirs, and if you don’t want your slippers chewed, don’t leave them around. With so much in common, it’s not surprising that they became great friends.
It’s probably fair to say that Willow has been the major event of the year! Of course, a few other things have happened: Tom and Charlotte announced that there’s a baby on the way – so that will be the major event of next year! I published another book, which will probably be the major non-event of the year. (Though it's worth getting just for the brilliant cover art by Andy's girlfriend, Joanna - see below).
But other than that, things keep ticking over.
My Dad is still living with us: at 91 he is very frail and doesn’t get out much, but he is still quite sharp and still doing a lot of reading. Matt has been living with us since he finished at University, but by the time you read this he will have moved out to share a flat with his girlfriend, Demi. Andy is currently living in the Wirral, as part of his intercalated year at Liverpool University: he’s very busy but enjoying it. We’re looking forward to seeing him back home for Christmas.
And Annie… never stops! She is involved in so many different things, working in the Church and the community, networking with other people and groups, sorting out funding applications, organising a fashion show, marching for Climate Justice. She does so many different things that I have to sit down and rest just thinking about it!
Sometimes she gets a rest as well. One good one was our main holiday in August this year: down in Devon on Great Rock Farm, then Little Haven in Pembrokeshire for a week in our camper van, Dixie Baby. Both were opportunities to get away from work, enjoy some great scenery, and treat the dogs to long walks with new smells!
Which brings me back to Willow – and Edna, her adopted sister. The great thing about our two girls is the love they bring into our lives. And perhaps you might be thinking, that’s not really love! Maybe it’s pack instinct, or perhaps it’s just because you keep feeding them. Fair point. But even if the way they love us is only doggy love, that doesn’t devalue it: they are loving us the best way they can – and we value that.
I think that’s a good lesson to reflect on, especially at this time of year – to love the best way we can, to value the love we receive.
Happy Christmas!
‘The Hidden Libraries’ is out now on Apple, Kobo, Nook and several other e-book platforms. It should soon be available on Amazon for Kindle as well, and as a paperback.
If you read and like it, please leave a review - it’s encouraging for me and
might bring in other readers as well!
If you read and like it, please leave a review - it’s encouraging for me and
might bring in other readers as well!