Hunting Dogs.

We lost Mabel, our lovely dog, just a few months ago. She was somewhere around 16 or 17, travelled to the UK with us from Australia, and we miss her terribly.

The house is empty without her. It feels wrong to arrive home and not have her waiting for us. It feels wrong when I'm cooking and she's standing at my feet waiting for a scrap. It definitely feels wrong to wake in the middle of the night and hear the reassuring snuffling sounds of a content dog fast asleep and dreaming of bones.

We lost our other girl, Millie, about 18 months ago. It hurt as well, but not as much as we still had Mabel at our feet. Now we've come to miss them both equally.

We started looking at rescue centres to find another dog, but they're all out. It seems they can't keep up with demand as families working from home decide to get a pup. I guess it's good for all these homeless dogs, but will they be sent back when there is a return to work?

As a side to this new demand, breeders are charging excessively ridiculous sums for their dogs - if you can find one who has any. Waiting lists abound.

In the meantime, we continue to look for a dog. It has to be the right one for us. But we'll know when we see it.  Wish us luck in our hunt.

Continuing Positivity in These Trying Times.

It's been a trying time. The weirdness continues. We're back in lockdown in the UK, the US election has been held along with all the associated fun and games, and the world generally seems like an unhappy place.

There's no doubt that the events of 2020 thus far (and who's to say what still awaits us) have had a terrible effect on the world. Not least in regards to mental health. Even myself, who lives in a relatively safe area, has been fortunate to not have lost anyone, and hold a job which is vital during these times, has felt the stress and strain of the ongoing events. 

I've done my bit to remain positive in social media - trying to share some of my favourite things on a daily basis rather than spread the negativity which seems to dominate our lives. I commenced in March when we all started working remotely from home and managed to get to day 180 before I decided it was enough. I felt I was going to have to start adding things just for the sake of adding things. And not everything can be a favourite.

On the upside I've seen a lot of movies and been reading a lot. I've read and enjoyed a range of magazines which offered short and cheap trial subscriptions. I've read some new fiction from authors in a range of genres. I've devoured a bunch of biographies and autobiographies from (mostly) musicians who interest me. And I've revisited a few old-school Science Fiction and Fantasy authors - some novels I'd read before, some which were new to me. These are mostly beautiful 70s SF novels with the wonderful painted cover art which I managed to find in charity shops. 

It is what it is. We have to learn to live with this. Hopefully we'll all be able to emerge once more and create a new normal. Until then, I'm diving back into the decreasing stack of waiting books next to my bed.