It is easy to accept that the animals in nature documentaries do things differently. Nature red in tooth and claw does not shock us but somehow we expect our domestic pets to be different. Anthropomorphism is rife in our dealings with them and we expect so many human characteristics that are just not there.
That may well be and we know that our feelings are self-centred but today our hearts are broken as Scamper has left us for a new home.
The truth is that we have too many dogs. Soon we will be moving into rented accommodation, having accepted an offer on the house; an extremely low offer but the only realistic chance of escaping. The next move will be to the US and realistically we can only have at most one dog and a placid, easy to care for dog at that (i.e. not a terrier).
On Wednesday we received an email from one of the people who bought a puppy from the last litter. Their family was growing too and they needed a companion for Chester (one of Pip's). It seemed like fate had intervened - we suggested Scamper and they immediately accepted. These are people we know and people who have looked after one of our pups for nearly two years.
Scamper we know is completely independent and can take on any challenge. In a way I'd love to think that she will pine for us or think about the past but it's total and utter nonsense. If she is loved, fed, fussed and can play with Chester from dawn till dusk her needs are met and she will happily transfer to running a new pack.
When they came to pick her up she ran straight towards them and jumped up their legs wagging her tail as if greeting long lost friends or former owners. As we chatted about the details of her vaccinations and forms and she realised it might take a while she sauntered off to the sofa and had a little stretch on her back by herself. Then the lead came out and she was straight over to them brimming with happiness.
I couldn't look as she left but I'm told she did look back, curious to know whether we were coming. But that would be it - she was in the box and off on her next adventure.
It has been five years of amazing adventures with Scamper. She has given us puppies, affection and driven us to the point of distraction more times than I can remember. The day we moved into Field View she buggered off into the impenetrable field of rape after a rabbit. I told Jay I wouldn't be coming back without her and two hours later I finally found her walking about the place as if she knew where she was or what she was doing. As I carried her back in my arms she saw another rabbit bolt and did everything she could break free after it again.
She will be happy and we can continue to get on with our lives and all the steps we need to take to expand our family. It is in fact a happy day but that will only become clearer later. For the moment our hearts are broken but our memory banks are full of the impact created by one little free spirit. Even if it is a one-way street, we love you Scamper and always will.
Sunday 18 October 2009
Monday 12 October 2009
Some Good News At Last
We got word today from our lawyer that Harriet's application for British citizenship has been approved and we should have the documents allowing us to apply for a passport in a few days.
It's been such a long haul - we feel slightly stunned now we have finally made it.
Enough words for now - there's sparkling wine to drink!
It's been such a long haul - we feel slightly stunned now we have finally made it.
Enough words for now - there's sparkling wine to drink!
Saturday 10 October 2009
Humbug
Miss Love-Mason has received a letter from the Home Office acknowledging receipt of form MN1 "Application for Registration of a Child under 18 as a British Citizen", the supporting documents and the fee of £460 (!). Alas the Chief Casework has been "away" so it is delayed. Our lawyer was "away" for almost all of August too so goodness knows when he will be back.
As for the house we have had something worse than before. We dropped the price to a level as low as we could go to drum up interest and to some extent that worked. The problem now is that we received an offer 10% below that level. Who knows, maybe they would have come anyway at the old price and we would by now have accepted an offer and have something to hope for? Or maybe they would never have come at all and we could have been spared this anguish. They are mulling our rejection over this weekend so we will have to wait and see. In the meantime our nightmare neighbours have been worse than usual. The leaves on the drive now make the screeching of their tyres louder and leave a permanent marker of their activity.
But as for Miss Love-Mason, she is continuing to eat extremely well. Breakfast in particular is a feast since she has a whole banana along with her porridge. It means that she is back to sleeping well at night and though she cannot be completely unaffected by our current despair we are doing everything we can to shield her. Weekends are so precious for me because it's only then that I get to see her at her most inventive and adorable. She has an awareness of the world that she shares openly with a child's transparency.
The next big step is probably for her to crawl. She is extremely mobile in the walker but still lacks that final tiny movement that will propel her by herself. It will come soon - so let's just hope that we can all be a bit more mobile and get the hell out of here.
Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair
Blake
As for the house we have had something worse than before. We dropped the price to a level as low as we could go to drum up interest and to some extent that worked. The problem now is that we received an offer 10% below that level. Who knows, maybe they would have come anyway at the old price and we would by now have accepted an offer and have something to hope for? Or maybe they would never have come at all and we could have been spared this anguish. They are mulling our rejection over this weekend so we will have to wait and see. In the meantime our nightmare neighbours have been worse than usual. The leaves on the drive now make the screeching of their tyres louder and leave a permanent marker of their activity.
But as for Miss Love-Mason, she is continuing to eat extremely well. Breakfast in particular is a feast since she has a whole banana along with her porridge. It means that she is back to sleeping well at night and though she cannot be completely unaffected by our current despair we are doing everything we can to shield her. Weekends are so precious for me because it's only then that I get to see her at her most inventive and adorable. She has an awareness of the world that she shares openly with a child's transparency.
The next big step is probably for her to crawl. She is extremely mobile in the walker but still lacks that final tiny movement that will propel her by herself. It will come soon - so let's just hope that we can all be a bit more mobile and get the hell out of here.
Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair
Blake
Sunday 4 October 2009
The first tooth
Harriet's gastronomic journey this week came to a shuddering halt. Nothing was right and nothing was good enough; neither savoury food nor sweet; not even milk. On the worst night she woke every half an hour so the following day was just the perfect moment for our ******* of a neighbour to park his car as close to our house as he legally could and blare music out as loudly as he could. J was shattered, Harriet was inconsolable and I was in the deepest despair I have reached so far.
The worst moment came when J successfully fed her some pudding. After a little doze she became extremely irritable so we put her into her walker to cheer her up. She threw up everything J had spent so long coaxing into her and the prospect of another hellish night appeared. All the problems with the scrapheap neighbours were as nothing as compared to the misery of cleaning up that banana and apple dessert.
We had already formed the theory of course but on Friday the first positive sighting was confirmed: a little sliver of white along her gum announced the arrival of her first tooth.
Gradually things have been getting better. It has mostly been back to milk but on Friday night we managed half a jar of chocolate pudding and on Saturday night it was a whole jar of sweet breakfast porridge. The best news came this morning when she had the entire jar of beans and bacon. It has been necessary to develop some new distraction techniques and now we have to be extremely strict about making her lie down after every meal whether she approves or not. But it's a little bit of progress.
Every time she has cried to date there has been something we could do whether it was feed her, change her or play with her. But this is the first time we just have to let go a little bit as she does something all by herself. Our pride and anxiety are in a tense equality.
So quickly it has come to this.
The worst moment came when J successfully fed her some pudding. After a little doze she became extremely irritable so we put her into her walker to cheer her up. She threw up everything J had spent so long coaxing into her and the prospect of another hellish night appeared. All the problems with the scrapheap neighbours were as nothing as compared to the misery of cleaning up that banana and apple dessert.
We had already formed the theory of course but on Friday the first positive sighting was confirmed: a little sliver of white along her gum announced the arrival of her first tooth.
Gradually things have been getting better. It has mostly been back to milk but on Friday night we managed half a jar of chocolate pudding and on Saturday night it was a whole jar of sweet breakfast porridge. The best news came this morning when she had the entire jar of beans and bacon. It has been necessary to develop some new distraction techniques and now we have to be extremely strict about making her lie down after every meal whether she approves or not. But it's a little bit of progress.
Every time she has cried to date there has been something we could do whether it was feed her, change her or play with her. But this is the first time we just have to let go a little bit as she does something all by herself. Our pride and anxiety are in a tense equality.
So quickly it has come to this.
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