The Diary

19 December 2009

This Christmas I decided to make it easier on us all and instead of trying to put Christmas hats on everyone I bought a big roll of red tinsel.

It took me several attemtps to get everyone to even slightly pose as all they wanted to do was shake the tinsel off.

I eventually gave up with Blackie as he was just not amused so you will see Blackie wishing you a Happy Christmas as he stands behind Scruffy in the stables. Scruffy wore the tinsel for himself and Blackie! Good on you Scruffy-clever Scruffy.

So a Happy Christmas to you all from Jenny, Scruffy, Blackie, Pixie, Tess, Blossie, Bubbles, Pluto, Pepe and me.

The weather has been great. Calm days. On one evening I got out my camera as just in front of my cottage the sky was red and pink over Muckish and as I turned to the right to face Maheroarty beach, the sky was a bright orange. Two totally different coloured skies in one panoramic view-amazing.

A wee bit of snow today but it didn't last long. I made sure the Big Lads had plenty of hay to get them through the day.

I got a nice photo of Tess, Bubbles and Blossie sleeping at the fire. My dogs always come in to the fire in the early evening. They just love to be in with me as we watch the television. We often fight over the remote control and so we take it in turns to decide what we will watch. Tess loves to watch period drama as she loves the costumes. Bubbles loves to watch action movies as he is the main man. Pluto loves to watch Nature programmes especially ones about elephants as she is almost as big as an elephant herself. Blossie loves to watch the news as she is very keen on economics and she keeps a keen eye on the stock market. Pepe loves to watch love stories with a happy ending as his life has a happy ending now that he is with us all here.

Pepe is so funny. He loves to lick my face but he often goes a bit heavy and uses his teeth! I tell him to go a bit softer on me! He reminds me of Buttons as once Buttons started to lick my face she would not stop. Oh I loved her kisses and I love Pepe's kisses too. Pepe is very settled here now and when I am on the phone he sits right beside me licking my face as he wants to be a part of the phone conversation too. It can be a bit distracting as I end up laughing so much. The person I am talking too doesn't know why I break into sudden laughter and I'm certainly not going to tell them unless it is my friend Jill. Jill adores animals too and she would understand that I don't mind Pepe giving me loving kisses.

Dogs love to express their love and it is important to let them do this even if it means they lick my face non stop. Sure I give them plenty of kisses back and so I do encourage them to show their affections. Tess and Bubbles don't really give kisses. Pluto does and so does Blossie. Bubbles just makes noises when I am petting him. He groans with delight. Tess loves when I sit beside her on the rug and pet her and she takes deep heavy breaths that tell me she is very content.

I miss Buttons so much this Christmas. I find Christmas is a time when I miss people and pets I have lost. Christmas is a sad time, at least I think so. I've never really been a fan of Chirstmas. Once Santa stopped calling and I grew up I began to see Christmas as a time to reflect and I would always think of sad things that had happened in the year. So I try to avoid the mayhem of Christmas and I am happy once I am with my pets. They make Christmas a softer time to bear.

Take Care on the roads as it is very cold and there is black ice in patches

Take Care of old people and people who live alone. Give them some of your time at Christmas. Many people are very lonely at Christmas.

Let your pets be a part of the family at Christmas as pets need to be a part of the family. It is soul destroying for a pet to be left out in the cold when everyone is inside by the fire all cosy and fed. Would you like to be left out on your own when there is a house full of people who are celebrating? Let your pet be a part of the family. If you don't you should not have a pet. You are actually being cruel to your so called "family pet" leaving them outside alone. Do unto others..... including your pet.

Annette