Wishing you kindness at Christmas

 Well it’s that time of year again! The Juniors will shortly be home, then the celebrations really begin. So before it all kicks off, we just wanted to paws for thought. It hasn’t been the worst, but it hasn’t been the best of years for ‘Them Indoors’, with the Seniors having some serious issues. It also hasn’t been the best of times in the UK and the world in general, and it is easy to get caught up in a downward spiral of gloom and doom. Yet there is still so much good in the world.

Take the apprentice for example, she might be a monkey moo who chews her way through things she really shouldn’t, uses her bossy bark and her tactical tooting to get me to relinquish my toys and bed, if she takes a fancy to them, but, at heart, she is a sweet natured fur, who likes to give little licky kisses, play, and curl up next to me if I give her half a chance. She also has an endearing knack, if she is feeling uncertain about anything, of looking round to see what I’m doing, and then, if you’ll excuse the pun, taking her lead from me!

And the wider world has some similar niceness. Most days, when we are out for a walk in all weathers, we meet a pleasant lady with her  Shih tzu dog. We normally exchange polite greetings and ‘Her Indoors’ has a quick chat. Anyway, one day ‘Her Indoors’ admired a little hand-knitted coat the fur was wearing and asked the lady if she had knitted it. It transpired that this little dog isn’t hers. It belongs to her elderly neighbour who has such poor health she was thinking she’d have to put her dog up for rehoming, which she was very sad about. So, in order to keep owner and pet together, this lady had stepped in and walks this little fur, unfailingly, whatever the weather, and has also undertaken to give them a home, should the worst happen to the owner. 

Then there is  another fur who was a stray, abroad, and formed a bond with some nice hupeeps on holiday from the UK. They managed to rescue the dog and get it shipped back, and it is now living its best life in our village.These acts aren’t barked from the rooftops - true kindness has a quiet voice - but if you look around you, they are there, and in a much greater quantity than you might think.

So this Christmas, we want to celebrate kindness - a little goes a long way - and to wish you all a contented and kind Christmas with those you hold dear. Happy Christmas!

Closing the book

 As many of you will know, my predecessor, Rolo, was a dog of literary talents. Not only did he have his own blog and magazine column, he also scribed two books, 'The Last Rolo', a year in his eventful life, and 'Sit, Stay, Roll Over', a manual, written for dogs, on how to train their hupeeps. Both books were beautifully illustrated by the talented Sally C Greenfield and published by 'Her Indoors' using her self-publishing imprint, Quill and Apple publishing. The illustrations were also put on cards and mugs. The books got wonderful support from so many people: the wider dog owning community; Border Terrier social media most noteably Twitter's BT Posse - Sir Clapton Terrier wrote a back cover review for 'Sit, Stay, Roll Over'; and many more besides. Rolo was invited to 'appear' on local radio, Uckfield FM, as it was then, and BBC Radio Sussex. He was also invited to Essex Borderfest and even launched his second book there. He had a great time! 

There are some lovely stories of people enjoying reading the book but two of our particular favourites are from someone who posted a picture of their child, taking it in his backpack as his school reading book, and another about a person who, on reading the book during a hospital stay, laughed so hard they woke the person in the next bed. Quite an accolade! Also, we have received so many photos over the years of dogs reading the books across the world, especially Border Terrier puppies, learning what it means to be a BT and our proud tradition of doing our own thing and subverting attempts to train.

When I joined the household, I quickly became part of the family literary tradition, and, in due course, inhereted responsibility for the Boss's books, taking over his magazine column when a very elderly Rolo finally went OTRB in February 2019. 'Her Indoors' is on the local speaker circuit, talking on a range of worthy subjects but by far the favourite talk is 'My Literary Dogs'. She has even delivered it for Border Terrier Welfare at their AGM! With the arrival of my own apprentice in 2021, I was able to ensure Bear was suitably indogtrinated from a young age, using the Boss's books. I think he would have approved.

However, time passes and Rolo has been gone for almost five years. Very sadly, this year, we lost our generous illustrator, with the death of Sally. The remaining books are now few in number, the cards and mugs almost sold out. So we've made the decision to withdraw the remainder from the market place at the end of this year. We have had so much fun with the books and they have been more successful than we could possibly have anticipated - we have sold a kennel load! We reckon practically every fur in the BT Posse owns a copy and some of you are repeat customers. We wanted to say a really heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us. We feel like Rolo's memory lives on and we are truly grateful. 

If anyone wants to buy a book, mug or card, before the end of the year, there are a few left and you can  order here.If anyone is local and is able to collect, or we can drop some in on our travels, we are happy to donate to raffles etc for good causes, just let us know. It's what Rolo would have wanted,

                                                            Rolo with his first book

                                                    At his book launch

                                                        At Essex Borderfest

                                                        BBC Radio Sussex

                                                    And another book, 'Sit, Stay, Roll Over'

                        I join a fine literary tradition - don't know how the bunny sneaked in!

                                                    The apprentice, paying close attention!

Got a bit behind with posting my columns....

 

June's magazine column

 

May's column

 

April's Column

 

March's column