An Official Puppy Play Date

But first of all, I encourage everyone to go to my sisters blog were Missy has been immortalised in wool - no spoilers, but its pretty awesome.

Missy got the all clear from the vets and, with Maisie finally good to go out and play having had all her jabs, we finally got that puppy play date. Keeping it simple, I organised for my brother to come to mine and we took them both around the local park. Pouty-Lip, as I have dubbed Maisie, hasn't quite got the idea of the point of a walk, and simply enjoyed meeting other dogs and being fawned over by the other dog walkers. Saturday was Missys first day of freedom from both cone and lead, so was far too preoccupied seeking out squirrels and weeing in all the off road patches to care.

Where are the squirrels?!

My brother is hoping the idea that the toilet is done outside will rub off on Maisie by seeing Missy doing so, and we had one successful outdoor wee, so fingers crossed. She is very much a puppy, chewing everyone and everything, and has yet to learn her manners around other dogs - one thing I know for certain Missy will teach her! It was a good day, and my brother is keen for more play dates, so I'm sure you'll all be seeing much more of the fuzzy ball of fluff!

I've been busy crafting away and, whilst most of it I will save for a more seasonally appropriate post, I will share this Slytherin scarf. My hubbys cousin (who has not read the Harry Potter books) is somewhat surrounded by family who are all a bit Potter daft (other cousins have produced small wizard-daft children, and both his mother and aunt (my MIL) are completely daft on the books). He has finally caved in and decided to get a matching scarf like the rest of us, and declared that he wanted to be in the "Naughty House", and thus:

The importance of the date has not escaped me. With it being a 100 years from the end of the war that was to end all wars, there has been a lot of events and articles about what happened then and since. There's also been a big push from Poppy Scotland and the Poppy Appeal and I've seen, for the first time, a lot of products being sold for dogs. Missy is too large for the bandannas that I found, and I wasn't keen on a dangly charm she would likely lose, but I was rather enamoured by the collar poppy. 

I'm sure there's an argument about projecting our political opinions on our pets, but Missy has received nothing but compliments on hers. And to make things fair, I put together a purple poppy for her to wear alongside the red. For those who aren't aware, and I only came to realise what it meant this year myself, the purple poppy represents the animals that have lost their lives to protect us in war, so I felt it fitting. I tried to find her an official purple poppy, but failed, so perhaps next year we will see some more animals remembering their kin.

So, for all who have served to protect this country, whether they have given their lives in battle or have taken those wounds home with them, we remember you.