Another Year Goes By

It's been 9 years since Missy chose us and, apart from a wee grey chin, she hasn't changed a bit! Still biscuit mad, squirrel daft and as accident prone as ever.

I've told the story before of how we came to be a family, and it still feels like yesterday we found her sad and morose in a shelter. Yet at the same time, she's always been here.

We celebrated yesterday with a nice walk about Newhailes. So this picture, in addition to the 9 above, marks every Adoptiversary, including the day we got her. 

Newhailes have a wee art exhibition on, featuring local artists and thier interpretation of Newhailes and what it means to them. It was nice that we could take Missy into the gazebo to admire the work. Despite the hard frost today, Spring is definitely trying to come along, there were snow drops aplenty, and something very floral, that was so strongly scented it gave me a nosebleed (I'm thinking hyacinths, although I couldn't see any) 

A good excuse for a hot chocolate in the cafe though. Missy got lots of attention in her little coat. The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the many hearts stitched along the back. Yep. Barely a week after she got it, she tore the whole back open going under a barbed wire fence - I'd much rather the coat get cut up than her, so just mended it up as best I could.

What did I say about some things never changing? 

We went into Jollyes on the way home and let her pick a treat. After failing to explain to her that there was no way she could have the knuckle bone the size of her head, she chose a chicken doughnut thing and then watched hubby very, very carefully as he filled a pick and mix bag with biscuits for her. 

And that was that. We are having a quiet day today with some nice local walks planned in, and much cuddling on the sofa. 

The flowers might be trying to tell us otherwise, but its definitely not spring yet, so we'll take advantage and have a well eared duvet day! 

Until next time

marking Seven Years

It's been seven years since Missy chose us, and time has flown when I think back to the excitement of bringing her home and all the mischief she caused and love she brought. In seven years she has built herself a place on honour amongst the wider family, so much so that there was genuine sadness that we would not be hosting a party for her this year, what with the pandemic and all.

The week didn't start great - it's one of those weeks where its been tough for everyone for different reasons, and by the time Friday rolled round I had gotten through my melancholy and was keen to get the rest of the family out of it. 

Phase one, let's get silly:

Let's be honest here, find me a dog that wouldn't love a chicken as a cake? (Disclaimer: hubby was on hand in case she was too tempted and went for it, and it was carved before she was given a small amount. She acts like chicken is crack cocaine, she only needs a little bit!) 

Missy spent the rest of her Adoptiversary cuddled up on the prime spot of the sofa sleeping off said chicken. 

Phase 2:

Random acts of kindness. OK, officially Random Acts of Kindness Day is next week, but it's hardly random when a day's been set aside for it, right? So, what to do when your lockdown and can't leave your council area? Get things delivered!

Big sis likes baths to the point she must have been a mermaid in her past life - bath bombs. 

Little Sister has a sweet tooth to rival a bumblebee and misses home - gourmet shortbread and fudge.

Brother who works backshift, regularly misses mail and has a dog that will still go for packages sometimes, uh, an IOU with an explanation (he's so laid back in the world, he didn't feel any need for a gift and didn't understand what I was trying to achieve, so he's fine, just didn't want to leave him out).

Mum - flowers. But maybe not the sort that will die. But also Hardy enough she won't kill them with her black thumb. A bromeliad. 

I eagerly awaited through Saturday. Little sister got hers first and a thank you was messaged. Mission accomplished. Oh, she's keeping it off the family chat, that raises the stakes for big sis. Delivery time rolls by. I get an automated message that it's been received. No call. No text. Huh.

She rings and tells on about her MIL. 

I break and ask - any deliveries today?

Pause. Is this...did you send the bath bombs? 

Yep! You've had so much on your plate, I felt you needed to be reminded I'm here for you. 

Happy gasp followed by uncontrolled laughter. 

There should have been a slip with my name on it? 

We try not to touch the packaging - Neice was claiming they were hers! And when I pointed out that it was in my name, BIL said he bought them for my Xmas, but they must have been lost in the post. Mystery solved! 

Instantly on the group chat. Little Sis chimes in about hers and I damage control brother (who seemed confused about the whole idea) and mum. 

The bromeliad. That wasn't getting posted. I'd already organised a walk with a friend at the boundary of my council district and, wihh some essentials for friends who are vulnerable, I made my way to mums. It had started to snow, so we exchanged a brief minute of conversation whilst she was absolutely dumbstruck to see me and I retreated back to the cars heating. I rang her on the drive home (hands free) and she was delighted. She was shocked I'd turned up on her doorstep as I'm very much aggressively following the rules, and I explained about our vulnerable friends and that she was a detour on an essential journey. 

Job done. 

Today marks the end of #leadthewayatoz, and the letter W. We had a Wintery Walk by the Water. It's bitter sweet to see it end, there was definitely some fatigue with the difficult letters at the end, but it's really been a highlight for me during lockdown and adding some purpose to the weekend walk. 

We also won the monthly Waggiest Wanderer through #leadthewayatoz, and on the explorer front we got our Pioneer Pooch badge and won explorer of the month!  I cannot wait to see her little cartoon emoji when it's done. 

Its fair to say Missy has had an excellent week for her Adoptiversary, and we hope we've sent some of that joy out to the family. 

Time Flies

Four years! This week marks four whole years since Missy waltzed into my life and decided to make herself the centre of it. I had a look through my previous adoptiversary post, and even on the very first post of the blog, and realised that I have never actually relayed the story of how Missy chose us.

The hubby grew up with greyhounds and lurchers and, whilst I have a soft spot to mongrels owing to the little mutt that was my childhood pet, I liked the idea of getting a dog and knowing what I was going to get. There are several rescue greyhound centres about the place, so we decided that the time was right and we'd go window shopping at some dogs and see if there was anyone who would fit into our lives perfectly. Of course, I over analyse everything, so by this point I had put more thought into this greyhound that I was going to own than most people do about having children - I'd scoped out dog walkers, I'd decided on what would be the best local walk and the nearest nice bigger walks, I had a short list of names and had exactly where I wanted the bed and the bowl to go.

So we looked at the greyhounds, had a very nice chat with the people running the place and they effectively matched us to the dogs. We took a lovely black pair on a walk and said we wanted to think about it before committing, but I didn't get that feeling of window shopping. I remember vividly the day my sister and I walked through the kennels staring at all the puppies before we were struck the need to have just that one there, the wee one with the diamond...

And I never got that feeling. The hubby too, I could tell something was up and relayed my thoughts. I was surprised at his response.

He wanted to go get a real rescue. Something from a pound. Did we have one of those? He too recalled walking through kennels and looking at all the sorry dogs wanting homes, but rather than that element of finding the right one on sight that I had longed for, he wanted to find the right dog he wanted to rescue.

So to the Edinburgh Dog and Cat home we went. I laid down ground rules on route, knowing my hubby is a complete sap and would pick the most flea bitten thing he could - no projects, I understand whatever we pick will have issues, but no long term projects, we did not have the time to train an aggressive or mentally upset dog, we needed one we could trust near children and other animals.

And so we walked through the kennels. First the boys and then the girls. There was dozens of excited little faces and wagging tails. The noise was terrific and then, in all the chaos, sitting peacefully on her own and just watching us calmly, was 515. Fresh off the streets and not yet named.

She's friendly. We were assured. The rottie that shrunk in the wash was the joke. I was smitten already and didn't want to get too close - I hadn't thought until just then that we might take to different dogs. The hubby popped his hands through the bars and the little stray looked at him before hopping onto her back feet and gently putting her paw into his hand.

Yes, you two will do, was written plain as day across those little brown eyes.

I think it's safe to say that none of us have looked back since!

Adopt-iversary

Well, I'd hoped to get posting sooner, but nonetheless, better late than never!

Yesterday marked three years since we got Missy and she has gone from this nervous and unsure little thing:

To this completely spoiled rotten little thing!:

I'm not normally a fan of these mashed-up expressions, but I do like adoptiversary. As Missy was a stray, we'll never know her birthday or even an exact age (her estimate was 11 months to a year when we got her, so for documents we just use the first of March, meaning next month she will be approximately 4 years old), so its nice to have a day that's for her. We took her for some of her favourite local walks and I made her some cookies.

I found this recipe and it ticked all of Missys favourites: peanut butter, banana (I opted for 1 banana instead of the apple sauce) and chicken stock. Cant say they appeal to me, but she loves them! Whilst Eating Bird Food doesn't have much in the way of dog recipes, after the success of these, I have earmarked their pumpkin and peanut butter cookies for Halloween!

In other news, I've been sewing away quite the thing. I made myself a SpiderGwen costume and the hubby an Agent Venom one for a 30th party we had been invited to (I'm waiting on the photos from the official photographer before posting any) and its now time to get started on all the baby quilts for my soon-to-be niece and nephew.

My step sister (who is about to have a girl) lives over in the states, so us 'Scottish Aunts' are putting together a care package (the quilt being my contribution). I'm also tempted to put in some Irn Bru and other Scottish goodies for the mother to be!

What do you guys think? I imagine it'll go down well!