Pinning on the Purple Poppy

Its been a busy week run this week - from sneaking out of work to volunteer at the Greyhound Rescue Centre Fife for a day, to hosting friends and having a laugh playing Baker Street. It's been a good one. And this weekend was the icing on the cake:

Firstly, Saturday was a Armed Forces Event in conjunction with The Purple Poppy UK. Purple poppies remember the animals that have served, or still serve in the military, so it was only fitting that in addition to the horses on show, bedecked in purple poppies themselves, that there was a dog show. It was actually my older sister who found out about it, she being fairly local, and she suggested possibly going to it (spoiler, she turned up as we left, the show being packed up).

I'm gonna be honest, the dog show was the weakest part of the day. Competing against police dog demos, pipe bands, 50s jive demos, highland dancing, live music, hundreds of stalls and a living history village from WW2, it was definitely overshadowed. I won't complain, Missy took home 2 ribbons, although I almost missed golden oldie as I ran off to watch the Highland dancing!

It was Missy's Mercy Dog outfit that won the day - it's debut in competition and the only location I felt it would do well. And that was the day. A fabulous solo adventure for Missy and I!

Sunday was just for the dogs - the long awaited return of Doghailes. The logistics of this day were a disaster - originally hubby was off and we were gonna meet friends, and then he wasn't, but that shouldn't spoil the day, right? Well, then we got double booked, big Sis if off on her holidays and could I take Wee Ben? 

I had committed to having him, when the holiday was meant to have happened in Easter. As it was, tickets had been bought and paid for for Doghailes by the time the dates were booked. As my friend has a no dogs on furniture policy, I couldn't take Ben with and go for dinner as originally planned. As Hubby was working, I couldn't just pick him up and go myself, I operate a strict one dog per person policy at events. So in the end I strong armed my niece into coming along and doing the drop off.

There wasn't much in the way of coercion. My niece wanted away from the mad flap of packing, and had been asking me repeatedly about when the next show was on she could take Ben to. I paid thier entry and off we went.

We shared a picnic, cheered on the dogs, fitted in a nice walk about the estate and generally had a lovely day. Missy placed 2nd in fancy dress, the only ribbon we picked up, but it's all for charity, so we didn't mind in the slightest.

A fab weekend all round.

With us having Ben this week, we have an unexpected quiet week thrust upon us and, I won't lie, it's probably needed!

Until next time!

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.