29Th February

Thank you Mark for your moving comment on Sandy.
At these times it is always good to think about your successes and  take time and enjoy your own dog.
Our biggest success this year was Jade finding a home with Christopher Hammond, he rang me today to say how pleased they are with her. His only complaints, that she had put on weight and that she was 'bossy.'

The dogs with us are all well.
Sapphire, despite having been with us almost two years now, is very happy. She comes to the ponies each day and plays ball with anyone who is around, including builders and landscape gardeners. She did get into trouble recently for running on the newly laid patio slabs. She is no trouble to us and equally seems to have a good quality of life here.
Angel is tail chasing less, the end of her tail fully recovered but she can still become upset if another dog is vocal.
She too enjoys a good run chasing the ball. She is also allowed upstairs in the evenings for a while but does push it and jump on the bed if she can get away with it.
Boycie is fine in the car now, even coping with the journey from hell this morning on the college run and that with a full tum. He too enjoys a game of ball.
Chance is still high energy and gets very jealous, a home as an only dog who accompanies his owner to work would suit him. He is the most gorgeous colour.
Tara remains a delight, enjoying her walks with Lexus and making the most of her time out of her crate. She too comes upstairs whenever she can but will lie on the floor and only jumps on the bed when invited or when no-one is looking!

Having Lexus' rear end in front of you may not be everyones idea of happiness, but when he is trotting along in front of me on walks with his jaunty step, tail swinging in time and ears flapping, and I know if I could see his face he would look as if he was smiling, for me it is the cheeriest place to be. He really is the happiest, comical, cartoon like dog there could possibly be.

28Th February

Until recently we kept Poultry, rare breed chickens and ducks. My favourite part was when the chicks and ducklings hatched, a perfect little creature emerging from an egg and the joy of new life.
However, inevitably, each year we lost some, sometimes to disease, sometimes an accident, the joy in new life, tarnished by death and sadness.
 I mentioned this to a farmer friend from my home village,'Ah, yes,' he said knowingly,'we say,' when you have livestock, you have deadstock.' This I am sure you know is a pun as deadstock usually refers to equipment as in a deadstock sale, as opposed to a livestock sale. A sort of farmers joke.
 I found it tremendously comforting, I wasn't doing anything wrong, that was just the way it was.

 I believe it is the same with dog rescue too, yes it is lovely to take a dog from a pound and see it transformed and happy in a new home but the reality is it doesn't always have a happy ending.

Last Tuesday morning I received a call from the kennels where we were boarding Sandy. Things had gone downhill since I had last seen her. She was jumping at her lead and at peoples feet when they tried to walk her and that morning had jumped at the kennel girl snagging on her jacket and not letting her out of the kennel.
The proprietor said she could no longer keep her there and let the youngsters walk her, asking had I homed anyone or could I swap her with another dog? The answer to both questions being 'No.'
Not only that, I had been concerned for some time about whether she was really safe to rehome, for this very reason of her jumping and grabbing. It was not aggression but excitement but still pretty dangerous if it got out of hand. I had been avoiding the truth but now I knew I had to make that awful decision.

I know for some of you reading this you are going to find this very hard, but in reality  putting dogs down is as much a part of responsible rescue as the happier side.

As in other instances I always take the dog a walk first, going somewhere they know and love, as I did with Sandy, taking her to the ponies where she ran in the snow the first winter she came.

 I also stay with them throughout and due to our skilled and wonderful vet and her team the whole process is as kind and respectful as it can be.

It was particularly hard to reach this decision for Sandy as we had launched our great appeal to take her in and that is how the blog started.
Perhaps in a different climate that special home would have been found with people who were responsible, a couple with no children and a calm life where they were prepared to work with her, but when people can pick up a puppy for less than our donation or get a dog for free from an advert why should they bother with a dog who already had problems and would demand lots of work.
We are struggling to home anything at the moment, even puppies.

So R.I.P. Sandy, run free through the snow beneath the moon as you did that first winter.

27Th February

Our next Stafford Walk is Sunday 25Th March 11am starting  from The Manor Inn (Premier Inn) 
Guildford Rd, Godalming. GU7 3BX


Please park in the right hand corner of the car park furthest away from the hotel.

This will be a lovely walk of approx 1 hour along footpaths, bridleways a little bit of road and returning along the towpath. It takes us past the farm where I keep my ponies and I am really looking forward to sharing with you this beautiful countryside where I am lucky enough to spend most of my time.
As last time dogs will need to remain on leads throughout.
I hope you can join us.

26TH February

Please note :- 


 As from Tuesday 21ST February 2012 Guildford & District Staffordshire Bull Terrier Rescue is no longer affiliated to Staffordshire Bull Terrier Welfare.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Welfare for their support for us during the time we have been with them.

Alison and David Oakden

I apologise for the absence of blogs last week. The reason for this is that on Monday I resigned from SBT Welfare. I had hoped the above statement would be on the website soon afterwards to inform everyone but this has not been possible.
Obviously this will have a huge impact on Guildford Staffords especially as we relied on them for the majority of our funding.
In the long term we hope to make Guildford Stafford Rescue into a charity in its own right, in the short term we need to keep running for the next few weeks providing for the six dogs currently in our care.

We have recently paid our vet bill and do not have any outstanding debts.
Due to recent donations we have about £200 remaining in the bank, although we do need to get insurance.
We have had some encouragement in the past week.
Poppy has been fully adopted and we have the donation for her.
 I emptied the collection tin from our vets and there was over £50 which will pay for food for a while and in the charity bin at Pets at Home there was an almost full, large bag of food, exactly the type and flavour we feed (a huge coincidence) that had been ripped when they were unloading it from the lorry, this will also keep us going for a while.
Several people have pledged their ongoing support for us which means such a lot at a time like this.

Tara in the garden this afternoon.

Thank you for your good wishes for Dave as he started his new job. He managed his first four days and is now preparing for next week. I managed at home without him though it was a particularly busy week for me and my feet hardly touched the ground. Today however I spent some rare time in the garden, which together with being at the ponies is one of the places I most love to be.

Chance stealing my gloves!

20TH February

It would seem we have another 'follower,' who reads the blog. Someone even more important and influential than Gareth, if that could be.
 I say this because since my heartfelt statement about my marriage on 14TH February, my dear husband Dave, after two and a half years out of work, now has a job! Not only that, he starts tomorrow!
It is not perfect as he has a huge commute to Uxbridge each day but it means he can resume paying to keep the 'roof over our heads,' and also over the heads of the dogs in our care.
Well done Dave!

As way of an explanation, he is still an ordained minister in the Church of England, but this is a part time, self supporting role. He was made redundant from his other job part way through his training for this. This new job is in accountancy.
This will have large implications on our life, most of them positive, but it does mean that walking all the dogs each day is now down to me.

I am sure you will join with me in congratulating him and holding him up as he faces those first day nerves, not to mention the M25 tomorrow.

18th February

I saw Smudge today. She is now 6 months plus and has been spayed. She is looking fabulous with no sign of her Demodex and apart from some adolescent behaviour is doing really well.
As you will see from the pictures she has well and truly fallen on her paws, adopting the 'white' sofa as her bed!

Smudge on her 'bed!'

Gareth has suggested we use some of our photos to make into cards and sell to raise funds, this is a great idea, we could also make a calendar for next year. Dolly and her family could fill a whole calendar on their own!
We could also invite you to send in your photos like we did for the 'match .com' competition, though I already have masses of excellent photos on file.
Remind me if I forget!

Whilst on the subject of photos, can anyone say where this photo was taken? A clue is, it was taken in our last fall of snow on the morning of the 10th Feb. Lets have a little w/e competition with a prize for anyone who guesses correctly.

17th February

We have a date for our next Stafford Walk Sunday 25th March.

Details to follow nearer the time.


I recently received the following email from Jacqui on the Isle of Wight who adopted Cassie (formerly Bessie) from us some years ago. Cassie had been extremely abused, hence the problem with trying to take a photo, she just crouches down. A couple knocked on the door of the pound kennels in the early hours of the morning saying they had found her wandering. Later we found out they were her owners and also that they had kicked her and abused her.
I managed to get the kennels to let me take her in, getting that fierce passion I sometimes feel over a dog to protect her whatever the cost.
I remember there was an odd email came in about her, I suspected someone recognised her, so I insisted she be removed from the website!
 It was pitiful to see her reaction to some things, but she was ball obsessed so just wandered round with her ball in her mouth, placing it at peoples feet to invite them to play. She was a very easy foster dog. I see she has filled out now but back then she was all head with a thin body, she reminded me of a bear so I used to call her,'Bessie Boo Boo,' from Yogi Bear. She is the only dog (apart from Lexus) I have been tempted to keep.
Jacqui rang on Christmas Eve and adopted her over the Christmas break as it was one of the few chances she had to be on the mainland! It must have been Dec 07.
I was sorry to hear of her injury but latest reports are that she is recovering well.

Hi Alison

hope your keeping well- i keep up to date by reading the blog most weeks.

Just to let you know cassie had an accident and injured her hind leg just before christmas, did a flying turn after a ball and twisted it in a rabbit hole- tore the cruciate ligament.

We have been on lead walks and painkillers/anti-inflammatories ever since to try and let it mend, but it hasnt so she is having surgery tomorrow(thursday) to correct/mend it.   Then a further possible 8 weeks of lead walks!!!   Shes so lively & well in herself apart from the leg it is almost impossible to stop her jumping/playing about, but we have to persevere.

Have enclosed a couple of photos of our hols in Dorset last year (lulworth cove &  holiday cottage garden)- its still really difficult to take a photo of her as she immediately slumps down when a camera appears.

 Cannot get photos to appear on blog tonight, hope it is a general problem not ours I am sure our webmaster will know.

16th February

It has been warm. Yesterday and parts of today have been very warm, hard to believe it was snowing this time last week.
And, as far as I am concerned, the forecast has been right, it has done exactly what they said it would do and now I can hardly remember the snow just as I couldn't believe it was ever going to warm up again.
So just before the snow becomes an all to distant memory a couple of photos.

Chance playing with his ball ...                  SNAP


Even I had to look twice!

Boycie playing with his ball.

15th February

                                                                     DORIS

      

Doris, Oscar, Daisy and Honey

 Doris was with us for 19 glorious months.  Age unknown but estimated to be 13+ years when we adopted her. She would not have won a beauty competition but what she lacked in looks she excelled in character. When we adopted her she was unable to walk very far and surprisingly did not bark for the first  4 months. Then when she did it was for her breakfast, walks, dinner and pudding. Don't ask what that is! It is an indulgent secret that all of ours have. When giving her a treat it was like the till in Open All Hours, many was the time she beat us, Stuart and I would laugh at one another saying " She got you then!" It was not an aggressive thing but one of excitable joy.
This Sunday there was nothing unusual with Doris. Off she went with the others for their walk although Stuart came back early dropping Doris off  as she started to drag her heals and the other were still in need of more. We put this down to the bitter cold we have had plus we had just brought her a knitted tube coat to keep her warm. Doris settled on her bed as normal placing her ball at her side.
During the afternoon it became apparent that she was under the weather, shaking occasionally. Dinner time, she was not interested in her food. Stuart took her upstairs to lay on the bed whilst he worked on the computer, watching over her. He called me upstairs to see Doris at 6.30pm, she was laying flat not even lifting her head. We realised that we need to take her to the emergency vet attached to out veterinary practice. Stuart and I have no confidence in this surgery due to experiences in the past, we scoured the internet for an alternative one, which was 50 miles away! We had no other option, the dinner was turned off whilst still in the oven, Doris wrapped up in a blanket and off we went. On arrival we were taken straight into the consultation room. THEN the bombshell! The vet told us Doris was very ill with a temp of 40, dehydrated and her heart rate is very slow and missing a beat and it is possibly cancer he gave us three options.
1. Leave her there and they will put her on a drip with antibiotics and carry out tests tomorrow.2. He would give her an injection of antibiotics and anti inflammatories which will help to bring her temp down and we take her home.

Stuart on the floor sleeping with Doris.

3. We have her PTS.
We decided option 2. Although she was a strong old girl we knew that option 3 was not far away maybe even Monday. Doris perked up and now could hold her head up. So we made the most of Sunday night surrounding her with love and cuddles. Doris had been a stray with a PTS date probably dumped from a car. and we vowed that when it was her time she would not die on a cold concrete floor but with us in her own home. Doris had slept for two hours in her bed. Stuart sleeping on the floor next to her. We decided it was best this way just in case she woke up and tried to jump off our bed and we were to much in a deep sleep. Doris was very weak and just managed to turn herself around. She managed to get up for water, banging her head on the cupboard door staggering, she wanted to go in the garden for her toilet still trying to be clean, helping her every step of the way it was pitiful. It felt cold, it is amazing how cold you feel in the early hours of the morning and as they say this is when your body is at its lowest ebb.Silently we both realised that it was not fair for Doris to go through this and in our hearts we already knew.  She lifted her head and as you stroked her she put her head in our hands gently closing her eyes enjoying the caressing that is given to her. Knowing all that she had been through in life yet she was still so trusting.

Doris on the common carrying  her favourite ball

8am Doris wrapped in her blanket we drove through the rush hour traffic to our vets. We were ushered in straight away, they confirmed that Doris has probably got cancer in the abdomen as there were no other symptoms and her temperature was still 40. It is the bodies mechanism trying to fight off the cancer. They could do blood test, scan her, in which they would have to sedate her, the outcome would be the same. Stuart and I always swore that she would not be PTS anywhere else but at home, her home. After being a stray and in a pound. Our lovely sweet old Doris would be surrounded by love and not discarded like she had been before.
We brought Doris home to have her PTS in her own home, on her own bed with us at her side. Lindsey our vet and Vicky the nurse arrived at 11.30am. Knowing all our dogs they made a fuss of them and we took them upstairs. I cuddled Doris, Stuart stroking her and Vicky telling her how beautiful and lovely she was, Lindsey administered the heart stopping injection. Doris died peacefully in our arms at home. We brought Daisy, Honey, Oscar and Luci in to say farewell to their friend. They sniffed at her mouth and ears silently walked away and settled. In doing this we felt that they would not be looking for her or awaiting her return.

Our sweet beautiful Doris. Run wild and free xxxx

We have a secret, you and I,
that no-one else shall know,
for who, but I can see you lie,
each night, in fireglow?
and who but I can reach my hand
before we go to bed,
feel the living warmth of you
and touch your silken head?
Only I walk woodland paths,
and see, ahead of me,
your small form racing with the wind,
so young again, and free.
and only I can see you swim
in every stream I pass,
and when I call, no one but I can see the bending grass.
 
Monday night Stuart gave Daisy, Honey and Oscar their puddings and he thought he heard Doris barking for her's and said that his mind was playing tricks on him.
 Doris's ashes are in a box next to Percy's. Stuart does not want them scattered together but has said he wants them put with him, when he goes. Poor undertakers they will have a heavy load to carry!!!!!                                                                                

Nugget

 Stuart and I do not regret one moment and a piece of our heart has Doris's name firmly on it and will do it all again. It does not matter whether you have a dog for a month or 12 years the pain is the same. 
There is an old girl waiting in the wings, her name is Nugget at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home aged 15 years who we had expressed an interest prior to Doris's death. she has some medical problems at present  but who knows! She may take up that comfy bed by the fire for as long as she needs it.



Cherish every moment for who knows what tomorrow may bring.


Author :- Valerie with thanks to Doris our star RIP

14th February

Val and Stuart said goodbye to Doris yesterday which was sad but also very lovely.

. They had adopted her as an oldie, with lots of health problems, knowing they would not have her for long, but determined to give her the best quality of life and lots of love in her remaining days.
This they did and more.
 Having been told she should only have a short walk as she had breathing problems she ended up going to the common with the rest of the pack and charging round with her ball, within weeks her breathing problem had all but disappeared.

It was not easy saying goodbye to her, especially as it was very sudden, she had been for her normal walk on the common that day, but they say they will not hesitate to take on another oldie and do it all again.

Tara our oldie still looking for a home.

Often we have older people looking for another dog, but instead of taking an old dog they want a younger dog because they cannot bear losing another so soon after their last one dying. What a shame this is. We rarely have a younger dog who is steady enough to be suitable and old dogs like Tara, who would be a wonderful companion for an older person, remain in rescue.







Which leads me on to mention that today is Valentines Day, commercialism apart, it seems to celebrate sentimental love. I have never been one for all that slushy stuff but have had cause to recall my marriage vows recently ... 'for better, for worse,
                 for richer, for poorer,
                 in sickness and in health,'

there is nothing slushy and sentimental about that! Especially after 20 years of marriage and a husband out of work for over two and a half years!

The dogs came too! Tasha Dave's JRT and my  Joshua.

This sentimental attitude seems to have crept into our relationship with our pets too, and the selfish view of only being committed when we are getting something out of it, which is one of the reasons we find it so hard to find suitable homes.
What a shame there are not more like Val and Stuart.

12th February

STOP PRESS  8.30.am 13th February :-

Val and Stuart's old dog, Doris, who they took on as an oldie, (approx 15 years) 19 months ago was taken very poorly yesterday evening. They saw the emergency vet and took her home for the night, where she was comfortable but weak, they are on the way to their own vets with her now.

 I am sure you will all join with me in sending love and kind thoughts to them.

 We will keep you posted.

7.35pm
Val and Stuart's own vet confirmed the diagnosis of a probable tumour.
They took Doris home so that she could be in familiar surroundings as Val did not want her pts at the vets as she had been a stray in kennels. The vets came to them and just after midday I received a text from Val saying, 'Doris is at peace.'




 Here is the article from The Times which everyone felt was positive coverage, I will let you judge for yourselves.

11th February

I have just discovered how to comment on the blog! Or rather, I have just commented on one of the blogs, I have never managed to do it before, maybe it has changed recently?

St Martha's in the snow.

At 8 am this morning it was reading  -12 at the ponies! Unbelievable. At least there was plenty of redeeming sunshine, tonight is not supposed to be as cold, lets hope not.

The back of our house, Friday morning.

Friday, however, was a pleasant day. The snow much nicer than last week.
Steven and I walked Khan, Spryte and Boycie up to St Martha's and then back down through the Beech woods  to the gunpowder mills.
The retractable lead I had on Boycie, broke not far into the walk, making things very difficult. It is not easy to see ahead for any distance on this particular walk, so hard to allow them off lead if you are not sure of them, but we did let him off several times for a run.
We did so as we crossed the water meadows to the powder mills. There was ice on flood water and Steven began to tell me about a man who had died trying to rescue his Labrador who fell through ice.
He had only just started speaking when Boycie did exactly that, running onto the ice which cracked and gave way. In seconds he was struggling, although it was not very deep he has particularly short legs and his head was going under the solid ice. We were just about to intervene when he managed to climb out, soaked in icy water but otherwise fine.
Both Steven and I agreed that if one of our dogs did really get into difficulties we would go in to help, despite the danger we would not be able to stop ourselves, I pray none of us ever find ourselves in that situation.

Going up to St Martha's.

I felt some urgency during the last part of the walk to get Boycie home to get him dry and warm. Fortunately there was some clean bedding on the radiator for his bed when we got in. He seemed none the worse for his experience and came over to the ponies with me later ( he is getting much better in the car.)

Val has been struck down with what they think is 'Reactive Arthritis,' following her chest infection. Her joints particularly in her hands and feet are very painful. She is awaiting the results of blood tests.
I am sure you will join with me in wishing her a speedy recovery.

It's almost Valentines Day surely spring is just around the corner?

9th February

11.45pm Snowing again!
Quite wet snow and can still see road as I write this but I think it's meant to freeze afterwards so we will have to see what the morning brings.
We were asked by the local RSPCA officer if we could take a youngish pup today, the dog was being given up voluntarily but the owners sorted it themselves, just as well as I don't know where we could have put it.

I haven't mentioned Lexus for a while, just in case you thought that was because he was behaving I can assure you that is NOT the case.
He has now initiated Tara into his pre breakfast barking routine. As soon as he comes in from the garden in the morning he launches himself, with his ears flapping like a cartoon dog, and Tara joins in. He does it regardless of who is there or whatever else is going on. One morning recently Sam was standing next to the radiator before leaving for the bus, Lexus launched himself towards him barking madly ears flapping ...

He has chewed all the expensive little pots of face cream my sister sent me for Christmas, my fault for leaving them in the lounge I suppose, no chance of warding off the wrinkles now.

He cuddled up next to me sofa on the sofa tonight while I watched the ten o'clock news and Question Time.
His 'wind' was so bad it may my eyes water! He even breaks wind during his walk!
I have just heard him having a sneezing fit. Because his legs are so short, when he sneezes he bangs his nose on the ground!
I walked him with Tara today ... Still 'Darby and Joan,' though they nearly had a run in over a stick.

That Dog! But we wouldn't be without him.

12.30 am Still Snowing!

8th February

Well I wasn't expecting that!

I knew it was to be cold overnight but I thought we would have sunshine in the day, instead pleasant meadows had been transformed into a Siberian wasteland, with ground like concrete. A steel grey sky squeezed bits of snow and the bitter wind froze my mind and my body. The dogs didn't want to play ball as the frozen snow hurt their paws and rumours of more snow were rife.


This evening my two younger children had to go to the dentist, meaning the ponies were done late, in the cold and dark and we were late getting home.


I have since checked the forecast maps (fell asleep and missed the actual forecast) and it looks as if it is getting warmer gradually so maybe we will be alright.


Not sure I could face another day like that.

7th February

I walked into the living room yesterday with Spryte following her walk. Dave was just watching the end of Lassie  Come Home.'
 Lassie had just returned to her home in Scotland having walked all the way from down south. She was in a bad way, lame and exhausted but suddenly struggled up and walked to the door. She wanted to go to the school to collect her young master, Joe. 'We cannot let her go in such a state.' Said Joe's mum. 'We cannot stop her when she has come so far just for this,' said father.
 So Lassie dragged herself through the streets of the town, whilst all the shop owners glanced at the clock, knowing she was on her way to meet young Joe as she had done everyday, before being taken away.

Dave and I watched with lumps in our throats and shameless tears in our eyes.
As the film ended I announced that I had to be off to pick up my boy from school.

Spryte immediately leaped up and refused to stay on the settee with Dave but ran to the back door and when I opened it she ran out to the car and jumped in the back.
She too was insisting on coming to meet her young master from school.

As we drove off I turned to her and said,'You have been watching too many Lassie films Spryte!'

6TH February

Today has been a much better day for me in every way, not least the weather
.I also managed to get a lot done.
I went over to the kennels to see Sandy which I did find it quite upsetting. I took her a walk and she was very well behaved and calm, but she has lost weight and her front paws are sore from where she is chewing them and she was shivering (it was very cold.)

 I wanted to scoop her up and bring her home there and then.


I need to make it very clear that this is not the fault of the kennels.
 They give the very best care and it is all overseen by the proprietor, unlike some kennels where all the daily contact is left to a couple of youngsters ( as in some care homes for the elderly.)
 I too struggled to keep weight on her and apparently she sometimes becomes upset by another dog and so runs up and down in her kennel, this is also when she chews her paws.
They are going to increase her food.


Staffords just do so badly in kennels. This I believe is for a number of reasons.


The first is:- they love/crave human company, and to be isolated from people in a kennel is torture for them.


The next is:- they have a short coats and feel the cold (and the heat) and they love their comforts.
 and the last is, 


they are not brilliant with other dogs especially reactive dogs and in kennels they are surrounded all day by other dogs throwing out challenges further exacerbated by 'fence rage,' because they cannot interact naturally.


We have many dogs coming out of kennels who are reactive with other dogs but calm down quickly once they can interact normally again.
There is the rub.

Happier days, in the river with Sam.

 As a rescue taking a dog out of kennels and into a foster home is one of the most satisfying things we can do but with Sandy it is the other way round. We have put her in kennels and until we can home someone, there she must stay.

The rest of the day , however, was very encouraging. We have received two substantial donations, very welcome as we are almost out of funds.
I just took Saffy and Chance with me this morning as I was going to the kennels. They were so quiet I had to keep checking they were still there. A big positive for both of them, 'Good in the car.'


More encouragement in this email from Nathalie :-


Hi Alison hope all is well with you and that you have not been too disrupted by the snow and cold weather. All is well here. Dolly has hated the cold, but loved the snow. She went mad in the garden yesterday, then returned to the safety of her bed by the Aga to warm up afterwards. We
celebrated a year since her arrival with us on Saturday....and what a delight she has been from the outset! Attached is a picture of her helping Emma with her piano practise....they adore each other and

whenever Emma plays, Dolly hops up too to 'help!'

5th February

Felt less enamoured with the snow this morning, a sort of snow hangover. Not helped by the fact I was woken by one of the dogs at 5am. Went downstairs and took Boycie out, struck by how warm it was, followed by Chance. Got up again at 7am to realise I had taken the wrong dog out. It was Angel who had been crying as she had an upset tum, the evidence of which awaited me.
So Angel had to go out first, thus upsetting the routine, followed by frequent trips outside by me as I cleaned up.  Every time I went out Boycie and Chance started to whine or bark, plus having to take boots off and on each time I came in.

 Not the start to Sunday morning I had hoped for. By the time I eventually finished everyone it was 9am, too late to go back to bed with a cuppa.

 Not happy
.
The disgruntled mood lasted all day.

 Camera not charged so no snow pics, well a few of Chance on my phone.

4th February

As I am writing this, at 10pm, I can see the snow falling, just as they said it would, though it started earlier than I thought.
I have been outside most of the day. This morning at the ponies, the cold was ferocious -5, the ground solid and still no running water, though the fresh ice on the buckets was not particularly thick. Within minutes the fingers of my left hand became so painful I could not carry on with jobs but had to force myself to bend and rub them until they warmed up. I fetched water from the house to fill the buckets in the yard.

The roads were very quiet and not much busier by mid-morning, I thought people would be out early stocking up on supplies and doing things while they could still get around. I suppose not everyone listens to the weather forecast and even less believe it.
By mid-morning and with some sun there was a subtle change and it even felt rather pleasant in places,the ground was softer here and there but still very cold.
We tipped a kettle of boiled water on the tap in the yard and left it switched on, nothing!
The sunshine was hazy, coming and going and then around 2pm dark, grey clouds moved in.

Around 3.30pm I tried the tap again, despite it feeling colder than ever, we had water!
Then I knew the snow was coming!

The ponies had a second feed and we turned them out with plenty of hay at 4pm and took Angel and Chance a last walk.

Just as we arrived home it began to snow, little sleety bits. By the time I had brought the dogs in there was a sprinkling like icing sugar. By now there was lots of traffic and the road remained wet. Around 9pm the snow became heavier and the traffic less and within half an hour our road was covered. It has continued to snow heavily, swirling in the street light and it has a distinctive hiss as it falls.

I took the dogs out early for their last visit to the garden. Despite not being certain of Boycie and Chances ages, they all appeared to have encountered snow before. Out of all of them, Boycie is the only one who requires a lead. Old dog Tara was particularly unimpressed and is now snoring next to the radiator in my bedroom, thus flouting the 'No Dogs Upstairs,' rule.

Cars are still coping with the conditions though they are taking more care. So we will see what the morning brings. My husband is scheduled to take 8am communion at Shere, followed by 10am communion back here at St T's. He drives a 4x4 and is part of the Surrey 4x4 response team (currently on stand by for SurreyPolice/Surrey county Council and South Coast Ambulance Service) so he should be able to make his own services! At times like this I have to admit our life does NOT conform to average.

10.50 snow fall heavier than ever. Two teenage girls have just tottered past the house, pausing to take a photo of each other with their phone!

I love the snow. I love watching it fall, I love the way it changes things, I love the effect it has on people (and animals) I love the disruption, the way it looks, the beauty of it. Every snowfall is different, I like it when it makes everything stop.

It won't last long, but while its here I love it!

3rd February

It felt a little warmer today with less wind and plenty of sunshine and quite pleasant to be out in, but the tap did not thaw out all day at the ponies, despite a kettle of boiling water being poured on it, so it must be frozen in the ground, which was rock solid.
I have been avidly watching the weather forecasts throughout the day and studying the forecast maps to get the clearest picture of what we are in for. It looks as if, here in the South East, we will have a fine day with some sun with the snow hitting about 10pm, but then snowing all night, well lets see...

Steven and I repeated our newly discovered walk taking Khan and Spryte and Boycie on the extending lead (as I don't fully trust him not to run off.)
It takes about an hour and a half and was as delightful as we remembered it.

Afterwards we replaced the other broken fence panel, though we had to ask Dave to help, they really are very heavy panels.
We had just leant it in position and Steven went to fetch something, when a Robin perched on top of it and sang his heart out. Life doesn't get much better than that.

David Bennet sent me a copy of the article which appeared in the Times and a member of the Forum also alerted me to it. It is very positive. I will share when I can ( just thwarted by the technology for the moment.)

I must confess to being  very flattered by Gareth's comment, blow recognition from Her Majesty, give me praise from a renowned journalist any day! ( Have been trying to keep up the standard) does it show?

2nd February

I have ridden twice in the past two days. Despite owning ponies I myself rarely ride but the last two days, the coldest so far this winter, have seen me in the saddle! Needless to say I can now hardly move and it will take me until at least this time next week to recover!

This is not me (or winter.)

Today was a lesson with my instructor Sarah, we follow a method called 'Ride With Your Mind,' which doesn't describe it at all because it is totally based in the physical.
Seat bones (always pointing down) play a large part along with likening your torso to a 'can of baked beans' and something called your 'bear down,' (crucial to good riding) like a coffee plunger! It is innovative stuff and exhausting. I once spent 45 minutes trying to roll a seat bone forward but keep it equally weighted and slept for two hours afterwards!

Spryte and Riley in snowy woods 2010

The ground now like concrete and snow on the way most riding will be cancelled for the foreseeable future.
Snuggle up with your dogs at night and take them for brisk walks in the day ( far warmer than riding a horse)
The weather men are still uncertain about the timing/amount of snow as the warm damp front collides with the cold air so we shall have to wait and see, meanwhile throw another dog on the bed and batten down the hatches!

1st February

Hope you are snuggled up with your dogs, it's certainly a three dog night tonight!

My thanks to Val for yesterdays blog, extolling the virtues of Mitcham common and hearing about Poppy.
It is very good news about Poppy, Val is very skilled at 'home to homes,' having now successfully completed at least ten or more over the years.
A 'Home to Home,' is where someone needs their dog re-homed and contacts us, but the dog remains with them until a suitable home is found. I hate them, finding it hard to sort out all the logistics, it is certainly a help if the dog is local.
 Val is very thorough both in the assessing of the dog and in introducing the potential owner. It does need all parties to be committed and honest for it to work.
Although it uses less resources from the rescue, it is time consuming for the re-homer and I would like to thank Val for all the hard work she puts into this and congratulate her for her success rate, also wish her a speedy recovery from her chest infection, lets hope she is able to stay indoors during this bitter spell.

Val and Honey at Discover Dogs

I have heard from Sally that Saffy is much happier and back to her normal self, so they know that keeping her as the only dog was the right decision.
 Boycie has settled well, despite having less attention with us. He enjoys a game of ball and Sally and Simon bought us some very expensive tennis balls to keep him entertained. Now I know why. He destroys tennis balls faster than any other dog I have ever come across (excluding Lexus) that is.
I am taking him short journeys in the car followed by a walk to try and build up his tolerance in the car. We have had some success but today due to a longer return journey he threw before we made it home. He is getting keener to go in the car, just gets sick poor chap.

Angel's tail chasing is greatly improved. We attribute this to several things, the first is she is calmer without Jade, especially in the car when Jade would bark a lot. The Thundershirt has also helped and avoiding situations we know tend to stress or excite her.
She is always upset when a new dog comes but even with Boycie coming back she is better.
She fits quite well into life here and I am committed to keep her for as long as it takes until the perfect home comes along. She rarely meets another dog when out and she would need a similar situation in any new home.