Author: Sue

I think I may have to retitle this page as obituary column instead of news.

On the 21st February, my dear, lovely friend Annie lost her battle with lung cancer – never having smoked in her life. We had been friends for 50 years, the close friendship never changing even when she went to live in Hong Kong and Malaysia for many years and then I moved to France. I was proud (but nervous !) when she asked me to be Godmother to her first son, Liam, but luckily for Liam I was never needed to help with any major decisions and he is now well old enough to make his own. However, I am ready to step up to the plate if needed ! As well as being a wonderful caring mother, (which spilt over into our friendship, Annie would always check if friends needed ‘to go to the loo’ before going out !) Annie was great fun always the first on the dance floor and if the dance floor was crowed, well, a table would do ! Wherever you are now my lovely friend, I hope you are dancing on tables.

Whilst visiting Annie just before she died, one of my special dogs, Jip, a Brittany Spaniel, was very ill at the vets and to round off a sad week, he was pts.

Jip was one of the best, he was a wonderful friendly dog who always welcomed newcomers into the ‘pack’ whilst the rest of them always need a couple of days to get used to a new face. I miss you babe, so, so much. You should have had many more years yet, but, boy, you enjoyed life.

Moving on, anyone looking for a puppy, just go to the adoption page where you will find pups in abundance ! We are anxious to move these on asap as Danielle will be away from 10th to 30th March and although she will leve them food and water, it would be better if they are in new homes. KIDDING ! (about just leaving food and water) there will of course be someone there to take care of the dogs in situ, but it would be so nice if the pups moved on before. NO VISITS to the refuge will be possible during the time Danielle is away.

If you are not looking for a pup, just take a look at Snow ! A fabulous dog who would love to be adopted by a very active family.

As for me, well I’m up to my eyes in collecting and sorting books ready for the 25th March. I have enough now thanks to the biblio generosity of lots of lovely people and am as happy as a pig in the proverbial in my shed going through them all wondering how many I have time to read before the sale !

Just a quick reminder that the English film ‘Living’ or ‘Vivre’ to gi it its’ French title will be shown in English at the Salle d’Animation in Montcuq on Sunday 5th March at 3pm.

Brrr, it’s jolly cold isn’t it ?!

Love,

Sue x

So, the chilli recipe said to add a couple of squares of dark chocolate. Now I’m a chocolate girl, albeit milk or white, but hey adding chocolate to anything is fine by me. So, in went the choc. Oh yeuk, double yeuk, pah, spit – disgusting !! Even Ernst who has put up with my, at best, passable culinary efforts for over 25 years, looked at me doubtfully until I gave him the nod and into the bin it went. I wouldn’t even let the dogs have it ! Hey, cheese and biscuits is fine for supper now and again, n’est ce pas ?!

Sorry to say, another Poorpaws resident has put his paws up. Dear Teddy left us this morning. He had had a long and happy life. I took him from the Carcassonne refuge when a friend saw him on line and wanted to adopt him. Sadly, when she saw him in the flesh, she wasn’t so keen but did adopt another sad soul. So Teddy came to us and was soon adopted by a lovely guy who adored him. They had many happy years together until the guy died and Teddy came back to live here. He made it to 17 years old, which is some going. Hopefully, he and his owner have found each other (crap I know but I like to imagine it) and are happy again.

Moving on to happier things, there have been many adoptions since Christmas, but ………a record of dogs being abandoned too. Nicky the dachshund has gone to a lovely home, Tania will very shortly be going to a new life and dear Tinkerbelle is off and away too. Excellent news, Raven one of the Pointers being offered for adoption without a fee because he has been waiting so long, has gone to a great life which is brilliant for him, however, it means that poor Nairo, his kennelmate, is now on his own and lonely. He keeps climbing the fence but not to run away, but just to look for Danielle. Proof that he is a lovely faithful dog, so, please anyone considering a dog but doesn’t have the adoption fee however can offer a great home, please don’t hesitate.

Danielle has A LOT of puppies at the moment, some ready to go now, Jack Russell crosses, Braque and some perfectly delightful black and white mongrels. Then, around mid February there will be some beautiful Labrador mixes of just about two months in need of homes.

Please, please, please make sure your dogs have your ‘phone numbers written on their collars. If you lose your dog, even if he/she is chipped and found, not everyone will take a dog to the vet to check to see if there is a chip, but everyone will call if there is a visible ‘phone number. A very close friend had a huge scare on holiday in Spain recently when her little Bichon was chased by another dog, but thanks to social media she was found quite quickly.

Finally, many, many thanks to those of you who answered my call for books for the Book Sale. There has been some really great stuff coming in. From now on in, just novels please, no more gardening / cookery books, I’m drowning in them !

Keep warm !

Sue x

I know, I know, so late again but quite honestly I haven’t got back on track since Christmas. My pal Susie has been here for nearly two weeks and only just went home on Wednesday. Whilst I miss her (she really is a four star houseguest) I have to say that it is lovely to get back into my own bedroom ! To say we were busy over the Festive Season would be an understatement. I think we had something ‘on’ for 11 out of the 13 days she was here. Lunch on the 24th had to be rebooked for the 1st January because I was suffering from a stinking cold – which is only just on its’ way out ! Where I got it from heaven knows. I left home on the 23rd to go to pick Susie up from Toulouse, in perfect health, then by the time I got to the airport my throat was sore and scratching and my nose streaming. Anyway, I got through Christmas and our Festive Fizz on Christmas Day – much depleted by friends having moved on to Spain or back to England – on relatively good form before collapsing in front of the fire and dining on left over nibbles.

I started the new year on 1st January in a spectacular fashion. Susie, Ernst, friend Paulette and I went to our favourite restaurant for lunch, looking forward to a fab meal (which it was !). However, when the poor waitress arrived with our aperos she lost control of her tray. I realised this when a glass of kir splashed across my lap, then, before I could stand up, it was raining kir and glasses. It was in my hair, down my front, down my back and pooling on the chair, meaning I had a very wet behind and had broken glass all round me ! I just burst out laughing and other amazed faces around me joined in when they realised I wasn’t going to throw a wobbly. The poor, poor, waitress was completely distraught and couldn’t apologise enough. I kept telling her not to fret (I did that job for years so I know how she must have felt). She brought me another chair, mopped up the floor and I dried myself down as much as I could with a seviette. My trousers were very wet but there was nothing I could do about that. We then had a very delicious lunch but kept breaking into hysterical laughter everytime we thought about it. As a friend said to me, I might not remember all my New Year’s Days but I’ll certainly remember that one !

Now to dogs. Danielle has loads and loads of dogs looking for homes, so if you are looking for something to MAKE you carry on your new year resolution to get out an walk more, what better way of doing it than giving a dog a loving new home at the same time ?! As soon as Danielle manages to get photographs to me, there will be lots of new faces on the adoptions page, but spare a thought for the ones already there many of whom have been waiting for so long.

I’m heavily into book sale mode now and really need a lot more good condition paperback novels in order to give you a really good sale. So please, do not hesitate to get in touch if you are having a turn out, I can collect or meet up with you easily.

On Sunday 8th, the English film Armageddon Time, starring Anthony Hopkins, will be shown at the Montcuq Espace d’Animation at 3pm. Don’t worry it is not an ‘action’, blood and thunder film, but a story about a family. I hope many of you will be there.

Sue x

PS No, I didn’t get a greenhouse heater !!

Oops, December seems to have crept up on me without warning ! One used to be able to tell when it was December because everything Christmassy would come out, but now, if you went by that rule you would be forgiven for thinking that September, or even August was the twelfth month ! I am an unashamedly Festive Season lover, I love the lights, the decorations, the present buying (not so much the cooking) and everyone seems to be in a better mood. Except for the unpleasant man who told me I was too old to drive and should take another driving test, after HE had reversed into ME ! Then there was the guy in Montcuq who had parked his work van blocking one of the tiny roads up near the church and I had to get through to take an elderly lady to the dentist. He very rudely said I would have to reverse back. Hah, you must be kidding I said, I just do not do reversing, I would rather abandon the car than try to reverse around all those little streets. He grudgingly, and I mean GRUDGINGLY moved his van which was no hardship as he was at the end of the road, he only have to move about ten metres. But what is the matter with people ? Why can’t they just smile and help out ?!

So, back to Christmas, I am an absolute sucker for Christmas films and there are two books I always read at this time of the year, one is ‘Skipping Christmas’ by John Grisham, a laugh out loud book, but don’t watch the film of the book ‘Christmas with the Kranks’, absolute ‘krxp’. The other is Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg, an absolute delight.

They say you learn something new every year and I learned something last week. I have a pink rain/walking jacket – bought for a hiking holiday in Japan a few years ago, – the thinking being that if I got lost in a forest, rescuers would be able to find me easily, then I realised that so would the bears, but I digress – the jacket is great and is still going strong. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the hood, which, when in use, came down so low in front that it covered half my face and I could only see the ground in front of me. Well, when I put it on last week to take the dogs for a walk, I noticed a bit of velcro on the hood, and then another bit further back, durrrh, I could velcro the two bits together and, hey presto, I could see the path in front of me !

A week or so ago, Danielle and I went to collect two elderly dogs whose owner had died a year ago and who had been in kennels ever since. They are now here at Poorpaws and are a true delight. They are Fauve de Bretagne crossed with something smaller, so not a tiny dog, more medium to small, about Spaniel height. They are ten year old sisters and just need a fenced in garden to roam around in and protection from the elements – cosy beds inside would be even better. Very affectionate and loving, perfect for any retired couple/person.

Danielle has been having a bumper time regarding adoptions in fact so good that in a couple of cases, no sooner are they on the website than there they are gone ! Sadly there are two or three who have been with her for over a year and although they are happy and well cared for, it would be so nice to get them their forever homes.

Oh, before I go, I am ready, waiting and willing for any good condition novels you want to pass on ready for the book sale in March.

Until then, I hope you have exactly the Festive Season you enjoy.

Love,

Sue x

I’m sorry to say that again, I have to start my monthly verbal ramblings with the news of a sad loss. Dearest Balto went over the rainbow on the 25th September at the amazing age, for an English Setter, of 18. I so, so wanted him to fall asleep and die at home. He had been incontinent for months, was blind and nearly deaf and had an almost undetectable heartbeat. However, I came home from coffee with pals to find him in a bit of a state and he couldn’t stand up, so the decision was taken. The vet reckoned that he only had a couple of days left, so should I have waited ? No. So, another large empty space here at Poorpaws. I, and friends who loved him, miss him a lot, though do I miss washing the kitchen floor and Balto’s nether regions every morning ? Hmm, tough one.

The hunting season is well under way, so please take great care when out walking your dogs. Even non hunting breeds can get excited at the noise of gunshot and because of the hunt the deer and boar are moving around more and crossing areas where they don’t usually. When dogs get the scent of a deer they will sometimes follow them for miles and miles, right out of their locality and comfort zone. Two of my friends have recently experienced their dogs being taken out for the last pee of the day, only to see them disappear into the distance. Thankfully all returned but all stayed out all night, which meant a sleepless night for the owners. I am not, of course, a fan of hunting, I hate it, but I am always courteous and polite to hunters as they know the countryside and can often spot a stray dog in the wrong area. A few times hunters have found dogs I had lost, in the early days before we were all fenced in. The fencing does not however, stop my dogs occasionally going awol when on a walk ! I have to decide which dogs walk well together and which will be off and up to mischief as soon as they realise that we are heading home !

We all need a good chuckle sometimes, especially with all the shite that is going on all over the world at the moment. So, give yourselves a treat, come to the Quercy Troup Players pantomime and give your laughing muscles a good work out ! They are putting on their unique interpretation of Dick Whittington and panto style groans are guaranteed. Saturday 26th November at 8pm and Sunday 27th at 4pm. here is the poster which gives all necessary details.

Wow, hey, look at that ! I managed to insert a photo in the middle of a paragraph, without Colin, my patient computer guru being on the end of the ‘phone !!

I am already collecting books for the book sale in March, so, please, send me your read, your future homeless, your taking up space, good condition paperbacks (preferably, but others can be considered) and I will welcome them and give them shelter. (Apologies fo Emma Lazarus !)

Brrr, getting chilly in the evenings now, so it’s extra straw in the kennels, plants getting ready to go in the greenhouse (wonder if Santa will finally being me a greenhouse heater this year !) and reading in front of the fire to look forward to !

Well it’s November and I haven’t even mentioned Christmas yet ……..oops !

Sue x

Thank you so much to those who sent kind messages following my loss of Hailla, so many said they understood exactly how I felt, and, as we know, this is something we have to go through when owning and loving our pets. I’m getting better and can now look at photos with happiness and not so often through tears.

Enough ! Moving on. A HUGE thank you to Jackie who, with her husband (?) have adopted George and Jessie, the seven year old cats. The owner had given up hope and then at practically the last minute, along came the cavalry in the form of Jackie and the owner was highly relieved to see her cats go to such a lovely couple.

The night before the new format Book Sale I was really nervous that people wouldn’t come without coffee, cakes and soup on offer. I needn’t have worried. Despite saying, as usual, the start was 10 am, we had people long before, mainly because they had to go to work. So for the next sale the official start will be 9am. We took an amazing 1,641 euros which was split between Poorpaws and La Mere aux Betes. The ‘Sue Has Enjoyed’ and ‘Sophie’s Choice’ boxes were a success and will be there again at the next sale, along with special offers. The next sale will be Saturday 25th March 2023 and I am already collecting books, so please get in touch when you have some to donate.

I would like to contact a lady who came to the sale and wrote down her email address for me so that I could get in touch to arrange to collect some books. The problem I have is that I cannot read the email address and attempts to decipher it have bounced back. So, if you know anyone with an email address which looks like (but isn’t !) B.barbaraSzih@icloud, please ask her to contact me !

Since the book sale Ernst and I have had our usual week on Ile de Ré. This was the 11th time we had been to the same gite (we quite like it !) and it was just the perfect week with lovely weather but not too hot.

Now to dogs ! I am more than DELIGHTED to say that Finette has been adopted and gone to a wonderful home. She had to wait quite a while but it was worth it. Pocker has gone to a new home in Germany, another one who had to be patient for months. There are quite a few on the website who seem to get overlooked through no fault of their own and who are gorgeous dogs, Raven and Sirius being just two. So when you are looking, give them a second look.

Ab Fabba will be appearing in ‘Those Were the Days Too’ a musical presentation of the 70s and tickets are selling well. Don’t miss out go to www.quercymusique.fr for details of tickets and dates. Dressing up 70s style is encouraged but not obligatory !

Enjoy the cooler weather, and, as the evenings get darker, curl up with good books ……..and then pass them on to me !!!

Sue x

August 12th, the day my heart was shattered into little pieces. I think I have mentioned before, the wonderful ten year old German Shepherd dog Hailla (pronounced Hiya) we took in just over a year ago when her owner was taken into a nursing home. Hailla was a pearl among dogs. The most loving, patient with other dogs, obediant, faithful dog I have ever had. Although we only had her a relatively short time, I felt that she had been with me for all of my life. Any time I went out, she would be there waiting at the gate when I returned, giving me a rapturous welcome and several times during the night she would push my bedroom door open, come in, poke her head over the bed to check I was there and let me stroke her then go out again. No more. After a very short illness three weeks ago, she died. She was off her food for a couple of days so I took her in to the vets and they kept her overnight to do some tests and keep her on a drip. Nothing, but nothing, nothing, nothing prepared me for the devastating news over the ‘phone, the next morning, that she had died in the night as a result of heart and lung problems. My beautiful girl, gone, on her own. The only consolation I have is that I was told she died at about 8 am and at that time I was up on the plateau walking the other dogs and thinking so very hard of Hailla, I hope she felt that. To say that I ‘lost it’ when given the news would be to understate it. In fact I was worried I would never be able to put my foot into Prayssac ever again. However, I have since seen the lovely Xavier who assured me that it was “normale, don’t worry, pas de soucis” That was three weeks ago and I still wake in the mornings with the pain and wonder momentarily why I feel sad, then it all comes back. In 20 years of dog rescue I have had to say goodbye to many dogs and it never gets easier, but usually I am prepared, the dog is either very ill or very old. Of course it is horrible, but putting a dog out of misery and suffering is usually the kindest thing to do. I know many, many of you have been through the same sadness and when you tell me of your losses and I say I am sad for you, it is not just words, I really do feel your hurt. The worst thing I had to do was to go to the care home and give Hailla’s previous owner the bad news. He had been expecting a visit from us and his crying was almost too much to bear. I don’t think I will ever get over Hailla but hopefully one morning I will wake up feeling better and almost miss the pain. At a recent Marché Gourmande at Tournon d’Agenais, the (brilliant) Ab Fabba dedicated a song to Hailla, it was ‘When You Say Nothing At All’. Listen to the words, just totally perfect and I cannot thank the girls enough for introducing me to the song – which I play every morning before I get up and just before I go to sleep. I hope you hear it Hailla and know that I love you so much and you will always be with me.

Ok, let’s move on to happier things. Last Sunday Danielle and I did the vide grenier in Montcuq selling, as usual second hand clothes. Boy was it HOT !!! We had to keep taking it in turns to go and stand in the shade to avoid passing out. I am very happy to say it was well worth it and we raised 600 suros !!! So, a huge thank you to helpers throughout the day – some starting at 6am !!! – also to all those who donated really great clothes. I am slightly worried that there may be a certain person now moved back to England, who may be startling her new neighbours by walking around naked having had a huge turn out before leaving !!! Oh, before I forget, I was chatting to a very nice gentleman at the vide who was offering to volunteer at La Mere aux Betes. He gave me his email address and I promised to be in touch and send him details of the book sale. I am devestated to say that I have lost the piece of paper and cannot even remember his name. So, if by any chance anyone knows who he is, PLEASE, please get in touch with me.

With regard to dogs needing homes, I would love to find a home for Finette a simply adorable dog who has been at the refuge for far too long. A gentle loving soul, she only asks for a garden large enough for her to run around in and/or long walks with a loving owner. Finette can live outside so long as she has a cosy shelter and protection from the elements. She just needs to find that special someone to love her. Her ‘parkmate’ Raven has also been looking for a very long time but just seems to get overlooked. Heaven knows why, great dogs both of them. Puppies can be homed easily and there is just one Dogue d’Argentin croisé left looking – see Danielle’s La Mere aux Betes facebook page, you don’t have to be on FB to access Danielle’s latest news and to meet the lovely dogs she has seeking their forever homes.

Right, I’m off back to sorting out books for the sale THIS SATURDAY 3rd 10am to 4pm at the Salle des Fetes, St. Pantaleon, Lot. Really great books and dvds, special offers and sweeties, what more could you want ?? Sorry ? Cakes and coffee ? Sorry that ship has sailed but you are welcome to bring your own refreshments.

Don’t let me down, see you there !

Sue x

Well, to put it mildly, PHEW !!! I love the sunshine but even I am thinking about relocating to the north of Scotland !! I thought I’d start off with a few photos of bits of my garden as it was at the end of June but if I took the same photos now they would be starkly different. I do not have green fingers but I love making little corners look pretty, however with the lack of water most of the plants have been gathered together in a shady part of the garden to make watering easier and more economical. The second photo is my favourite coffee/reading spot, now impossible to sit in after 10 am and before 8pm. We have a very large garden which is largely taken up by dog parks and kennels and the rest mostly left to its’ own devices. Great for wildlife but not good for dog poo hunting ! Sometimes I long for a cottage garden and I do my best but it is just not possible to recreate such an environment when you live in the south west of France. The problem is I just don’t like the water storing plants with thick leaves.

I think Ernst is a secret member of the water police, always tut tutting behind me whenever I approach a tap ! So, all water that can be conserved and used again, is. God help me if I forget to take a bucket into the shower to catch every drop which bounces off me and I won’t explain the toilet rules, suffice to say, if anyone pops by I have to remember to quickly go and flush in case they want to spend a penny !

Please, let it rain soon !!

Adoptions, after a worrying lull, have been great. Dear Olly is reserved to go to a wonderful home once her adopter’s holiday guests have left – always wise to take a new dog into a calm, peaceful environment. Just one little boy Bruno de Jura pup left. If you are hesitating, Bruno de Juras are the gentlest, loving dogs. We have had a couple who have transferred from hunting dogs to wonderful pets without any problem. So if you are lucky enough to get one from a pup I can almost guarantee you’ll have a winner. Poor, poor Rouky, after years of being loved by all around, he now finds himself (due to a death in the family) in dire need of a new loving home with someone or someones who will understand that he just wants a peaceful last few years and does not want any other animals around.

I did the St. Pantaleon vide grenier along side Danielle last Sunday and although it was worth doing, it was a shame there were not more visitors, mainly probably because apparently it was advertised not as being at St. P, but at ‘Barguelonne’ !! This is a result of three villages – St. P, St. Daunes and Bagat – being grouped together as Barguelonne en Quercy.

On the 28th August, Danielle and I will be running our usually successful clothes stand at the Montcuq vide – back in the village, yey ! – so if anyone has good quality unwanted clothes, ladies only – please get in touch so I can collect/meet up.

The following Saturday – great planning Sue – is the new format book sale. As usual hundreds of books at 1 euro each, dvds are down to 50 cents and cds 20 cents. A ‘Freebie’ box, donations box, ‘Sue has Enjoyed’ box and a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ selection have all been introduced. There will not however be any refreshments, so no coffee and cakes. I know that for many of you, our ladies’ cakes are …… well the icing on the latter, but I hope you will still come along, support Poorpaws and La Mere aux Betes and go home with some really great stuff for your Winter (eek !) enjoyment. If all goes well (fingers crossed) I will continue with the sales which, hand on heart, I adore planning for.

Keep cool,

Sue x

So here we are, half way through Wimbledon already (oh, happy Independance Day to American friends) and the kilos are piling on. Why does watching all the super fit tennis players not inspire me to keep fit, but give me fits of the munchies ! Ok I am not fat and am fairly fit through dog walking, but I sit through Wimbledon every year – my second to favourite time of the year, the first being our holiday on Ile de Ré – and although thoroughly engaged in what is going on on court, at the back of my mind I’m thinking “what can I eat next ?” ! “Hmm, last thing was a banana, that’s not fattening is it ? So can I have tea and cake now ? Perhaps not at 2pm, so perhaps a biscuit, half a biscuit ? Perhaps I’ll make a banana bread, that’s healthy, not sure if mine is healthy though as I always add white or milk chocolate ” And so it goes on ! Devil in my head 40 to self control, love.

During SW19 fortnight all invitations are declined (well, all two of them) but I was duty bound to go to Ernst’s end of season choir lunch on Sunday. I reckoned that, as it was to start at 12.30, I could be out of there and home by 3.30, which is 2.30 in England and I wouldn’t miss much. Ernst had to get there early to help put up the tables and I was to follow on with a salad. I sort of knew where it was (Sauveterre) but checked on the map first. I left myself 40 minutes to get there, but an hour after leaving home I was driving around thinking “where the hell is this village ?” ! I kept referring to the map which took me all over the place, at one point practically in front of my friend Gaynor’s house. I early stopped but thought that was unwise, I would be even later. I finally arrived at 1pm thinking I was so late, but in true French style, they hadn’t even had the apero. I had an apero, starter and main course, then made my excuses before the desert and left. Ernst explained how to get home and I was there in half an hour. When Ernst came home later, I showed him the road I had been following on the map and said I couldn’t understand how I got so lost. He patiently explained that the ‘road’ I was following was the deparmental line between the Lot and Tarn and Garonne. Egg on face.

I’m busy planning the new format book sale and it is likely to include new ideas such as a ‘Freebie’ box, a ‘Sue has enjoyed’ box and, hopefully, a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ box which will be books recommended by friend Sophie who ran the much missed second hand book shop in Montcuq for a long time.

Of course, the sale is all in support of dog rescue, not just my book addiction ! We are ‘down’ to ten dogs now and won’t be taking in any more as we don’t want to pop our clogs and leave them as orphans, but Danielle who constantly has an average of about 20 has huge monthly expenditures and receives no official financial support. She does a really great job and never, ever refuses to give help and/or advice.

Adoptions have been good this month, Lizzie has gone to a lovely Dutch couple I know who have adopted from us before. She is in for a great, happy life. Scooby the Border Colley has been adopted and one of the best pieces of news is that Stella, the Bleu de Gascoigne who was found in a skeletal state has gone to a home where she will be loved and cherished. Scouby, the eight year old has been snapped up as have all but one of the pups. Just a little female left, so don’t hesitate !

Enjoy the sunshine !!

Sue x

So, smack on wrists for last month’s ‘newsletter’, I honestly did mean to add more to it but stuff got in the way. After the week away my friend Sue stayed on for a few days then a week later I went to England for a week mainly to go to the much covid delayed Andre Rieu concert at the Wembley arena. I arrived in England on a Monday where Sue was to meet me at Gatwick before we got the train to Paingbourne to stay with a friend for a couple of days. The visit got off to a confused start when Sue and I insisted we were both waiting outside M and S in arrivals but couldn’t see each other. Of course we were at different terminals (for once I was in the right place !). Consequently we missed the train we were supposed to catch but, hey, no problem compared to the delays and cancellations people are currently having to deal with. The visit was a few days of lunches and meeting up with wonderful pals I hadn’t seen for about three years, then it was AR Day !!!

The concert was wonderful and I have to admit to a few tears when it started.  I don’t know if you have ever seen any AR concerts but they always start with him and the orchestra walking down to the stage through the audience to ’76 Trombones’.  It was due to start and 8 and dead on time, the music struck up and we were off.
> I wondered if I would recognise any of the orchestra and they were all there, plus his Three Tenors, his three sopranos and the usual female ‘backing group’.  The ladies were all in amazing ball gowns and the men in evening suits.  There was comedy, classical music, popular music, everything you see on the tv, even down to him shouting out at the end “You are tired” “You have to go to sleep” whilst we all, like idiots shouted “No, no, more more”. !!  I hugged Sue so tight at the end that I bruised one of my ribs !!! 
>
> I have to add to the above that I have never seen so many badly dressed old people in one place at any one time !  Thank goodness Sue and I were there to raise the bar, if not to reduce the age average !!!  Also I was disappointed that all around the main auditorium were tacky fast food stands and people were coming in with burgers, chips and popcorn – it wasn’t a flipping football match for goodness sake !

Whilst I was away, I gave a great deal of thought to books ! As you know, my idea after the last book sale was to start selling from our garden shed but sadly this is not possible, because of the bad state of said shed. So, really wanting to stay with books but not wanting to go back to the old format and possibly demanding too much of friends, I have come up with the idea of a ‘Just Book Bonanza’. Basically, same location, same great selection of books, cds and dvds, but, no coffee, cakes and lunches. This means that with just ‘muscle’ help in putting up tables, loading and unloading boxes, I can pretty much run the sale on my own. I sent out an email to my book sale mailing list and have to say I have been delighted with the response. Lots and lots of replies supporting the idea with some saying they will bring their own coffee ! Therefore the first ‘Just Books Bonanza’ will take place on Saturday 3rd September and I hope to see lots of you there.

Now, dogs, of course the little Yorkie mix has been snapped up and we are desperate you find homes for the Pointers who are fabulous dogs and would be great companions for any household with a good garden, who like long walks and generally an active life. Coming soon an Australian Colley and some drop dead gorgeous pups. Watch this space !

Sadly, we have had to say farewell to two of our ‘gang’ recently, Tega a 17 year old Malinoise who outlived two owners and who was a darling. I was hoping against hope she would hang on until the daughter of the last owner, who was coming over from England on holiday, got here, but sadly Tega just couldn’t wait.

Then, our famous Tiny, a grey and white poodle of 16 years who was adopted twice when he was young ….. and returned twice because of his unsociable behaviour. He was fine if you just wanted to stroke him, but try to put a collar and/or lead on and he turned into a pitbull. Goodness knows what had happened to him before he came to me. Anyway, here he stayed, thanking me by nipping me on several occasions and generally making himself unpopular. But I loved him and when he got very old he stuck to me like glue. Several health problems got the better of him and he got more and more confused so I decided it was time. 16 is not bad for a poodle ! Of course I felt very sad and guilty after, but I do believe it was the right thing.

So, with numbers going down (just ten now) so the food bill reduces slightly, but with an increasing numer of oldies …… vet bills go up ! You just can’t win !!

Oh well Wimbledon soon !!!

Sue x

Just back from a fabulous week on Ile de Ré with a couple of girlfriends. Brilliant until we realised that one of us couldn’t ride a bike !!! However, thanks to the super inter village bus service, Susie was able to meet Louise and me wherever we had cycled to, for lunch and/or shopping. She also discovered a lovely beach restaurant that we were not aware of !

Anyhow this is just a ‘quckie’ to tell you about the Table Top vide maison to be held at Pat Lockett’s house, just outside of Montcuq, prior to her – sob, tissues, – departure back to live in England. All proceeds are to go to Poorpaws and since the book sales are no more, your support will be much appreciated. See poster above for details.

More later.

Sue x

So here we all are, minus one who is in Australia and plus two helpers, lining up just before the start of our final Book Sale last Saturday ! When I woke up and saw snow I thought we were doomed but no, the hall was quickly heaving and the queue at the cake table was two or three deep – not surprising looking at the yummy display of cakes on the table. It was a marvelous day with many peope saying lovely things, thanking us for the sales and saying how much they would miss them. The final total was 3,000 euros thanks to a last minute donation by a lovely couple which took us ‘past the post’. I had very mixed emotions and have to admit to a few tears when everyone had left and I was there ‘tweaking’ the boxes ready for the big clean up on Sunday. We had a great group to help and we worked like a well oiled machine, so that it was all done in under an hour and a half. Then we had a coffee and just about scraped enough left over cake together to enjoy.

The end of a wonderful era and now it is onwards and upwards. Ernst and I have plans to get our shed into tip top condition, instal some shelves and open a Book Shed. I am a serious book junkie, I need books around me like some people need music, and would miss all the sorting and finding new authors to try. So I will still be taking in books and will let you know when we are open for business.

On the Sunday afternoon I went to see the English film in Montcuq. it was PIG with Nicholas Cage, about a recluse whose truffle pig is stolen and his quest to find it. I thought it would be a feel good movie with a happy ending. Wrong. I came home a traumatised blubbing mess. It reminded me of when I went to see ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Braveheart’ many years ago, having been assured they were really good films. I spent nearly the whole time sitting on the floor of the cinema with my fingers in my ears.

Danielle is now back from Switzerland so the dogs are available for adoption. Sometimes my adoption page is not up to date because by the time Danielle gets photos to me, the dogs have been adopted so I would recommend that you go to her Facebook page La Mere aux Betes to see the latest ‘intakes’. It doesn’t matter if you are not on Facebook (I’m not), you can still see her posts. If you don’t speak French, get in touch with me if you see a dog you think you would like and, in fact even if you don’t speak French, get in touch, because Danielle is always very busy but I can get through to her.

I’m going to have a wonderful break at the end of the month, off to the Ile de Ré but with a couple of girlfriends this time. This should be serious fun !

Just to sign off, to the people who dumped two dogs in Castelnau Montratier and left them to starve, I hope your lives are miserable to the day you die. Miraculously they were found in a skeletal state and are now in care.

Love,

Sue x

1st March, first day of Spring, glorious. 2nd March, second day of Spring bring out the thermals again !! I am sure that, like a lot of you probably, the sunshine over the last week made me sort out the greenhouse (chucking out the geraniums which didn’t make it, definitely getting a heater for next Winter !) and generally walking around the garden making mental notes of Things To Do ! However, I read an article telling me not to be misled by this Fool’s Spring and not to tidy up too much. Many ‘wee timorous beasties’ are still hibernating and not ready to wake up yet, lucky things. So leave the piles of leaves and old branches for another month. Ok, if thems the rules, lead me back to my chair and books !

Speaking of books (see what I did there ?), our next and – tissues at the ready – last, Book Sale, will be on 2nd April at the Salle des Fetes, St. Pantaleon, as usual. We are all getting older, only two of us are able to shift the boxes now, and, two of our core team members are moving back to England this year. We have all had great fun running the sales and that’s how I want to remember them, not everyone thinking “Oh grief, it’s the bally Book Sale time again” ! I, especially will miss them a lot, I have loved picking out books for you to enjoy – and, I must admit, discovering new books and authors myself. Because of the above, I will be keeping a good stock of books here at home where people are welcome to come and browse /buy. Just contact me.

I can’t write this month’s blog without giving thoughts to the poor people of Ukraine. The news every day is heartbreaking and I can hardly bare to watch, but I force myself, bearing in mind how lucky I am to be doing that, watching instead of living it. I remember in the 1950s my parents took in three Hungarian refugees – no mean feat when we were already a family of four children. They were two women and a child and they remained friends with my parents for many, many years. Of course, at six years old I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t speak English and, why I had to give them my bedroom !!

Danielle, La Mere aux Betes, still has many dogs in need of a good home, take a look at her Facebook page and my adoptions page. Danielle is due to go home to Switzerland for a couple of weeks, so the fewer dogs she leaves for her dog-sitter, the better.

Fingers crossed, next month there will be better news.

Love,

Sue x

Ouf ! So that is January done and dusted and I am quite happy about that. The cold I had over the Festive Season hung on and on until I threw in the towel and went to the doctor. Long story short he prescribed a huge dose of vitamin D and, hey presto, I feel good again. I would have been just as happy had he prescribed a holiday in the sun paid for by my mutuelle but apparently all the monthly payments I have made over the years, don’t cover that.

I remember a few years ago we had a fantastic February and actually got tshirts out, wouldn’t it be lovely if that happened again ? I am so fed up with not being warm enough. We don’t have central heating and rely mostly on a woodburner in our kitchen …… and thermal underwear !

Fingers crossed that we get our travel freedom back soon without having to test every five minutes, and that I finally get to the André Rieu concert at Wembley which has been postponed for two years now. Talking of concerts, we went to the wonderful New Year Concert of the Orchestra of Cahors last weekend. It was brillliant, however sadly, I fear that the thing that people will remember most is the moment when the conductor lost his grip on the baton and sent it flying across the stage !!

We had quite a few adoptions in January, but one lovely Brittany Spaniel pup was returned because the new owners felt he was not ‘connecting’ with them. The pup must have had some short of bad treatment in the past and although, on his own, he is a happy little chap, it is true that he is not bothered with people, so heneeds someone who is going to have the time and patience to bond with him.

This week we had our first Book Sale meeting of the year, to start preparing for the sale on April 2nd. I say ‘start’ but I have in fact been collecting and sorting since the last sale. Consequently we can only now take good condition paperbacks as we are ‘booked out’ with cookery, gardening and coffee table stuff. Sadly the sale in April will be our very last one so we are hoping that it will be a ‘wowser’ ! We will be celebrating our tenth anniversary and hope to go out in style – because the vet and feed bills won’t stop ! The problem is that two of our team who are our star bakers will be moving back to England this year, plus, we are (shh, whisper it) all getting older and it does take a lot of hard work and muscle setting the sales up. However, I am hoping to keep a good supply here, setting up shelves in our shed so that people can come and buy from me. I won’t be able to offer great cakes but should be able to rustle up a tea or coffee !

Keep warm !

Sue x

I know this is a couple of days early, but I didn’t want to start the New Year with a grouch, so decided to end the old year with one.

Thank you (not) all those Brexshit voters ! Thanks to you, it has become a morning’s work to send a gift to the UK and the cost of same is unbelievable. I try to do the good thing by shopping in local shops, sending French gifts and avoiding the ‘A’ company. (Amazon to anyone who has chosen – and I admire and envy you – to stay off grid for the last five years.) Then you wrap your gift, not in brown paper but in a box with ALL sides so sealed with brown tape so that the recipient might just succeed in opening the gift by August 2022, and off you to à La Poste ! If you go to our little Poste in St. Daunes, you will be greeted by a lovely young lady who will do everything for you, fill in the necessary forms on line, print off the customs declaration, then, sheepishly ask for a sum which would be enough to feed a third world country for a couple of days. Or, you may have the experience of a friend who queued for 25 minutes OUTSIDE her Post Office, only to be sent away to download and print her own declaration. Her granddaughter (luckily too young to know about Christmas) will NOT be receiving the beautifully hand knitted Snowman until they can meet in person. (Actually, I’ve got sights on the Snowman myself and I only live 20 minutes away !)

Then there are the hundreds of Brits over here who were so looking forward to friends and family coming over for Christmas and making up for being confined and curfewed last year. Yey ! Everyone was so excited, flights were booked, train tickets bought, lifts to airports and stations arranged. Ha, everyone ready ? Good, because, yah boo sucks, you ‘aint goin’ and your friends and family ‘aint coming. Don’t tell me this is a result of covid. It is a result of Brexit. Boris and Macron cannot stand each other and need their heads banging together. When covid numbers are going up in their hundreds of thousands every day, what is the point of closing borders ? We are all going to get it at some time but the vaccinated won’t die from it. As for the non-vaccinated, well that’s your choice but you have to be prepared to take the flak if you get it and end up in hospital, taking the bed from someone who needs it.

I heard of an English lady who runs a gite here and only rents to Brits ………… and she voted Brexit. I can’t bear it. I keep asking people to name one good thing that has resulted from Brexit and, do you know, not one single person has been able to give me one.

So, again, thank you (not) Brexit voters, for making life more difficult for everyone.

Ok, that’s it, my final grouch of the year ! I hope you all had a good Christmas, even if it was spoilt by the above. We had our usual Christmas Fizz with friends coming round on Christmas Day, then I was struck down on the 26th with what, if I hadn’t had the flu jab, I would have thought was the flu (drama queen ? Moi ?) and after reading about cold syptoms being the same as covid, and despite being three times jabbed, I had a couple of tests which were both negative. So I had the good old common cold which has lasted for four days and has strict instructions to leave before New Year’s Eve.

The Adoptions Page will be updated tomorrow, so take a peek, especially if you are looking for a VERY mischevious puppy !

Love,

Sue x

So, here we go again, it’s that time of year and, I have to admit, I love it ! I am not a religious person so that part of it doesn’t come into it for me, but I just love the atmosphere, the decorations and the fact that everyone seems to be just that bit happier. I am, as my friends know, a candle freak, so anyone going to Ikea over the next couple of days may find the Christmas fragrance candles rather short in supply !!

Hopefully this year we will all have more freedom. At the time of writing there are no restrictions announced and my pal Susie is due to come over on the 23rd. Fingers crossed nothing changes before then.

My present ? What I would LOVE is for Praline and Pocker to find new homes, they have been in the refuge for so very long. Praline is an absolute love bug but is a bit of a devil with cats and escaping ! Pocker is a particular dog who will love and be faithful to his owner, but would prefer to be the only one. He is not anxious to share. If you live in an isolated area, Pocker’s appearance would put off any uninvited visitors. So wouldn’t it be great if these two got new homes for Christmas.

We have a beautiful Brittany Spaniel puppy looking for a new home. Take a peek on the adoptions page and you will see just how gorgeous he is. I am sure he will not be with us for a year ! I would take him myself as Brittanys are my favourite but I think Ernst would leave me, our numbers are finally going down. Ernst / Brittany Spaniel ?! Hmm tough decision !!

Sadly, we ‘lost’ another dog a couple of weeks ago. Blackie, a very old Border Colley (who mistakenly was initially blamed for the attack on Tiny this time last year). Blackie came to us over five years ago when his owner was taken into hospital. He was a bit of a grumpy soul ( Blackie not the owner – but hey, who knows !) but he loved me and did his best to fit in. He had been incontinent for quite a while and a bit wobbly on his legs, but when he could no longer get up, it was time to let him go peacefully.

Something else I had to let go peacefully was my wonderful old car. A 21 year old Citroen who had never, ever let me down, even though I had not treated it well. Sadly she failed the control technique quite spectacularly and would have cost too much to repair. I wanted to keep her in the garden for the dogs but the insurance was ridiculous, so, she went. I took her to M. Tanguy in Montcuq and arrived in tears. He was very worried and thought I had had an accident in the new one ! Bless him, he took me into his daughter’s office to see her new Australian Shepherd puppy, to take my mind off the car – and, I am sure, to stop the tears poor guy !!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Festive Season, I will join you in the festive atmosphere after next Tuesday ……..dental appointment, aaargh ! I am such a baby and get into such a state, but our pharmacie is running short on paracetamols because of me, so it is time to bite (no pun intended) the bullet !

Remember last year I was hoping for a greenhouse heater ? Never happened. This year I want mats for my ‘new’ car, so if you happen to meet Ernst anywhere, just drop a hint. Actually, no, a hint is no good, just tell him !!

Have a brilliant time and I hope you all get to where you want to be …… and get back !

Love,

Sue xx

First of all, apologies for being so late with this month’s update ! A week ago my laptop was hacked ! I thought unplugging everything and ignoring it for a couple of days would sort the problem but no. I took it to a really nice chap in Cahors who, within seconds, got me back to my screensaver photo, then kept the laptop for a couple of days to ‘clean it out’. I asked him if I should get a more efficient protecion programme but he said that quite honestly it would make no difference. He did say however that if it happened again within a week, he would have to ‘take everything off the computer’ and effectively start again. OMG ! So if you don’t hear from me again you’ll know I have given up ! I always said that when I come out of dog rescue I would ditch the computer and never use it again – yeah, right !

Ok, get the tissues ready before you read much further ! A lovely lady called Doreen sent this poem to me, and to anyone/everyone who has had to make ‘that’ decision. It will make you cry – if you are not a robot – but it helps.

Today you did the bravest thing, today you set me free.

Thank-you for showing me the ultimate dignity

I ‘m sorry that my leaving has broken your kind heart

But we knew this day would come, the day we had to part

Don’t think I did not hear every last word you said

Don’t think I did not feel your trembling hand touch my head

Today you did the bravest thing, today you set me free

Thank-you for a wonderful life, thank-you for loving me.

This was particularly poignant to me in October as two of our oldies left us. After all the years of caring for dogs I should be used to it, but, no, it never gets easier. Dear Caline (cancer) and Nina ( kidney failure) were both of a jolly good age, 203 between them ! So, we are down to 13 now – I’m failing miserably in my aim to get to single figures by the time I hit 70 !

Our book sale in October was less successful than usual but we still raised 2,000 euros which was amazing considering that footfall was well down. I was quite disheartened at first, the sale means a lot of hard work for many people, but reasoning sensibly, there were quite a few reasons. Firstly we clashed with half term in France AND England, so many people were celebrating being able to travel again to see family and grandchildren. Then there are more people than I realised who are not vaccinated / do not have Passe Sanitaires, so, sadly we had to exclude them, not wanting to face a possible 1,500 fine. I heard some people (obviously not regulars) said they didn’t want to touch second hand books “just in case”. That I do not understand, books in our sale have been stored for the required time before going into the sale boxes and, quite honestly, do those people think that no-one has touched a new book before them ?! Not possible. However, although I don’t agree with anti vaccs people, I totally respect that they are entitled to their own opinions and plans are underway to convert our storage space into a (VERY) small ‘bookshop’, so people can make an appointment to come and browse alone.

Staying on the book sale subject, next year will be our tenth year of sales !! We intend to make this a Really Big Occasion (and possibly our last, depending on various factors). The proposed date is Saturday 2nd April and we will be ‘open’ for a longer time, rather than opening on the Sunday.

On the dog front there have been many adoptions, Robin and Marley have gone to new homes, I cannot understand why Spot is still with Danielle, what a lovebug he is, and Black, ok, ‘just’ a black dog but boy, what a darling. If you are hesitating, hesitate no more, Black will enhance your life !

Viruses, bugs and hackers permitting, I’ll be back at the end of the month.

Sue xx

Happy Birthday brother Phil !

Our holiday on Ile de Ré was jinxed this year. As I told you last month, we had to cancel our second week, then half way through our first week, we had a call to say that an elderly friend of ours had died, so we had to leave early for the funeral. Still, we came back with happy memories as usual.

A few weeks ago Jip, one of our Brittany Spaniels decided to go walkies on his own and didn’t come home until the evening. He was sat outside our back gate and, strangely, when I opened the gate and called him in, he just sat a looked at me pitifully. Me, all heart, said to him impatiently “oh come on Jip, stop mucking about”. He then walked very slowly to the gate and it was then I saw to my horror he had a coil of barbed wire attached to him. How he got home I’ll never know. It took me about 40 minutes to free him and, amazingly, the only damage done was a bleeding ear. Dogs’ ears bleed profusely when injured. I mopped him up and disinfected the wound and he was his usual happy self. A couple of days later I was fondling his ears and realised there was a hole big enough for me to get my little finger through ! He could have had one of those strange big black stud earrings that some guys wear ! Off to the vet who proposed either stitching it up or making a hole in the other ear and buying earrings ! I plumped for the first suggestion. However, sadly, it didn’t mend and poor Jip ended up having the bottom of his ear cut off. I decided to buy him some paints and a canvas to see what he could come up with but, sadly, no talent there !!!

I’m delighted to report that lovely Roxia has gone to a fab new home, in fact she is tobe the sister/playmate of Ivanoe a gorgeous chocolate Lab, adopted from Danielle.

You all know by now that I cannot take in any more dogs, the 15 I have will now be here for life and although some of them are really old and ‘knockin’ on heaven’s door’, they are not actually going through the door ! So, no room for more which is why I work closely with Danielle Diczy of La Mere aux Betes refuge at Castelnau Montratier. Danielle has many dogs who need more education before being put up for adoption and at the moment she is also trying to help an ex chasseur who has quite a few dogs who live in good conditions and who the chasseur wants to keep and care for. The problem is that money is short and Danielle is asking for donations of croquettes to help him out. To rehome the dogs would be a problem and the guy doesn’t want to do that. Danielle would also be very grateful for any veterinary medications you may have at the back of a cupboard and which you don’t need any more. The sell by date is of no importance. So if anyone can help, please contact me.

Another way you can help is to come to the Vide Grenier at St. Laurent Lolmie (Lot) on 10th October where both Danielle and I will be selling a great selection of items, from bric a brac to excellent condition second hand clothes.

Now, our Autumn Book Sale – yey ! The weekend of 23rd/24th October, here in St. Pantaleon at the Salle de Fetes (10 am to 2pm Saturday, 10 to 1 Sunday). A really great selection of fabulous condition books (classics which I cannot bear to dispose of may be less than pristine) all at one euro each, plus our famous excellent home made cakes. Samosas are back (!) and lunchtime soup home made by wonderful Walter. Our dear musician Ray cannot be there but Peter Quinsee will be there to provide music for us. Please, please, support us if you can. PASSE SANITAIRE AND FACEMASKS OBLIGATORY !! Sorry folks but it’s the rules and we all want to keep safe !

With love,

Sue x

So, there I was happily updating the adoptions page when the date suddenly came out and smacked me between the eyes, 3rd September ! Where do the days go ?!

Last month I said we would be selling clothes at the St. Daunes vide grenier on the 8th and indeed we did. Sadly it was a pitifully small vide whereas usually St. D has stalls right through the village and on to the adjoining field. This time just stalls up the village ‘main road’. However, we managed to raise about 350 euros, better than a poke in the eye with a wet umbrella but only about half what we usually make at Montcuq. Still, two months of dog croquettes paid for ! It was a really hot day which was fortunate as the previous week had been dreadful.

August was a funny old month weatherwise wasn’t it ? I kept waiting for Summer to really start, but it never did. Ok some very hot days but very few of the warm balmy evenings I remember from previous years. Still, mustn’t grumble, we weren’t fighting forest fires or coping with terrible flash floods.

I have spent most of the month sorting out books for our next sale (23rd/24th October) and would like to thank those who have donated so far for the excellent selections. My main problem now is to read all those I want to before the sale. (Doreen will you make it this time ?) A couple of times I have chosen books with recommendations from famous respected authors on the front. For example “One of the best thrillers you’ll read this year – Val McDermid” or, “The twists just keep coming – Harlen Coban”, only to find that the books are total rubbish. This makes me mad, in fact, so mad, that I found contact email addresses for both those authors and emailed them to ask “Seriously ?! Have you actually read this book ?”. No reply from either. Funny that ! I have started sticking stars on the books that I have read and enjoyed and one book which I felt compelled to stick two stars on, was The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. The true story of a couple who, due to circumstances beyond their control (no spoilers here) found themselves homeless and penniless AND at the same time found that the husband Winn had an incurable disease. Instead of accepting a council house and benefits – which they and thousands of others were/re entitled to – they decided to deal with their situation their way and their way was to pack up knapsacks and to walk the Salt Path. A brilliant book, read it even if you read nothing else this year !

Ernst and I are off on our usual annual jaunt to Ile de Ré on the 18th September. We were to go for two weeks but Ernst’s sister has sold her house and, sod’s law, what was to be our second week is the week the house has to be cleared. So all family hands on deck. Never mind, definitely two weeks next year !

Sorry about last month’s promised puppies, they were homed before I could get fingers to keyboard !

Happy September to one and all !

Sue x

Many years ago, my friend Sue who was staying with me, left me her walking jacket to use. The first time I used it was to put it a little way away outside our back gate so that when one of our dogs, who had run off, came home, she would wait by the jacket (this works by the way – usually !). I put the jacket out at 8pm and got up at 1am to go and check. No dog …….and no jacket !!!! This was a mystery. To get to the back of our property which is more or less isolated, you have to climb up a hill and circumnavigate the garden, so it could not have been someone just passing by. So I just told people to look out for a sanglier wearing a black fleece lined rain jacket !

Fast forward eight years and I decide to cut (hack) a path through the undergrowth behind our garden to get to a flat area the other side where one of our cats regularly sits and cries pitifully until I walk all the way round the wooded bit to get him to come in for supper. I’m sure you are there before me, yes, in the middle of a particularly nasty mess of brambles was my jacket !!! Way beyond being any use to anyone. I can only assume a fox or sanglier dragged it away in the hope there was something edible in there somewhere.

I had a very awkward moment at the St. Pantaleon vide grenier last week when I took to sell three little tables of different sizes – the sort you put ornaments or candles on in the corner of a room – which I had bought from a friend who ‘distresses’ furniture. I had decided that they really took up too much room for very little purpose. I had been assured that the friend I bought them from would not be at the vide . Huh, yep, along she came in the afternoon. She was very nice about it and wanted to buy them back. I insisted she just take them but she insisted more that she wanted to buy them (at much less than I had paid in the first place), so she went off quite happy in the knowledge that she could repaint them and sell them on again. That was fine, then I realised there was a cushion cover on my table which I didn’t much like but which she had given me because there was a dog’s head on it. I got out of that one by saying that I had put it out to advertise that I was selling in aid of the dog charity. I am not a good friend !!!

Talking of vide greniers, I had been collecting for our usual mammouth clothes stall at the Montcuq vide at the end of August, only to be told that it is not going to happen this year ! Disaster, I can hardly see my bed for clothes rails and boxes. There is however a vide at St. Daunes on Sunday 8th August, so I signed up for that one. Three days later I got a call to say that had been cancelled too …… then another call to say it was on again ! Brilliant, only I looked at the weather forecast today ……. not good ! Still, fingers crossed and if anyone has good condition ladies clothes, bags, shoes, jewelry to donate, please get in touch rapidly so that I can collect.

Most people know that I work with Danielle of La Mere aux Betes who is just the most amazing animal rescuer. From injured birds through to sheep and donkeys, she is always ready with advice and help. Recently a couple brought to her a baby deer who was wandering in the road. Normally people are told not to touch them as the mother will reject them after but this one was clearly alone and in distress. Danielle took her (him ?!) in, bottle fed the poor thing and just look now ! When she/he is old enough he will go into a field with the goats and up to him if he stays or goes.

Lots of new dogs to go on the website ( puppies too !), I have just got to get to grips with the new set out of the website !

Sue xx

Middle Sunday of Wimbledon so one day to get done all the stuff that has been left undone for the past week before it’s heads down for the second week.  It has been a great tournament so far, although all the slipping and sliding over has been rather worrying and many players have pulled out.

Anyway, blah de blah, the most important thing to say is a HUGE thank you to all of you who supported our book sale in June  which raised £2,400, almost up to pre covid sales.  The weather was wonderful and everyone seemed very happy to be there.  Many of you thanked us for still going ahead with the sales which pushes all of my ‘this is the last one’ thoughts out of my head.  Yes, it is a lot of work and the ‘book’ work carries on all through the year with the sorting etc., but the compliments we receive on the condition and quality of the books and  the ‘yumminess’ of the cakes, really does make it worthwhile.  We are going to give the Sunday morning trial one more go to see if more people come along, then make a decision on whether to continue or just stick to the Saturday.

Regular readers will remember my adorable Olivia, really blotting her copybook over Christmas by attacking Tiny, our little one- eyed poodle.  Since then they have never ever been together without supervision and all has been peace and light.  Until two weeks ago.  Ernst and I were having supper, Tiny was asleep under the table, then Olivia came in and went for him with no provocation.  It was awful, Tiny screaming, me shouting and giving Olivia a clout and blood everywhere.  Olivia was immediately chained up in a park (if she is not tied up she jumps over the fence) and I did my best to look at the damage.  Not easy with Tiny who communicates with his teeth when stressed !  I managed to get a muzzle on him and called the vets.  Luckily, it was the wonderful Dr. Cros (the man I should have spent my life with … !!!) and he said to come to the surgery immediately.  Having managed to clean Tiny up – though keeping the muzzle on – Dr. Cros (who pretended not to notice I was crying and snotty) said it was lucky Tiny only had one eye as he certainly would have lost one then.  After the blood was cleaned off, the damage was superficial and no stitches were needed.  however, now our home is more like a French farce, Tiny is restricted to the kitchen and Olivia has the garden.  When Tiny needs to pee, Olivia is locked up.  A rotten thing to say, but Tiny is 16 and Olivia is only three, so hopefully the situation won’t last a long time.

I love gardening, though I have to say I do not have green fingers, and every year I say to myself that I’ll only plant geraniums as they are impossible to kill, but every year I am seduced by other plants.  This year I decided on Verveine, supposed to bloom all Summer and be no trouble.  Huh !  We have the fattest snails ever now … and no Verveine left.  I cannot, will not, use chemicals against insects, not only because we need them, but the dogs will eat anything and everything.  So, back to the nursery and home with a barrow load of geraniums !!

Although we have a lot of dogs at the moment, they are not ready for adoption and the ones who are, don’t seem to be appealing to you.  No worries, we have periods like this, nothing for a while then all of a sudden they all go.

Had my second jab on Friday and, stupidly, forgot the one paracetamol before and one after, advice.  Boy did I feel rough yesterday.  So much so I even sent Ernst off to an apero invitation on his own whilst I slept.  Luckily, feeling tickety boo today and looking forward to the Montaigu Theatre Group’s garden Murder Mystery this afternoon.  I’m sure Gaynor, my pal and future carer, (though she may dispute the word ‘future’  !)  is the murderer, I’ve always thought she has a dark side !!!

Sue x
PS This is Hailla (pronounced Hiya), the latest Poorpaws resident.  A nine year old German Shepherd with hip problems, and she is the sweetest, gentlest dog ever.  A traumatic handover for her owner, and me, but I have promised I will care for her and love her for as long as she has got. 

I’m writing this month’s update looking out across a beautiful mountain view !  Ernst and I have come up to La Clusaz to spend a few days with his sister and brother-in-law.  We have been here since Sunday and the weather so far has been wonderful so we have had some great mountain rambles.  We brought Olivia our Newfie/German Shepherd with us thinking she would love the long walks as she certainly loves keeping me awake all night now and then by running off and coming back up to 24 hours later !  However, she is totally unimpressed and plods along looking miserable and refusing the water we take with us.  She has managed to master going up and down the steep open stairs in the chalet though.  The first time she came down them it was as though she was on a luge, two front legs on the top stair, gradually, gradually inching down until the weight of her body took charge and she slid down to the bottom.  We tried not to laugh and she did not try not to look offended !  She’s got the hang of it now and woe betide anyone in front of her on the stairs who is at risk of being ‘taken out’ as she slides down.

As soon as I get back it is full steam ahead for the Book Sale, on the 12th/13th June.  Everything is in place and all we need is to see you with plenty of empty bags to fill, dear Reader !

Whilst I am away, superstar Tiffany is staying chez nous and I have every confidence in her, though that didn’t stop y usual PRE holiday blues when I get nervous and anxious about going away.  Tiffany is great, she arrived in her camping car with five dogs and two cats and within half an hour all the dogs were quite happily mixing in with ours in the garden.  I had removed the very old ones and taken them to Danielle as they are likely to get snappy if the others accidentally bump into them.  Of course, the very elderly Teddy (a reclaim following the death of his owner) decided to have an epileptic fit the day before we left so I’m hoping he will still be around when we get home.

We have had lots of dogs in over the last month and, happily, lots of adoptions.  Olga, Billy, Sam, Punch, Jerry, Axle and Jazz have all gone to fabulous homes and we are getting excellent reports back of their progress.  A huge thank you to all who have given these lovely dogs a bright future.

Apparently it is apero time, I love that about holidays, apero time is always more special than at home, so I’ll sign off and look forward to seeing lots of you on the 12th/13 !

Sue x

 

Oh the stress, the stress !  It’s worming time here at Poorpaws which means dosing thirteen dogs on three consecutive days with what, I am sure, is foul tasting liquid.  Why don’t I just give them a pill ?  Well, I’m quite a mean person (I mean ‘mean’ as in don’t like to spend money, not being mean to anyone/thing) and the liquid is much, much cheaper than the easy pill.  Of course there are a couple of dogs who just WILL NOT open their mouths when they spy the syringe and they of course get the pill in cheese.  The others, darlings all of them, trust me (oops !) so happily comply, only to look at me reproachfully when they realise what is going on.  Of course they all get treats afterwards but they are definitely (or definately for Line of Duty fans) offish with me afterwards.  Anyway, we are on day two of the treatment, so just one day to go.  As many of our dogs are very elderly, we have quite a few who are on daily medications, so getting the worming done, dishing out the daily meds and stopping the dogs not needing meds from trying to drink the cough medicine meant for others, is quite a task and I have to admit that at the end of it I am not 100% sure that the right dogs have had the right treatment !!

I realise many people will be disappointed with the ghastly wet day forecast but I am delighted !  I had a massive plant up of pots yesterday and they are all out there now drinking like mad and, hopefully, preparing to bloom beautifully.  I love gardening, though, sadly, am not blessed with green fingers.  Our garden is littered with ‘quirky’ stuff, for example an old ‘pop pop’ bike used by everyone in France very many years ago is not decorated with flowers, but strings of onions and garlic.  There are also two really old bicycles found in the outhouse of a property bought by a friend,  a tiny, very rusty kiddie’s bike found in the garden of another house bought by another friend and an old wooden wheelbarrow found in an attic.  My latest project is a ‘vertical garden’ which I saw on line and which consists of two wooden pallets, one providing the back and the other cut up to make planting ‘shelves’ across the front.  Well, Ernst is a master carpenter so I asked if he could make one for me. He said he would so I suggested he looked at the online video.  Pooh poohed that idea, he knew how to do it.  First model turned out to be a horizontal garden.  Rejected kindly.  Second model had ‘shelves’ that were so shallow that I couldn’t put plants in them.  Rejected rather tersely.  Third model ok, but the third shelf is at floor level, er, we have many male dogs !  However, this model was accepted in desperation as I wanted to get it planted up before Winter !  I have just put the teeny bike in front to stop the dogs peeing on it.  I finally planted it up with herbs yesterday and would add a photo but it looks rather feeble at the moment so I’ll wait until the plants have bushed out a bit.

We have had quite a few donations from people since we were unable to run the Book Sale in April and I would like to thank everyone so much.  The donations will be credited against book purchases in June (12th/13th).  Thanks to you, the vets are paid up to date and food supply is guaranteed.  We are keeping everything crossed that nothing stands in the way of the June sale when we will be so happy to see you all.

Only little Axel on the adoptions page and he looks like he will be going to a new home very soon.  This is not to say that we don’t have dogs for adoption, it just means that Danielle has been so busy, she hasn’t had time to send me photos.  You can always check out the website ‘secondechance’ and just click on ‘Midi Pyrenees’, then ‘Lot’ and you will see, amongst others, our dogs under ‘La Mere aux Betes.  You could also go on to her Facebook page.

Last episode of Line of Duty tomorrow – yippee !  “Mother of God” I hope we find out who ‘H’ is, my money is on Kate  !

Sue x

 

Happy  Easter Day to you all and I hope you have lots of chocolates to eat !  I have a little white (chocolate) bunny who will be meeting his fate this evening whilst I am watching, and trying to understand, Line of Duty !!

These days I have to be very careful when watching any series because Ernst and I seem to be the only ones in our group of friends who actually watch anything in ‘real time’.  If, when having coffee with girlfriends, I start to comment on a programme, I am more often than not, faced with the others putting hands over their ears going “la la la la stop it, I haven’t watched it yet” !!!!  We rarely watch anything except BBC as we cannot stand adverts so friends are always telling us to get this system or that, so we can watch without the publicities.  Trouble is, we are really not techno friendly and I really don’t think I could deal with it.  I say “I” because Ernst is very matter of fact, you either watch something or you don’t, end of !

I thought this month’s news would be all doom and gloom about having to postpone the Book Sale – as we had to this time last year – I was so fed up about it, BUT  putting it into perspective,  reconfinement does not affect me in a really bad way, I have not lost my job/business, I am not worried about where the rent/mortgage is coming from because I am on furlough, I have a large garden and Ernst and I are in good health.  How lucky are we ?

The good news is that we have managed to rebook the hall for the 11th/12th/ and 13th JUNE, when, hopefully, the weather will be good, many more of us will have had, at least our first vaccinations and feel happier about going out.

Oh, by the way, can the person who donated the hardback cover book  ‘The Body in the Castle Well’ by Martin Walker, get in touch with me ?  

Excellent news is that dear Zac, who has been with us for several months now, has been adopted, as has Naty, who I thought looked rather scary but in fact who is a big pussy cat – well, not really, but you know what I mean.  We are really surprised that Pheonix has not attracted any takers, this is one amazing dog, an absolute gem.

The 13 permanent canine residents here with us (all unadopted for one reason or another) continue to thrive even though several of them are beyond their ‘sell by’ date !  Fewer can now manage the long daily walk and are happy just to potter around the garden and lie in the sunshine.  Dear little Pixie, who is a rough haired terrier, was found by the roadside, so frightened when she came to us  then learned to trust us, turning into everyone’s darling, so much so that I could not let her go because I know she would feel betrayed.  She will NOT leave the garden (I’m sure she is scared of being abandoned again) and does everything she can to stop the others going out too !  She polices the gate when we leave for a walk and actually hangs on to the legs of her favourite chums, to stop them going to the frightening Big Outside, seeming to say “no, no, don’t go, you may not come back” !!

Love, love, loving this wonderful weather and spending lots of time in the garden.  I was tempted to get some geraniums but looking at the forecast, this sunshine is just a teaser before Summer and frosts are forecast so I’ll hang on and go and sit and read in the greenhouse instead !

Love,

Sue x

 

Lots of good news !  Dearest Princess Rosiepop of Queen  Latte has gone to a brilliant home and is much adored, their gain is my loss but I m really happy for her.  Olia and Rusty are just two of the other dogs adopted this month, we seem to be on a roll at the moment, however, Zac is still waiting for the right person to come along as is dear Naty.  Little Prancer – I’m petitioning for his name to be changed – has come to us and he is one lively little critter !  A great little chap for anyone looking for a small dog, but not for the faint hearted exercise wise.  He needs A  LOT !!!  Also needs to be where cats are not !

I’m going to tell you about the daughter of a great friend of mine.  Eloise has been a dog lover ever since she was tiny and she and her brother Julian even made a collection box for Poorpaws which they put in her mother’s shop.  Eloise is now a beautiful young lady whose love for dogs has never wained.  A few weeks ago, whilst walking the family dog, she noticed a big hairy dog hanging around the area where she walked.  It was there for several days and enquiries resulted in her learning that the dog was sleeping in the porchway of a (closed) restaurant.  The owners of the restaurant fed her but could not get near her, she was just too nervous.  From then on, Eloise went down every day, come rain; come shine, come serious brrrrrr and just sat near the dog, laying treats out to encourage the dog to be unafraid and get close.  After a couple of weeks, yes, weeks, the dog was brave enough to take a treat from Eloise’s outstretched leg, would accept a stroke but no question of attaching a lead or collar.  So, the big guns were called in and my colleague Danielle went down to help.  A mild sedative was slipped into a treat and some time later the dog got a bit wobbly on her pins and laid down with her head on Eloise’s lap.   On with the collar and lead, into the car and off to Danielle’s to check for a chip.  No chip, so appointment made for a check up at the vet.  The dog was in good health and was much younger than at first thought.  Of course, by now Eloise was smitten and I am delighted to report that after a test meeting with Melita, the resident family dog, Sienna, as the dog has been named, is happily living  in a warm, loving family environment.

Time to remind you of our Book Sale, which at the time of typing, is all set for the weekend of 10th April, with a few ‘covid rules’ as last time.  I am collecting books now,  BUT  CANNOT  TAKE  ANY  ON  THE  DAY, so if you have any to donate, please contact me – susanglibbery@gmail.com / 0565245303 – to arrange collection.  We have sufficient cookery books and coffee table type books – and will need to employ Arnold Schwarzenegger to carry them !

Loving this Springtime weather and am spending hours in the garden – and reading in the greenhouse – how lucky we are to have a garden.  I have a friend who lives in a flat in Toulon with an ailing partner and she is finding the restricted freedom hard to cope with.  For many years she has been talking about moving to a house with outside space, but it is too late now, they are both too elderly.  I spoke to her yesterday and she assures me that in her ‘next life’ she will definitely have a garden and she and I will be neighbours !  Yikes, I hope that doesn’t happen any time soon !

Love,

Sue x

I am going to have to give myself lines, “I must check date every day.  I must check date every day.”   (I wonder if children still have to do lines at school when they are naughty, I did and we also had to ‘dub’ footballs in detention, back in the days of heavy leather footballs ! )  It completely escaped me that we are already in February.  This is the thing when we are lucky enough to be retired, dates and days seem to have no relevance.  Hands up those who don’t wake up every morning wondering what day it is !

Curfew is not bothering us much, I can’t remember when I wanted to stay out beyond 1800 but I am glad that we seem to have dodged the confinement bullet, for the moment anyway.  I have nearly got through all my ‘to do’ list, so cannot put off any longer, working on my citizenship application !  I have downloaded the Livret du Citoyen and am enjoying reading it.  Whether or not I can retain all the information remains to be seen !

Coffee mornings with a (very) few friends are important, but how I wish we talked about other  things than the weather, vaccinations and residency cards !  Books and dvds are always top of my chat subjects at the moment, but how lovely it would be to talk holidays, village fetes and …….. The Book Sale !  Yes, we are hoping to have our Spring Book Sale the weekend after Easter, which means it will be the weekend of 10th April.  Extending it to include the Sunday last time, so that the Saturday wouldn’t be too crowded, didn’t prove to be much of a success after all but we are going to give it another go.  This time however everything will be the usual price, not 50% off as last time, this because 90% of the lovely people who came on the Sunday, insisted on paying full price anyway !

I am collecting books already and please, please, please remember, good condition ONLY.  Not yellowing, musty pages complete with the insect and cobwebs collection from lofts, plus out of date (really out of date) maps and city guides.  Sorry to be particular about this but poor Ernst spends days sometimes before the sales going round the rubbish bins in the Lot disposing of books that we cannot sell.  Just ask yourself would you buy the book.  If not, bin it or leave it on your shelf.

In the last newsletter I told you about Princess Rosiepops of Queen Latte and I am delighted to tell you that she has come on tremendously and will soon be looking for a home.  Sadly I cannot keep her but I would like to be the one to home her.  So, if you are young retired and lead a peaceful life, she is for you.  No young children, perhaps, though not essential, an older calm dog.  A garden, but long walks not necessary.  This is a jewel of  a dog and deserves the very best of homes.

Ok, back to studying, did you know that the Loire is the longest river in France ?  Of course you did !

Stay safe,

Sue

Sorry to those who noticed, that there wasn’t a newsletter at the end of 2020.  To be perfectly honest I couldn’t think of anything cheerful to say.  Unfortunately our Festive Season was anything but !  All dog related, so, self inflicted some might say.  I won’t bore you with all the details, suffice to say that I was looking after four puppies for Danielle whilst she went to Switzerland for a couple of weeks for a well earned rest and to visit family.  All four pups had been vaccinated but even so, all four went down with parvo virus.  This is a really ghastly disease and, if not caught in time, fatal.  In fact even if it is caught it still can be fatal. I recognised the symptoms straight away but despite my best efforts, two of the puppies died, one appears to be handicapped and one recovered 100% and is now happily bouncing off the walls in his new home.  The handicapped one, who was originally called Rosie, but when she was so ill and I feared she might have a short life, I gave her a long distinguished name – Princess Rosiepup of Queen Latte (because she is the colour of a milky coffee).  Rosie was in a lot of pain and painkillers weren’t touching it, which made for many sleepless nights for both of us.  Then the lovely vet, Anais, gave me some cannabis oil – for Rosie I hasten to add ! – and it was like day and night.  The problem was Rosie had something wrong with a vertebrae which hurt every time she moved, so she just stopped moving.  The cannabis stopped the pain, Rosie started moving and the vertebrae started to heal itself.   When Danielle came home from Switzerland she took Rosie home with her, is carrying on her treatment and there is, hopefully, a new home in view.  Of course I was heartbroken to see her go but she needs to be in a place where she does not spend all her time in a bedroom, when I am not around, in case another dog accidently steps on her.

Whilst all this was going on, I was awoken one morning but the yelping of our not so nice Poodle, Tiny.  I raced into the kitchen to find him lying on the floor and there was blood.  He had been attacked by one of our other dogs.  Now, to be blunt, Tiny is a pain in the proverbial and this has probably been a long time coming BUT he did not deserve that.  The main problem is that Tiny loves to be stroked but will not put up with ANYTHING else.  Will not have a collar on, will not have a lead and will not be manipulated in any way, he nips.  So, a wounded Tiny was a HUGE problem.  He pulled himself up on to a settee and lay there shaking whilst I called the vet.  Getting him into the car was not fun, I was in tears, he was growling and snapping.  Usually I put a lasso lead on him and gently get him to move before he realises he is restricted in movement and goes totally berserk, but there were wounds round his neck so a lead was out of the question. Ernst brought the car up to the door and I managed to gently push Tiny towards it where, hallelujah, he jumped in.  When I got to the vets the wonderful assistants came out, got a muzzle on him and gently lifted him in. (I have stolen the muzzle in case of need !).  The bites around the neck were horrific and I blamed our old Border Colley who has been known to give a curled lip and nip from time to time.  Imagine then my astonishment when the vet said it must have been a dog with a Very Big Mouth.  OLIVIA ?!  The present love of my life Newfie cross.  Olivia, who the day before had let little Rosie climb all over her, pull her ears, hang on her lip and whom I had even taken a photo of with Rosie’s head completely in her mouth !!!  The vet said there was no doubt from the position of the bite marks, it was one bite not several.  Thank St. Cadbury I didn’t get Blackie pts !  I only believe it because when we were on holiday last year, Tiffany who dog sat for us, said that Olivia had had a nip at Tiny.  Anyway, Tiny came home with staples  round his neck and down his chest.  I was dreading taking him hack to have them taken out but a muzzle is a wonderful thing !  He now lives in my bedroom and will not come out if Olivia is around.

So, with all that going on I did not feel at all festive and had to cancel a couple of the few planned limited get togethers.  Plus my mate Sue who always comes to us for Christmas, obviously could not come.  HOWEVER, we are not amongst those who could not travel to be with families, could not be with grandchildren, and neither of us have covid, so, we are lucky.

See what I have done, I said I wouldn’t bore you……… hee hee, are you grabbing for alcohol now, even though you are on ‘dry January’ ?!

I’m now going to update the adoptions page, though I think there is only one to add.  Is there no-one out there who could give Zac a home ?  He has been waiting so long.

Wishing everyone a much better year than last year, although I fear we are certainly not out of the woods yet.  The sales have started and I’m not even tempted, realising that the only clothes I have worn for a long time are joggers and jumpers !  What I absolutely must find is a 2021 diary – not that there is much to put in it !  A friend insists I can use my tablet as there is a facility on that to create a diary but I’m not having much luck, apparently I was supposed to have lunch with a friend at 8am last Sunday !!!

Love,

Sue

 

 First of all a very Happy Birthday (and Wedding Anniversary) to my pal Gaynor (and Phil) !!  Gaynor is a much valued supporter of Poorpaws  and is  the animal welfare person to go to in her village.  Not only that, she is listed somewhere on a piece of paper in my house as my future carer, in case of need.  This may be sooner than anticipated if my forgetfulness gets much worse !!  Sorry G.

So, we’re back in confinement and whilst Ernst and I are amongst the lucky ones with plenty of outside space, I do feel for those stuck indoors with very little outside contact and perhaps children to stop from bouncing off the walls.  On this note, let me recommend to you the blog ‘Granny Smith’s Diary’ absolutely brilliant for ideas on keeping children (and adults !) occupied whilst learning at the same time. 

In the last newsletter I told you that Marot had gone on a trial adoption and I am more than delighted to tell you that his adoption is now confirmed.  His new owner says he is just a dream dog and is encouraging her to get out walking again.  Here are a couple of photos, compare Marot now to the porker he used to be, what a handsome lad.  They look a very happy team !

We are having a lot of people asking us to take in older dogs at the moment for various reasons, mainly for not thinking ahead, and whilst we will obviously do what we can to help, homing oldies is not easy, so on this subject I would ask those of you who are perhaps not in the first flush of youth and who want to adopt a dog, to please, please, please, look at the benefits of an older dog.  Mostly these come from homes where they have been used to living indoors, so no toilet training needed, they need less exercise and are happy to ‘couch potato’ with you (by your feet NOT on the sofa !) if it is raining and a six year old episode of Escape to the Country is more appealing than a walk !!  I have recently been asked by a older person (ten years older than me) for a dog but “not an old one as I am in great health and intend to live to 100”.  Well, yes, you may be in great health now but who knows what is round the corner ?  Here at Poorpaws we have at least two of our thirteen dogs who were adopted from us when young and have come back to us because, unexpectedly, they have outlived their owners.  We will not let a puppy go to anyone 70 or over, it just isn’t fair to the puppy who needs to go to a young lively home.  How lovely, rather, to give a sad dog, confused because his/her beloved owner has ‘disappeared’, final years of love and comfort.

Adoptions have been great this month, the very nervous Lemon Setter has gone to a wonderful home where she is coming on in leaps and bounds, and Eben the older Cocker Spaniel has also been adopted.  We will probably have another older Cocker looking for a home soon, so keep an eye on the adoptions page.  It is very urgent that we find a home for Peaches the cat and poor Zac who is a beautiful dog, has been waiting soooo long.

Next time I write Christmas will have been and gone and a very different one it will be this year.  Our traditional Christmas Day Fizz is cancelled and my friend Sue who has been coming over every year since God was a boy, will not be coming.  So it’s going to be quiet – I will be watching Christmas dvds and reading by the fire (after walking the dogs) and Ernst will be as happy as Larry as I have bought him a huge suduko book, but shhh, don’t tell him.  However, you can tell him that I am hoping for a heater for the greenhouse !!

Have a good one !

Sue x

 

45 hours to go and we still didn’t know if we were going to be able to go with the Book Sale !  Books were categorised, boxed, and stacked ready to be loaded,  cakes were sitting on worktops all over the area (?!) with our Cake Goddesses standing spatulas in hand wondering were the cakes to be iced or frozen ?  Then finally the call came, ‘Houston we have lift off ‘ and everyone sprang into action.  Obviously we were given a list of ‘cans and cannots’;  masks obligatory, hand sanitisers all over the place, separate entry and exit doors, one way system in the hall and a limited number of people at any one time inside.  We were so lucky with the weather, a warm sunny day, surely St. Cadbury, St. Prosecco and St. Roch were smiling down on us.  There was a ‘trickley’ start to the day, unlike the usual crowd we have desperate to start browsing at 9am, but that was good  considering our number limitation.   The sunny day allowed us, for the first time ever, to put tables of books outside so that when more …… and more, people arrived , they were able to peruse whilst waiting their turn to go in.  We also offered free coffee whilst people waited and I think that was greatly appreciated.  Anna was there iphone in hand taking everyone’s contact details so that should there be a worst case scenario, everyone could be contacted.  There wasn’t, phew !   Yes, of course, the numbers were well down which was to be expected as many of our buyers are in the ‘vulnerable’ age group, but I think that those who came agreed we did everything possible to keep everyone safe and we were really encouraged and appreciative of the very, very, many compliments and thanks which came from nearly everyone.  To the lady who complained that she had difficulty finding the hall from the village carpark,  we humbly suggest that she makes a visit to the French equivalent of Specsavers, as if she didn’t see the sign showing the direction to the hall which also had balloons attached to it,  then there is a problem !

Our idea of doing ‘Half Price Sunday’ did not attract many punters and most of those who came insisted on paying full price anyway – unlike the very latecomer on Saturday who didn’t even want to pay full price despite arriving over an hour after we had ‘closed’.  The sale  is for charity for goodness sake !!  So, whether or not we do a two day sale next time is under consideration and who knows where we will all be by Springtime next year !

Despite the numbers being well down, we made 1,588 euros which we were delighted with, PLUS since the sale, I have received many donations from lovely people sad that they didn’t feel able to come.  One of the donations was a three figure cheque which totally gobsmacked us all.  We thank you all so very much and desperately hope we will see you all next Spring.

Now we are back in confinement and life has slowed down again.  I’m back to gardening and reading in the greenhouse, missing coffees with girlfriends and, this year, Strictly Suppers.  However, as they say, ‘first world problems’, my house hasn’t been washed away by floods, I do not have children to feed and wonder how I’m going to cope financially, so, hey, how lucky am I – as is nearly everyone I know.

My lovely hairdresser, Ghislaine, was due to retire on the 7th November and many of us had appointments for her last day,  now of course, she has retired a week early and many of us are left thinking bxgger, no last haircut.  What was that about first world problems ?  This is serious !

We had an exodus of dogs just before confinement and several have been reserved for collection when we can travel out of our regions.  Sadly, Danielle has had to take in several more who will be on the website very soon.  A beautiful but traumatised Lemon Setter and four Beagles.  Luckily both popular breeds !Here is the lovely Pilou going to a fabulous new home.  Feedback is excellent, he is much loved and is getting on with his new pals very well.  What a lucky boy, worth waiting for eh Pilou ?

Stay safe, stay home !

Sue

 

 

 

Signing in direct from Ile de Ré this month !  We have been here for two weeks this year, such a treat, but St. Cadbury has punished us by sending not the best of weather.  Decidedly chilly for this time of year with quite a bit of rain.  However only two days have been cycling free days so I’m not complaining.  Plus there is the bonus of Roland Garros on the television !  Today is our last day and we have got the tail end of the storm Alex which meant that on going to bed last night I quite expected to wake up “not in Kansas anymore” !  The storm is expected back tonight and I’m just praying the bridge is not closed and we can get to the mainland and home safely tomorrow.  I must say that if I could choose to be stranded anywhere, here is where I would choose BUT I’m missing the dogs bigtime now and looking forward to getting back to them.  They have been in the care of Tiffany who came to dog/house sit for us.  She arrived in her camping car along with her own three dogs, three puppies, a cat and two kittens she is bottle feeding !  Tiff stayed with us for a couple of days before we left and when we did leave I was happy knowing that the dogs were in safe hands. (Brittany Spaniel Isabella thanked Tiff for her care by eating her shoes.  Hmm wonder if that means she doesn’t want her to leave !) Last ‘phone call related that ALL the dogs were together in the kitchen and everything was fine.  I can highly recommend Tiffany if you are looking for someone to dog/house sit on any occasion.

 Just had to share these lovely photos with you.  Dear Robyn has been adopted and doesn’t he look happy ?  After his horrific start in life we are so grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Nunn for taking a chance on him and giving him a great new start.  First reports are very good and we are all keeping our fingers crossed that Robyn gets over his early beginnings and becomes the lovely chap we know is within.

We are all still keeping our fingers crossed for the Book Sale (s) !  17th and 18th October, usual place, St. Pantaleon Salle de Fetes, opening at 10 am.  There are however, of course, a few changes which you need to be aware of.  No lunches, sorry, but our usual yummy cakes.  Masks ABSOLUTELY obligatory and hand santisers will be in evidence at several spots around the hall.  A one way system which we are working out and which we hope will be straightforward and not make you all look like you are taking part in a Scottish reel or the Okey Kokey !  Different entry and exit doors.  NO  BOOKS will be accepted on the day, but if you have some to donate make sure to speak to me on the day and I will arrange collection for shortly after the sale so that we have them for the Spring sale.  No parking in front of the hall, except for the disabled, there is a large car park just a two minute walk from the hall.  Oh, nearly forgot, this year we are extending the sale to Sunday 10 to 2.  No cakes, unless there are left overs from Saturday, but there will be coffee and biscuits on offer and books will be half price.  Hope to see you on one (or both !) days.

Sue x

 

Oops, I did it again, missed the end of August and here we are already 3rd September.  Today was a very happy day as Danielle and I took Jozy to her new home.  She has been adopted by some friends of mine in Tarn et Garonne.  I have known Coral and Chris for at least 45 years but apart from a brief meeting at a book sale some years ago, we haven’t seen each other properly for ages.  In fact it is thanks to them that I am here in France !  They came over looking for a holiday home back in the eighties and visited a lovely little house just outside of Montcuq.  They decided against it but told me and my then husband all about it.  We came over, loved the house and bought it.  We spent many happy holidays there, then went our separate ways and the house was sold.  In fact it has been sold several times since we had it and I am very happy to say that, by chance, Ernst and I are very close friends with the couple who own the house now.  Anyway, Jozy !  She is just a dream dog and although the resident cocker Spaniel, Lady, was not too impressed to find she has a new playmate, the latest news is that after just a couple of hours they are both sleeping happily in the same room.  Jozy is the gentlest of gentle dogs and she won’t mind at all if Lady wants to be top dog.

 

Above you have a lovely photo of Bouboule, so contented in her new home.  Lucky little girl !   Also puppy Romeo (now Zac) enjoying a walk with his new family, then, at the top, Jozy, now Jessie (love the name) who looks as though she has fallen very comfortably on all four paws.  Just hope Danielle doesn’t see the photo, dogs on chairs, hmm !!  August was a great month for adoptions.  Romeo, Rosie (now Rosa) and Rocky were adopted very quickly and are proving to be extremely bright and quick to learn.  Romy has also moved on and the bestest of best news is that the gorgeous Pheobus has found a new home.  Poor P was dumped by some dustbins and all I can say is that the heartless numbskulls who left him there will never know what they have missed.  A simply beautiful boy.

We’ve had a lot of interest in Marot and I’m sure that in the next newsletter I will be able to announce that he too has gone to a forever home.

Last Sunday we ran our usual clothes stall at the Montcuq Vide Grenier.  This year, instead of being held in the little streets and alleys of Montcuq, it was held at the municipal campsite – probably because of covid restrictions.  Although it was much easier for stall holders to access and set up, there wasn’t the usual atmosphere.  In a way we were incredibly lucky with the weather as it had chucked it down for two days before and we set off at 5.30 am casting very anxious eyes at the sky – which was of course pitch black at that time in the morning !  Dawn broke grey and   C O L D !  However, apart from a few drops a couple of times, the showers held off until it was packing up time.  People were telling us that it was raining everywhere around Montcuq and because of that I am sure some people didn’t venture out, which was a shame.  We ‘only’ took 563 euros, half of last year’s total but in the circumstances I don’t think we did too badly.  No-one was buying t-shirts or Summer dresses, so most of those have been packed up to be held over for next year.  Something wonderful did happen though, a Dutch couple had heard of Danielle’s work through the dog rescue grapevine and came along to give her a very generous donation, so that sweetened the day somewhat.

After the scorching Summer, I have decided to throw in the towel and stop trying to keep our terrace full of flowers and shrubs, it is just too hot for them.  Every year I have to move pots to the shade when the watering restrictions come in, so now we are having a basic pergola built, I will grow robust climbing plants over it and just have furniture and tables out there, keeping the plants to shady areas.

Off to the Ile de Re on the 19th for TWO weeks this year, so we are just keeping fingers crossed that distance restrictions are not imposed.  It is over a year since our last visit and I’m getting withdrawal symptoms.  This time last year we were in full preparation for our hiking trip to Japan, where has the year gone ?!

We still haven’t made a decision re our Book Sale in October, I’m waiting to find out what the rules and restrictions are going to be. (UPDATE 6/9/20 BOOK  SALE  IS  ON !!) I’m hoping against hope that even if it is just a hall full of books and me taking money it will go ahead – though it would be such a shame not to have the cakes. Can I live without Liz’s carrot cake and/or Pat’s coffee and walnut ? Nope, I don’t think so !

Stay safe, 

Sue x

Oh my goodness, July left quietly and August sneaked in without me realising it and here we are already the 4th !  I’m sure I’m not the only one who frequently gets confused since confinement, the days just seem to roll into one and I often wake up wondering what day it is and what I’m supposed to be doing.

Last month was like the parson’s egg, good in parts.  One very good part was that I met up with Shelagh from Pheonix Association and Tiffany, ex of Pheonix.  The three of us go back a very long time and Pheonix is in fact the reason I got into dog rescue after I went up there to adopt a Border Colley puppy.  Ignorant then of how refuges work, I was very embarrassed when I chose dear Geoff (who sadly turned out to have a cerebral problem and lived only 18 months) to find I had forgotten purse and chequebook !  At that time I was working in an hotel, so pledged my next month’s tips to Pheonix.  Shelagh and Rick were doing (what am I saying, are STILL doing) amazing work and helped me immensely when I started Poorpaws.  We live quite a long way away from each other but meet up a couple of times a year at Villereal for a long lunch and catch up.  Tiff left and went to live in Cornwall for a time but came rushing back when Cornwall voted Brexshit and now does ‘animal sitting’ for people going on holiday.  She has tremendous experience with all animals and in fact will be our saviour at the end of September when we do our annual ‘down tools’ and go off to Ile de Re – covid permitting.

A very sad part of the month was when my friend Karen died, after a long, painful time, from a rare disease.  I met Karen when I used to clean for her and go and sit with her terminally ill husband so that she could get out to shop.  Her husband died and she didn’t need me so much, but we became very good friends.  She was a lovely person who suffered so much but never complained.  The worst I ever heard her say was “Oh, it’s a bugger aint it”.  I try to remember that when I’m moaning about some trivial thing.

The scary part of the month was taking my French language examination in preparation for applying for French citizenship.  I’m still not 100% sure I will apply, but I couldn’t do it without the exam under my belt anyway, so I decided to take it to get it out of the way.  I was SO nervous on the day, I haven’t taken an exam since my O levels and that was ……. well, let’s just say a long time ago !  The exam takes two and a half hours and consists of of French oral comprehension, written comprehension, oral expression and written expression.  I won’t get the full results until September but was told “not to worry”, so I’m hoping that was a good sign.  One of the oral questions was ” What is your favourite domestic animal and why ?”  Well, how jammy was that ?  They had to hook me off from the side to shut me up !!!

Lovely Etain and Patou were adopted this month, hang on in there Pheobus, your time will come !  We’ve had a few more in and I must update the website.  You can always go to Seconde Chance website, click on Midi Pyrenees, then Lot, then search and go to La Mere aux Betes (you can also find the site on facebook) where you will Danielle’s dogs.

Finally, nowhere to go on Friday 7th ?  Then go along to the Marche Gourmande at Tournon d’Agenai where Absolutely Fabba will be performing a great selection of songs – with quite a bit of Abba as the name suggests.  Gaynor and Pam who form A F are two of The Stanley Sisters who entertained us all last year.  If you can’t make the 7th, then you have another chance on the 25th at Beauville at the Fish and Chip night.  See the Bon Coeur website for details.

Enjoy August …..  and pray for a bit of rain !

Sue x

 

 

 

Cast ne’er a clout ’til May is out, so they say.  So I perspired all through the heatwave that was May, not casting any clouts.  Come 1st June I cast in gay abandon, socks, liberty bodices and vests all put away until November.  Hah !  Then Mother Nature played a rotten trick, throwing us back to March so I had to get all my ‘clouts’ out again !!  Accu Weather, Weather Channel and all the others, you are getting money for old rope !!

I often get calls from all over France from English speaking people looking to adopt and who just don’t realise the vast distances from one area of the country to another.  No offence but often foreigners seem to think that the Lot is just a short drive from Paris.  My advice is always the same, if you are not prepared, or don’t have the time, to drive a long way and perhaps even stay overnight (many lovely people in fact do just that), go to a nearby vet and ask for details of a good refuge.  Vets often know of dogs still in families but who need another home.  This often happens when elderly people go into a home and there is no-one to take care of the beloved pooch.

Adoptions were excellent in June and I just can’t wait for Pheobus and Etain to find great homes, both are really super dogs who have not had a great time up to now, in fact quite the opposite, so they deserve to find happiness.  Opale too, she was abandoned when in pup and was, understandably, very wary of humans, only Danielle being allowed to go anywhere near her babies.  That gradually changed as the pups got more and more demanding (!) and she is now in need of a home where all the attention will be on her.  She is quite happy being the only dog and does not need – or want I think – canine company.

Here at Poorpaws lots of discussions are going on as to the possibility of the Autumn Book Sale.  With the current restrictions it is not possible and we have to wait until 11th July to see what the next level of deconfinement brings.  In any case we have to take into consideration many things.   We would not be able to do lunches, drinks would be in paper -please god not plastic – cups, movement around the hall would probably need to be socially distanced, masks obligatory, gloves optional, hand sanitisers everywhere, the list goes on.  Of course the joy of book sales is picking up, flicking through and making your choice so it would be impossible to ensure the cleanliness of the books.  We would NOT take books on the day, all donations would have to be with us at least three weeks before.  Then, of course, would people come ?!  The majority of our customers are in the vulnerable age group – as are most of your book sale team – so are they really going to want to go into a hall with lots of other people ?  We muted the idea of a two day sale to spread out a bit, but I think people would want to come on the first day to get a better choice. (This idea gave us another, when things return to ‘normal’ we may have two day sales with just coffee and biscuits on the second day and books half price.)  What do you think ?

So nothing decided as yet so keep an eye on the website for the updates.  If the sale does not go ahead but the Montcuq Vide Grenier does, we will have our usual clothes stalls PLUS book stalls.

I had a treat last week, Olivia’s sister Willow came to stay for a couple of nights.  Stupidly I was sure they would be all over each other, but not so.  Willow is taller than Olivia but with shorter fur and had a dreadful experience a while ago when she decided to add garden toad to her diet !  She was dreadfully ill and her owners had a very anxious time, but St. Cadbury was obviously looking over her ! 

Love,

Sue x

Sometimes – well quite often really – peoples’ kindness and generosity is overwhelming.  As you know, we were unable to have our Spring Book Sale and this hit Danielle and me very hard as finances stagger from book sale, to clothes sale to the second book sale.  I’m not complaining, it was my decision to keep the unadopted dogs -15 as I write – and so I assume responsibility for their care.  A few lovely regular attendees of the sales sent us cheques to the value of what they would have spent and in the last few days I have received emails from the Bon Coeur and the Mains Tendues associations offering donations.  The latter two are teams of people, one team from Beauville and one from Varen, near St. Antonin who are constantly fund raising for small associations, be they caring for needy people or needy animals.  I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for thinking of us when, I am sure, many of you have other problems at this time.

Adoptions have been great this month with dogs flying out almost as soon as they arrive, but as always, as they leave, so they arrive and there are some beauties on the adoptions page – as well as a pig !!

So, confinement is more or less over for the individual but I think our favourite bars and restaurants are going to need our support in the coming days as even if they open, the distance restrictions will surely cut down the numbers of people they can accommodate.  Having coffee on a sunny terrace watching the world go by will be nice and a friend said that it will be nice to be able to get out to spend money again.  Hmm, I managed to do that quite well from home buying plants for the garden !  If you have read previous letters you will gather that I have loved spending two months gardening, however that has come back to bite me on the … well, you know what.  Ernst and I had to cancel a weeks’ holiday in the mountains and have now been offered a week at Cap d’Ail …..this week !  Not possible, no time to get dog cover and I just cannot possibly leave the garden even for 24 hours, just so much to keep an eye on.  However, Ernst could go and spend a week with his sister, they get on very well, and I am trying to encourage him to go without looking too enthusiastic !

I have read a shedload (almost literally !) of books during confinement and, because of my deteriorating memory (thanks Dad) decided to write the titles and authors down, marking them out of ten.  Had a few 9s a couple of 2s and three 0s -couldn’t even finish those – but mostly around 8.  However, looking back at the list I realise I cannot remember what some of the books were about !  So I now have to write a bit about each book to remind myself.  Early onset dementia ?  Please no ! (‘Early’ ? Who am I trying to kid ?!).

This is a photo of a bed I bought intending to laze on  in the garden sipping home made lemonade !  Well that never happened so I put it to another use !

Sue x

 

So, what happened ?  Did I sleep through a season somehow ?  Just a few days ago I was walking the dogs up on the hills behind us, in the sunshine, wearing a tshirt and jeans;  yesterday I had to put on full wet weather gear, got blown away and soaked to the skin !

Panic for us living in the Lot the day before yesterday when the ‘red/green’ regional maps came out on the lead up to deconfinement, we were in red !!  Lots of emails going round trying to find out the reason, then, what a relief, the Mayor of Cahors was on the lunchtime news saying that it was an error and when the next map came out, we would be green.  We were !  Actually, I think I’m going to have to be dragged out of confinement kicking and screaming, I’m loving it. Days and days at home not worrying where I should be and when, just long days of gardening and reading, walking the dogs and, hmm, cooking !  The first three are going very well, I have created a small Japanese area in the garden as well as a ‘bee and butterfly’ area and a bug hotel.  The next project is a pond, which may not be a great idea, with visions of dogs splashing and drinking the water  !  I have never had so much reading time and have read thirteen books since confinement started.  A lot of this is done sitting in my (very) little greenhouse.  That is absolute bliss, lovely and warm with the soothing smell of growbag and watching seedlings.  The dogs all lay outside, even when it is raining.  This is the first greenhouse year in France and I have been able to over Winter flowers and plants from last Summer.  Now I have got tomatoes too.

As for the cooking, well, not such a success story !  Betsy and I made a wonderful banana and walnut loaf and, flushed with success, we decided to try a carrot cake.  Those of you who come to our book sales will probably have tried, loved and fought after Liz’s carrot cake with that dreamy cream.  Poor Liz has to make three or four for each sale and I thought, well, if I can help out, that would be great.  So, I set to and the mixture looked very encouraging.  I have those round cake tins which you can clip shut – very professional !  I poured the mixture in and lifted the tin to put into the oven, but sadly I had forgotten to clip the sides shut.  A near disaster !  Luckily I had put baking paper in the tin so was able to grab the four corners quickly and hold the mixture whilst I clipped the tin shut.  Only a small amount of mixture was lost so I was hopeful.  Sadly the cake bore no relation to the wonderful creation Liz makes, so I’ll stick to my ginger cake !  Another cooking accident just the other day; I was mixing a cake mix with an electric hand held mixer when the electricity went off.  Silly me had switched the oven on at the same time as the washing machine, totally forgetting that Betsy does NOT share !  I switched off the washer and went down tot he gate to put the leccy back on again.  Halfway back up to the kitchen I heard a weird noise then thought “oh no, I’ve forgotten to switch the whisk off “.  If only I had a video camera, I got to the kitchen to find cake mixture flying around with dear old Tega running around trying to catch the drips !

As for dogs news, well, all was obviously very quiet at the start of confinement, then there were all the fears and rumours of dogs having to be put to sleep, so regulations were relaxed.  I’m not sure why, but there were also stories that thousands of dogs would be abandoned.  Why ?!  Surely, with people having to be at home with dog walking being one of the things allowed, you would keep your dog.  Happily this proved to be true, Danielle and I had no reports of abandoned dogs, a few lost, but not abandoned and there were no reports from other refuges of an influx.  In fact, adoption figures rose !  My adoption page is looking very sad at the moment with no dogs available as I type, but with the relaxation of travel restrictions for movement of dogs, Danielle has had a busy week collecting dogs and these will be on the the website asap.

So, it looks as though confinement may slowly, slowly be over.  The day it started I made a list of things to do, the first thing being shorten and put up curtains.  Now here we are with liberation in sight and guess what I haven’t done …..!  Another thing I meant to do was to watch the Harry Potter films AND the very popular animated films, Frozen, Shrek, Toy Story etc.  I have never wanted to watch them but they are all sitting in the boxes of dvds currently in our shed waiting for the next Book Sale, so I thought I ought to give them a go.  It looks very much as if our next sale won’t be until the Autumn, if then, but fingers crossed !  If it can go ahead there are plans perhaps to make it a two day event.  Watch this space !

I’ll finish with, I hope, a five second video of the reaction of my great niece on being asked if she would like to sing Happy Birthday to her Granddad.  Love it !

Sue x 

 

 

I’ve just realised, it’s April Fools’ Day !  Sadly, what is going on right now is anything but a joke.  When the virus panic started I have to admit to thinking well, loads of people die from flu every year and Gaynor pointed out that a million people die from malaria every year – and from that most are children – so why all the fuss about coronavirus ?  I suppose because this is sweeping through Europe, Scandinavia, America, Australasia, in fact all the countries not usually connected with mass deaths, that usually happens in third world countries doesn’t it ?  Well, no, obviously not.  I am not a ‘believer’ in fact I am an atheist (sorry if that upsets anyone, no bad feeling intended) but like most people of my age, had religion taught to me in schools and those of us who went to convent schools (can’t you tell ?!) had more religion than most.  So obviously bits come back to me and what the world is experiencing at the moment seems almost biblical;  floods in the UK and France, fires in Australia, locusts in Africa and the virus worldwide.

Like nearly all my friends, we are so, so, very lucky.  We have a house and garden and live in the country.  The weather is great, so confinement to us means lots of gardening, reading, a daily walk with the dog(s) and, basically, being on holiday at home with a weekly visit to the supermarkets which, are, thankfully, doing a great job of providing our basic needs, white chocolate and wine for example.  Imagine, just IMAGINE for a minute being confined to an apartment with lively children and no outside space, only being allowed out for one hour a day.  NIGHTMARE !  There are many, many, funnies going around on the internet at the moment and one of my very favourites is “After a week of home schooling, the parents are going to find a cure for the virus before the scientists” !  One good thing is that apparently dogs are having more walks than they ever had before !

Clearly, until confinement ends, there can be no dog adoptions unless you live close to Poorpaws or La Mere aux Betes, so if you are looking for a dog to adopt I do urge you to go to your nearest S.P.A., or other local refuge and choose from there.  Refuges are having a bad time with many volunteers unable to get there.

Rant time !   Precis version. Back in January we were asked to take in four puppies .  Yes.  Nothing further is heard from the people.  Two weeks later, apologies but it is so difficult for us to give them up, can you still take them.  We understand and yes.  Nothing. Then, can we pick them up (three hours away).  No, but we can meet you half way.  Great, can we do it tomorrow ? (We are now in MARCH and pups are five months old.) No, closed for a week, 31st March is next possible date.  Ok.  Then of course CONFINEMENT !  Can we still meet them Monday ? No, not without permission from gendarmes.  No worries, they have permission and will come down to Cahors.  Great, call us when you are 50kms from Cahors and Danielle will meet you. Meeting planned for around midday on the Monday.  TUESDAY , we are still waiting to hear from them with no reply to our ‘phone calls and emails.  Finally, we are now seriously worried, I emailed to say that if we hadn’t heard from them by the afternoon I would call the Mairie of their town to go and check that everything was ok with them.  FINALLY a reply saying they couldn’t travel after all.  That was it, no apology for not letting us know or making us stay near the ‘phone getting more and more anxious !  I was LIVID and was all for telling them to xxxx  xx but Danielle is a much nicer person than me and told me just to say we were glad they were ok, but it would have been a good idea to let us know they weren’t coming ! 

Finally, stay safe and well everyone and here is a photo of my great niece, a reason to be cheerful !Sue xx