An innocent soul set free xoxo

My dog has died. Her "visit" this morning was her way of saying goodbye, it seems.

Dad was with her right up until the end, and she died with him there in her kennel, surrounded by greyhounds who had only got to know her over the past week, but who already loved her.

At least she's no longer suffering, and is free once again to be a happy-go-lucky pup.

RIP my sweet and beloved girl. You will never be forgotten, and you were honestly and truly loved.

Happier times....?

Do you believe in psychic goodbyes? I do.

When one of my grandfathers died back in the 1980s, I remember this feeling just before he died, that he was in my room with me, trying to tell me it was his time to go. Shortly after that, the phone rang, and we were told he had died a few minutes before.

The same thing happened in the 1990s when an uncle I loved dearly died. I knew he had died before Mum even rang me at 6.30 in the morning to tell me. All I could say to her was "I know. I was there." She didn't understand, and I don't expect her to, because rightfully I was asleep in my bed at home, not up at the hospital holding his hand.

Last night, or early this morning, I was woken by a jangle of collar, a thrumming down the back stairs, and a happy joyful barking. I haven't had the phone call yet, so I don't know if this means my beautiful, sweet, loving dalmatian has died, and she was coming to say goodbye and let me know she was no longer suffering in any way, or if (and here I know I am hoping like mad, but do you blame me?) perhaps it is her way of saying she is better now, or at least on the mend, and that she will indeed soon be home?

I have had guinea pigs hold on until I came home so they could say their goodbyes to me before dying. I even had a pet chook who let me know her moment of death.

This dog has been special though. She came to me as an older dog, to begin with. Shy, reserved, timid. But coming here seemed to change her. All of a sudden she became this happy, joyful pup again. Walkies were her all-time favourite part of the day, except for maybe dinner time :-)

She has gone from a dog that would lie quietly near the back door, hoping that someone might consider feeding her, to a dog that takes an active role in getting that food from the fridge into her tummy. She howls at the back door, she tries to stick her little wet black nose through the security door mesh, and looks so incredibly sweet and loveable that I can't help but feed her.

When she came here, she had never seen steps, let alone ever had to climb them. She was 5 years old then, and one rainy night, my two older cats got out, so my dog had to come in! And so, in the rain and the dark, I had to teach her how to climb my back steps. I'm sure if anyone had been watching they would have been laughing themselves silly, because in the end it involved me having to show her how to climb the stairs, by going down on all fours and doing it for her, so she could copy me.

In the end, I think the fear of being stuck out in the storm without "mummy" made her give in and attempt those stairs, all the time crying her little heart out. She's always been scared of storms, apparently, so she spent the night inside with me, and believe me when I say that a single bed really and honestly does not fit a human and a dalmatian. She refused to sleep on the floor - just had to sleep with me, I guess. She not only hogged my pillow, but also most of the bed, so I had a sliver on the edge, and she had the rest. But it was worth it, to keep her safe and happy.

There's not much I wouldn't do for this dog.

Together we have discovered the joys of walking. Because of her, I finally managed to lose some excess weight that I just never could shift before. And because of her, too, I am overcoming my shyness around strangers. It's hard to be shy when you are walking a dalmatian, and there are kids around going "ooh doggie!" and "oooh spots!" and such. It's also cool when total strangers shyly come up to you and ask if they may pat your "doggie" because they have never been that close to a dallie before, and have always wanted to pat one.

This dog has changed my life for the better, and I know I have done the same for her.

I just have to hope that if she has indeed died, then wherever she is, she is happy, and joyful, and once again puppy-like. And that if she is still with us, then her "visit" this morning was just a heads-up that she's feeling better, and for me not to be so sad anymore because she's coming back soon.

One can only hope, anyway.

A prayer for my dalmatian

It's cold here today. I got home from a weekend out with my boyfriend only to find that the cats had left little presents for me. Ick. So I opened all the windows last night, after cleaning up the mess (and they had fresh cat litter too, but it seems, chose not to use it this time. Grr). Hence the reason it's cold here today, I guess.

Currently my beloved dalmatian is having a prolonged stay with Dad. She's not at all well, and I guess the cold weather hasn't been helping her much, given she's an older dog to start with. But I do know that I miss her terribly, and hope like crazy that she comes home to me soon.

I have to admit, it's very odd here without her. She'll have been gone a week tomorrow, and I still cannot get used to seeing her empty dog bowl, empty dog bed, and lonely-looking water bucket. It's very strange indeed, not to see her sweet and extremely loveable face staring at me through the back security door, and to hear her whining at me at 3pm every afternoon.

Now that she isn't here, I feel bad about all the times I told her to shut up and stop whining, and made her wait until 3.30pm or even 4pm before I fed her, and all the promises I made to take her walking every single day, twice a day, when in reality I'd take her walking a couple of times a week, though more in winter.

I miss sitting on the back stairs with her, and beginning my day with a cup of coffee and a whole lot of doggie kisses. I miss seeing her stare up at me with her patient, beautiful, sweet, brown doggie eyes, so brimming with love and devotion.

I hate it when she's not here, and yet, I've not even had her two years. Suddenly, I cannot remember what it was like when it was just me, two cats, and a guinea pig or two. The velcro kittens came along with the dalmatian, from the same household, and I know they miss her too. I find them sitting at the back door, miaowing sadly, hoping she'll appear and say hi. My dog loves those two little kittens, though she loves to bark madly at the two older cats :-)

It's strange how one (or a bunch, as in my case) animal can change your life so drastically. I grew up with dogs, for sure, but I never really saw myself as being a dog owner when I became an adult. I didn't really plan on having pets as such, anyway, but the cats, at least, all seemed to adopt me, and so here I am. But when my dog came into my life, and yes, she was another rescue/adoptee, my life changed for the better.

All of a sudden I was out walking all the time, seeing more of my suburb than I had ever done before, meeting people, having complete strangers come up to me and ask if they could pat her because they'd never been that close to a dalmatian before. She's such a happy dog, friendly to the whole world, and I miss her so much. My house feels so empty without her. Granted, it still has four cats and a dalmatian guinea pig in it, but it still feels empty without my old girl.

Quiet. That's it. No happy doggie noises. No thrumming up and down the back stairs. No rushing off to bark at things only she can see. I miss those noises. I miss the fact that its almost impossible to go down the back stairs without having to first ask her to move her backside out of the way. I miss being unable to go around the back yard without her tagging along to "help". I miss her "helping" me hang out the washing too.

I hope she comes home soon. I love her too much to ever want to lose her. Get well soon, my sweet loveable dalmatian.

Happy Little Vegemites

Apparently it's Thursday.

Not 100% sure on that, but that's what I'm being told today. The bin men are outside too, so I guess it must be true because my garbage always gets picked up on a Thursday.

I had to get up early this morning and race outside to put the bins out because, as usual, I forgot yesterday to do that!

When I went outside, I realised that I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt on this cold winter's morn, but actually, it wasn't all that cold today. Odd, considering there was wintery fog down the other end of the street, and I was barefoot, standing in dewy grass, in summery clothes!

My boyfriend was happy to see me yesterday, I think. I brought him over some soup, and did a general tidy-up of his flat for him - made his bed, did his washing - all the kinds of things that people do for others when that other is sick and they care about them.

Today, though, I'm doing the "matchsticks propping up the eyelids" thing in an attempt to be awake. I have heaps and heaps of things to do today, and I'll do them, really I will.....it might just take a few cups of coffee first before I'm capable of doing any of that :-)

Why is it, though, that when someone is sick, we always seem to bring them soup? I for one happen to love soup - any time of the year, sick or otherwise - but what makes soup, that thing most people don't seem to like, become "comfort food" when we are sick?

For the rest of the year, most people won't touch the stuff, but the minute they are sick (and this is particularly true of men, no offence to my boyfriend or any other male that reads this blog, intended), all they want is soup? I love the taste and texture of soup. I love the fact that I can pretty much eat as much of the stuff as I want and not put on weight (depending on the type of soup, of course). But these same people who all clammer for soup when they are sick, are also the same ones who are claiming its "icky, slimy, wet" stuff when they are well! :-)

Currently I'm going through a phase of trying out soups that are a bit different to the normal stuff. Oh don't get me wrong, I still love my tomato soups, my cream of chicken soups, my beef soups, my garden veg soups, but I'm discovering that there is a whole plethora of flavours out there.

My newest favourite is Dutch Curry and Rice. Ooooooohhh yummy! The Potato and Bacon one isn't too bad either. Then there are the range of Asian soups, most with noodles, that seem to be quite good too. As soup is one of my main food sources these days, I like to challenge my taste buds a little and try a few of the new ones :-)

And as my batteries haven't yet been charged with enough coffee, I'm going to play "dumb blonde" and change my subject in this blog willy-nilly again (not that I am blonde, because I'm not!)

It's been ages since I posted a picture here. I'll try and do that on the weekend. I'm going off with my boyfriend for a couple of days to meet some of his friends who live out of town, so I'll try and take some pictures while I'm there. He promises to give me a "grand tour" of where he used to live, and apparently there is a gorgeous park there. So maybe some trees and flowers and such might just appear in next week's blog entries. Really need to update my digital camera though. It's good for basic photos, but not good for close up details.

Have a look here:

http://silverhound.blogspot.com/

This post has some great photos on it. She's really good at it, and she used to send me semi regular emails with other photos she'd taken.

Anyway, stuff to do. A gallon of coffee to drink. Vegemite toast to make and consume. Pets to talk to and deal with. Dust bunnies to wage war on.....

Cybermen, Daleks, and gorgeous Doctors.....

It's early and I'm having my second cup of coffee in an attempt to actually wake up before I make a dash for the train to go visit my sick-with-the-flu boyfriend.

I was thinking last night about how the Winter's sky in Australia can be so beautiful. It gets a really really deep blue colour, almost like the colour of the sea, and there's something rather calming about it all.

And last night, I dreamt of Cybermen and Daleks. I've been watching season 2 of the new Dr Who, and the new-improved Cybermen are there to be seen. These guys are scary as shit.

I think perhaps my cats were knocking at my bedroom door last night or something, as I kept having nightmares that Cybermen were trying to break down my door and get at me :-)

I'm really impressed with the new Dr Who show though. I was always a fan of the old one, so I was a fair bit wary at the thought of a 21st century version of an old classic, but the BBC stuck to its guns and stayed on track, and created a show to be proud of.

And I know I'd certainly love to see a blue telephone box turn up outside and a gorgeous Dr come for a "spot of tea"....*ahem*....

Anyway, stuff to do.

A blog for my sister....

My sister pointed out recently that I haven't updated my blog in a fair while. So I'm trying to rectify that currently :-)

I'm pretty much over my flu, however it seems my boyfriend now has it. Oh well. I guess Mum and Dad taught me to share a little too well.....

I've been fairly busy of late. I'd forgotten what fun having someone new in my life was. We're in the early stages - you know, the soppy stuff. The first shopping expedition, the first outing, the first time meeting each other's friends, that kind of thing. Both of us have yet to do the meeting of each other's family members though. That'll be fun!

We actually went to a party on Saturday night. It reminded me why I don't go OUT much these days. One, drinks cost far too much - even if you only have one. Two, the music is generally too loud (or am I just getting old?). Three, having rocks pelted at the train window on the way home was SOOO not fun. Four, getting home around 1am reminded me I really AM getting old. Five, getting home around 1am on a cold winter's night drove the OLD point sorely home. Blah...

That said, I enjoyed meeting his friends, and actually getting out of the house and away from my manic velcro kittens, as well as Mr Vampire Teeth, and She Who Must Be Obeyed or she'll rip the furniture to shreds, plus Droppy Dog, the dalmatian, and my sweet wheeking little guinea pig.

His friends seem to be great people. I just hope he likes my friends as much! :-)

So what else have I been up to (since I promised my sister that my blogs wouldn't become a soppy romance novel about my relationship with my boyfriend)?

Let's see:

1. It's still winter, so it's still cold. The Westerly Winds were around for a bit today. Made it rather nippy.

2. Been waging war on the dust bunnies in my house. I think they are planning to attack sometime soon.

3. I temporarily repaired my boyfriend's computer, though I'm going to rebuild it when he lets me, or when it dies completely - whichever comes first. (And maybe steal his super duper nice and wonderful video card that his computer can't support, and replace it with my old one that it can support....umm...probably shouldn't actually admit to that here, huh?) :-)

4. Moving furniture around and rearranging my house. Also chucking heaps and heaps of stuff out.

5. Watching the newest Dr Who episodes, and enjoying watching my boyfriend get into a little huff every time I go "mmmm....David Tennant is SOOOOOO yummy......." :-)

6. Playing Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, Collapse 2, and Zuma Deluxe.

7. Burning the contents of my hard drives off onto dvds and cds.

8. Watching dvds with my boyfriend.

9. Playing games on my bf's X-Box. Weeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!! What fun that was! :-) Never even seen an X-Box before.

10. Preparing to go on a little trip this weekend, to meet more friends of my bf.

11. Making arrangements to see my sister sometime soon so she can tell me what she thinks of my choice in men :-)

You know....the usual.....