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Big Brother is watching (over) you
In an earlier instalment, I highlighted how the golden music of the 1960s provided the background for nearly all of my teenage years. What an era! Apart from the soundtrack, we had a fantastic oppo ........
Rituals
In the previous instalment, I highlighted music's ability to take us time travelling in the past! It might also help us re-programme the way difficult situations are confronted in the future.Some year ........
MUSIC AND MEMORIES
With a 1952 birth date, I was fortunate to spend some of my most formative years in the 1960s. It was an exciting time, and I got ‘both barrels’ of the decade’s musical revolution. My wife thinks, w ........
PLOTS!
I’ve written two books so far, with a third waiting to be published. If you enjoyed ‘Thank you, Ellie,’ I hope you’ll want to see where the story leads in ‘Thank you, Grace.’ Mentioning that is less ........
THE LIKELY LADS
Just before I entered my teens, ‘The Likely Lads’ began airing on BBC. The final episode was in 1966. Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais were excellent writers whose scripts were well-plotted with grea ........
HERE IS THE NEWS!
Recently, my wife and I prepared breakfast in our kitchen. Our daughter and son-in-law like to tease us about our routines, particularly the regular breakfast bowls of fruit, cereals and yoghurt. As ........
THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC STARTED.
In the early stages of the blog, I celebrated Ellie’s life by describing some of our experiences with her. I’ve recently moved on to share how Ruby is doing, highlighting all the fun and joy she bri ........
THANK YOU
If my blog was a Hollywood drama from the 50s, a voice reminiscent of Burgess Meredith’s Penguin in the Batman TV series would now say, ‘we innerup this programme with breaking noos!’I was born on F ........
YOU KNOW ME SO WELL.
If you’ve managed to stay with me through these various instalments, it must be clear by now that I consider the human/canine relationship to be uniquely special. Of course, I’m biased, and other co ........
 SAME AS THE OLD BOSS’!_feature.jpg)
WITH APOLOGIES TO THE WHO, ‘MEET THE NEW BOSS, (NOT QUITE THE) SAME AS THE OLD BOSS’!
In some respects, Ruby’s arrival has made little difference to our household. We follow similar routines and, of course, on a daily basis, derive tremendous fun and pleasure from being around her. J ........
THE BATON HAS PASSED.
There is an alternative way of dealing with the ‘fear of loss’; that obstacle preventing people from having a dog or, at any rate, a second one. Some owners will, at any one time, have two dogs. The ........
DOGS’ LIVES ARE TOO SHORT; THEIR ONLY FAULT, REALLY.
The phrase ‘mental health’ is increasingly used. It’s good we feel more able to talk about it these days, although sometimes, I worry it’s become a little cliched. Winston Churchill observed that th ........
‘I’M NOT READY TO SAY GOODBYE!’ ‘I KNOW, BUT I AM!’
We had a lovely time in what proved to be Ellie’s final visit to France. As expected, the weather was gloriously hot, and she frequented various cool and shady spots inside the villa and around the ........
BETTER A DAY TOO EARLY THAN A DAY TOO LATE!
We quickly settled into Ellie’s new routine because we had to! We’d come to the difficult decision of following our instincts rather than the Vet’s advice, preferring to avoid acknowledging the far ........
YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS!
Whoever came up with that particular piece of homespun philosophy had clearly never owned a dog. Maybe if they had finished it by adding, ‘ but you won’t need to because they’ll learn themselves,’ I ........
BE THE PERSON YOUR DOG THINKS YOU ARE.
As Ellie grew older, there were, thankfully, few health scares. At around seven years old, she progressively developed a limp in her left front paw. I was angry with myself when I allowed us to be t ........
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
There was a simple catalyst behind my decision to write a story; my granddaughter had to be treated equally to her older brother. I guess what might be more apparent now is the motivation for creati ........
ITHICS
As a supporter of SAFC, I am all too familiar with the concept of ‘ITHICS’ or, ‘It’s the hope I can’t stand!’ Yes, there will be highs along the way, but ultimately, you will be disappointed! (On th ........
DOGS ARE SPECIAL!
I’ll nail my colours firmly to the mast; dogs are not pets or possessions; I choose to think of them as creature companions with whom we are privileged to share our existence, teaching us as much as ........
MEET ELLIE!
The Ellie being thanked in the story is real, the inspiration for all the behaviours and mannerisms I’ve described. We pretty much opened our whole selves to her influence, and although that approac ........
THE END OF THE BEGINNING?
When the pre-publication package from Austin Macauley arrived, I just stared at it for a few minutes. It was a few days before the official publication date of 29/4/22. When I finally opened the box ........