Meeting Basil

As I sit in my office, with the rain pattering on the skylight, it is difficult to believe that only a week ago I was sitting in the sunshine, on the verandah at Twilight Retirement Home for Dogs, surrounded by thirty wagging tails. It certainly didn’t seem to be that many dogs, if asked, I would have said perhaps ten. They all live as one big happy gang, although their past stories are often very sad. It was great to be able to deliver the proceeds of my clear-out sale and meet Basil in (doggy) person. Basil is younger than most of the dogs at Twilight, as he is only about five, but he lost the use of his back legs in a road accident and was left for dead. Fortunately, he was rescued by friends of Twilight and given a loving home, plus a set of wheels. He’s a great ambassador for the cause and certainly likes to be the centre of attention. I’m hoping to be able to visit again soon and take him out for a walk with Bumble, our cairn, though I’m not quite sure what she’ll make of his wheels.

 

I’ve been on a bit of a roll with the de-cluttering as I also noticed a plea from the Hope Association, another dog charity in the Limousin, which needed clothes rails for their charity shop. An ideal opportunity to get rid of those horrible rails that had somehow made their way from the spare room to the barn, ‘just in case they would come in useful’. Now, I’ve got no plans to expand my wardrobe any further and operate on a strict one-in, one-out policy, which is also applied to the OH’s clothing acquisitions. Although the charity shop was a bit far north, I made arrangements to meet one of the organisers at the Limoges dog refuge one afternoon. At the same time I was very pleased to be able to donate the Aquascutum winter coat – yes! it’s finally gone, and a Kipling handbag.

I’m still working on the de-cluttering. The current dilemma is whether or not to sell a clarinet that has been gathering dust for about four years. Now, at one time I did play the clarinet, took lessons, and played in a wind band, but since then I have moved on to other hobbies. I bought this clarinet from Ebay a few years ago with the thought that I would start to play again, but I’ve forgotten most of the fingering and the noise frightens the pets! I know that I should sell it – I’m sure Basil and his friends could find a good use for a few more euro.

I