A new Quad Bike,lots of good news and an award.

My horrid neighbour has once again reared his ugly head, unbelievably he has been reading my blog in an attempt to obtain information which he can use against me and he has informed the council that I am once again taking in dogs and the noise is disturbing him! Of course I told the council people that had he bothered to read back over past blog entries he would see that most of our dogs are placed in foster homes except the very small occasional Yorkshire terrier or similar which I have in the house with my own dogs. What a very sad man he is, he comes to live in a rural location amidst farms with working dogs,a couple of fields away from 2 different packs of very noisy hounds(poor creatures hardly ever get exercised) surrounded by bleating sheep(far noiser than any dog) and then he complains about rural noise. A couple of years ago he complained to my farmer neighbour about two Canada geese which were grazing on his adjoining property and which were keeping him awake so much that he threatened to shoot them if the farmer refused to do so.Happily Farmer refused and told Horrid Neighbour where to go. There is always one isnt there?One can live happily amongst others until one unhappy discontented person takes it upon himself to try to make others as unhappy as himself. I could write about other ridiculous and malicious things this man has done but I have more important and interesting things to write about.
I have heard from Jades owner and great news, she has settled down so well and so quickly they say she has already become an integral part of their family.Some others who have contacted me with similar stories recently are the new owners of Penny and Tuppence the Yorkies who went to live in Norfolk, Shooks the Siberian Husky living in Scotland and getting ready to winter in the mountains of France . One I am always glad to hear from because of his terrible sadness and despair when I first set eyes on him is dear Gel the middle aged farm collie who had spent 2 years of his life on a chain and who has just returned to the Uk from his holiday home in Spain.
Then I also heard that Jess collie is doing well and now living in Dorset ,Tess cross staff happily esconced in a home in Porthmadog and Sally the foxlike crossbreed who went to Anglesey and who has rapidly become a dearly loved companion to his new carer. All these updates from delighted owners makes such a difference to the staff - the morale boost we all need to inspire us. It puts everything into perspective, yes we do have bad times and we will no doubt continue to have our ups and downs but its so heartwarming to hear about our past rescues,I love reading the emails about them. For some reason I dont hear from as many of the people who take cats so I will ask them in future to let us know.
Our old quad bike has broken down and needs new tires so it was with great pleasure we received a donated bike from great supporters of the shelter - Ffrancon Security is a local firm who have been good friends to us and have donated catfood at times when there was little in the kitty. The bike is only a few years old and is in much better condition than our old one which we will keep as a back up if anything goes wrong with this one. These bikes are invaluable on a place like this, we use it to take hay and feeds to the horses in the fields and for many other jobs round the property. Thank you Jan and Delwyn.
Shane , one of the Anglesey ponies has developed another bout of laminitis in spite of our attempts to curtail his intake of rich grass(not that any of our grass is that rich!)so we have brought him in along with his pal little Bobby shetland. Shane, of course has ongoing problems due to the neglect he suffered at the hands of his previous owner and will never be able to go for adoption. He will remain in the stable and yard until he improves. The pair seem perfectly happy
with all the attention they are receiving , they think they are on holiday!
I am doing a publicity drive to try to find a home for Magic and Precious the mother and daughter cats who seem to be overlooked all the time.they are older than is generally wanted but they are so loving I know there is someone out there who would enjoy their company.Poor old Magic is 14 years old and only has one eye but she is so affectionate it seems wrong for her to be stuck in a pen when she may only have another year left(more hopefully)
We admitted a lovely little tortoishell and white kitten today, her owner developed an allergy and so she has joined our other kittens in the Kitten room.Their numbers have drastically reduced over the last couple of weeks, now there seem to be more adult cats arriving.The cattery is pretty well full at the moment, there is quite a waiting list of cats waiting for space here and I like to bring them in as quickly as possible.
I was meant to attend an award ceremony but was laid up with a migraine and unable to go so volunteer Dilys went on my behalf. The British Conservation Voluntters had nominated me for an award as I had worked with them to improve the countryside by planting hedgerows on this property. It was a great honour,I just wish I could have attended in person. When I moved here I was struck by the lack of trees and hedgerows and it will be lovely to see some springing up.
It will also be good for wildlife though I hope the cats will stay away from the hedgerow areas. Thankfully nearly all stay nearer to the food stations and it is rare to see a cat venture down the track to the lower fields where the hedges are planted.
Finally I lost the second Maggie Martha yesterday, she had another stroke and I could not face watching her deterioration.With great sadness I said my goodbyes. The Maggie Marthas have been happylittle dogs and I still cannot believe how old they were.At 21 AND 22 years they were the oldest Yorkies I have ever had. They had a good 2 and a half years with me and It seems strange that I now have most of the space on the sofa with only little Suzy aged 15 sharing it with me now. I can now stretch out without disturbing one or other dog but I wish I was perched on the end again with all my friends around me.
It is the Liverpool Freshfields Fun day tomorrow, the first time it has not been held at the shelter itself so I am keepoing my fingers crossed that it will be a great success.Over the years it has become so popular and there is not enough space really to accommodate everyone comfortably ao this time it will be held just along the Formby Bypass on land belonging to West Lancs Dog Training Club/heres hoping the rain stays away.