Lucy Joins the Clan.

What a fantastic change to the weather. I was not happy spending a full day indoors  at the Trustee Meeting in Liverpool but needs must I'm afraid. We  spent some  of  the time discussing future fundraising plans and ways to evoke more public interest in the work of the Charity.We came up with a few new ideas but like all new projects they take a while to organise and get off the ground. I am still bemoaning the fact that I have been unable to get together a group of people willing to fundraise for the Welsh shelter but I do live in hope that one day this will happen.
I did contemplate matching the Liverpool shelters efforts at Halloween  where they have a sort of mini Open Day and organise  all sorts of interesting Ghosty things but do not have the confidence or knowledge of those sort of events in order to make that a success. I did think Handyman John would make a good Ghost of Christmas Past but he might scare the children a little too MUCH!

Would you believe, we have admitted two more black kittens, this time these poor little things were found in a binbag at the side of a road! Disgraceful.I wish I could have caught the culprits but of course if I had,  it would no doubt have been me who would end up in court on an asault charge and they would get off!  Thats British Justice for you. There are a couple of people coming to see kittens this weekend so that is something to look forward to, mind you  every time we have an empty pen, the girls (or Ken, mustn't forget Ken who does a sterling job )  just about have  time to clean and replace with new bedding etc  when new arrivals  take up residence in it.(that is ' in it'  not Innit!)

We had a visit today from a  representative of the Kennel Club to whom we have applied for a grant to pay for a dog behaviourist. We did explain that most of our dogs are in foster homes but he seemed more interested in taking a look at the entire shelter and the way we operate overall.I can only hope he will back our application.Time will tell.

Sunday:
So much for the great weather, its been pouring with rain all day and is decidedly chilly; back on with the thermals then! The shelter is an amazing place to live when its warm and sunny but the winters here are harsh, everyone who visits comments on the fact that even the next village along experiences  slightly warmer temperatures.

Caspar has got over his grief losing his pal Honey and has joined a little group of ponies but has not bonded with any particular one as we first thought. Just after Honey died, he did seem to be sticking close to Honey lookalike Bobby but now he seems indifferent. It is early days and it would be nice if he did pair up with a pal but he seems content enough at the moment.

Speaking of pals being seperated by bereavement, Little Noddy has lost several companions and when he outlived his third friend, he appeared to withdraw from the others, as though he did not want to become close again to another pony.It was about 2 years before he bonded with Maggie, another black shetland like himself. Previously his companions were much larger ponies so it was a surprise when he chose Maggie to be his next Best Friend. We even took in Grandad for Noddys sake but  he  was unimpressed, like people they want to choose their own friends so if it happens with Caspar it will be his own choice and not our idea of which would suit him best. I tried to take a photo of him with Bobby and Shane(above) but he did not feel in the mood for a photo session and as soon as he spotted me with the camera he moved away quickly(I seem to have that effect with a lot of people too!)so I was left with a photo of the others!

In spite of the rain, we have had a few visitors today and two adult cats have been adopted - Stripey and Billy (both tabby and whites) Another called Emily has been reserved by someone who came here yesterday.  A stray dog was admitted and already he has been reserved pending a homecheck. He will have to be neutered as soon as possible though lately it has been hard making appointments to get our animals neutered at the Vets ; sometimes we have to book weeks ahead which is not ideal when the animals are waiting to go to homes.

When the Little Old Girl died, I decided to have Office dog Lucy (pictured here in the living room) in the house with me .Lucy a 12 years old cross Jack Russell/Cavalier has been with us for two years and has proved impossible to home due to her instant dislikes to some people and her tendency to have a nip if she was not enamoured of the person . After this long period of office living and joining me on the computer chair (or should I say pushing me off the chair!)whilst I was working I felt it time to adopt her formally.She has settled so well, it is as though she has always lived there with me and the other dogs. Paddy and Patch barely even noticed her arrival.Paddy sleeps on a duvet/single mattress on the floor, Patch is anti social and sleeps on his own on one of the sofas or in a dogbed and Lucy has appropriated my sofa for her sleeping area! Wherever I sit, she sits with me which is nice as the last dog to do this was my  lovely  William.. Like William before her, Lucy is more of a 'people' dog and although she is fine with other canines it is clear where her true preferences are.
Poor Lucy has had a skin rash for a few months since she had contact with some fibreglass after the old caravan was demolished, in spite of several courses of treatment her skin is still not back to normal and in fact I think it is worse.She has had a couple of biopsies done and I am waiting for the results.

Our Christmas puddings have arrived and will be on sale at the shelter and the  shops soon.This time I ordered some sponge puddings for those who dislike Xmas puds(me included) so there is  yummy sounding Strawberry and Clotted Cream , and Honey, Citrus and Almond.  they are as good as the traditional Puddings which everyone rave about, they should be very tasty indeed. Diets to be   postponed for another week!