Mid Winter Catch Up

It’s been a difficult start to 2023. We lost Skye just after the New Year. Below is a photo that was taken of Skye, Daisy and myself on the day that we brought them home from the animal shelter:

I love this photo because it reminds me how they came into our lives so seamlessly. We were warned that it may take a few weeks for them to adjust to their new home and that there might be some behavioural problems. Well… they walked into our house without hesitation and they never exhibited any anxiety about being with us in their new environment. It was as if they’d always lived here. Note how Skye’s little paw is firmly on my arm as if to say, “you’re mine.” We loved them both and we saw them both through to the end of their beautiful little lives.

On the day that we learned that Skye’s condition was terminal I had a little kerfuffle that involved a car door, a gust of wind and me having to give my insurance information to the gentleman who was quietly sitting in the car next to ours. He got out, saw that a little scratch had been made when the gust of wind blew my car door into his, and he said, “OH NO! This is a new car!” Of course I was horrified and apologised profusely. We sat in his car to exchange information and he was very, very kind about the whole incident. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to bother with getting the door fixed but just in case, we exchanged phone numbers. I became weepy and inappropriately blurted out that, whether he gets the car door fixed or not, it would be nice to hear from him again because he seems so nice. I was horrified as soon as I said it. More apologies were issued and also, inappropriately (of course), I had to tell him about my dog to help explain my state of having lost all of my boundaries and saying weird things to complete strangers. I should add here that AP was in our car when this happened and he had already been introduced to — my new friend, Steven.

Over the next few weeks we exchanged text messages about the car repair, which, in the end, was really very minor. I paid for the damage and after the work was done, the three of us decided to have dinner together because we all seemed to bond over this unfortunate transaction, which I thought was a nice way to wrap things up.

I haven’t worked much since Christmas but here are a few things that I’ve recently finished.