A Matter of Choice

When Aaron and I got our first house together it wasn't long before we got our first dog... I say first because one day hopefully we will live in a place big enough to have our second! Ellie was a very timid dog when she arrived with us and quickly turned into a 'Daddy's girl' We never really knew how old she was but she was madder than a box of frogs and acted like she was still a pup , so much so that she became known as 'The puppy dog' all the time.   Well, that and her gorgeous puppy dog eyes..... When we decided to move to Cyprus we debated for ages whether to bring her with us but I think we really knew the answer straight away.  Living in a 1 bedroom 3rd floor apartment was not the best option for a dog and she never did well in the heat at the best of times.   She was still a little nervous at times and we were not sure she'd even make the flight.  It was sad to see her go but she went to a good home with a friend of a friend. ...

When I saw this weeks Gallery prompt I may have had a little moan at the timing of it, the prompt was "Before and After" For the last few years I've often shown my before and after pictures but I used them both in  my Slimming World post . So I got thinking and when that didn't help I started browsing through my old pictures and came up with my gorgeous dogs.  Well, I say mine but they were both working police dogs - a fact I was often reminded of as a child when I tried to teach them pointless tricks or ask to walk them.  Traka, (the black one) was my Dad's 3rd police dog, as he approached retirement (the dog, not my Dad!) Dad was allocated a puppy to train as his successor. This was way back in 1994 and I was beside myself with excitement when he brought the little ball of fluff that was Acer home. After Acer had his training, Traka retired and we got to keep him as a pet dog. (and I got to finally take a dog for a walk on my own!) He was a ...

This weeks Gallery prompt from  Tara  is  Creatures.  This is Ellie our dog that we had to sadly find a new home for last October just before we moved, being mainly black she did not do well in the heat, especially as she always insisted on sunbathing until you could hardly touch her coat! Ellie came to us from a dog disliking  friend of mine who had been persuaded to re-home her by her kids in a moment of weakness, it turned out that the kids were also non-fussed about her and eventually they all decided she had to go. I have grown up with dogs and AJ had always wanted one so she was a welcome addition to our family in 2003. She is a lovely friendly mad thing, always nicknamed "The Puppy" despite being about 10 years old due to her excitement and energy for everything. I've been asked since if I know how she is doing in her new home, she has gone to a friend of a friend up in Cambridge, apart from hearing that she settled in well I have...

Now that Leo has turned one I find myself looking back to his first few weeks with us, it was a surreal time, wonderful, tiring, amazing and much more that I could never find words to describe properly. I was told over and over to really cherish the early days as they go so fast, sounds like a cliché but for good reason. So I did. I remember leaving the hospital, walking slowly and painfully down the corridors to the car park, AJ carrying Leo in his black and yellow car seat. I think it was quite a hot day and I was unsure how to dress Leo, all the babies seemed so wrapped up and I felt it was too much but didn't know what to do, a dilemma that stayed with me for most of his first year actually especially arriving in Cyprus where the local babies are often still wearing coats and its over 30degrees. I had planned to breastfeed, however it didn't end up happening (I'm not having the breast versus formula debate now, I may come back to it if the mood take...