Silent Sunday

Saturday Caption #SatCap

It's "Legs Eleven" this week.

Can you think of a funny caption?

Why not hop over to Mammasaurus now to check out some other pictures in need of a caption.

A Big Thank You to Himself

Himself deserves a massive "Thank You" for all the things he does for me.

This last year I have been a total nightmare to live with, what with the impending loss of my job, my constant mood swings due to medication, the fact I can be a total nightmare to live with because of my constant nagging, if things aren't done just so because of the O.C.D and the restrictions we now have on our lives due to my constant pain

He takes it all in his stride and just lets me rant and rave at him without too many words of complaint, I rarely say thank you and I'm not into public displays of affection but he deserves it, he really does

I'm not a big fan of Christmas as it fills me with dread, but Himself really made my Christmas this year. He presented me with tickets to go and see War Horse  early next year.

Photo Credit

I have wanted to see this for ages, but it all seemed far too complicated for me to organise as I really hate going to strange places, and get so stressed about trips away. I always put the brakes on anything Himself tries to organise as the thought of going away just freaks me out!

The only way we ever get to go away, is if it gets sprung on me so I have no choice in the matter, which is exactly what he has done!

Thank You Himself

You are The Best

I Love You

xxx

Some of my Favorite Pictures

That's it I'm retired and this is what I'm going to miss the most from The Wendy House, the beautiful birds and wonderful scenery that have kept me amused for many hours.

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures.

I'll still keep my eyes open for that fantastic picture.

 I'll just have to look a little harder in future...

It's Official ~ I'm Retired

It's official I'm retired now.

 I'm a lady of leisure, a lady that lunches or a couch potato whatever you want to call it.

What an emotional week it was.

The General Manager of the site I was working at, called me into his office and we had a lovely chat about how well he thought I did my job. He was genuinely sorry to see me go and a few tears were shed, he gave me a lovely card that had been signed by everybody on site and contained some lovely messages.

One of the Shift Supervisors made a special effort to come and see me on his day off, he was laden with a massive box of chocolates and the biggest fruit basket I have ever seen. It was so heavy I had to get someone to carry it to the car for me.

Over the last week, I had visits from several people that I have worked with over the years when I was on shift, some of whom I was totally surprised to see.

 As I took a last drive round site, and it seemed so strange to think that was the last time I would ever take that route. As I drove out the gate with tears in my eyes, I was amused to see that my co-worker was standing to attention in the doorway to the Wendy House saluting me whilst holding the search mirror as if it was a rifle.

The next day I took my uniform back, I went round and said some final goodbyes to the shift that was on, and got a beautiful card from one of the ladies I have worked with on and off over the years.

So that's it, for 13 years my job has kept me on the straight and narrow, I have always done my job to the best of my ability and I loved it.

Over the years I have worked there, I've been able to take some fantastic pictures of sunrises, sunsets and local wildlife, so it was a wonderful surprise to see this Stag/Doe on my very last morning. He/she was a fair distance away and I only had a split second to grab the shot, but I'm sure he/she came to say goodbye as it was standing looking directly at me.

 I've worked with some wonderful people and made some good friends who I am going to really miss. I've also worked with some people I'm glad I will never have to see or speak to again.

The only person(s) who didn't bother to acknowledge my leaving was my employer, but why should they? They had no idea who I was or what I did!

So what am I going to do?

The first thing is get my house in order, it's a tip! The last few years housework has taken second place because of my pain and exhaustion.

Then in January I'm going to start looking for a premises in earnest, it's time to put my plans and ideas into action and open my shop.

This is a scary time for me, will my plans come off? 

I really have no idea, but if I don't try then I will always regret it.

I will now have the time to move forward with everything I have been wanting to do

I'm so excited with what my future holds.

Silent Sunday

Why is it Getting so Hard to Give a Rescue Dog a Forever Home?

 I fully support Rescue Charities and wrote a post called "Throw Away Dogs in a Throw Away Society" some time ago about the benefits of giving an OAP dog a Forever Home.

I have just read a post that has me exploding with anger and disappointment this morning. Not at the person who wrote it I hasten to add, but at the experiences they have had with doing the right thing and trying to rehome a dog. I have been following this story for some time and was really looking forward to reading all about their new dog this week. Sadly it was not to be...  

Understandably when you approach a charity to rehome a dog, you are expected to jump through several hoops to ensure that you are a suitable candidate, you have adequate facilities for the dog and are fully aware of any problems the dog may have. They want the dogs to go to the right homes as it is very frustrating if it doesn't work out and the dog has to be returned to Rescue, and very confusing and stressful for the dog.

This process can involve several trips to the said Rescue Center at your own time, expense and emotion, which you are happy to do because you want the best for the dog you ultimately take into your home for the rest of its life. 

So why is it that Rehoming Centers are making it harder and harder for good people to rehome dogs? 

I myself was turned down by the RSPCA approximately 12 years ago because I worked part time, even though I had adequate arrangements in place. The dogs stayed at my parents house when I was at work, a bit like Doggy Daycare, plus my parents had been approved as a suitable home by the RSPCA when they were looking to rehome a dog the year before. 

I was angry, I had worked in Rescue myself, and had even been to court as a witness for the RSPCA about a Rottweiler that had been sent to me for rehoming. To be honest I felt very humiliated that I should be turned down by such a huge organisation that I had always supported, but I accepted their decision and walked away.

Over the last couple of years I have been hearing more and more times of people who are wonderful dog owners, being turned down when they try to offer a dog a Forever Home from a variety of rehoming organisations, they then give up, as they are so upset that they are considered not suitable.

I understand the need for caution, especially with certain breeds of dog falling into the wrong hands.

Sometimes people don't always have a high enough fence for that escape artist, or maybe the dog they really want needs a lot more training than they can offer, not all dogs are suitable for all people, but if so many loving dog owners are not deemed suitable, then who is?

Whilst all this indecision is going on dogs are missing out on fantastic Forever Homes and doomed to life in kennels, or worst case scenario being put to sleep.

As Christmas approaches, sadly yet again I see so many puppies are for sale  as Christmas Presents! With a lot of them the novelty will have worn off by January and they will be dumped into an already overflowing Rescue system.

We can't stop these people churning out puppies, but if nobody buys them and rehomes Rescue dogs there will be no market for them.

So why is it getting so hard to give a Rescue dog a Forever Home?

Authors Note:- These are my own views and experiences. Any offence to caused to anyone working in Rescue is unintentional. If it wasn't for the work you do more dogs would be suffering long term in bad situations.

A Great Weekend, But...

We have just spent the weekend at Selsdon Park Hotel for Himself's work Christmas function, what a beautiful place and so full of history. 

All the ceilings in the public areas are wonderful and have been lovingly restored, I took loads of pictures of them but here are just a few.

This stained glass window was amazing too, this picture just doesn't do it justice, it must be outstanding when the sun is shining through it!

This window was beautiful too, and opposite it was the most stunning fireplace I have ever seen.

We booked in, then headed off in search of our room on the second floor. We couldn't find a lift so started to climb the stairs, which turned out to be a massive mistake, there were so many twists, turns corridors and small staircases both up and down. 

It was a very difficult climb with my limited mobility, I was very soon worn out and in extreme agony, we saw several members of staff but only one of them asked me if I needed any help with my bags, of which I didn't as I only ever take what I can carry, I never expect Himself or anyone else to carry my bags, I know I'm far to independent for my own good. 

Eventually we found our room and right next to our room was the lift so we had a laugh about that, but then noticed it was out of order.

I was far to exhausted to worry about it at the time, and we let ourselves into the room and had a nap to be ready for the evenings proceedings.
Here we are all dressed up and ready to go

Then we remembered we would have to find our way back downstairs again, as the hotel is so massive we set of in search of another lift on our floor. Up and down these little staircases and what seemed like miles of corridors, after the climb this afternoon to get upstairs my knees and back were in a pretty bad way, I was in agony and I was really struggling to walk.

 We found this beautiful corridor with a very old phone, we didn't dare pick it up to see if it had a ringtone but it was all wired in with a modern plug so guessing it is in working order still.

Eventually we found a lift that took us down to the lobby and we proceeded to make our way to the Tempest Bar and it was absolutely packed out, there were lots of large groups all meeting at the same time, it was like being crammed into a cattle truck, several times I was nearly knocked off my feet by people squeezing past and there was nowhere to sit, we had to stand around like that for approx 30 minutes and the whole time my body was screaming in agony until we were called for our meal. It was total chaos and very hot, I was starting to feel most unwell.

The food I have to say was outstanding, I had some sort of Duck Pate to start, Sea Bass as my main, which was delicious and for desert I had the most fabulous chocolate mousse which was very rich, I could have eaten two of them.

I couldn't stay for the entertainment as I'd had to take so many painkillers to get through the evening that I was starting to fall asleep. Because our room was so far away I decided to go to the lavatory before making the journey but was shocked to find the Disabled toilet was in the Gents, so Himself went in first to discover it was actually next to the Gents so I went in.

It wasn't very pleasant, as men had been using it and there was a lot of urine on the floor. We then set off upstairs, we opted to take the direct route up the stairs rather than use the lift and face the maze of corridors and stairs, as Himself had earlier found a direct route to our room whist I had been having my nap when he went outside for a breath of fresh air.

Once I was sorted back in the room, Himself went back downstairs to join his work colleagues and I had a bath and went to bed.  

As is usual I was up first and set off to find the Dining Room for my Breakfast, Himself isn't a Breakfast person so I left him to sleep. I could barely walk by this time and the agony I was in is the worse I have suffered in a long time, my painkillers barely touched it.

I decided to take a picture of each of the four flights of stairs on my way down to Breakfast, it was a very slow journey with many rest stops but I got there in the end.

I was feeling very shaky by the time I got to the Dining Room and had to sit at my table for about 10 minutes before I could summon the energy to go and get my Breakfast, which took me six trips as I only have one hand free as I couldn't do it without my stick, and no offers of help were made by any of the staff.

Before I headed back upstairs to wake Himself and pack, I spoke to Reception about the stairs issue and all I got was "I'm sorry about that"

I've never before stayed in such a disabled unfriendly Hotel, it totally ruined the weekend for me which is a shame as it is a fantastic building.

Silent Sunday

Sights in London

 Himself has been out and about in London with his camera again, he comes across the oddest sights sometimes.

 I'm so Jealous!

Arty Sheds

Speaks for itself, but I bet they still got a ticket 

Battersea Power Station

Opposite Battersea Power Station

British Telecom Tower

Fifth Plinth Trafalgar Square 

Soon I'll have so much spare time, I'm going to go and check out London to see what I can see too!