dogs | Diary of an Adventurous Retiree

29 December 2016

We celebrated 37 years of joy with Laurie today.

While the neighbours are overseas Lauren, Lisa and the boys are staying in their house. Their dogs looked at her pleadingly this morning so she and I took them for walk after breakfast.

It was a perfect morning for walking

Major and Blackie agreed

It rained hard last night resulting in ditches of water for Major to swim in

It was a scenic route

Ann and Dean invited all 10 of us to join them and their kids for lunch. Jacob was here for the day so he joined us too.

Ann is the youngest of the Mackenzie children and of course we always think of he as the baby – but now she is a working wife and mother of three and has the most beautiful home with a wonderful view over Brooklyn Farm. Dean bought a lot of the Brooklyn land as well as the neighbouring farm.

The house on the hill

Birthday Girl

As we downsized this year we really felt emotional about parting with some of our much loved possession. Our Blackwood dining room table was one such item and so we offered it to Ann and Dean if they would pay to have it transported from Cape Town to Kokstad. And wow – what a delight to see it looking just right in their dining area.

Dean, Ann and Baby Sarah

Even though there are varying ages among the cousins they always connect and get on well together. Caitlyn and James adore Simon and Shannon and having Jay and Josh and Shan’s boyfriend Jacob was an extra bonus for them. There is so much space for the kids to have fun and even the big ones enjoyed the trampoline and swings!

The View

Lolz getting birthday attention from Sammy

Simon reading a story to the little ones – the older ones enjoying it too

James is king of the castle on Jacob’s shoulders

Lunch was lovely and Barbara and Andrew came over after to have tea and deliver a gift to Lolz.

Barbara with Sarah – her 12th grandchild

Later we went to Brooklyn to collect some beans from Barbara’s garden. Margaret was beside herself with excitement to see Laurie.

Nicoline came for sundowners and then we had a delicious stew with sweet potatoes and Barbara’s green beans. We finished the day by watching an episode of Master Chef Australia.

There was great excitement in Grade 1 on Friday. The children were allowed to bring their pets to school – as long as they were in a cage or basket with a lid! If they did not have caged pets they could bring a photograph.

My class have been looking forward to this promised day all term. I have to confess that I was a little anxious about it. My tiny classroom struggles to contain 32 active, chatty little girls – so I could not imagine sharing our space with a menagerie of creatures too – what if they escaped? would I be able to contain the girls excitement? What if in their enthusiasm they hurt someone’ beloved pet?

Well I need not have worried because it turned out to be one of the nicest days we’ve had this year. The girls were considerate and did not make sudden loud noises and were careful not to frighten the pets. They were gentle when they handled them and the delight on their faces was worth all the fuss.

We did have tears. One young lass forgot to bring her pet and begged to be allowed to bring it on Monday – but unfortunately that is just not possible as we have an impossible week planned for next week. She had to make do with telling us about her hamster in his absence.

A special moment was when the quietest, shyest little girl in my class was called up to pet the bunny. She broke into an enormous smile and was clearly awed by the experience. Some children don’t get to keep pets so having pet day at school gave them the opportunity to cuddle a fluffy creature, feel its tickly claws on their skin and share in their unconditional love.

Children who have pets learn caring skills and to know what it is like to have another creature depend on you. They also experience that unconditional love a pet has for you and learn to love in return.

Each little girl got to tell us about her pet – what it was – how she took care of it and how much pleasure they got from sharing their lives with an animal. Our visitors included a whistling cockatiel, a soft, cuddly bunny, several hamsters and twin rats belonging to twin sisters.

After discussing each pet and looking at photographs of the ones left at home, the children took their animals to their tables and drew and wrote all about them.

Cuddling a bunny

Twin Rats for Twin sisters

My kitty sleeps in this basket

Introducing a pet to a friend

Telling all about the much loved cats

My kitty in the Christmas Tree

My dog spreads out his ears and tries to fly

That wolf whistling must stop!

014 Getting ready to write about Ramster

Don’t let him escape

Now where did he go?

Phew – found him!

What a fun day it was. I loved reading what the girls wrote about their pets. They clearly are a class of animal lovers and having to be responsible for the care of their pets is teaching them good life skills for the future.