Happy Birthday Monty!!

On this date in 2007, I received a life altering phone call. A lovely Golden Retriever called Sophie who lived on an Army base in Cambridge had given birth to eight puppies. We were number eight on the puppy waiting list so that was good news...one would be ours. We made the trek from Gloucestershire to Cambridge three weeks later to visit our new puppy and then again four weeks after that to collect him. I have to say, he was worth the effort! I had always known I was a dog person, despite never having had a dog, but from that day forward my life changed and I became a dog mad person!

Monty, or Rufus Montgomery to give him his full name, has grown...and grown...into a wonderful boy. Five today, he is so much a part of our lives he is far more than just 'the dog'. He is kind, playful, gentle, loyal, stick-loving, and soo much more. In the house he is always near, usually asleep but ever alert to what is going on. Out and about he is joyful, exuberant and with an over developed fascination for the poo of other creatures! As far as we are concerned, he is the perfect dog. We love him even when he is covered in something smelly. So today we celebrate Monty's birthday...special treats, extra loves and a birthday candle (he even agreed to pose with his candle before he wolfed down the his birthday tea)!

An update on our weekend with Grandma and Granda will have to wait for another post but I will just add that Easter Sunday was also an important day for us. We became members of Pig Club!! A brilliant scheme that means even with no small holding of our own (yet), we can own a pig! For a couple of years now, He and I have been following the antics of  'Tales From The Rock', a small holding blog. For a very reasonable fee, we are now sponsoring a piglet - a Berkalitza (cross between a Berkshire and a Mangalitza) - in it's happy, free range existence. At the end of the year, we will visit The Rock and collect our half of the fully grown pig, all neatly turned into nice cuts and sausages! What a fab way to have ethical meat and a tiny stake in smallholding! It feels somehow like a teeny tiny step towards some of my big to-dos.