Pets

When I was a child my grandmother Alice took me to the library in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, and I had books out each week. My favourite books were by Enid Blyton – not a particularly politically correct choice these days but we are talking about the 60s and 70s!

The Famous Five books were my absolute favourite for some time and because of those stories I really, really, really wanted a dog like the character, George, in the books. My mum would not entertain the idea of having a dog but she did allow me to have a little cat. He was black and white – a bit like our current cat Merlin (here’s a picture of Merlin having a nap)…

When it came to naming my little cat, I just had to call him Timmy in honour of the dog in the Famous Five books! He was quite a character and was very patient. My sister and I dressed him in dolls clothes and pushed him around in our dolls pram – poor thing!

When I had the children I was determined to have a dog and so we had Grace who was a wonderful friend to me for 13 years. She was a farm collie from Barry and I miss her very much.

I was once asked what I hoped Heaven would be like and my response was that I hoped Heaven was a very long walk with Grace down familiar and unfamiliar paths, sometimes stopping to chat with friends and family who have gone before so that I can say all the things I would like to say to them. I also thought there should be an occasional hostelry where Grace and I could take some little refreshment on our walk.

Grace became my friend and I think that’s true for many of us who have a pet. Animals are excellent company if we live alone, they are entertaining, clever and loving and if your pet is a dog, inevitably they will need to be walked, so provide an incentive to exercise!

We now have a small dog called Maude who has loved sitting on my lap during Zoom meetings and Evening Prayer throughout this time of lock-down. However, Maude is a very different character to Grace. Maude has a very high pitched bark and is not afraid to use it!

Both of my grandmothers kept a budgerigars which as a child I could not understand but as an adult I can see the attraction – apart from having to clean the cage out! These colourful little birds don’t seem so popular these days but I know that keeping chickens is quite the thing – especially during lock down!

My Dad recently told me that from the age of 12 for a few years he kept rabbits – a complete revelation to me!

Let me know if you have pets or have had them when you were children – I’m just interested to see what the most exotic or unusual pet will be!

Later on this evening, Revd Rhian is posting Compline which I hope you will enjoy. Have a lovely Wednesday – let’s hope the weather is a little dryer!