Welcome to my blog, where I take pleasure in words and pictures, be they my own or those of others. I'm a creative individual, and the crafty side I explore on my 'other blog', Picking Up The Threads, which I hope you'll visit too. I'm sure you understand that I have sole copyright of my original work and any of my contributions, so please ask if you want to use them. A polite request is rarely refused. So, as they used to say on the BBC's 'Listen With Mother' radio programme, many years ago: "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin."

Saturday 31 March 2018

Travellers’ Tails

Yes, I do mean ‘tails’ but there are also ‘tales’ to be told. The prompt for this week’s Sepia Saturday shows Anna Finlayson, a 1959 Canadian beauty queen packing her bags for her next competition. It appears that her little dog is unhappy about being left behind and would like to be getting in that suitcase and travelling with her.

We have just become first time dog owners and now have to take another little soul into account when we make any plans for travel. Pico, aged fifteen months, was rescued from the pound when a puppy; unfortunately he was badly treated by his new owners, so has been doubly unlucky. Now that he has come to live with us we can see that there are a few issues we have to deal with, and the thought of leaving him alone to even go shopping has to be quickly dismissed whilst we start from scratch with house-training and building up trust. Eventually he will be able to to stay behind for longer periods, as he slowly gets used to our ways. Time, patience and lots of love, which we have in abundance, will help him defeat his demons. He’s already sleeping all night with no crying or accidents, and the greeting I receive in the morning is joyous.



Although this is the first time we have owned a dog jointly, long-term readers of my blog will recall that when I was a girl I had a little white poodle who has often appeared in my blogposts over the years. He was a present for my eleventh birthday and lived for fourteen years; as I moved away to college and then got married, he became more of my parents’ dog than mine.  However, when I was thirteen, I travelled to Austria on an exchange trip for a month and although (as far as I know) Kim did not try to climb into my suitcase, nor pine for me whist I was away, I was homesick and missed my little companion dreadfully. My host family had dogs of their own, but they just didn't take the place of my own beloved pet.

This is my favourite picture of Kim sitting, not in a suitcase, but in my mother's shopping basket. It gives a good idea of his size, and although small dogs are often toted around in handbags, he never was.

Ferried by car and carried underarm, but no, never in a handbag, whereas Pico...........



............arrived in Lanzarote by air exactly a week ago today from Gran Canaria,  having travelled on the charity volunteer’s knee in a bag. It’s only a forty minute flight and allowed with dogs under five kilos. When we met them at arrivals I asked where the dog was and she pointed to her shoulder bag.



And there you have it in black and white travellers’ tails - which are constantly wagging.



Join other travellers and their best friends for this week’s Sepia Saturday, to see what they made of the prompt, which come courtesy of Vancouver Public Library, via flickr commons.

9 comments:

  1. What a great rescue and now parenting for that sweet little one! Enjoy your lives together!

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  2. Pico is a cute name for a cute dog. Sounds like Pico won’t need rescuing ever again. Now that’s a happy ending.

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  3. OMG, Pico is adorable. No wonder you couldn't resist him. Those sweet little things just wiggle their way right into your hearts and lives. Even little budgies like my Shakespeare who has taken to welcoming us home when we return from meals out or other things by chirping excitedly and 'dancing' around in his cage - obviously happy to see us again. And what they add to your lives is, in a word, simply amazing! :)

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  4. What a cute dog and fitting name, Pico! I loved seeing Kim in the basket.

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  5. You are lucky the dog was able to sit on a lap on the recent flight, and not put into the risky overhead compartment! Cute photos, particularly the basket shot :-)

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  6. Congratulations on the latest addition to your family. He’s one fortunate dog to have ended up with you. I like the name you settled on. Worked out very well for the theme today.

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  7. Wonderful! Pico will doubtless inspire many new photos and new stories.

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  8. What a cutie - or rather 2 cuties!

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  9. Pico looks perfectly charming. I look forward to hearing more - it seems you have been quite busy as you haven't posted recently - but then the same could be said about me from time to time. I hope all's well!

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