When Bill and I bought Pinks Barn in the early 80s I was thrilled to discover it had stone floors. Not very pretty ones actually, more like paving slabs inherited from the days when Pinks Barn was a restaurant. The reason for my excitement was that in a mad moment Bill had agreed to us being dog owners for the first time! (Stone floors are made for muddy paws, and ‘accidents’…)
I was beside myself and so, before we had much new furniture but after the damp proofing had been done, I became the proud owner of Charlie, a bearded collie puppy. Our lives were changed forever.
Today, we have a smaller breed of dog as we are both ticking on and I needed to be able to pick up my dog and stick him under a tap after walks. We decided on a cockerpoo puppy who, as I write, is barking at shadows in my workroom. Monty is now nine years old and is a splendid fellow except when he sees the postman, then he throws himself at the door and barks for England.
We have aways felt that if we walked a dog, we would train it to be off the lead where safe so that it could run and run. And so it is with Monty. I would not trust him in traffic because, if he saw a cat, he would be gone – out in the country and in and around Fairford he can run free.
Some of our walks lead us to croaky pheasants in the woods and he certainly keeps them in order. I was horrified one day when he came back with a dead pheasant. He looked so proud and pleased with himself, but I heaved a sigh of relief when I realised it had been dead some time and Monty had just found it. Because I work from home and need not venture far, I think having a dog has been a sanity saver. Fresh air and wandering through nature – what is not to like?
