Moody Blues & Muddy Shoes

So here we are and poof!... just like that the first month of the new year has disappeared.

A very belated welcome to the year of the rat! Much like the Chinese, I'm celebrating new year late however unlike the Chinese I do not have a virus! Seriously, there is always something isn't there?

So now we have left the EU but will things really change? Fundamentally day to day, I doubt we are going to notice anything different straight away. It still rains, dogs still need walking, dogs' fur still grows and needs cutting so, the World will still spin.

I'm really struggling with the seasonal mood at the moment, not helped with the fact it feels like it has been grey, dark and raining constantly since about October! I pray February brings with it some drier and brighter days. At least the Daffodils are starting to pop up and that always makes me feel happier.

​I am amid major refurbishment of my little grooming studio having had a new custom-made bath installed over the Christmas holidays. This was after new entrance doors were fitted back in October last year. So now I'm having new walls and ceiling coverings done and a new floor laid. It is going to look fantastic when it is all complete but, now, I'm in a bit of a mess so please bear with me if you visit! Poor Mr Furry has been giving up all his weekends to get it done for me as of course, it can only be done when I am not in there grooming. However, after more than 10 years, it was indeed time for a change and you know what they say, go large or go home!

The new year has started as busy as the last one ended with new members of the Furry Dog Walking pack in the form of little legs, Ted and Milo. These two little fellas are just adorable and so impeccably behaved. They were off-lead by the end of their very first walk with me. Grooming appointments have again been snapped up and my diary is currently full until towards the end of March which is absolutely amazing. However, I have had to rearrange a few appointments because of all the works being done, so thank you to those who have swapped and accommodated, I promise it will be worth it in the end!  

A couple of our Furry Friends have been unwell to start the year which is a bit of a worry. There does appear to have been a nasty sick bug going around and it seemed to have affected Polly and Betty. However, when Betty didn't recover after a couple of days and was still not eating, it was clear there was something else going on. So, she is currently on steroids in a hope this will get her eating and back to fitness again. If not, there is the worrying possibility that it is something more sinister and we are keeping all our paws and fingers crossed here that that isn't the case. Our thoughts are with all her family now in the hope she gets better and back to herself really soon.  

It does make me think about dogs' health though because when they get ill it does seem to come on very quickly. Like one day they are fine, the next they're not. However, when you look at how short their life span is compared to ours and how more accelerated the ageing process of a dog is compared to ours, it makes sense really that something that is diagnosed and could take months to take hold in a human is the same but in days with a dog. Talking of which, I don't want to jinx anything but in a couple of weeks' time, (Valentine's Day to be precise), it will be two years since I got that awful phone call from the Vet confirming my worst fear about our Buddy-Love. The Vet said the average life expectancy after diagnosis was 10 months and yet here we are, almost 2 years later. Buddy-Love though has never been what you would call the "average" dog so it is kind of typical of him to defy everything and everybody. Every morning when I come down and he's at the kitchen door to greet me with a big woof, I call him my little miracle. Apart from the usual signs of ageing, he isn't any different from the previous version of Buddy-Love; still all the things I love about him! Long may it continue!  

Well, as we head towards hopefully some drier brighter days, some lighter evenings and more yellows and pinks as opposed to greys and browns, despite my struggling mood, I am thankful for a lot. I am thankful for still having my boy here, I am thankful for being so busy I can't think sometimes, I am thankful for having all the wonderful little and big dogs in my life that cheer me up no matter what the weather is like or whether we are in the EU or out of it, I am thankful for all the wonderful clients and friends I have that support my business. On that note, embrace and enjoy the new month ahead!

Much love

Sally xx