First of all, apologies for being so late with this month’s update ! A week ago my laptop was hacked ! I thought unplugging everything and ignoring it for a couple of days would sort the problem but no. I took it to a really nice chap in Cahors who, within seconds, got me back to my screensaver photo, then kept the laptop for a couple of days to ‘clean it out’. I asked him if I should get a more efficient protecion programme but he said that quite honestly it would make no difference. He did say however that if it happened again within a week, he would have to ‘take everything off the computer’ and effectively start again. OMG ! So if you don’t hear from me again you’ll know I have given up ! I always said that when I come out of dog rescue I would ditch the computer and never use it again – yeah, right !
Ok, get the tissues ready before you read much further ! A lovely lady called Doreen sent this poem to me, and to anyone/everyone who has had to make ‘that’ decision. It will make you cry – if you are not a robot – but it helps.
Today you did the bravest thing, today you set me free.
Thank-you for showing me the ultimate dignity
I ‘m sorry that my leaving has broken your kind heart
But we knew this day would come, the day we had to part
Don’t think I did not hear every last word you said
Don’t think I did not feel your trembling hand touch my head
Today you did the bravest thing, today you set me free
Thank-you for a wonderful life, thank-you for loving me.
This was particularly poignant to me in October as two of our oldies left us. After all the years of caring for dogs I should be used to it, but, no, it never gets easier. Dear Caline (cancer) and Nina ( kidney failure) were both of a jolly good age, 203 between them ! So, we are down to 13 now – I’m failing miserably in my aim to get to single figures by the time I hit 70 !
Our book sale in October was less successful than usual but we still raised 2,000 euros which was amazing considering that footfall was well down. I was quite disheartened at first, the sale means a lot of hard work for many people, but reasoning sensibly, there were quite a few reasons. Firstly we clashed with half term in France AND England, so many people were celebrating being able to travel again to see family and grandchildren. Then there are more people than I realised who are not vaccinated / do not have Passe Sanitaires, so, sadly we had to exclude them, not wanting to face a possible 1,500 fine. I heard some people (obviously not regulars) said they didn’t want to touch second hand books “just in case”. That I do not understand, books in our sale have been stored for the required time before going into the sale boxes and, quite honestly, do those people think that no-one has touched a new book before them ?! Not possible. However, although I don’t agree with anti vaccs people, I totally respect that they are entitled to their own opinions and plans are underway to convert our storage space into a (VERY) small ‘bookshop’, so people can make an appointment to come and browse alone.
Staying on the book sale subject, next year will be our tenth year of sales !! We intend to make this a Really Big Occasion (and possibly our last, depending on various factors). The proposed date is Saturday 2nd April and we will be ‘open’ for a longer time, rather than opening on the Sunday.
On the dog front there have been many adoptions, Robin and Marley have gone to new homes, I cannot understand why Spot is still with Danielle, what a lovebug he is, and Black, ok, ‘just’ a black dog but boy, what a darling. If you are hesitating, hesitate no more, Black will enhance your life !
Viruses, bugs and hackers permitting, I’ll be back at the end of the month.
Sue xx