Days getting shorter

I am on holiday for a whole week while Abby and Alex are at school! Not that they are happy about it... But it has given me time to get my eyes checked, my hair cut, a bit of shopping done, cleaning done, and today, a beautiful walk with the Noggin (the dog).

I am still quite besotted with Frodo. And with the English countryside. And with sunshine...

As the days being to shorten, I am clingin onto any chances to be outside and not wet/freezing. I have enjoyed the apples, the blackberries, the leaves changing colour, and the chance to put on boots and scarves again. I have also welcomed back the TV programmes that come on in the autumn. I am trying to be glad of the change of seasons... to enjoy how they mark out our year and complement each other and give us a chance to see new things, to see the cycle of life...

But really, I would like it to be spring and then summer all year round. OK, a sunny autumn like this one is actually fine, even lovely. But, I don't want the Winter!!! I am dreading the dark, cold afternoons.  
Perhaps I need to learn to live each day in all its beauty, and not think ahead so much to what is coming. And this autumn is really beautiful.

A Gorgeous, Sunshiny November Afternoon

Today there was time for my favourite walk of all with Frodo...

We started off at Over Farm (owned by distant cousins of mine),

... passing the now wild strawberry fields, leaves turned autumn red...

... up the lane towards the scary oak...

...  furry Old Man's Beard in the hedge...

... and, unexpectedly, masses of spindle berries, (I had to look them up)...

Naughty, waggy-tailed Frodo ran ahead into the woods, only stopping to look back and then run on...

... loving the sun shining onto a maple tree...

... and highlighting Gloucester Cathedral, a heavenly building pointing up to heaven ...

We were ten minutes late picking up Alex from school, but, it was worth it.

Our daily adventure...

And home again...

Running free

Owning a dog is so much more rewarding than I expected it to be, especially the walks. We have been a bit careful because Frodo, whilst very gentle and good, has not learned yet to obey many commands... He does now "sit" when we tell him to, and he "stops" and "waits," but we were not sure if he would "come," and we were afraid of losing him... We have been letting him run free in the large garden at Redcliffe because we can close both the gates there. But nowhere else. But I was so looking forward to letting him off the leash on a walk, so that he could run ahead and explore a bit and follow those oh so exciting smells that drive him crazy. But until he knew us well enough and until we trusted him to want to come back, we didn't feel safe letting him off.

But a few days ago I took him to a big field on the edge of a wood, and took courage and set him free. He LOVED it! He ran ahead, ran back, ran around me in circles, followed his nose, rolled in the grass (that is, in something in the grass...) But he kept waiting for me when he got ahead, and if he lost sight of me, he would come tearing back around the corner to find me.

It made me think in a way of God's desire for that relationship with us as his people. Not that we are like his pets as such...  but, what fun it is to have a dog running free and happy alongside me when I am walking, keeping within sight of me and even waiting for me. So much nicer than having him on the leash, knowing he wants to go faster or further but restraining him in case he runs and never comes back. I am sure this is why God gave us free will, so that he could enjoy the Walk with us this much more. To enjoy that mutual love and companionship.

Of course, letting Frodo off means he probably will run away from time to time... Sometimes his love for us gets momentarily forgotten, subsumed by a sudden curiosity, a new, too-tempting smell, a rabbit, a duck... Today in the park, Frodo was suddenly a ball of black fur bombing away from us towards a group of training football players - but he veered off to where their piles of kit lay and I caught up with him as he was rambling around from pile to pile sniffing the men's shoes and jumpers! What I do know is that I will always catch up with him, because I will always chase him as far and as fast as it takes until I find him and get him back. If necessary I'd call the police, even the helicopters! So I also know God gives us freedom and lets us run, but if we are his, he will never lose us to ourselves, or let us completely run away forever, he will never give up on the relationship he has with us. Unlike us getting a dog though, he does not pick us out and dump us into his kingdom and family - that is our choice.

This is a Tibetan terrier but it is not a picture of Frodo (it has more white on the front than Frodo) - but it gives you an idea of how beautiful Frodo looks when he is running towards me. He looks exuberant, and I feel exuberant, to see his fluffy chest hurtling towards me, his front legs bounding forward, his ears flying back in the wind. Even more than this dog Frodo looks as though he is smiling when he bounds towards me. So beautiful. Don't you think God feels this way when we run back to him?

Cow-parsley and buttercups...

We have just endured about ten rainy days in a row - talk about April showers. April inundations more like. The reports said it was the wettest April in England since records began - but I feel as though I have heard that so many times before... But yesterday afternoon it cleared up and today was beautiful, sunny, clear blue skies, and England felt so clean and the air felt fresh, so that breathing it in was like taking long drinks of water.

Frodo gives me the perfect excuse to put off the housework and other jobs and go out walking in the lanes and fields around Gloucester. This daily amble in the countryside in the company of a friendly animal is reminding me so much of my childhood when I used to ride my pony off into the woods after school every day. In my teenage years I spent hours with Saxon and later Lucky, riding through the woods or on the moors, sometimes with another friend but often on my own. I remember soaking in nature, and talking away to myself in my head, day-dreaming, singing if I was sure no-one was around, talking aloud to the pony who twitched his ears forward and back and nodded his large head agreeably. I was never bored, never lonely. I loved those hours and hours of being outdoors in the peace and in nature.

I think I had forgotten in the interim how much I relished that solitude and freedom, and trees and fields and streams and toadstools and foxes and moss-covered rocks and ferns and flowers and clouds and sky. As a student and then in my working life in England and then Africa, I was hardly ever alone really - my work and home was always in community, and I have always had quite a lot going on socially even though I wouldn't say I had particularly many friends (- although always enough). I remember when we were drawing pictures of ourselves in early days at UCU in Louise's expat women's fellowship, drawing a picture of a hornbill in a tree and saying, "I like to get away into nature" - but I hardly ever actually did it. Although when at one point in the middle of our time I got over-busy in Mukono, I did try to go up monkey hill once a week and sit on a rock and watch birds and have a prayer time.

Walking with Frodo over the last two weeks has re-opened my eyes to the sheer pleasure of rambling past the cow-parsley and buttercup filled hedges, hearing birds singing, seeing rabbits bounce away into the grass, talking to the dog, communicating with God, just "being," surrounded by nature. I love this world God made. I think I'm going to turn into a crazy old lady, - and I might do it soon!

I never wanted a dog...

If you know me well, you probably know I never wanted a dog... In fact I was adamantly opposed to having a dog. I don't much like the way they smell, the way they bark, the way they jump up at people, the way they drool, the way you have to clean up their poop, the stink when someone steps in their poop... I could be polite with other people's dogs, and I quite liked some of them, but that was probably as far as it went. (sorry all my dog-owning friends...)

But for years my family has been badly wanting a dog. Our home on the campus in Mukono wasn't really suitable for a dog as the gardens were all open and we would have had to keep it inside or tie it up a lot.  But in a weak moment one day soon after we had made the decision to move back from Uganda to England, I was heard to say, "OK, when we move to England we can have a dog."

Well, the very day we arrived in England, literally, Abby asked "Right, when are we getting the dog?!" But as we were facing a marathon of weekends away visiting churches, from September to January, I protested, validly, that there was no way we could have a dog while we were travelling around the country. But then January came... and again the pressure was on. But at that point, the thought of coping with a dog was enough to send me into a flat panic, and I more or less begged the family for a few more months' grace.

I also challenged Dan about the financial side, as some friends with dogs seem to spend a lot of money on them, and you hear about pet insurance, vet insurance, vet bills, clipping, etc etc. and we are not exactly flush this year, certainly until Dan starts his full time job. But Dan was insistent that we wouldn't need to spend all that much money on it. I started to ask around anyone I knew who had dogs, and it did seem true that there are differing styles of dog ownership and that it didn't need to cost very much.

Meanwhile Dan had noticed the very sweet friendly little dog that belonged to friends of ours, and had made enquiries about it, and had been in touch with the breeder! She had a two year old that she was wanting to find a good home for, as it had grown a bit too big to show, and she wanted him to go to a family who would give him a loving home. So a couple of weeks ago I finally agreed to go and visit the dog, at least, and have a look at him.

Well, it was just like when I went to scope out the hamster for Abigail in the pet shop in Kampala. Those two little bright eyes looked up into mine, and I was hooked. Resistance was futile.

This dog was so sweet and gentle, and the fringe over his eyes so appealing. He lay on the floor between us all while we chatted so quietly. I thought, If we have to have a dog, we couldn't do much better than this. He was pretty much perfect.

Well, having been won over by Sammy the dog, I still tried but couldn't persuade the family to wait until the summer holidays to get him, so the Easter holidays it was. The children didn't want to keep his name as they thought Sammy was a bit boring, so we decided to change it to Frodo.

So on Sunday we collected him from his rather teary owner, and he became part of our family.

In the space of a few days, he has completely won me over. He does smell a bit and we have already washed him once, and flea-powdered him once. He doesn't bark at all, he doesn't jump up, and he loves just sitting on the floor between us listening when we talk. He howls when Abigail plays the piano. He sneaks into Alex's room and steals his soft toys to play with. He walks really well on the lead and loves outings. He eats dried dog food once a day. He is ALMOST house trained, not quite... And above all, he is adorable.

The funniest thing is that he has latched onto me as his favourite "master" - the only one who was remotely reluctant to have him. He loves me! He yelps when I leave the house, and follows me round all the time. And I love it. I just love the attention! At last, somebody who doesn't answer me back or disagree with me about anything. But on the other hand, he doesn't do the washing up...

Frodo

This is our much longed-for dog, a 2 yr old Tibetan Terrier, called Frodo. So far he has been good, gentle and sweet...