February 24th 2023 Random Ramblings; #Blogging #WritersLife #Imbolc #ValentinesDay #Cooking #LoomKnitting #Crochet #Pets

For those who might be interested...

 

Smashwords and Draft2Digital now distribute their books to Palace Marketplace, which increases the chances you can get my books via your local library.  You can read more about it in this post on the Smashwords blog.

 

*~*

 

I've created blog lists on my sidebar to keep the blogs I follow in one place so I can (hopefully) remember to check them more often, since I'm no longer getting notifications for most of them.

 

Of course, this idea comes with no guarantees I won't still miss blog posts from time to time, but at least there's a better chance I'll visit the blogs I want to on a fairly regular basis again.  Anyway, there are three of them (as you'll see if you take a look) and they're lists where the most recently updated five blogs show, but you can expand them to see the rest when you want to.

 

If you follow my blog, know I generally visit yours, and don't see your blog on any of the lists, let me know - and drop the link in the comments - so I can add it, please.

 

*~*

 

I'm learning fast that the key to getting anything done is to keep my to-do list for each day short, and rest regularly.  But it's not easy.  It's a constant juggling act between what I need to do, what I want to do, and what my body will let me do.  Not helped by the fact how I'm feeling varies from day to day, and I never know how I'll be doing today - and how much energy I'll have - until the day starts.

  And even on good days I tire easily, which means how I'm feeling could change at some point during the day.

As those who have followed my blog for some time might already know, this isn't actually a new struggle.  It's just that - as those of you who read my post from a couple of weeks ago may remember me saying in that post - it's at the point now where I can't just expect to be able to push through, and I've had to accept that I need to admit to it, as well as reduce my to-do lists for each day.  Which, unfortunately, has also meant reducing the amount of calls I'm involved in via the ACB community.

 

I'm still on the morning crew and crafters admin team.  I'm also still doing the cooking call and hosting sometimes.  I'm just reducing how many calls I'm committing to in a day so as to give myself plenty of time to rest (and potentially deal with other things) as well.  Because, with how drained I've been lately, keeping up with all the calls I was participating in meant I was literally too exhausted to do anything else besides that most days, and pushing myself harder than I should on good days to attempt to make up for it, but actually still not managing to catch up.

 

Maybe now I've done this I can even create a little time - on one of my good days - to work on some of those in progress writing projects I've been meaning to finish.  Can but hope, right?

 

Anyway...

 

We don’t typically do much for holidays anyhow, but with me having my hospital appointment to tire me out on February 2^nd, our Imbolc celebrations were basically non-existent.  Well, dinner had a dairy (or, in my case, dairy alternative, since my cheese was dairy-free vegan-friendly cheese) theme to it, so at least we did sort of do a little something.

 

Valentine’s Day is another holiday we don’t make a big fuss about, which involved takeout, like it usually does for us.  Also, Kelly brought me some Trinket the bear slippers, which you can see on my feet with Lilie checking them out in the below photo.

 

 

Unfortunately, Trinket already has some battle scars, since Lilie decided leaving them unattended was an invitation for her to claim one of them, even though they were unattended on the shoe rack, which she knows she’s not meant to take things off of.  Luckily we discovered this before she did too much damage.  But, as I said, Trinket does now have some battle scars from the encounter.

 

*~*

 

I've been wanting to try and make flatbread for a while - had the recipe for who knows how long, and just never tried it - so was glad when it was suggested as a potential thing to make on one of the cooking calls, giving me an excellent excuse to give it a try.  We made it this past Tuesday, and I think it turned out well.  I took a photo of some of mine before I ate it all, so here's the photo:

 

 

Also, I finished a couple of small craft projects.

 

One was this little multi-coloured loom knitted stocking, which I made when I was learning to do a heel for socks.  I was going to make a pair of socks, but I just grabbed a small loom, and I had the wrong one, so it’s too small to be a sock.  I figured it would make a cute holiday decoration though, so added a loop to it with an icord so it could be hung up.  Anyway, here’s a photo:

 

 

The other was this crochet key.  It’s an old-fashioned style key with a heart-shaped piece at the end where you’d attach a ring to hang it up or put it on a keyring.  I did it in white, because that’s the colour the ball of wool I grabbed turned out to be.  Anyway, here’s a photo of it:

 

 *~*

 

Lilie often went to the petshop with us when we lived in Hastings, but – between him being a more nervous dog so needing longer to get used to go out, and lockdown happening shortly after it was time to start taking him places – Logan has never had the opportunity to go to one.  So, when Mam needed to take Cai to be fitted for a harness yesterday, we decided to take the boys to the petshop.

 

Both boys were a bit scared, though Cai especially.  The sight of all the food and toys seemed to help Logan deal with his fear and anxiety.  Not to mention, since most people were crowding around Mam and Cai rather than Logan – since Cai’s a smaller dog, plus clearly still a puppy – they were giving hme and Logan plenty of space, which is what both of us prefer.  Logan’s a big fan of social distancing, and I’m right there with him.

 

I’m actually very proud of Logan.  He was a very good boy.  No accidents in the petshop.  No stealing things from shelves (though he did clearly want, and almost take, a particular treat, which – since it was something I was fine with him having, and we’d planned on buying the dogs something anyhow – we did buy for him).  Also, when there was a point when one of the people who worked there needed to lead me somewhere, so I told Logan to follow her, he followed the woman well for me, despite not having had any guidedog training.

 

Both Logan and I were very glad to get home though, and are still trying to recover from the outing.

 

And, as I’m sure you can imagine, Lilie was incredibly happy when we got home.

 

I’m glad Logan had the experience, and he coped with it better than I thought he would, if I’m totally honest.  But I know Lilie would be much more enthusiastic about the idea of going for another trip to a petshop than Logan would.  I mean, he enjoyed the outing, but he was clearly a lot happier getting home than he was while out at the petshop – there was no wagging of his tail while we were out, but it wagged enthusiastically when we got home, and he spent half the night being sick.

Edited to add: Logan was still being sick, and also having issues from the other end to the point where he was bleeding, so I took him to the vet, who gave him 1.5ml of an anti-nausea medication called Vetemex Antiemetic while we were there, and has given us something called PROMAX to give him 18ML of once a day for the next couple of days to help settle his stomach and… Erm… Firm things up.  Logan is also on a chicken and rice only diet for a few days.  He seems physically fine, so the theory is it’s all anxiety-based, and the hope is the medication combined with a quiet few days at home will have him back to his old self by Monday.

Lilie The #Westie And Logan The #Cavapoo Go To 2 Parks And A Vet

Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

This week was super exciting for me and Logan.

~

On Sunday afternoon it was a nice day - sunny, but not too hot - so Nana, and her Cavatsu, Izabel, came to get us in Nana's car, and we went to a new park me and Logan hadn't ever seen before.  Mummy says she used to go there lots with another Westie she used to have called Kero though.  It's kind of near where our new house is, but we'd be too tired from the walk by the time we got there to walk in the park, which is why we had a car ride to get there.  Not that we mind, because car rides are fun too.

Uncle Wayne lives somewhere Mummy says is close enough to the park to walk to it, so he met us there with his Wippet x Staffie, Maya, and we all got to go walkies together, which was great fun.

 

Since Nana can't do big walkies without her special sticks or wheels these days - and, unlike Mummy, she needs two paws for her sticks (Mummy says they're called crutches) so doesn't always have a free paw like Mummy does with her special seeing stick - Nana got to be in charge of the camera while Mummy and Uncle Wayne held our leads.  We were on trace leads, because it gave us some freedom to run, but meant Mummy and Uncle Wayne could keep better track of us.  They seemed to think we might take advantage of there being four of us to keep track of and run off otherwise, and didn't believe us when we said we were cute innocent little puppies who would never do a thing like that.  Can't think why.

Anyway, here are the photos Nana got.

This is me, Lilie the West Highland White Terrier:

Here's Logan the Cavapoo (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel x Toy Poodle):

This is Izabel the CavaTsu (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel x Shitzu):

And here's Maya the Wippet x Staffordshire Terrier:

Now, here's one of me with Maya:

Here's one of Logan with Izabel and Maya:

And here's one of all four of us:

It was a great walkies! Hope we get to do it again some time.

 

~

The other exciting thing, which happened on Monday, meant another car ride to get to where we were going.  And this time we had a little walk in a different park.  This second park is in town, and is where we went to a couple of months ago when Nana took us to see the vet we now go to for the first time.

 

After a short walk in that park, me and Logan went to the vet for our yearly checkups and shots.  We didn't mind at all though, because we actually love going to the vet... We get loads of attention there, so what's not to love? As usual, we went in the vet happily, wagging our tails the whole way.  It always surprises Nana how happy we are about going to the vet.  The only way it would have been better is if they hadn't made Mummy and Nana wait outside.  But when we came back out Mummy and Nana were right where we left them, so it was fine.

Anyway, the vet trip went well.  We were good dogs for the vet, and are both happy and healthy, other than the issue I have with my itchies, which we knew about already, and is still under control with those tablets I'm taking, even if one of my ears is a bit sore right now (because I keep rubbing it on things, getting it dirty, and irritating it).  Also, we still weigh what we did when we got checked last time, which is 10.7 kilos for me, and 17.7 kilos for Logan.  That is a tiny bit more than we really should weigh, but not by enough to have the vet worried, and since we aren't gaining more the vet said it's OK.

~

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

Lilie The #Westie On Vet Trips And Mummy's Broken Paw

Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

 

Today is my birthday.  I’m four years old.  But I’ll tell you about my birthday next week.

 

In case you don't know, Mummy broke her paw.  She went to the people vet for it and everything.  She doesn’t play right at the moment, and can’t go walkies because she can’t use her ball on a stick, and Mummy can’t go walkies without that – I don’t know why, but it has something to do with her eyes being broken.  I offered to help, but apparently what     I do isn’t helpful.  Her loss.  I do wish she’d figure out how to throw my ball properly with her other paw though.

 

Since Mummy couldn’t, Daddy had to take me to the vet with Nana.  We went in Nana’s car again.  We could walk to the vet in the old place, but the new vet and new house are too far apart to walk, so it has to be a car ride.  Mummy says if Nana couldn’t do it we’d have to ask Grandad, and if he couldn’t either we’d have to go in one of those taxi things.

 

Logan and Izabel didn’t come to the vet this time.  Daddy and Nana only took me.  Both Logan and Izabel stayed with Mummy.  I hear they were boring and mostly just curled up and napped by Mummy.  Those two have less energy between them than I have by myself, and they're both roughly half my age (Izabel turned two back in October, and Logan will be two next month).

 

Anyway, the vet is happy with how I’m doing on my special pills for my itchies, so gave us more.  I still have some itchies - I always will – but the pills help loads, so I’m not so sore from scratching, and don’t have to keep stopping playing to deal with itchies all the time.  The vet says hopefully the pills will keep helping, otherwise I’ll have to have a special shot every month.  Luckily, so far so good.

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

So, We Moved...

In my last non-pet related update I mentioned there was something happening that I’d explain about once I understood it myself.  Well, now that I understand it enough to do so, I’m going to explain, though I expect the title gives you some idea of the gist of where this post is going.

 

~

 

Yes, that's right: We moved.  Yes, I know we're in the middle of a pandemic, with the country in partial lockdown.  Hey, don't judge me; it wasn't my idea.  Read on.  I'm going to explain how it happened.

 

*~*~*

 

On May 20^th 2020 we got a letter from someone claiming to be the owner of our flat.  He mentioned our landlords by name, said they’d been working on his behalf, and we should get in touch with him because he wanted to be acting for himself from now on, so we should pay him rent from then on, not the landlords.

 

~

 

To be honest, since we were under the impression our landlords owned the building – because they acted like they did – our initial thought was that this was some kind of new scam.  But we called our landlords – figuring they should know about it, especially if they were being mentioned by name – and they confirmed it was genuine.  Sure would have been nice to know there was a higher power we could have gone to when we were having all that trouble with nasty neighbour, but there you go.  Regardless, to cut a long story short, our landlords and the owner had an agreement that allowed them to act as if they owned the property, collect rent on it, etc, but it wasn’t really theirs, and now the owner wants it back.

 

~

 

Remember the beach trip Logan posted about, where Kelly left me and Lilie out there for a long time by ourselves? Yeah, that was so I could socially distance while the owner and his solicitor came to look at the place, and see what kind of condition he was claiming it back in.  Kelly took us out there shortly before they were due to arrive, and came back to fetch us once they left.

 

*~*~*

 

On the one hand this is a pretty simple matter from our point of view.  We’d just need to sign a new tenancy with the owner so he became our landlord instead, and life could continue as normal.  But there’s a complication: repair work.

 

~

 

As long time readers of this blog will know, there are several repair jobs that need doing on this building and haven’t been – another thing we wish we’d known we could have gone to a higher power to force to get resolved – which the owner now wants to get done.  The trouble is, while it’s possible to do repairs and things with someone in the property, with how much needs doing it would be easier to do it with the place empty.  Not to mention, the owner is incredibly reluctant to do as much work as needs doing with a blind person in the property, given the extra safety risks involved in that.

 

~

 

To cut a long story short: he told us we needed to move, and sooner rather than later, even giving us official notice, since the property was, "Not fit for purpose," as he put it.

 

*~*~*

 

What followed was a very stressful couple of weeks where I tried to get the council to rehome us – like they’re officially meant to do if a disabled person is at risk of becoming homeless – and they told me I had three options:

 

1.      Stay put for the couple of years it would take me to get issued a place of theirs.

2.      Let them put me in their emergency accommodation once the date of our notice came up, which would mean putting almost everything we own in to storage, rehoming all of the petkids, and waiting in that emergency housing for however many years it took for us to get a proper place from them.

3.      Find somewhere ourselves.

 

~

 

Of course, option one wasn’t really open to us, since he wasn’t about to wait several years.  As for option two... Well, I’d have moved back to Wales and lived with one of my parents before I picked that one, and – as I told the woman from the council – taking away most of my stuff, and then taking away my petkids, was just asking for problems from a mental health point of view, because quite frankly I wouldn’t have been able to deal with this year without them.  So that left us with option three, and the need to find somewhere to live... During a pandemic, with a lot of things closed because of the stage of lockdown we were in.  I mean, some things are still not open.

 

*~*~*

 

Luckily, as it happened, the guy who moved in to the place below ours when nasty neighbour moved out had given his notice back in February.  We just assumed he was spending lockdown with his girlfriend, since he spent a lot more time with her than in his place anyhow, so we didn’t realize.  I mean, we saw so little of him under normal circumstances, and with lockdown... Well, like I said, we assumed he was just staying elsewhere with his girlfriend or something.  But it was discovered when the owner was trying to get access to that flat to look at it too that he’d moved out and the landlords hadn’t found anyone else because of the whole virus situation.

 

~

 

Why luckily? Because the owner suggested he did the work that place needed and had us move in there, and then do the work in the upstairs flat before renting it out to someone else, which – after some consideration - we agreed to.  Partially because it wasn’t like we were having any luck finding somewhere else, and partially because we like living here, and it was the closest thing we could get to staying.  That flat also needed a lot less work done on it.

 

~

 

In fact, by the time you’re reading this, we’ll be moved in, since we agreed to it towards the end of June, when we could see the work in it was progressing well, and have been moving our stuff downstairs throughout July.  The official date for the tenancy for the upstairs flat to end and the one for the downstairs one to start is August 1^st, but we had most things scheduled to switch to the new place on or around July 21st.  Or, at least, that was how it was meant to work, though I'll tell you what actually ended up happening - and why it's only because of scheduling posts ahead that there have been any from me for the past two weeks, and you almost didn't get any Thursday posts for the past two weeks - another day.

 

*~*~*

 

We were still able to keep Lilie and Logan’s vet and grooming appointments, but I had to move Artemis’ vet trip and my dentist appointment, since they were right when we had the BT engineer coming to swap the phone and internet to downstairs and the guys coming to help with the heavy stuff we couldn’t manage, neither appointment was urgent, and I needed to be here (if nothing else then at least to keep Lilie and Logan out from under everyone’s feet).  So now Artemis’ vet trip is on August 11^th at 2:15pm, and my dentist appointment is on September 1^st at 12:30pm.

 

~

 

I'll update you on the rest of the random day to day stuff later, but... Yes, as you can imagine, my days have been very busy.  I've been keeping up with writing posts for my blog, and keeping my eMails from becoming overly out of control, because I had several posts already scheduled, and all the stress has meant I've not been sleeping well, so I've been working on stuff during sleepless nights, and letting it cut in to my reading and watching times.  A good idea? No.  But I did it anyhow.  Needless to say, the closest thing to writing I've gotten - besides writing blog posts, eMails, etc - has been dealing with the production of the paperback and audio versions of my latest release.  So, if I've been slow to answer eMails or comment on posts lately, sorry, and if you don't see any comments or anything from me for a few days, it means I finally got some decent sleep.  Something I honestly hope happens.  Yeah, sorry not sorry, because I really do... I'm incredibly exhausted.  Oh, and a word of advice: if you're ever in the same situation, don't try and keep up with everything while also dealing with the move, because it will just leave you physically and mentally exhausted.  Just saying.

 

*~*~*

 

Anyway, the downstairs flat is very slightly smaller than the upstairs one, and there’s a slight layout difference, but the differences in both aspects are slight.  The main change for us is that we’ve gone from having to climb 40 stairs when we come home to only needing to climb 24.  Yes, I counted.  Since we’re still in the same building, the doors to the places are right next to each other, and the layouts are so similar, it’s good for me from a mobility point of view, since I don’t have too much adjustment to make in learning to navigate.  Plus, we like living where we are, so are glad we still get to.

~

 

Now we're hoping the owner/new landlord continues how he's been so far in getting repairs done, and we have a better time of it when it comes to that kind of thing in the future.  Oh, and that whoever moves in upstairs when the work is finished up there will be the kind of people you don't mind living below, if you know what I mean.

 

*~*~*

 

We could have done without the stress and hassle of moving though, even if it was just downstairs.  Especially considering we were already dealing with the stress of the whole virus situation - even if it hasn't changed much for us personally, it affects everyone, after all - and still being on partial lockdown while dealing with all this – not to mention trying to observe social distancing as much as possible while dealing with it all - added an extra layer of complications and stress.  Plus, now we’ve had to pack the stuff we’d unpacked to move it downstairs, so have to start again with unpacking.  Although, not entirely from scratch, since some stuff we just carried downstairs and put away immediately, without bothering to actually pack it.  But I hate moving, especially all the packing and unpacking that goes along with it, and wish I didn’t have to keep doing it.  I hope, if we have to move again, it’s not for a very long time, and we can be in a position to pay a little extra to get someone else to do the packing part for us.

 

~

 

In the meantime, I need a nap.  A long nap.  Let's hope my mind will now agree.  Maybe this weekend I can have a quiet and relaxing couple of days, with plenty of sleep involved... That would be nice. *sigh*

 

~

 

I think Logan would like that too, considering how upsetting he found it that I sometimes whent down to the new flat without him to go put stuff away.  He really didn't like his Mummy keep leaving, as you can tell from this clip Kelly got for me one of the times I popped down stairs.

 

 

*~*~*

 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going for that nap, and taking my Logi-Bear with me.  Hey, is it too early to hibernate?

Lilie The #Westie And Logan The #Cavapoo's Socially Distanced Vet Trip - #Pets #Dogs #Covid19 #Coronavirus

Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

 

A couple of weeks ago, me and my Cavapoo brother, Logan, got to go to the vet place.  We were meant to go on June 23rd, but the vet called and asked if we could come on June 26th instead, and Mummy said that was fine.  So our vet trip was on Friday June 26th 2020.

 

Mummy and Daddy both came with us, because Logan doesn't like to go places without Mummy, and Mummy has trouble managing both me and Logan with that stick thing she has to use.  This "trouble" naturally has nothing at all to do with the fact I love the ball on the end of it and keep trying to play with it while Mummy is trying to use it.  Nope.  I don't know what she's talking about, because it's nothing at all to do with that, and I certainly wouldn't do a thing like that anyhow.  Nope.  Not me. *innocent doggy look*

 

Anyway, they said right now - because of that Avirus thing - they're usually asking for just one human to come with the animals, but were willing to let both Mummy and Daddy come because of how Mummy has broken eyes.  We all thought that was very nice of them.

 

So, we had a ride in one of those taxi things, because it's a bit too far for Mummy to walk.  Probably Logan too, because he gets tired real quickly.  Me and Daddy could have done the walk if we were going on our own, but we weren't.  Never mind.  Even though I love walkies, I also love rides in the taxi things, so it's OK.

 

Usually when we get to the vet we go right in, and then we have to sit on the chairs while we wait for our turn.  But because of something called, "Social distancing," the vet asked Mummy and Daddy if they'd wait outside.  I don't know what that actually means, but Mummy and Daddy say it has something to do with that Avirus thing again.  A lot of strange things have been happening this year because of Avirus. Anyway, whatever social distancing means, the vets left us outside and wouldn't let us go in.  I was really confused.  It wasn't because both Mummy and Daddy came either, because we saw them doing the same thing with the person who was just finishing up when we got there, and the one who arrived while we were waiting for our taxi to go back home.

 

At least it was between thunder storms, so none of us minded staying out there too much.  Except for how I was confused, like I said.  Besides, with how hot it was that day - in fact, that week - it was actually nice to be out there with the breeze, instead of inside where the wind wasn't allowed.

 

I was starting to wonder what the point of going was if we were just going to stand outside.  But then the vet came and asked which one of me and Logan wanted to be first.  I did really, but Logan started bouncing like an idiot, so the vet took him first instead.  Mummy and Daddy told me I'd get a turn, and I was worried I wouldn't, but then Logan came back out, and the vet took me inside.  So I guess Mummy and Daddy knew what they were talking about.

 

The vet poked and prodded me, and stuck a sharp thing in my neck.  He also weighed me.  I was a good girl and let him do it all while wagging my tail.  Mostly I was just enjoying the attention.  Apparently Logan was good too, apart from how he took a lot of persuading to go with the vet after he noticed Mummy wasn't following.  Serve him right for insisting on being first.  He'd have known that was coming if he let me go first like I wanted to.

 

Me and Logan are both a bit heavier than we're meant to be.  I weigh 10.6 kilos, and Logan weighs 16.6 kilos.  About 0.3 kilos of that is probably where we need haircuts - or did when we went, since we've since had a grooming appointment - but that still makes us a little heavier than we should be.  The vet was nice about it because of how we've been locked down, and keeping Mummy home as much as possible because of Avirus has meant less walkies, but says Logan especially needs to watch the treats.

 

Logan says he does watch them.  He pointed out he watches them very closely so he can grab any that come close enough to eat.  But I told him I'm pretty sure that's not what the vet means.

 

Anyway, while we were there, we picked up the packages with the funny tasting treat we sometimes get because of worms - I'm three, and that still doesn't make sense to me - and the wet stuff they put on our neck because of fleas.  The vet gave us enough of those for three months.

 

Even though he's now well and truely over a year old, Logan still isn't getting his neuter, because it's not essential for it to be rushed, and the vets are still not doing things that can wait until Avirus is over.  Mummy says she's half glad because she hates when we have to have surgery for any reason, and half disappointed because she agrees it's always a good idea to spay and neuter your pets.  Well, at least I got my spay when I was a puppy, so there won't be any accidents at home, and Logan's always on a lead when we go walkies.

 

So, that was what Mummy calls our socially distanced vet trip.  I'll tell you about the groomer another day.

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

PetKid Pals: Campbell

Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

 

I have a new friend for you to meet today.  We haven’t had a friend visit for a while.  It’s not because of that Avirus situation the humans are all talking about either, since Mummy says online friends don’t count in that, since you’re already social distancing from them.  Good thing, since we’re still sort of locked down here, I think.  I hope you understood all that, because I can’t explain, since I don’t fully understand it all myself.

 

Anyway, today’s PetKid Pal is called Campbell.  Or maybe Bubba.  You know what? I’m actually not sure which it is, so let’s ask him, shall we?

 

Hello, friend.  What’s your name? If you have an unusual name, or there’s an interesting story behind it, I’d love to hear about it, and am sure others would too, so please share.

 

“Hi, my name is Bubba, well, Bubba is the nickname m    ade of love that my human mother gave to me. My real name is King Campbell-Lee, Seeing Eye Dog. Something I must tell you though, is that I was not always a king. It wasn’t until my mother loved me that I became s    o.”

 

Well, that explains it.  At least that’s easier to understand than most of what the humans are saying and doing right now.  Anyway, Campbell – I’m going to call you Campbell, since Bubba sounds like a special name between you and your human - what species and breed(s) are you?

 

“I’m a Dog, black Labrador.”

 

Ah, yes, of course.  For those who aren’t familiar with the breed, please describe your appearance.

 

“I am quite long and muscular. I’ve rich, dark, black, shiny, plush fur, and when I stand on all fours, I come almost to my human mother’s knee.

My eyes are a dark brown, and I’ve floppy ears, which my human mother is always kissing because they have little tufts of curls behind them. She calls them her “little curlies.”

*Embarrassed Doggy 😊*”

 

Yeah… Humans do that kind of thing a lot.  Especially the female humans.  You should see my Mummy with my brother’s floppy ears… It’s embarrassing! Look at Campbell all handsome in his king outfit though:

Hey, Campbell, where do you live? What sort of place do you live in? Who do you share it with? Do any other animals live with you? Or is it just you and your human?

 

“I live with my mommy in a neat little house in the great land of Kingsport Tennessee which is in the United States. I even have my very own room.

We do not have any pets. When I first came to live with my human mother, who I call mommy, we did have another dog, named Rocky, and two cats, named, Celine Kitty, and Kitty Bob, but Rocky became unhappy being left alone all the time, while my mother and I went out and about town, to that place my mommy called work, so we helped him find another wonderful home to live in, and he has his very own kingdom, with his very own people.

Celine Kitty, and Kitty Bob, have gone onto the Rainbow Bridge, where all is peace and love, and sad though it is, from there, unless they come in their spirit selves, they may never return. I must say, Celine Kitty does come every now and then, in her spirit self, just to make sure I do not forget just how very fun and at times, annoying cats can be.”

 

That’s nice.  I know some animals who went across the rainbow bridge, but none of them come back to see me.  Maybe it’s for the best, especially if spirit animals are as likely to steal my ball as my little brother is.  I wouldn’t like that.  Something I would like though is to know more about you.  So, tell me, what’s your favorite thing to do?

 

“When I was still a working Seeing Eye Dog my favorite thing to do was to take my human mother all the places she wanted or needed to go.

I am retired now, so I love spending my days going on leisurely sniff fests alongside my mommy who now uses her cane to tap out the way, taking long lazy naps in the sun, eating good food, and getting lots of toys which my human mother and I play with every evening after she is through with her work.”

 

Oh, that sounds wonderful! It’s great you were able to help your Mommy so much, but also nice you’re retired now and get to focus on naps and more leisurely walks.  What about playing though? Do you have a favorite toy? If yes, what is it?

 

“My favorite toy is my Squeaky Sheep. I call him Sheepy. My next favorite is Mr. Squeaky Duck, and last but not at all least is Mr. Knots. He is a Kong Monster but one of my human mother’s friends named him Mr. Knots. I’m not sure why, but it stuck, and I must have him to go to sleep at night.”

They all sound like wonderful toys.  How about food? What is your favorite food?

 

“What’s my favorite food? Are you kidding? I do not know how to answer that! Goodness Sakes! I’m a Labrador! Everything is good!”

 

Fair enough.  Well then, what’s the one thing your human does that you love the most?

 

“My human mother has written a song just for me. She sings it to me every night before we go to sleep or when I am not feeling well. Sometimes she sings it just cause she wants to, but that’s my favourite thing.

The song is called, ‘You Are My Bubba’ and it goes…

“You are my Bubba, my great big bubba.

You make me happy every-day.

You’ll never know, my great big bubba, how much I love you, and in my heart, you always, will stay.

And, together, every-day, you and I will, work, and play.”

Now that I’m retired she always ends it by telling me that although the way we do things has changed, that we’re still working together when we go on our sniff fests and I love that she reminds me because sometimes I miss the work we did together.”

 

That’s really lovely.  I love that you have a special song.  I bet there are things she does that you don’t like though.  So, what’s the one thing your human does you hate most?

 

“I hate it, when my nose smells the best smell ever, and my human mother says, “Leave it!” and makes me walk away. Gees! Humans! I mean seriously!”

 

Oh, I totally get that! So annoying, isn’t it?

 

By the way, Campbell, your human is a writer/blogger.  Has she written anything about you? If yes, can you tell us about it? If no, do you think she will in the future?

 

 “My human mother wrote a book. It is called, Campbell’s Rambles: How a Seeing Eye Dog Retrieved My Life.

It tells the story of how she and I came together and what happened after.

Later, once the two of us were used to each other, we wrote a book together.

It’s my story. I told it and my human mother wrote it for me.

It is called Bubba Tails from the Puppy Nursery At The Seeing Eye.

It is my tale/tail of what it was like for me to grow up and become a Seeing Eye Dog.

Later I’ll share the information about that book.”

 

That’s fantastic! So, when you aren’t helping her write your book, what do you do while your human writes, or works on blog posts?

 

“When mom is working I like to snooze on the loveseat in the living room under the window, or, if it’s a pretty day and mom has the windows open I like to lay on the bed by the window in my room and sniff the breeze as it flows through. I like knowing what’s going on in my kingdom and sniffing is the best way to find out.”

 

That’s very true, and a great way to pass the time while she’s working.

 

Right, as much as I’m enjoying chatting to you, we should probably end this now.  Before we do though, is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

 

“I want all people everywhere to know all they can know about Seeing Eye Dogs, and all their wondrous powers. Before I go, I just want to say, that I’m awfully glad to have been given this opportunity to speak. Many times, I have things to say, but because no one asks me, I must remain silent.

 

I’d also like to share just a little more about when I was born and the land from where I come. So, below is what my human mother calls an author bio.

After that please keep reading to learn about my human mother and all the work she does., and before I forget, thank you for interviewing me. It was great fun.”

 

You’re very welcome.  I’m glad you could come over for a visit, and hope some of your friends will too.  Mummy loves to let those of us who aren’t human have their say.  That’s why she let me start doing these interviews.

 

***~~~***

 

ABOUT KING CAMPBELL AND HIS HOMELAND…

King Campbell was born in Chester N.J. November, 28 2008.

He lived with his Dog Mother and Litter Mates until he was approximately eight weeks old, and then he went to live with his Puppy Raisers.

Then, when he was just over a year-old he was taken away from his Puppy Raiser family by a wise and ancient trainer, so he could go and live in the magickal and ancient land of The Seeing Eye, where his training truly began.

After only four short months he was chosen to become the guide of his now human mother Patty L. Fletcher author of the book shown below.  He now lives in the land of Kingsport Tennessee with her, and there they live a wonderful life.  They have many magickal and at times challenging adventures, but through it all King Campbell does his very best to keep all he loves safe from harm.

 

***~~~***

 

Bubba Tails from the Puppy Nursery at The Seeing Eye Written by Patty L. Fletcher Told by, King Campbell Lee - The Seeing Eye Dog AKA Bubba

Fall 2017

In this magical and love-filled tail, King Campbell AKA Bubba travels to the puppy nursery at The Seeing Eye to help ready a group of puppies who are just about to embark on the fabulous journey of learning to become Seeing Eye dogs. Just as he is about to finish his tail, a wee pup becomes very frightened of all that lies ahead, and one frightfully stormy night she runs away! Will King Campbell hear the urgent call from the puppy nursery in time? Will they find her and save her so she can fulfill her destiny?

The use of Tail instead of Tale for story and Magik instead of Magic is intended for these short stories. A great play on words from King Campbell.

Currently on sale until the end of May at:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/PattyFletcher

 

ABOUT PATTY L. FLETCHER…

Patty L. Fletcher lives in Kingsport Tennessee where she works full time as a Writer with the goal of bridging the great chasm which separates the disAbled from the non-disAbled. And as a Social Media Promotional Assistant.

She is the owner and creator of Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing (Author, Blogger Business Assist), and is the published author of two books, Campbell’s Rambles: How a Seeing Eye Dog Retrieved My Life and Bubba Tails From the Puppy Nursery At The Seeing Eye: Volume One.

She can also be found in two anthologies which are, December Awethology Light

And A Treasure Chest of Children’s Tales.

She is now working on her third book which is to be a memoir trilogy called, ‘Pathway To Freedom: Broken and Healed’.

For more details visit:

  https://www.amazon.com/Patty-L.-Fletcher/e/B00Q9I7RWG

 

CONNECT WITH PATTY AND CAMPBELL…

Links

http://www.campbellsworld.wordpress.com

https://www.amazon.com/Patty-L.-Fletcher/e/B00Q9I7RWG

http://www.dldbooks.com/pattyfletcher/

https://www.facebook.com/Bubba-Tails-196761360863975/

https://www.facebook.com/tellittotheworld/

http://www.twitter.com/bubbalee04

https://www.facebook.com/0404Campbell/

Campbells Rambles

https://www.facebook.com/groups/787037261329458/

(Campbells)

Corner the Comfort Zone.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/128710790840540/

Patty & Pals

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1092566100770913/

Bob-Cat And Friends

A most excellent interview

https://youtu.be/msKqrWseLF0

 

Anthology Links

December Awethology Light  https://www.books2read.com/u/3yPZvB

A Treasure Chest of Children’s Tales  https://www.books2read.com/u/bzaAML

 

Legal Notes THE SEEING EYE® and SEEING EYE® are registered trademarks of The

Seeing Eye, Inc: www.SeeingEye.org

 

***~~~***

 

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Campbell – AKA Bubba – and his human, Patty.  If you enjoyed their post, please share it around, leave them a nice comment, or both.  I’m sure it will make them very happy.  I know it will make me and my Mummy happy, that’s for sure.

 

If you’re a bird, cat, chinchilla, degu, dog, fish, gerbil, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, rat, tortoise, or any other non-human animal, and you share your home with a human calling themselves a writer – yes, blogging counts – and you’d like to be a PetKid Pal too, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.  To learn how, go to the “PetKid Pals” page, where you can also see all the posts for the previously featured PetKid Pals.

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie