January 13th 2014 RIP Tilly We said goodbye to Tilly today. We chose lovely Tilly, a Parson's Jack Russell Terrier with the sweetest temperament, from a litter of pups ten years ago in Norfolk. Her brown and white coat was initially smooth, as with all Jack Russell pups, but it soon became clear that she would be long-haired and she has been a fluff-ball ever since. Occasional trims - sometimes performed by rather over-zealous pet barbers, as you can see from one of the photographs - had only short lasting effects and, before long, her fur would be more unmanageable than ever. Shortly after an unplanned teenage pregnancy (how did that happen?), resulting in a litter of three beautiful pups, Tilly started performing somersaults when running. It soon became clear that she was not showing off and that her back legs were becoming increasingly uncoordinated such that they would catch up, and then overtake, her front paws resulting in a gymnastic forward roll. A diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia, a condition recognised as occurring in this breed of dog, was made which, fortunately for us all, proved in Tilly to be very slowly progressive, which is not always the case. Things were not all bad; as well as the somersaults the condition caused a rather attractive swing to Tilly's back end when trotting along and many were the admiring and envious glances from male and female dogs respectively when she was out for a walk. Recently, however, she had become increasingly immobile and it was clear to us all that she was, for the first time, becoming uncomfortable; it was with heavy heart that Mary took her to the veterinary surgery this afternoon.

January 4th 2014 Paper Boys Whilst you enjoy a lie-in on Saturday and Sunday mornings, spare a thought for Alastair and Harry who drag themselves from their beds at 5.45 am to deliver the local newspapers, half an hour earlier than their normal weekday round. On a day like today, when it is dark, cold, blowing a gale and pouring with rain, my heart goes out to them as I shoo them out the door and return to bed! Being a paper boy brings few rewards: it provides some pocket money, but not much, and sometimes even less because £2 is forfeited for any paper incorrectly delivered. That errors occur is perhaps not too surprising when hastily scribbled house numbers on the newspapers are sometimes indecipherable, particularly in the dark, but lessons are learnt quickly when the first pay-day brings the nasty shock that one's takings have been whittled down to the point where one owes Ash, the shop owner, money. A good morning's work will sometimes be rewarded with one of the previous day's unsold pastries which benefits from being 'refreshed' by a brief burst in the microwave on returning home. When a regular paper round may finally reap greater benefit, however, is Christmas, as the boys found out for the first time this year. In the spirit of the festive season they delivered a Christmas card to each of their regular customers in which they had written the message 'I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas from (Alastair/Harry), your Paper Boy'. Each morning thereafter until Christmas Eve there was a more lively spring from bed in the morning to see if a return missive (perhaps containing something more than a card) might be waiting for them on any of the doorsteps and it was great fun to hear them both comparing 'takings' on returning home each day. There was a further pleasant surprise on the last weekend before Christmas as several additional cards that had been handed into the shop, rather than being left on doorsteps, were given to the boys. Grateful thank you cards were written and delivered to each benefactor. The boys are now wondering about Easter cards...... and have asked whether Birthday cards are out of the question if they can find out each customer's date of birth.       © Copyright Thomas Jackson 2010