And a very good night to all our readers. Hope the sun shines on you all tomorrow, both physically and metaphorically, bye fer now.

See GORDON,what happened was I was going to bed an hour ago,then I eye balled you So thought I might wait up and say hi...post away...be great to hear about your day Just maybe get to read it in the morning is all
BTW,loving the sound of your Mem..she gives good advice
See ya tomorrow

It is now 1.30am and I have just returned from my nightly rounds with the dogs, was about to retire, then lo and behold that Lacey does a quick midnight post to catch me unawares. But good old Gord is not so easily out-foxed (I always check on Dogsey before I slide home the bolts and ascend the stairs). So here I sit in the library, wearing my very best nightcap (for the nights can still be chilly in our far flung northern outpost) with little Scout asleep across the back of the chair, she is waiting to go up with me. The lurchers have their quarters on huge duvets at either side of the range up one end of the kitchen, but the little girl always comes up with me and sleeps beside the bed. She has done this since she arrived at 17 weeks old and from the start has slept through till 6.30 in the morning and never an accident (toilet wise) even though she came to us from kennels, and had only entered a house on very rare occasions. Scout is 9months today (sorry yesterday she was born on the 11th) and with the exception of her ability to chase just about anything even remotely mobile (this fault is being speedily eradicated) she is an absolute joy. I know that I am without a shadow of a doubt talking to myself, as few sensible human beings will be up at this late hour, but Lacey did say she would read it in the morning. So Ms Duffy this endless rambling is for your benefit...................! The deerhound puppies that I was to visit, to pick one for my own, have now arrived but of the four pups there is not a single bitch, so as it would be impossible for me to accomodate a dog, it looks like the best laid plans etc. I have been giving this some thought today, and have decided against looking elsewhere as for some reason it seems that I am not destined to have another, at the moment. The only reason for my wanting another is as follows: It may be recalled that some time ago I mentioned my bitch had to have a vastly expensive operation to save her life, very simply she was pregnant and was due to whelp on the 31st January. Years ago I used to breed lurchers and did so for many years, having a good name in those strange circles, but I became disillusioned by the calibre of people who came to me wanting a puppy. Lurchers are currently enjoying a great deal of popularity, and this of course expands what one would see as the fan-base (so to speak) and many of the prospective customers that came to me I sent packing as in ther Mem's words "They weren't fit to keep a dead earwig!" So of course I did the sensible thing and stopped breeding. Now my bitch Gypsy is the last pure example of my type of dog and in her working attributes as near to perfect as I have ever had. So with also owning a good dog in the form of my big deerhound type I came up with the wonderful idea that I should have one last litter and from this litter I would keep a bitch pup and this would be my "last hurrah" for at my age, commonsense dictates that I should have no more after that, not wishing to leave them behind etc. The appointed ady came and after a long labour and two visits to the vet for a jab to bring her on there was no sign of action, I requested a Cesaerian but was told to wait, I did as I was told. Then at 4.05pm on the Saturday (double time starting at 4pm apparently) I was told if they didn,t do something that very second, my old girl would die. Of course I gave them the go ahead and said as she was rising seven would they spey her while they were in there, as there weren,t going to be any more litters. The original estimate was well over a grand! Really though, that shouldn,t come into it if you love them, but the good old vets had got me in a strangle grip and knew it, they had left me until it was so late that I couldn't have gone elsewhere because of the day and time and of course the danger to my bitch's life. Sad ending, as when they got inside a big dog pup had got lodged in the birth canal and died and the little bitch (the one I was to keep) had suffocated. So end result was a dog who looked like she,d been run over by a sewing machine, no puppies and a whacking big bill. When I asked them for an itemised bill I was horrified to see that amongst all the other rip-off tactics, they had charged me £74 for the disposal of the two little bodies. Long live vets eh!!!! So I think my enthusiasm for a new puppy is on the wane now. The little chaps would have been 9weeks old now, and I have really missed something I never had, sounds odd, but there it is! The good side to the story is Gypsy is now fully recovered and racing around like a good 'un! Hope this story hasn't upset anyone - but every word of it is true and I was just trying to explain why at my age (when I really should know better) I was scouring around for a puppy. Goodnight and God Bless, Gordon.

Morning Gordon,
What a sad tale, poor Gypsy and you and Mem too. I do wonder about vets charges sometimes. I can see why you don't want to look for another but sometimes they come when you least expect it.
Got to say I like your Mem

Just spotted Gordon's long post so will read that now. Gordon you could have put some paragraph breaks in it! My eyes! My eyes!