Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Once upon a time there was a Duke and his Duchess
Once upon a time there was a Duke and his Duchess
Hi there,
Thanks for popping in.
Friday’s blog a private peek, right?
Well, let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time we had two beautiful black labs,
called Dutchie and Duke.
They were the most beautiful dogs,
and they loved each other very much.
In fact, when they were young lovers,
they had a litter of 8 beautiful puppies too.
5 black labs and 3 yellow!
You can imagine our surprise when the little blondies slipped out!
Dutchie was an amazing Mum,
and all 8 were fine pedigree labrador specimens!
As you will appreciate, we couldn’t keep all the babies,
but they went to good homes, each and every one.
In those days, I used to make slate vases to make ends meet,
and used to exhibit the slates at Art & Craft shows
around the country. I made some very good friends in that arty world. Real artisans, wood turners, sculptors, painters, jewellers -
a very different blend to this craft world.
One of those friends was a jeweller called Gill.
We met at the Penshurst Show that May, and she sadly
told me that she had just said goodbye to one of her three cherished yellow labs. You have to know that her dogs were her world, her best friends. Where you saw Gill, you saw her 3 pals.
“Well, Gill, would you consider a puppy?” I asked.
“Dutchy and Duke have recently had a litter.”
Immediately her face lit up,
but then she remembered mine were black.
“But Barbara, I prefer yellow labs. Girls”
So I explained about the surprise arrivals,
that there was still one yellow girl left at home,
and she could hardly wait to come and meet her.
You may or may not know that pedigree dogs fetch a tidy sum.
You may or may not know that most of us artists who slept in the van and ate round the camp fire at those shows lived from hand to mouth and certainly had no spare cash for pedigree dogs!
It went without saying that I was more interested in
finding a perfect home for the little yellow lab,
and although the money would have come in handy for us,
Gill was happy to pay for all the jabs etc and I was delighted
to introduce them to each other. Job done.
In the September we met at Penshurst again.
Junior was doing well, and so was Gill.
But she gave me something very, very precious as a thank you.
Six silver napkin rings.
With all the hallmarks too.
They are my pride and joy.
They only come out on special occasions, like Christmas.
So I nearly went spare the other evening looking for them.
I had put them in such a safe place!
And when I was frantically hunting for them,
it wasn’t the napkin rings I was really desperate for -
it was the memory. The puppies.
Dutchie and Duke.
Gill. Her joy.
And when I finally found them,
tucked away at the back of the dresser,
I was so relieved I cried.
Not about the silver though.
No no! What they represent.
Look! They have even had some little puppies.
Time to go decorate the tree.
My two pups are arriving Sunday.
Love & Hugs,
Barb
xxxx
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