The times they have a-changed

It wasn't so very long ago that I held down a full-time job, had 2 very active boys, 4 ponies, 2 dogs and a cat. I also grew my own veg and looked after almost 5 acres of woodland. And when I think back to those days, I can't believe how much I got done in a day.

My life now consists of days spent doing Guide Dog puppy things, which seem to take an inordinate amount of time and I don't seem to get time to do a whole lot else. Here's yesterday for instance:

I got up at 6.15 and got myself ready for the day, then let Odi out and fed her and then played in the garden for bit to use up some of her energy. We then headed off to Lauder to meet up with Alec (a man) and Nancy (an 8 month old Guide Dog puppy) at his house for a quick play (the dogs not the humans) before shoving both dogs into the back of his 4x4 and going off to Newcraighall railway station (40 minutes away) to meet up with the Puppy Supervisor and 2 other puppy walkers and their puppies. We then got on the 10.40 train into Waverley for our puppy train training. At Waverley, where one of the puppies did a not terribly savoury poo right in the middle of the station and we had to wait while it got cleared up, we walked around for a bit taking in the sights and sounds. Then it was off to Princes Street Gardens with instructions from the PS.

Just a small aside - it's at this point it really strikes home that blind people must have a helluva time negotiating busy streets like Princes Street where all the people take absolutely no notice whatsoever of anything beyond themselves. The puppies behaved really well.

We all sat in the sunshine having a cuppa, which is no mean feat when you have 4 puppies who actually want to play with one another and not lie down and be well behaved. One of them managed to knock the table so we actually only got half our drinks!

Then it was a walk back to Waverley to get the train back to Newcraighall. At Waverley Nancy did a lake (well you couldn't really call it a pee!) and we had to wait while that was cleared up. And then it was onto the train with 4 pups who still wanted to play and were rather disgruntled at being separated and forced to sit under a seat for the 20 minute train ride.


Once at Newcraighall it was a quick goodbye and Nancy and Odi were shoved in the back of Alec's 4x4 and managed to play for the whole journey back to Lauder.

By the time I got home it was almost 2 and I had time for a quick lunch and then off to Kelso with Odi in tow. The writer's group I attend were having their last meeting until September and I'd promised I'd take Odi in to say goodbye to them for the Summer. We did a short walk around Kelso doing a few errands and a bit more training and then home to sit in the sunshine in the garden for the rest of the afternoon - or at least I sat, while Odi tore up the lawn until I stopped her and got her to settle down for a while until it was getting a little too cold to sit out and we went in for the evening.

And today? It's puppy training over in Aberlady, which will take me approximately an hour to get to. By the time we get home it'll be well into the afternoon and so my day will have mostly come and gone. Another day of doing not very much.

How times have changed!