Well, the first full week of lockdown 2.0 started off with a bang (and no, not from the excessive amount of fireworks that have been going off for the last 6 weeks!). I had quite the dramatic start to my week on Monday!
I was having such a lovely, relaxing walk watching the sun come up and basking in nature, when I spotted a little English Bulldog happily trotting along with a ball in its mouth. I looked ahead, assuming it was running ahead of its owner, but there was nobody to be seen. I watched the pup, wondering whether I should stop it in case it was lost (oh, the irony!), but then I caught a glimpse of somebody walking in the direction the pup was going, so assumed it was just lagging behind its owner, it was a little chunky after all.
A few minutes later, a guy came into view with a lead in his hand, calling for a dog. Well, my heart sank. I asked him if he was looking for an English bulldog, hoping he’d said no but knowing instinctively he’d say yes, and I directed him the way that it went.
And thus began a tirade of internal self-chastisement.
I felt awful that I’d let this dog trot past me and not done anything to stop it, I’d even laughed to myself thinking ‘look at this little independent doggo who don’t need no owner’ as he went by. Now the bloody thing was all alone in the depths of Reddish Vale and all I could think about is what if it ended up going in the river and floating away (or worse, sinking!), or getting eaten by a fox, or just spending the rest of its life down the vale trying to fend for itself and being alone forever? Would it know it wasn’t abandoned? Would it cry itself to sleep every night? Would it try and find its way home and get hit by a car? God, I felt terrible.
That guilt was enough to make me spend the next few hours looking for this dog – it’s a good job I have no job right now, isn’t it?! I wasn’t sure how I’d ever live with myself if it wasn’t reunited with its owner, or if I left the vale not knowing whether they were ever reunited. I’d forever worry about this dog. I had visions of myself 10 years from now still viewing it as the worst thing I’d ever done in my life. No, I wasn’t about to let this ruin my life, so I set out on a mission to find it.
I’d asked a few people on my travels if they’d seen the dog and as I ventured back, some of them had congregated together and pointed at me as the person who’d lost their dog. As I approached them, guess who pops his little chunky head out from a bush?! That’s right, the little devil himself! They were so thrilled to tell me they’d found my dog, which led to the embarrassing scenario of me having to explain that, actually, it wasn’t my dog, I’d just callously let it walk by me and couldn’t live with the guilt, so had taken it upon myself to search for it. A little confused, they hovered awkwardly (they’d stopped mid-workout) and asked me what they should do with it, at which point I profusely apologised for taking so much of their time already, and told them I’d keep hold of the dog until I found its owner.
I was devising a plan to get James to bring Riley’s spare lead down the vale so I could at least stand up, as my back was breaking from having to walk bent over holding the dog’s collar, when from one of the pathways appeared the owner! Woohoo! It was a very happy ending, and a lovely end to a stressful couple of hours. No dog in river or foxes’ mouths today, thank you! I’m grateful to not have to spent the rest of my day/week/life feeling guilty over the dog, and it was a good morning all round.
So other than almost losing family pets forever, there’s not much else to report at the moment. I’ve been feeling a bit down, which I’m sure is a culmination of the current circumstances, not working, a lack of face-to-face interaction and the gloomy weather, but it seems that a lot of people are in a bit of a funk right now. Let’s hope it passes soon.
So what have I been doing with all my extra free time?
Reading
I’ve finally started reading again – woohoo! I’m trying to incorporate a sense of joy and respite into my days and I have finally got a load of my old books from my parents’ house that I’ve been meaning to get for a while. My Dad’s been harping on for years, 10 to be precise, for me to take them, and it’s finally taken this second lockdown and lack of work to push me to getting them.
My aunty introduced me to this book, she’s an avid reader and I value her recommendations. It must have been 12 years ago now she gave it to me, and I remember thinking it was funny and enjoying it then so I’ve come back to it now. I re-read the blurb and it’s not something I would usually choose, but I recall how much I loved it first time round so gave it a go! It’s been exactly what I’ve needed this week. It’s such a day-brightener and has already made me laugh out loud a few times. Due to the way it’s written (the entire book is a series of emails), it can feel a bit disjointed at the start and a bit hard to read, but after a few pages, it’s fine. It’s definitely worth a read if you need some light-hearted, easy reading!
Watching
I’ve had my eye on this film for a little while, and watched it recently – it was heartwarming! I have to admit, I did find it a little boring and slow at times, but overall, it was such a lovely film to watch and I found it really touching. If you’re looking for a winter warmer, make sure you check it out (link above to Netflix)!
Hilarious Man Getting Covid-19 Test
I’ve had to find this on YouTube because WordPress has a ridiculous rule that Facebook videos can’t be embedded… the quality of this one isn’t as good as it is on Facebook, but I cried laughing each time I watched this. Check out this guy taking a Covid-19 test!
It’s the noises he makes, what a wimp (this would absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt be me)!
This video had me howling – the caption intrigued me and I’ve watched the video a number of times. So funny! You’ll have to click the link above as this video is only on Facebook!
I love the way the three little donkeys are just chilling in the doorway still hoping they’ll make it in, and then you see the pony just standing about in the kitchen. I am dying to know the context to this though – is it a farm?! Do they just have loads of animals?! I want loads of animals in my garden!
Though it’d be hard because I’d want them all to sleep in our bedroom with us and would feel guilty not allowing them to like I do with Riley! It’s a bit different having 3 donkeys, 6 goats and a horse in your bedroom though, James moans enough when I have Riley with us.
Listening
One of my best friends shared this song and reminded me that it existed! I used to listen to this so much as a teenager! What a banger.
Before You Go…
Something else that made me smile this week was seeing a Facebook post my gorgeous friend uploaded at the weekend. With the lockdown restrictions and pubs being closed, there’s no shortage of people getting inventive.
My friend has a real love for life and I love hearing about what she gets up to. Here’s some snaps and a little video from the ‘pub crawl’ she went on with her husband! The ‘pubs’ are all named after them, their little pugs, or the road they live on.
It looks like a great pub crawl, finished off with a cheeky kebab! What more could you want?! I know where I’ll be going when the lockdown ends #supportlocalbusinesses!
Well, that’s it from me this week. I hope you’re all doing OK, whether you’re in lockdown or not, and that you have a lovely rest of the week filled with love, light and happiness.
See you next week!
Reflect and Introspect 