Caddie once more

Caddie, May 2022

I recently had the pleasure of the company of Caddie, whom you may remember as the first dog I was asked to look after for Guide Dogs. Since that time she has completed her basic training and gone forward to advanced training, at which point she hurt her leg and had to come back to Leamington to recover. So she is older and wiser than when she pulled me all over the park, and so am I, having looked after four other dogs in the meantime.

I checked that Caddie would be able to travel and took her on a trip to celebrate dad's birthday with Lola II and Sister D. I say 'celebrate' but it would be difficult to discern any element of celebration in dad's demeanour, although he did like the chocolate ginger. I think we all had a nice time, and Caddie behaved beautifully, although I felt a little guilty about the quantity of black dog hair left on the floor for mum to clean up.

There's been Buddhism and no badminton this week. Monday study has started again with a fairly practical module about meditation, Tuesday Buddhist group was led by someone else so I was free to enjoy rather than fret about arrangements, and on Thursday I went to the Birmingham centre to welcome back someone who went away to become an Order Member with a long name. Then on Friday I left for a 10-day retreat where participants are asked not to bring any leisure reading with them. I don't think I've spent ten days without leisure reading since I was five years old.

Anyway, that's where I am now, and this short post is mostly to showcase the gorgeous pictures of Caddie. And, as with Friston, there are more for future posts!