Not Just a Shaggy Dog Story...

Someone said to me the other day that they hadn't seen much of my bad step-dog Bonnie on my blog recently - or Bob cat for that matter. Well, today I am going to remedy that by telling you the inspiration behind last week's story in The People's Friend, 'For Better For Worse'.

I've always been a 'cat person' and my sister a 'dog person'. I think it started the first year I found a cat calendar in my stocking on Christmas morning and my sister found a dog one. The same happened every year until I left home, so it's no surprise that when I eventually had a house of my own, I got a cat... and my sister a dog!

I've had many cats over the years and they've all been lovely but I have a very soft spot for my cat of the moment, Bob. He's fifteen years old, a great lap lover and a great dribbler. After my divorce, he, my daughter and I lived happily for several years - not expecting anything to upset our little family. But as John Lennon so cleverly put it - life is what happens when you are making other plans. What I hadn't expected was that life was going to be a whole new family - a husband, three step-children and... a step dog. 

A new husband was a blessing, my step-children a blessing also - but a dog? I knew nothing about dogs - except that they were big, hairy and often smelly. When I visited my sister, I would ignore her dog and refer to it as 'the hound'. Now I was going to be expected to live with one. Would I cope? More to the point... would Bob cope? 

'We'll have a trial,' I said, 'and if Bob is traumatized and leaves home then Bonnie will have to go.' Except that it wasn't as simple as that. When I told my colleague at work (who is a dog lover) what I had said, she warned me that the bond between a man and dog is a strong one. If Bonnie went, so might my future husband (although he insists this wouldn't have been the case). Also I felt sorry for Bon - she was, after all, the innocent party in all this. We would just have to try our hardest to make it work. 

Bonnie started by coming on day visits and then for sleepovers. She wasn't allowed upstairs, so Bob had a safe place to escape to, and we kept her on the lead in the first instance until Bob got used to her. And, you know what? It worked. The fights and the stand-offs never happened. For the first few days Bob stayed upstairs and then he gradually came down. Now they play together like the best of friends and if Bob gets agitated by something (like the cat next door) Bonnie comes to find me to let me know!

So what about me? How am I getting on? Well, for a start, a lot of the scrapes Cindy the dog gets into in 'For Better for Worse' are inspired by ones that Bonnie also got into. One of them is shown in the video below (which I know some of you have seen before but I just had to show it!).

TIme for dog-divorce? Actually no. The truth is, after five years, it is me who walks her and me who worries about her. I moan about Bonnie but I know I'd be the one to miss her if she wasn't there. My story is a tribute to my furry family.

Hmm...I wonder what calendar I'll be getting in my Christmas stocking this year?

Could Anyone Like the Colour Puce?

 



 

When we bought our lovely new settees, we had only one thought in mind - that we needed to buy something that would not show the dirt if bad Bonnie of The Bonnie Trap fame were to sit on them when we weren't looking.

 

With this in mind, we ordered two lovely heather coloured settees from Next. We were thrilled when they arrived but we hadn't thought it through - our walls were bright yellow and our fireplace had green tiles! Hmm... it was obviously going to be a redecorating job. The yellow walls could go but of course, there was nothing we could, or wanted to, do about the tiles (they are really nice).

 

This was where the fun began - what colour would go with green and heather. Magnolia, I hear you say. Well we had decided that as all the other downstairs rooms were a sophisticated neutral, we should add some colour in this room...and so began the game  - you know the one - where you dab little bits of different colours all over the walls until you have created your own version of Joseph's Technicoloured Dreamcoat.

 

Having tried out different match pots, (my husband counted over 30!) we opted for one with the fabulous name of Snuggle Up only to find it had been discontinued. Undeterred, we added more colours to the wall even though by this time our eyes were going funny and all the paints had started to look grey. By the way, don't ever trust the colours on a paint chart - they look nothing like it once on the wall!

 

Eventually, we found what we thought was a perfect match - a lighter version of the settee colour. My daughter came home for the weekend. "You can't have that... it's yuk!" Undeterred we ignored her and my husband painted the entire room, while we were walking Bonnie. When we got back, I looked at the room. There was only one word for the colour - 'Puce'. We all looked at each other and agreed, Yuk! Time to start again.

 

So now we have a newly decorated room. It is clean and bright and...Magnolia! Oh well.

 

A sale to Woman's Weekly and to The People's Friend softened the blow though.

Guess What The Bad Dog's Done Now!

 

 

Bonnie thinks I might mot notice her if she wears a disguise

 

 

 

My step dog Bonnie has just given me the fright of my life!

 

Let me set the scene. At the weekend we at last bought ourselves a nice new flat screen TV (being one of the only people to still have a huge old box-style one). This neat little item of technology sits in our living room - the living room from which Bonnie is now banned when we go out!

 

Readers of this blog will know that Bonnie loves sitting on the settees, especially when she is wet or muddy. We made the 'No Bonnie In The Living Room' rule after the failure of the settee barricades and in preparation for when we invest in new settees. Having caught Bonnie out with our Bonnie Trap, we now make sure that our bad dog is shut out of the living room and the door is shut, whenever we go out.

 

Anyway, this afternoon, I popped out to the post office. When I got back, I was shocked to hear talking in the living room even though I had left the house empty. My immediate thought was buglers. I wasn't sure what to do so crept into the hallway and peeped through the crack in the living room door (which was partly open).

 

Through the gap, I could see that the television was on and laying on the settee was Bonnie - watching the snooker! Beside her was the remote. I don't watch TV in the daytime so she must have sat on it and turned it on. Of course, I had forgotten to shut the door when I went out.

 

Needless to say - her step brother Bobby was on the other settee watching too.

 

I give up!

 

The good news is another sale to fiction Feast.

 

 

 

Bad Dog!

Readers of my blog will be familiar with my step-dog Bonnie. This is her on one of her favourite walks. She thinks she is such a good dog and from the photo, it looks as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.... Well, the inventor of Wendy's Story Timeline and I know better.

Let me set the scene. When my husband and I married in 2010, and Bonnie became step-sister to my cat Bobby, I was a little apprehensive about having a large dog who (despite having a hose down after walks) seemed to always have muddy feet. I decided to impose a rule:

No dogs on the settee! Yes that means you, Bonnie.

 

Clever dog, learnt the rule very quickly - or so we thought. In time, we came to learn that while we were in the room, she would sit in her basket or on the floor by our feet but when we went out or went to bed, we'd find evidence that she had been on the settee - a warm dent in the cushion and  doggie drool!

 

Not to be outdone, we came up with a cunning plan - we would barricade the settee with cheap plastic expandable trellis when we went out. Last Friday we stretched the trellis across the settee and feeling smug, went to our salsa masked ball . We came home to find our good dog asleep in her basket (or so we thought). The trellis was on the floor, and the cushion had a warm drooly dent in it but Bonnie appeared not to have moved.

 

 

 

 



So, not content with creating timelines, my husband decided to set a Bonnie Trap to see what really goes on while we are away. The following night we went to another dance. I wonder if you can guess what happened while we were out. I will post the youtube clip in the next post.  

 

 

We know you will enjoy it!

 

 

My (hopefully) Useful Writing Resource Will Soon be on My Blog

The river near my house where I walk Bonnie every day - Lucky me!

Sorry it's been a while since I tantalised you with what will hopefully be a useful writing resource. Click here to see my previous post. I haven't forgotten - we've just been tinkering with it to make it as simple to use as possible.

I will post some instructions with it for those of you who (like me) aren't particularly tech savvy.

In the meantime, I would like to point you in the direction of Julie Phillips' blog - Julie's Quest. This week she set a challenge for writers to write in a different format, style or genre - to maybe take them out of their comfort zone - e.g. If you're a novelist, try writing a poem or if you are a short story writer, try writing an article.

I hadn't planned to take up the challenge but a seed was sown and while walking my step-dog Bonnie yesterday, I created a poem in my head which I then raced back to write down. I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it and was pleased with the result - so much so, that I've entered it into a competition. Thanks Julie for helping me to think outside my box!

How about having a go yourselves.

Introducing Bobby

Those of you who have been following my blog will have met my step dog Bonnie. This is her step brother Bobby. I thought it rather fitting that he should choose the bookcase to perch on while I was writing. Bobs is nearly thirteen and his usual favoured spot to sit is between me and the laptop, while I am trying to type.There really isn't enough lap space for both!

When my husband and I got married two years ago (click here for our salsa wedding dance) I was worried how dog and cat would get on. I needn't have worried as you can see. I think this is the big Ahhhh moment!

Oh, and if anyone else wants to have a guess at the number of redundant words in the text from last post, you still have time. You don't have to email (though you can if you like) - just post your answer in the comments. At the moment, Claire, you are the closest. I will post answers soon.

A Doggie Dilemma

Readers of my blog will know that this is Bonnie my step-dog. She joined my family two years ago, when I got married, and she is step-sister to my cat Bobby (yes the story has been written and submitted!)

As you can see from the photo, Bonnie is a lab/collie cross and is the gentlest most loving dog...with people!

Unfortunately, she has an aversion to a lot of other dogs (especially those bigger than her or ones that run up to her) and so a walk will involve me scouting the horizon looking for other dog walkers and quickly putting her on a lead before the inevitable meeting.

I am afraid that I am now going to have a rant on my blog (an unusual occurrence). I can only do so much: walk at a time of day when we are less likely to meet other dogs, put her on a lead as a visual clue to other dog owners before we reach them, take her off the path away from said other owners and call out, 'Sorry my dog is nervous of other dogs.'

My question is this: Which part of these actions does the owner of the dogs who have been allowed to run at her despite these cues (visual and verbal) not understand?

I know a lot of you who read my blog are dog walkers/owners. Your comments would be appreciated.

A Typical Walk with Bonnie

Wendy and Bonnie are walking along river bank
Wendy: Tra la la
Bonnie: Woof
(Meets nice family with little boy)
Little Boy: (Stroking Bonnie's head) I want a dog like this one Mum.
Boys Mum: (Rubbing Bonnie's tummy) Yes she's lovely. What a good dog you have.
Wendy: (Smiling) Thank you. Yes she is, isn't she. I always think a happy home means a happy dog.

Wendy and Bonnie continue walk
Wendy: Tra la la
Bonnie: Woof
(Meets nice man with Collie)
Collie: (Whispering) What's your problem mongrel dog?
Bonnie: Grrrrr...I'm going to eat you.
Bonnie and Collie fight
Wendy: (Lying) I'm really sorry. I haven't had her long. She's a rescue dog and had a very bad puppyhood.
Nice Man scowls

Wendy and Bonnie walk home. Bonnie is now on lead
Wendy: Why did you have to embarass me like that?
Bonnie: (Looking up adoringly) Woof

Bonnie in the Lake District

And the reason I am writing this: another rejection from The People's Friend and I am procrastinating when I should be finishing my next story!