Here’s something I haven’t done for a while!
Hubby had a bit of shopping to do in town today so we walked up, taking the dog.
I walked on to the coffee shop, taking a bench while I waited for him.
Maggie sat down and waited patiently too.
Town was quite busy today.
Being Market Day and as most of the kids are on school holidays now, I wasn’t surprised.
I overheard a couple of conversations which suggested the adults were on Nanny watch with the kids whilst the parents were at work. One little girl was a real grizzleguts, but Nanny told her to sit down and be quiet as She was in charge now.
I found this on google and think it just about covers it:
Maggie attracted a lot of attraction and fuss again. It’s amazing the number of people who greet her my name which starts the tail wagging then rolling over and feet up, belly exposed for a tummy rub. Of course she bumped into one of her ‘friends’ today and was rewarded with her usual biscuit.
After the wedding on Saturday, I found myself noticing just how many people in the 20 to 30 age group smoke tailor mades or roll ups, whereas between the age of 30 and 40, roll ups and the E cigarette puff machines are preferred. It’s like time has gone backwards and cigarettes are only for the young trying to impress (as it was in my teens to some extent). Come to think of it, the young are probably the ones who can afford it if advertised salaries are anything to go by.
As an ex smoker of some 40 a day, I tend not to be very popular with those who enjoy the weed. I have no objection to anyone choosing to smoke what we used to call ‘cancer sticks’, I would just prefer it to be not around me, especially if I was there first, so I was glad to be on the opposite side of the road today.
I also cannot understand why anyone would want to pay a small fortune for flavoured E-sticks, some of which generate more smoke than standard cigarettes.
I have often dreamt that I started smoking again, it being so real, I have awoken with the Guilt Trip From Hell, disgusted with myself for lighting up.
When we smoked, a pack of 20 would set us back around £1.47. These days it’s in excess of £8, so I couldn’t afford the habit, even if I wanted to. Hubby had his last smoke the week before we got married, I had my last the day before, though confess to a single puff at the Christmas party that year and hated it. Neither of us have regretted quitting.
Other than that, it was a standard bunch of people of no favoured sex or age in the High Street stopping to shop or perhaps make a fuss of that well behaved dog by the coffee shop.
pensitivity101 
You are right about smoking and kids. Don’t know how they can afford them. I have better things to spend my money on.
Likewise. When we gave up we had a mortgage, and it was a way to save money. Our savings didn’t exactly increase, but we met our mortgage payments OK!
Loved reading this simple post with lot of observations 😀
I love to people watch and there are several posts in my blog about it. It was nice to do an uncomplicated post today as I have severe brain fatigue from our travels and frustrations of late!! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Watching and observing makes a great writer. I hope you recover from your fatigue. Your post is excellent!
Thank you so much!
I’m afraid I can’t go past Maggie in your post. All else fades. Our Border Collie, Bilbo passed away 3 weeks ago. He was 11 and developed a severe auto-immune disease and became acutely anaemic. It hit us like a tonne of bricks. Naturally, there is no bright side and we miss him terribly, but we do have another dog, Lady, who is a Border Collie x Cavalier. I’ve written quite a few dog posts of late as I work my way through the grief.
I loved your quote about kids. Brilliant.
xx Rowena
I am so, so sorry for your recent loss. We lost Barney unexpectedly in 2005 and I lasted 6 days before getting Maggie. I can identify with your way of grieving. Our pets leave such a hole. My thoughts are with you.
I was ust like you when our previous dog passed. We lasted a week without a dog in the house. Bilbo was actually not doing so well when he was 8 and so I started looking and found Lady. She’s about the size of a small Border Collie and just that bit smaller. She’s now been with us and him for 3 years and she’s now 5. Time passes so quickly in dog years. We might get a Border Collie pup next year. See how we go. It is a lot easier with one and she’s getting out a lot more.
My uncle had 2 dogs, one a GSD and the other a heinz variety. The GSD was faiing and so they got a pup. They were a three dog family for five years as the GSD got a new lease of life and motherhood, bless her.
I had two dogs when I lived in Bath and we lost the GSD. I got a rescue shepherd shortly afterwards as the rough collie was pining. Maggie is a border collie x springer and 12 now, so showing her age. We love her to bits, and she’s spoilt rotten.
I loved reading about all your dogs. I had a Lassie Collie growing up. He kept getting out and ultimately disappeared. Mum and Dad were overseas at the time and I think he might have been looking for Mum in hindsight. My parents have never had another dog, although my brother befriended our neighbour’s cat until it collapsed with a tick inbetween houses and passed away. Once my husband and I returned from our honeymoon, we adopted a 6 year old Border Collie, Zorro and had him for two years before he passed. During that time, we got a second dog from the RSPCA, Rufus who was a very anxious but very loving Old English Sheepdog. He was 5 I think and we had him for about 3 years. We lasted a week after that before getting Bilbo as a pup. He almost made it to 11. Three years ago, we started looking for a second dog to have an overlap. I have serious health issues and we wanted to reduce the stress of losing the dog on the kids. Like your GSD, Bilbo got a new lease of life and perked up, lost weight and his back legs improved a lot and he was much more mobile.
Border Collie x Springer sounds like a great mix. Lady is Border x Cavalier and she is beautiful with big floppy ears which flap as she runs. She’s all black apart from a patch of white on her chest and maybe a paw or two. This makes it easier for her to hunt and sneak around. Personality wise, she’s much more cavalier than Border. She’s pretty mellow and doesn’t chase balls or sticks. She just runs around the beach sniffing when we’re there and goes for a swim.
Lady has been in high demand since Bilbo passed away b ut has been retreating to her bed a fair bit. I think she’s been feeling a bit smothered.
We said we had the wacky end of both breeds with Maggie. She has a nose on her like nothing else, and will lift wild fowl with no training, just pure instinct. We wanted her to have pups but couldn’t find a nice daddy to mate her with. We’d already decided to keep one pup and if we couldn’t sell the rest, get them trained up for sniffer dogs, but sadly the only babies she had were stuffed ones. She’s the most tactile and loving dog I have ever owned.