1 day
Having spent most of the night trying to catch Mr Sandman and not succeeding,I have started this morning,actually I cant say I have started because I dont feel as though I have finished yesterday yet.You would think I would be used to this insomnia thing by now the amount of years that I have had it. Thing is that when I first started with it there was a lot of things I could do and believe it or not there was a lot on the TV to watch.My neighbours were used to me cleaning the house at unearthly hours and I would leave the vacuming untill about half six when they would all be getting up anyway. One neighbour even used my vacuming habits to get himself up for work, Soon as he heard the vacum go on he would know it was between half six and seven. Even on the rare nights I slept I was always up before six. I remember when they had a programme called Music Box on. It used to start about one and went on all night finishing at seven when the normal days broadcasting would start. I loved it,not only did it have all the latest releasees on it but also oldies. It had certain things on different nights too,different types of music for a couple of hours and then back to its normal programming.When that stopped suddenly for no reason they used to put films on and all sorts of interesting things. Now all you get is American sport and job finder! Scuse me,who is looking for a job at five in the morning? They even have a discussion on the end of Job finder now about five minutes of a Job Psychologist telling you how to conduct yourself at an interview,now that makes me laugh. He went through all that to get his degree to sit on Job finder at five in the morning and tell people how to act in an interview. Way to go,I wonder if he used the same techniques to get that job? Do you think I should ring him and tell him that they have a Major shortage of Psychologists in America? Actually he is probably quite happy get up at that hour and going and doing his five minute slot. I hope he doesn`t have a day job!
Anyway where was I? Other things I used to do when I couldn`t sleep,well if the children were away at their papa`s I would go walking,usually to the park and play on the swings. At three in the morning the walk to the park which was roughly a mile or so away,was quite refreshing. People thought I was nuts but I had two very large Border Collie dogs named Kim and Sam and believe me you did not mess with Sam. I got Sam by default. Sam was Kims brother,he had already been taken when I went to choose the pup and I ended up with Kim. She was beautiful though and I was quite happy with her. They were all longed haired and the coats were beautiful. As it happened Sam went to someone that lived down the road from me,the place I lived at the time was a long street which ended in a kind of cul-de-sac at the top which is where I lived. At the side of my house was a path that led into a large field at the back of my house. The dogs were about eight months old when I noticed Sam was wandering. He began to follow us to school and back. Worried that he would get injured on the main roads I would call him to me when we got near them and he would come and walk at the side of me all the way to school and back. Once back at the street he would be off and that would be it untill it was time to go and pick them up. Sometimes when Kim was out in the garden I would find Sam there with her,both laid flat out in the sunshine. I didn`t see Sam for a few days and thought that maybe she had started keeping him in and taking him out properly on his lead etc. About a week had gone past and he hadn`t been around,then one night the front door was open because the night was warm and I herad this whing and scratching. When I got to the door there was Sam looking really sorry for himself and with good reason. He had an open wound above his eye that was looking very nasty and both eyes were all gungy and quite a mess.He wouldn`t come in the house at first so I got warm water and antiseptic and bathed his wound and then got some eye wash that I had for Kim and did both his eyes.I sat on the step and he sat in front of me patient as anything .Soon as I had finished he was off. For three days he came every morning and every night to have his wound bathed and his eyes cleaned. On the fourth day his owner came. She asked me if I had been treating him so I replied that I had. And she thanked me and told me that he wouldn`t let her anywhere near him to do it. She said she was going away for a few days would I watch him for her. So I said that I would. Next day Sam came on his lead to the house to stay for a couple of days. During those two days he played with the children and with Kim and went for walks when we did and when she came back he went wwith his head hung low and tail between his legs. Course he was there next morning walking the kids to school with me and Kim. Only now he would stay for the day and just go home when the children went to bed. After about four weeks his owner once again came up to see me. She wanted to talk. So I made coffee and we sat down and she told me she had met this guy,and had been seeing him for some months. Sam didn`t like him and she had to put him out of the house when he was there. This guy had his own dog and apparently his dog was a pedigree,they had decided she was moving into his house but Sam was not welcome. She wanted to know if I would take Sam because if I didn`t he was going to the RSPCA. I asked if there was no way that he would relent and she had said no he had made it quite clear he didn`t want Sam anywhere near his perdigree dog. I said I would take him and that night Sam came to live with us. He was a brilliant dog feircely protective of the children and me and of Kim. After a couple of years of trying to manage with two large dogs and three children in a house that just wasn`t big enough Sam and Kim went to live on a farm. The farmer was a friend of a fiend of mine and he adored both dogs and they adored him. We introduced them to the farm slowly but I need never have worried because they loved it. Highly intelligent dogs they were in no time rounding up cows,without getting kicked too. They both lived very happy lives,being family pets as well as farm dogs,sadly they have both gone now. Kim was 17 years old when she went and Sam went not long after her. They did however have children,Kim was bred with a Collie from another farm and Sam was allowed to stud several Female Collies from several places. So who knows if you have border collies it could be one of Sam or Kims grandchildren
I have rambled enough now methinks,time to do some work.
