Pears, Poultry and Pets

Hello again on an overcast September Thursday (11th September)

Pears - Today I was gathering windfall apples for my horse when I was delighted to discover pears. They were small conical pears with a slight blush, very beautiful little fruits. I have walked passed that pear tree for a year now & had thought that it was an apple tree like the others in the little orchard. When I really looked at the tree it was clearly a pear - I've taken it as a little reminder about making assumption & jumping to conclusions!

Poultry -For ages we have wanted hens for eggs & are at last in a position to have some. After extensive research we decided to start out with about 10 rescue hens & some Light Sussex. At the weekend we bought 30 hens of different breeds - so much for sticking to a plan! Once my impulsive husband saw the hens on offer he said yes to them all! So we are now the proud owners of 5 Calder Rangers (brown), 5 Black Rock, 9 Bluebelles (smokey grey) & 11 Light Sussex (mainly white). And the final touch - we have been offered free a Light Sussex cockerel - fate! The hen house (aka Poultry Palace) is not quite complete so the horse has been evicted & the girls are squatting in there for a few more days. More on hens in another post....

Pets (& Domestic Animals) - I believe that there are people in the world who don't have them, don't want them & cant see the point of them! I can remember a time in my young adult years when I didn't have any & those were definitely days with less colour, action & responsibility. It's very hard to explain to non-pet wanters the expansion, even a tiny, low maintenance pet can bring to a life.

There's the research into what makes them happy & comfortable & then finding the suppliers that can provide their material needs: whether is be the familiar supermarket, locating a specialist store or talking a local greengrocer into giving you unwanted veggies!

Then there is the activation & accessing of latent wells of care, love & commitment - these often "gushing" when the pet is not well or has presented the owner with a challenge: eating through the phone cable, trashing a door, standing on a foot, knocking over the spouse, biting and so forth!

And for those pets that require regular exercise, there are safe routes to find, leadership & socializing processes to get to grips with & fitness development - on both sides!

Then there is the sadness & grief we feel on discovering those pets who don't have caring owners, who suffer abuse & neglect & outright violence & malice. This part of pet ownership can change people's lives for good & bad. Think of all those animal shelters, welfare workers & veterinary staff, they all involve individuals who have been profoundly moved to take action to directly alleviate the suffer & misfortune of unfortunate & sick animals.

And then there are those who are prompted to question the wider relationship between pets & animals & people & who lead us all to insights about compassion, about relationships & about what it is to be human.

So this is a Thank You to those countless animals who have directly enhanced individual people's lives. It is a Thank You to all those animals who by living, dying, suffering & interacting with people have helped the evolution of compassion in society at large - everyone & everything has benefited from that.

Some interesting Links
http://www.cesarmillaninc.com
http://www.safepets.co.uk/index.html
http://www.trallwmfarm.org.uk/index.htm
http://www.dog-training.com/springer.htm
http://www.animalaid.org.uk
http://www.janfennellthedoglistener.com
http://www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk
www.montyroberts.com