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<font style="font-size:12pt" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="3">Some of you might remember that Paul and I brought a new Basset into the fold last week. Patsy is six and a half but not really; <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">she's much more like a<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">n older puppy. <br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Oh. My. God. This dog is <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">a hellion. <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">And we hope she never changes, LOL.<br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Patsy weighs close to 60 pounds<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial"> and is a mile long. That dog can reach *anywhere*! Nothing on any of the counters is remotely safe, not just food. She has no sense of what it means to stay away from <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">her people's feet and has trouble turning around in our halls. Both Paul and I have developed the footwork of a premier league soccer player. <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">There are teeth marks in paper, crump<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">led pages of library books, and Patsy is the <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">absolute best kitchen mat anywhere. She's a *mobile* kitchen mat, too. <br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Patsy *has* to be the centre of attention at all times, <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">gives Wilma great opportunities to bark in he<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">r face, has been <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">swatted by an unknown creat<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">ure called <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">a Cat. She cannot--absolutely cannot--relax <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">anywhere. One eye is always open, alert to our comings and goings to the point where, if I'm in the bedroom, let's say, standing at one side of the bed, and I move to the other side, Patsy *has* to follow me. <br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial"><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial"><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">I used to read <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">other <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Droolers' reports of carnage and think, "Not *my* dog!" I am, c<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">learly, eating my words now. <br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">What's very interesting is that Paul (aka 'Terrier Man') has admitted that<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">, while terriers will always hold fi<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">rst place in his heart, he <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">is now smitten by Bassets. By their <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">wonderful temperament<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">s, mainly, by the fact that they have never met a person or a dog <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">or a cat that they <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">haven't liked<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">. We have our kitchen counters edged in black walnut, made <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">by Paul. They now have small goudges in them (and yes, they're coated in marine varnish, but it<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial"> is clearly no match for Patsy's nails) and Paul hasn't even been grumpy<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">, knowing that they'll have to be refinished<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial"> (by himself). <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Honestly, that man has turned into a squishy marsh<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">mallow of Basset love. I'm gobsmacked. <br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial"><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial"><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Will Patsy settle down? Maybe, maybe not. <font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Maybe she'll even become *more* of a rambunctious roustabout. But we can't imagine how we ever lived without her, LOL. <br><br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Veronica Deveau<br><br><br><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">(<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Arial">Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia)</font></font></font></font><br id="ecxFontBreak"></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><br><br><font style="" color="#974806"><font style="" color="#000000">"Most of us spend our lives as if we have another one in the bank." Ben Irwin</font><br></font> </div></body>
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