About Me

My photo
Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

June 30th 2015 - And two become three....Introducing Sam

As some of you will know from a previous and temporary post, I recently got the shocking and very upsetting news that my ex partner, who I'd been friends with for quite a while, had passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly while at the home of some mutual friends. As he'd lived alone there was no-one else to take care of his dog and cat so I immediately said they could come to me and they arrived the following day.

Luckily Sam and I know each other of old so hopefully the change of home and owner haven't been as traumatic for him as it could have been. He was only four months old when my ex brought him home in 2003, and he camped with us and my little dog Sugar for six years before the break up of our relationship. He's now rather overweight as my ex used to spoil him with the leftovers from his own meals and didn't walk him as often as he should have done, but I've now got him on the correct amount of food and I'm taking him for short gentle walks three times a day so hopefully he should gradually slim down to the right weight. 



Sam hasn't been camping since my ex and I broke up six years ago as he pursued other interests, and as of last December I no longer have Sugar, but I'm sure that once he has settled in properly with me he will get on well with Sophie and Poppie and will enjoy camping once again. He's twelve-and-a-half years old now and I don't know how many years he has left, but he'll be with me for the rest of his life - and I'm sure my ex would be happy to know that he and the cat are safe with me and they are both okay.


13 comments:

  1. A good deed done! Hope Sam settles down well.
    Anabel's Travel Blog

    ReplyDelete
  2. He's doing okay so far, and I think it's definitely helped that he knows me and this house from previous years. He gets on ok with my own three cats too so that's a big plus.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awww, what a cutie! Glad to hear he is settling in well. xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think Sam is a bit too big to be described as 'cute' but he's very soft and loving, more like a woolly bear than a dog :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. how sad, hope you're not too upset :( He's a lucky dog x

    ReplyDelete
  6. To be honest I was devastated when I got the news. My ex and I had put the past behind us and had been good friends for quite a while; there may even have been a possibility of us getting back together at some time. He'd even sent me a text message less than ten minutes before he died; it happened very quick so I'm glad he didn't suffer.

    I'm just happy to be able to give Sam and the cat - called Mog - a good home (with no-one else to take them the alternative doesn't bear thinking about) and I'm sure my ex would be glad they are with me. He always knew I was a sucker for a sob story! lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just catching up with your blog - sorry to hear the news. Sam and Mog have found a good home.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good to hear the animals have found a good home with you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Jools and Victoria (hope I got that right!) for your comments.

    With three cats and two dogs already I wouldn't purposely have been looking to increase the furry family but I couldn't have turned my back on these two, especially Sam as he was so much a part of my life in previous years.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have no doubt you'll have Sam slimmed down and healthy in no time. I'm glad you were in a position to take them and that they are both settling in. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sam is very slowly getting a bit fitter; his walks are restricted to once round the block - which isn't very far - as that's all he can manage at the moment, but he can now do it without getting out of breath halfway round so that's a positive :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sam and Mog are very lucky to have you Eunice. x

    ReplyDelete
  13. I consider myself lucky to have them too :)

    Sam has now lost a considerable amount of weight, in fact I've had to adjust his collar twice recently - he looks much better than he did three months ago and I'm really pleased with his progress.

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.