Dear Irish Terrier Friends,

This letter is in part an apology for all the misspelt words in the previous one. Raima and I ran out of time after dealing with a huge number of emails. It failed to have its final check and I have realised with some surprise that it is difficult to spell without a pen in my hand. ‘I call it spelling in the air’ and the words seem to escape me.  I am so sorry and hope that you were more amused than irritated.

Constance and Nancy’s new bay Ossie.

We have not seen a single snowflake in Lymington. Jamie is here and we have had some lovely walks on the marshes with the dogs. The gorse is out and even some bright yellow celandine — one of my most favourite flowers.  So blow the snow?

Brandy looking out over Loh Portree…

I feel happier on the sea wall, because in the Forest it seems they have had a few cases of the dreaded Alabama Rot.  This is a frightful and mysterious condition, which nobody really understands and the vets have absolutely nothing to say.  I cannot imagine why vetenary medicine seems to be based entirely on the need to collect data for real or imagined genetic fault.  Surely, looking at the lifestyle, the effect of feeding nothing but ‘perfect food’ which challenges neither the gut nor the immune system, should be considered.  The idea of looking for treatment and a cure, seem to have disappeared.  It is so disgraceful that no more is known about this terrible disease than we knew last year.

Life rolls on, however, and we have had some gorgeous days and met up with two darling Irish Terriers this morning on the marshes.  One was eleven and named Orlagh, the other aged four called Mabel.  We gathered in a group and laughed and swapped stories.  They were so charming and we were instant friends.  Please do, when you meet another Mick, always stop and talk…well, you would anyway.  It gives me such a thrill.

Zorby and Ziggy in the snow

I do hope the lockdown is not proving impossibly tedious. I know you’ve been laughing at my performance when I was ‘be-jabbed’.  It was such a joy to go out and gently whirl.

Thank you for the lovely Valentine pictures. You will find them on the Welcome Page and you can scroll them up. They have really made us laugh. They bring not just love from the dogs but also from me .

Happy St. Valentine’s Day Pog

Lucy