The Lighter Side

There are times of hilarity and much laughter.


Look into my eyes.........

I stole this owl off a site of Interesting Animal pictures. Since I am an Owl freak, it really appealed to me.

One of the stories that has amused me, is a true story, shared by one of the persons involved.
I will retell the story, but I will change the names to 'protect the innocent' as they say.

Once upon a time there was a young Doctor I shall call  Dr Jodhpurs, who met and married young Doctor Spatula.
They eventually had 5 children, who of course, took, their father's name of Jodhpurs. They grew to adulthood in the same district as their parents had a general medical practice. Over the course of the growing years the family acquired two dogs. These dogs were much loved members of the family. Many interesting stories were told about these dogs, and the children of the family, of course.

The eldest dog, Thor was a male, and though he was not 'entire', he was still a male male. A younger female, Ritzy was brought into the family, and though she did not remain 'entire' either, Thor always Lorded it over her, and took it upon himself to be her guardian.

The years passed and the eldest daughter, Ms Jodhpurs was to be married. By this time, all the younger Jodhpurs had left the family nest and flown off to have careers of their own. They regularly came home for visits and always greeted the family dogs with love and affection, and of course, were in turn greeted with love and much excitement by the dogs.

On the eve of the Eldest Ms Jodhpurs' wedding, all the younger Jodhpurs siblings gathered at their parents house. The about-to-be-married Miss J also wished to spend her last single night at her childhood home.

As lots of visitors would be calling it was decided to have the family dogs groomed so they would look their best. Ritzy was bathed and dried first, and as he always did, Thor got very anxious, and overexcited until Ritzy was safely back indoors. Then it was his turn to be bathed.
Upon returning Thor indoors, the Dog Man declared he thought Thor might  not be well. He seemed tired and just wanted to lie down.

Dog Man departed, and Thor continued to lie panting. Youngest Ms Jodhpurs cradled Thor. Dr Jodhpurs Junior listened to his heart with his stethoscope. Dr Jodhpurs Senior listened to his heart with his stethoscope.
It was decided to call the Vet.
However, as they were dialling the number Youngest Ms J announced that it was too late, as Thor had passed away in her arms.

It seemed terribly sad, on the eve of the happy day for the Eldest Ms J. The younger J's decided that perhaps he had times his passing with the gathering of the entire family, as they were rarely all together in the family home.

A little time passed, and one day Dr Jodhpurs Senior was visiting a patient at her house. He met Dog Man, who had arrived to groom the elderly patient's little dog.

Dog Man had not been told of Thor's passing, so he was unaware that Thor had died. When Dr J told his wife Dr Spatula of the meeting, she enquired if he had told Dog Man of Thor's passing.

Dr Jodhpurs replied "No, I didn't tell him, but I wrote 'Dog Killer' on his van as I left!"



He didn't write any such thing, of course, but the thought that he told the story made us laugh uproariously.

As a Footnote, Thor has a nice grave, with Spring bulbs on top. Miss Ritzy was expected to  mourn his passing, but as a lot of 'widows' seem to discover, she has decided it is lovely having the bed all to herself, and all of the house as well!!


Here is another stolen picture, of Stella, the little Lioness. Look at those eyelashes!! Who knew Lions had such long ones?

This lovely rainbow over our "Mountain" ~which is a small hill to most New Zealnders, but a mountain to the Oz~was taken by Mrs NN.
Our hearts are with her and Mr NN today.

Has anyone got a solution to ridding Polar Fleece of pet hair?
It is such a problem with us, our son tells us we are in danger of becoming known in the Village as the Yak Family, because I cannot seem to get the pet hairs out of our warm fleecy jackets and tops.

It is something I am squirmingly concsious of, and often wonder if people secretly call us the Hair Couple ~or Yaks, not that our son mentioned Yaks! We appear to bristle constantly, and, I suspect, are questionable for wearing hair shirts!
Our dogs are not supposed to shed, but of course all dogs shed a certain amount, and clipping leaves plenty of loose hair about.
Getting a cat was not a great idea for the hair problem, either!
I would welcome any tips!!




This is a pic that Mrs NN took and shared with me, of gorgeous blossom on a tree we both admire. My heart sings at the wonder of spring every year.

The heart wrenching news from Christchurch, which is where we once lived, and which is Gom's native City, has saddened us.  I grew to love Christchurch when I lived there. It has a unique beauty, so different from where I was born and grew up. An earthquake is frightening at any time, and though we felt a few in our time living there, none were as large as this one.
We managed to contact friends and rellies and are happy to know all is well with them, in spite of some damages to homes.

We are a very irreverant family, and have no religion. Most of my friends know this, and it is not an issue.

Son B is a tonic to my sad heart, and he has brought new phrases to my life, for when times get tough.
Some examples~ "The Hand of Gom"- for items that have mysteriously changed or vanished.
"Gone to Gom" -for plants that are no longer.
"Gom works in mysterious ways." -for the general everyday oddities.
"The Wrath of Gom" -for the occasional irrational outbursts of rage.

We returned home from an outing yesterday, to find the lawn had been mowed- Gom strikes back!
It was nice to know he felt well enough, I guess, and we carefully kept a no comment.

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Of course, no post from me would be complete really, without a GOW rant!

I abhor the current usage of the word "Carnage" in relation to earthquakes, floods, car accidents, fires,  and on and on, where no person or carnal being actually lost their life, or suffered any injury.
Do they not teach young people - namely 'Reporters' -these days the meaning of the word 'carnal' and therefore, 'carnage'???
I feel a 'Gorilla moment' coming on, the instant I see that word misused! GGRRRRR!!!.

End of Rant.
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Along with all the other music I love, I do love Ragtime! This featured in the movie The Sting.

Scott Joplin, The Entertainer.