As some of you will know I got married just over a year ago, and Mark became a step father to my son Alex. To make Alex feel special on our wedding day we presented him with a small gift. This was a small statue of a boy with a dog. This was a clue as to what his real present was.

Something he had wanted for many years was a dog. As a self employed single parent, this was not an option I could either afford or have time for, but moving to a farm and marrying Mark meant we could give him his dream.

It took a few weeks of searching, but eventually we found an 8 week old roly poly border collie. The conditions of the dog were that it would have to live outside in a kennel and that Alex would have to walk her every day, before and after school, feed her and generally care for her. Neither Mark or I actually wanted a dog, but for the love of Alex we went ahead.

Since the Day we bought her home, Alex has been as good as his word. He gets up at 6.30 am every day (even on weekends) to walk her for half an hour, loves and cares for her.

Phoebe (as she is called…most of the time) has turned out to be the most adorable dog, I couldn’t imagine being without her for an instant. She’s so well behaved and good natured, well I say well behaved for the most part. She may not cost us much in the way of food and general care, but by golly she owes me!   one pair of sunglasses, many plants, safety goggles, Alex’s slippers, terminal blocks, watering can, garden fork and trowel set, space hopper, hose fittings, guy rope on Alex’s tent, kitchen bin, to name but a few.

At the end of the day what’s a few objects? I can replace them all, but I could never replace Phoebe….ok I admit it ….I love her too (and so does Mark, but he won’t say it out loud)