Today we drove down the coast to visit our old neighbours from Muswellbrook, Verna and Russell. They moved down to Rathmines on the coast four years ago and have also retired. We got on with these guys really well and they have two delightful grown children Claire and Warren.
When we left to move to Canada for just two years, Verna and Russell accepted our challenge to look after our Beagle Dazi who was eight years old. To say she could be a bit of a handful was not exaggerating but she had a very lovely nature. Her pedigree name was Princess Dazi but we can assure you we dropped the princess bit very quickly as there was nothing princess like about her. She was a true Beagle who was ruled by her stomach and would eat anything and that included rat poison. That little escapade resulted in a rush visit to the vet with stomach pumping and was a very lucky dog to have survived.
It was agreed between the four of us that when we returned from Canada, Dazi would go to whoever she was happiest with. Dazi especially liked Verna and Russell as there use to be a compost heap in their back yard and there were always some delightful rotten pieces of gross food stuff that she would dig up to eat. She had a very secure back yard but she was very good at escaping between your legs should you open the gate and she would bolt next door.
We moved her kennel next door when we left, which required four burly guys to carry. Di had the kennel made by the local handicapped workshop and they over engineered it. When she went to pick it up with the trailer it required a forklift to place it very carefully as it was ultra heavy having been made of weatherboard. It also had a weather vane on it which was of a cat. She absolutely loved her kennel as it was stuffed with doggy pillows which she loved to burrow into.
Verna and Russell came to visit us ten months after we arrived in Canada and they very quickly realized that we would not be returning to Oz in two years, so the decision was made that Dazi was now their dog. As hard as it was for us to leave her behind in Australia, it was the best decision we ever made as she had a much better life there than she would have had in the harsh Canadian climate.
Dazi lived until she was almost eleven and gave us and Verna and Russell some very happy memories and we share that special bond even to this day. So, it was great to catch up with them and see them settled into their new home and enjoying retirement. We did tell them that if they were not careful we would send Toque to them.
We returned to Carol and Pete’s to catch up with their daughter Kimberly who we first met when she was only a little girl and is now a mother of Max who is seven months old. We also met Lucas, Alexandria and Nara who are three more of their grandchildren. Once they had suitably tired the oldies out and left we could collapse and play a game of cards.
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