Sunday 24 July 2011

"Alfie"

When we first arrived in Jacobsbaai we had the idea of doing a fair bit of meandering around, footloose and fancy free, lock up and go, as Clyde our dear old cat was extremely independent and could be left overnight as long as there was food, a litter tray and an open window. He was used to being on his own, and in fact, even when we were at home he usually ignored us anyway. He would sit just out of reach with his back to us and pretend that we were not there. You have not been ignored until you are ignored by a cat.

how could we refuse this face?
A few months after our arrival, my sister came to stay. My one sadness about leaving Jo’burg - it's no longer a simple day’s bus trip or an easy five-hour drive to visit her - it's a lot further now. Anyway we were heading into town one morning in early January when we saw a small woolly looking dog running in the main road, dodging between the cars and trucks and very obviously lost. We stopped (after doing a spectacularly illegal U-turn) and managed to get him to come to us. Diana gingerly felt below to establish whether it was male or female as he looked like Boomer on a bad hair day. We took him to the vet, who promised that she would keep him overnight and, if he was unclaimed, he would go to a nearby farm that had some kennels. When we got home we relayed the story to Rob, (with a lot of embellishments I might add) and he said “So what do you want to do?” Easy. I phoned the vet, and said that if he was still there the next day, we would adopt him. The rest, as they say, is history!!

That first day, with Clyde in the foreground


So of course, we went to fetch him the next day. The vet brought out a small, shaved, washed and de-flea-ed dog, half the original size! Home we went. I had told Rob that he was curly and longhaired, so Rob thought (as we did) that this was another dog altogether! Rob thought that the name Charlie was good, I thought he looked like an Alfie, and that was the name we chose.

guard-dog - haha nope!

That was four and a half years ago now and not a day goes by that we don't laugh, play and love this little soul. He has brought so much joy to us that the thought of going off for little meanders without him is unthinkable! He understands everything we say, he knows the difference between cows (his favourite), horses and sheep. He understands the difference between his toys, ball, ropey and socky; he knows that when Rob puts his jeans on, we are going out and he is at the door before we are! If we touch the cupboard door where the car keys hang, he barks with joy. We have to spell the words r-i-d-e and c-a-r if we have to leave him behind when we go shopping. And we must be the only people around who wave goodbye to their dog, he peers at us through the bedroom window when we drive away. He sits on the wall and watches the world go by. Rob and I watch Eastenders every evening (sad hey??) and the minute the music starts as the programme ends the game is on, as he knows it’s time to go for a w-a-l-k. The music at the beginning doesn’t bother him at all.

Alfie, a happy little white dog

But, here’s the best thing.............................we bought an old caravan a few months ago so yes, you guessed it.... he can come on holiday too!!

in the caravan

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