What's the Story in Dalamory » Family http://www.freda.org.uk Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:37:04 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Oogy yes Oogy http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/11/09/oogy-yes-oogy/ http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/11/09/oogy-yes-oogy/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:16:23 +0000 freda http://www.freda.org.uk/?p=5104 Continue reading →]]> It’s not that I spend my whole days reading, though I do love to read, it’s that I actually got to a real live bookshop this week. Now I am one of those people who just cannot leave such a shop empty-handed. After all, it is important to support local shops every now and then.

I saw the book about Oogy – who is an injured Doga (Argentinian mastiff) and thought that it would be a story which would bring me to tears, and after all, tears sometimes are good for one. HBTW just shook his head in a resigned fashioin.

I took the book home and haven’t been able to put it down since. It is certainly not a sentimental book – I didn’t have even a tear in my eye. It is about adoption of an injured dog and adoption of twin boys. It is about growing a family – a special kind of family. The book is about courage, acceptance and incredible hope. I have to admit that I am very wary of any dog that resembles a fighting dog. Everything to do with dog fighting is anathema to me. And I have shared in my blog before about how anxious I can be since Misty was attacked by a rescue dog. So this book is as much about learning to overcome prejudice as an animal story.

At the risk of spoiling it, I will just say that Oogy is now in training to be a pet therapy dog. That says it all.

Has anyone else encountered it?

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]]> http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/11/09/oogy-yes-oogy/feed/ 5 Boundaries http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/09/26/boundaries/ http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/09/26/boundaries/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:22:00 +0000 freda http://www.freda.org.uk/?p=5009 Continue reading →]]> You know how sometimes you have “those” moments when somehow things go wrong, and instead of cursing gently, you stop, think and reconsider. Well that has happened to me this afternoon. I found the appropriate photograph, tweaked the exposure and told a family story, which was quite sweet, but maybe not suitable for sharing online. That reminder about boundaries came along and scuppered the editing.

I’ve read too many blog posts from bloggers who are in the middle of a full-scale row over inappropriate posting or sharing, and don’t want to go there. Being careful is needed by all bloggers, journalists and writers.  Of course all I am doing is to stir up people’s curiosity, and that is self-defeating. Sufficient to say that for today I am content to post a picture from 47 years ago and to say thank you for today being the 47th Anniversary of becoming engaged.

 Didn’t we look young?

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]]> http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/09/26/boundaries/feed/ 6 Speaking about family http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/02/05/speaking-about-family/ http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/02/05/speaking-about-family/#comments Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:21:24 +0000 freda http://www.freda.org.uk/?p=4350

Zach Wahls speaks about his family. Thanks to Mountain Thyme for the link

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]]> http://www.freda.org.uk/2011/02/05/speaking-about-family/feed/ 1 Visitors http://www.freda.org.uk/2010/08/10/visitors-2/ http://www.freda.org.uk/2010/08/10/visitors-2/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:38:15 +0000 freda http://www.freda.org.uk/?p=3544 Continue reading →]]> Sons #1 and #4 visited with their families and overlapped for a good bit of yesterday. Hectic and enjoyable and thoroughly unmissable. The video camera added to the fun with my inexpert hit and miss version of filming and #1′s more professional style. Then he proceeded to give me a lesson on content, storyboarding, music and special effects on the imac. Imovie is a versatile and easy to use programme.

Today I have tried to upload the finished movie to youtube so as to be able to share it privately on the blog. No success. It is probably my fault and maybe on second thoughts it is just as well. I never know what is safe to share, even with the limited readership I have here. It’s a sad reflection of our time, but we have to be careful about content and photos.

What do other people think?

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]]> http://www.freda.org.uk/2010/08/10/visitors-2/feed/ 7 House Rules http://www.freda.org.uk/2010/07/19/house-rules/ http://www.freda.org.uk/2010/07/19/house-rules/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:11:28 +0000 freda http://www.freda.org.uk/?p=3453 Continue reading →]]> Reading a new Jodi Picoult novel is a totally absorbing experience. It is often harrowing, because of the subjects she chooses; it invariably challenges the reader to think outside of the box, and you cannot wait to finish it, yet do not want it to end.

Her latest book, House Rules, (2010 Hodder & Stoughton) is no exception. It tackles the world of Jacob, an 18yr old young man who lives with Asperger’s Syndrome, and also the world views of his parents and brother. Jodi Picoult achieves this by moving the story forward with the use of fast-paced shortish chapters in the voices of the main characters. It becomes so real that the reader enters into the minds and motives of those involved, almost so as to become a part of the unfolding story. It is one where it is impossible to remain a disinterested observer or bystander.

As always, Picoult uses an evolving and revelatory plot as part of her literary device to heighten the tension, that’s what makes for a page-turner. The flyleaf in speaking of Jacob’s young mentor says this: ….When his tutor is found dead, all the hallmark behaviours of Jacob’s syndrome – not looking someone in the eye, odd movements, inappropriate actions – start looking a lot like guilt to the police. And Jacob’s mother must ask herself the hardest question in the world: is her child capable of murder?

Hooked? I was, right from the start. If you like being challenged, thinking laterally and are prepared to be taken to the limit in terms of emotion……… then this is a book for you. In any case, it gets a 9.5 out of 10.00 for me. If you read it, you can ask why I docked it a half point! Till then it is a secret on the grounds it could spoil the plot.

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]]> http://www.freda.org.uk/2010/07/19/house-rules/feed/ 0 Worth pondering http://www.freda.org.uk/2008/11/08/worth-pondering/ http://www.freda.org.uk/2008/11/08/worth-pondering/#comments Sat, 08 Nov 2008 06:16:19 +0000 freda http://www.freda.org.uk/?p=1915 You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.

Desmond Tutu

And Happy 65th Birthday to Him Behind the Wheel

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]]> http://www.freda.org.uk/2008/11/08/worth-pondering/feed/ 1 Dynasty http://www.freda.org.uk/2008/09/16/dynasty/ http://www.freda.org.uk/2008/09/16/dynasty/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:14:32 +0000 freda http://www.freda.org.uk/?p=1854 Continue reading →]]> I tend to be a bit reticent about mentioning family and close friends specifically on this blog. And sometimes they take me to task for it. So today, being Son #4′s birthday I simply want to say how grateful I am for all my loved ones.

Oh yes – and Happy Birthday to you know who!

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