It was only last November that our beloved Toast passed away just shy of 17 years old.

We still miss her terribly. And yet.

Here we are, nearly in April, and it would appear to be time to start thinking about getting another dog.

I walked in from work to find my wife filling out an application to rescue a dog from a local pound.

There are a few hurdles, meetings and home visits to do but I guess it will happen if it happens…

I rather like this photo. So much so I’ve used it as the profile/ ident for this blog.

Work has taken on a rather sour tone of late. The general manager, who is the heart and soul of the place, is on maternity leave and her absence is deafening.

In theory the deputy manager should have assumed her role and a Senior then stepped up into the Deputy spot. In practice this has not happened and the repercussions are being felt throughout the service.

I’ve been here before at previous services. Low morale, despondency, unexpressed resentments fester until it’s too late. Standards drop and staff leave.

We are a full staff member short and have been for a while. A functioning service can cope with one or two cases of staff sickness but right now only one case reveals how thinly we are stretched.

It’s disappointing and sad to witness a service that was classed as outstanding just a year ago deteriorate so quickly.

I started this blog/ journal with the name ‘Selfing…’

When I went into the settings to tinker I noticed the random, default URL slug had been assigned as /garden-shadow.

I much prefer that to the rather pompous ‘Selfing…’ that I came up with.