Saturday 20 December 2014

THE TALE OF A DOG.. NEFERTITI-HONEY.. AKA HONEY BUN

Whoosh we are going back in time to when she lived part of the year in southern Spain and to a hot summer's day in 1974. 

Constance and Hugo were having a siesta and she was with the dogs lolling about in the swimming pool. 

She realised, it was after lunch and she was not too swift on the uptake of this fact, that a dog had been barking non-stop for a long time and that the noise seemed to be coming from the small lane which led up to the house. 

Pulling on a dress and shoes, whistled to the 'boys' to come with her and left the house. Sure enough, there was a big dog by their fence and upon getting closer, she realised the poor animal was tied to the fence by a short leather lead. 

Oh dear.. another abandoned dog.. in the August heat.. how very cruel. 

Telling the boys to sit and stay, she walked up to the dog, a bitch, who had stopped barking and was looking at her with a beautiful, intelligent face and wagging her tail. 

The bitch was in immaculate condition, wearing an expensive soft leather collar and lead, but obviously someone had not wanted her any more.. grrrr. 

There was no question of what was she was going to do. She spoke gently to the bitch, who licked her hand and undid the lead from the fence. 

Prancer dancer.. wow.. happy dog.. she rushed up to the boys, barked in their rather astonished faces, then rushed back to her and together, they all walked back to the house. 

As you do, for one more dog when you already have five is no big deal.. and at least it was a dog.. not a goat! 

She went to her mother's bedroom and whispered "are you awake", "come in darling" was the response, then the funny miracle started to happen! 

Rolly, who was a huge German Shepherd, I regret to say was so pleased to be allowed into the bedroom that he totally forgot his manners and jumped onto Constance's bed. Whereupon, the 'stranger' also jumped onto the bed, growled and bit his ear!

Poor Rolly had never been bitten or 'spoken' to in this rude fashion by any dog, he fled and she flew after him down the corridor, through the sittingroom, out onto the terrace and down the steps into the garden. 

Where she chased him round the swimming pool until he gave up and stopped running. 

She walked up to him, stuck her long nose into his ear and must have said something quite fierce because he looked at her, wagged his tail and from that very moment on, she was 'boss dog' of the pack. 

By this time, Constance, Hugo and all the other dogs were looking down at this most extraordinary sight, which really was a most extraordinary sight as Rolly truly was an enormous dog and had never 
taken any truck or nonsense from another dog.

"Is that the noise maker" asked Constance, "are you keeping her or taking her to the dog pound".
"Too beautiful, too friendly, I couldn't give her away and you saw what she did to Rolly, he accepted her, mum, she's staying" and stay, she did. 

Then it transpired that she had been born three and a half years previously, in the local glass maker's back yard.

For in September, she went to get a pane of glass for the melon frame and Tomaso said "How did you get her? Did the Swedish family give her to you?" As he stroked and cuddled the dog, she said "wow, you know her, don't you, how come." 

Tomaso then walked to the back of the house and told her to come and look out of the window, there were a couple of dogs identical to the bitch!

"I bred her, she was born in the back room and on her right hind paw, she has a scar on the big pad where she cut it when she was a small puppy, I sold her to the Swedish family who live up near to Ronda, how did you get her?"

And so she told him the story of finding his beautiful dog tied to their fence on a hot August afternoon.. his face went dark and he said "but why did they not bring her back to me?"

" But I am thrilled that you have her, she will have a lovely life with your family, what 
do you call her" and so her name was told.

That her very exotic eye make-up was inherited from an Egyptian mother who married Mr. Bun the Baker, for her colouring was all shades of gold with black tips to her tail and ruff, her name was Honey.

He roared with laughter and chuckled and said "that was my name for her, I called her Miel"

And she was, she was her Honey until the day she died on July 12th, 1987 aged nearly seventeen.

She was her last dog, sometimes one is enough.

GeeGee Parrot.
December 19th, 2014.

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