Justice For Julia

Tomorrow at 10:00 I will be walking the dogs in memory of PCSO Julia James, who was brutally murdered when out walking her dog.

Julia was a daughter, a mum, a wife, a community giver (notably, helping victims of domestic violence leave abusive relationships) and a dog lover.

There is so much that we can all relate to and so many of us who want to pay our respects to her and her family and friends.

The aim is simple. A group of friends get together and walk (with or without dogs) at 10am on May 23rd. If you can't make a walk, you can also be part of this by just remembering Julia at that time wherever you are. We ask that the walk be peaceful and within any government guidelines to keep yourselves safe. If you can wear a blue ribbon for her and maybe leave a flower or two in the place where you walk that will show others that walk later that we remember her. Let us know what you are doing for Julia and use the hashtag #adogwalkforjuliajames in any social media posts.

Please note this is a peaceful walk in her memory, it is not a protest. We are walking in respect for Julia and her life, no matter how frustrated we are about the lack of coverage (and we are!), let's keep this walk about her. If there are more than 30 that want to walk then we will need to split into further groups.

We will walk together knowing that we care and all women are worthy of our attention. Please keep it peaceful.

We will be walking alone, as Julia did on Dartmoor. 

I am sending huge love to all of those in policing and pray that justice will be done for Julia.

Marcasite Poodles Annual Meet Up

Our meet up this year will be slightly different. 

This time I will be booking a private 4 acre field here in Plymouth for us all to enjoy.

The meet up will be held on Saturday September 18th between 11am and 3pm. People are welcome to come and go throughout the day as they please. There is fresh water on site for the dogs and a picnic bench for us to relax on.

The meet up is open not only to my puppy owners, but also friends of Marcasite Poodles and anyone who is interested in learning more about the breed.

I do have to book dogs on individually, so if you are interested in coming please let me know in advance.

It goes without saying that no in season bitches should attend, nor any dog reactive doggos.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

The Paws Project

 

A few weeks ago Peggy, Edna and I visited the fantastic Lauren Von Trapp to work with her on a very exciting photoshoot which will be used as part of series titled The Paws Project.

The aim of the Paws Project is raise funds for The Dogs Trust who have seen a huge increase in dogs and puppies bought during the pandemic being surrendered to shelters now that people have returned to work.

The images will be displayed in two galleries - Glasgow and Wakefield and all proceeds from these ticketed events will go to The Dogs Trust. I believe that there will also be merchandise with the images on available for purchase.

The dogs had great fun participating in this project. Considering that they haven't been in a studio in quite some time I was expecting a bit of silliness and bouncing around but there was none of that - they both worked so incredibly hard, did everything asked of them and enjoyed every moment. I am so proud of my curly girlies.

I had some wonderful feedback too, as below:

Lauren, photographer:

'Peggy and Edna were a pleasure to have in the studio. I have never seen such well behaved dogs before - it honestly was a breath of fresh air! Your girls nailed it and the pictures are amazing.'

Kelly, makeup artist:

'Never work with kids or animals they say, well the poodle ladies were the most professional models I have ever worked with! Today was just the best! I'd jump at the chance to work with them again.'

I am definitely looking forward to going to the Glasgow gallery and seeing these images in person.

Just Exploring!

 

We have been exploring some new walking loactions recently, and having a lot of fun in the process!

My post COVID breathing complications seem to be much better and my medication is working well; so well in fact that I managed to climb Bellever Tor a few days ago and because I felt so great afterwards I have more Tor walking planned in the very near future.

When I head out to explore different walks from my usual Dartmoor jaunt, I always seem to head towards Cornwall and the coast but the truth is that Dartmoor is HUGE and I have only just scraped the surface of it. 

What I do lack, however is a little confidence - 99% of the time I am walking alone and on Dartmoor that can be scary. The weather can change so quickly and make the landscape look so different in the space of minutes and there are hidden bogs in places that people and animals can fall into and an abundance of ledges for me to fall off. There is also no mobile phone service on the Moors so it all makes for an interesting walk! I absolutely love it but I am always very cautious going to new locations, probably overly so. What I have decided I need is a decent lightweight waterproof rucksack that I can carry my essentials in, or Stanley if his little legs get tired, so I'm on the hunt! If anyone has any suggestions of brands I could look at please message me. I'd appreciate it!

Anyways, here are some pictures of our recent walks. I hope that you enjoy them as much as the dogs and I enjoyed the walks.

We found SNOW in May! It was a 12 degree day but the deeper into the Moorland we got the more snow we found!