November has arrived two days early. There was snow on the ground when i got up this morning. The strong east wind is stripping the trees of their last bright colours. The rain is heavy and the ground is saturated from the days of rain we have already had this month.

As I look out my window the Guineas emerge for an afternoon stroll. They are drenched, their feathers dripping and clinging, yet they refuse to admit that summer has left and ignore the open door of their warm, dry shelter.

The leaves are whipping by and the rain is horizontal rather than vertical as the gusts hit close to 100 kms an hour. The power just flickered off, twice, so I am going to close this now.

Loss is often very difficult, especially the death of one you love deeply.

The fact that it is very busy at Mandala in the summer, is probably the real reason that I haven't written for a long time. But when I opened my blog and saw the photo of Remma, my beloved partner dog, I would close it again and find something very important to do. Its been 6 months since he died so suddenly and I can finally look at his picture or think about him without feeling totally empty.

Josie had joined my family about a month before Remma died. They had become good friends. After his death I found I almost resented poor Josie. She was not the dog I wanted. She was not him. Josie is very empathetic, very sensitive in a deeply grounded way. She waited. She didn't try to force herself on me, but she was always there when I needed a warm body to hug. She missed him too, although their friendship had been short. She accepted my grieving. And slowly, as the fog lifted, my heart opened to this very wise girl. Josie was,I am sure, born a therapy dog. That's why she ended up here.Remma was wonderful with and helped many dogs. Josie helps people. Including me.

later in the summer I fostered two lovely puppies for Atlantic Small Dog Rescue.What a great organization.They have saved and re-homed so many dogs.That's where Josie came from. One of the puppies got adopted very quickly. The other stayed with me and quietly wormed her way into my heart. Adopting her was a hard decision. She was a grand puppy and I truly loved her, but awhile ago I had set myself a two dog limit. If I adopted Shiloh, that meant I had made the decision not to get another Maremma. I loved that breed, I loved Remma. Shiloh eventually completely captivated my heart and the difficult decision was made. She's 6 months now and a very beautiful dog.