Daniel Oakley

Just to remind you that we have gone with friends to La Palma in the Canary Islands, except we aren’t there yet! Our plane couldn’t land because of high winds, so the plane diverted to Tenerife. We are now on the ferry with a lot of Spanish people dressed in white, on our way to La Palma. The people in white are on their way to the last night of a big festival on La Palma, where  “talc bombs” are thrown about, and tourists are seen to be fair game.

Anne, who is terrified of flying, felt the flight in was a little bumpy and the 3 attemts to land were unessessary. Vicky is now struggling because she hates anything to do with water. Paul and I are happy to be taking it easy and glad to be back on a boat. Piccies to follow.

A big thank you to Barry for our free tickets, we had a great day out at the boat show. Our aim was to research bathrooms and to see what was new. We failed miserably in the former but Paul spent a lot of time looking at generators, solar panels and calorifiers!

I looked at the boats, most of which were way outside our pocket. In fact I would guess that, for the most part, potential buyers were the retired, or soon to be retired members of the banking fraternity (after all they are the only ones with huge amounts of spare cash at present! If I sound bitter its because the HE Sector have just been told there will be huge cuts in funding).

Here are some of the bigger boats

And some of the smaller boats

If anyone else goes I would be interested in what you think. Oh and you might want to take your lunch with you as the food options were dire and very expensive.

I was walking Charlie in the park when I noticed the guy ahead of me bury his dog’s “download” in the snow. I wondered how many other dog walkers had been doing this and what would we see when the snow melts?

The following morning after seeing the boys I popped round to Exeter CVS to see the folks I used to work with. Great to see John, Liz, Von, Jo, Sue, Em and all the gang. Too early for Gabi, sorry I missed her. It seemed to be really buzzy, loads going on, really good to see.

Paul was keen to get up to Bristol before the snow arrived. He had meetings and the dentist and I had a reunion with other members from the SW Action Learning Set (see the new page I have set up http://danieloakley.org.uk/?page_id=809 )

The following day we woke to 6 inches of snow in Bristol. Should we stay or should we go? We went.
Paul drove. The roads getting out of Bristol were a bit dicey, but almost clear of traffic. The M5 was down to 2 lanes but OK. The worst bit was turning into my sister’s road, when we called to collect Charlie.

A quik cuppa and sarnie and it was off to banbury on the M42 and M40. The worst bit of the journey was the approach to Banbury in Oxfordshire. There was a huge amount of snow and we pulled thankfully into the car park at Wickes, near the boat. We went round into the arm to see a delightful winter scene. Jim had kept the fire on the boat going for us so it was It was good to be back.

I needed to see the boys. It had been so long since seeing Daniel and David in particular and Christmas had made things worse, so Paul and I dashed down to Devon last Monday to see them, after dropping Charlie off with my sister Lu.

We met up in Exeter and went for a meal. Dave had brought his new girlfriend Holly to meet us – it must be serious then! A lovely young woman, I thought she held her own very well with the boys when the banter grew more lively. Dave and Holly left soon after we had eaten as theyhad to drive down to Cornwall and the forecast wesn’t good. Dan and Nick came back to the Hotel and we had a drink in the bar.

Nick, my youngest son stayed with us until 1.45am as he was getting the coach from Exeter to Heathrow, to catch a plane to Miami the following morning. He was going to meet a young woman he met through Facebook. You can imagine all the scare stories his brothers told him!

Karen has published the Christmas 2009 Newsletter. I know some of you had trouble opening it but I have fixed that now.

See http://danieloakley.org.uk/?page_id=25 or download directly by clicking Christmas 09 Newsletter email-word2003

Donna called round with Ellie to play. The two dogs really like each other and Ellie has just finished her first season. Both Donna and I feel that Charlie and Ellie would have made lovely puppies together, but its too late now! Charlie has had the snip and Ellie goes to be spayed soon.
They had a great game of “terrier wrestling” on the boat and generally wrecked the place. Charlie has gone to sleep for the afternoon!

I have just updated my webpage about RBC Pet Care Services, which can be found here

http://danieloakley.org.uk/?page_id=750

Any of you boaters wishing to get away without boat and pets, just call round and moor up in Banbury. I can look after the pets, keep the fire going, and run the engine each day to keep the batteries charged up!

Happy boating.

Charlie took his Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze and Silver tests last Sunday and I am really pleased to be able to tell you that he passed.

The weather conditions were awful. It was a wet and cold day and I was doubtful that he would do even a 1 minute stay, one of the tests in the Bronze Award. However he was perfect, a very good stand stay for the Bronze (he didn’t even move a paw) and a 2 minute sit stay for the Silver. A really great effort (and no pressure on me as one of the dog trainers at the club!)

Have a look at the Kennel Club link to find out more about the tests.
I think they are a good idea, as they are aimed at the average pet owner and provide a starter curriculum and a focus for training. They are pretty basic but allow progression and give us all something to aim for.

As I have a new dog – Charlie, who keeps me out of doors most of the time, I thought I had better look at how I can earn some money. Gem suggested I look at dog walking and now here we are.

Welcome to RBC Pet Care Services and my new grey van for transporting dogs and any other pets if necessary. I have 3 customers already and I havent even promoted the service yet!

If you are in the Banbury and surrounding area and want to get away from home and pets, give me a call as I can offer pet sitting, dog walking and pet taxi services. If you are on a boat and hoping to get away before Christmas, you need to get between Cropredy and Aynho before the stoppages, and be prepared to spend 6 weeks in the area – then I can help with the dogs and cats.

I have spoken to a couple of well established dog walkers in Banbury (I am told there are 60 providers out there), and they have given me lots of tips and advice. Gem and Nic who have their own disco business have also helped with good advice on marketing and pricing etc.