A SAD START TO 2022...

hello darlings. It seems 2022 isn’t looking to throw us a bone just yet and has decided that our other dog Bear, who has cancer, is probably not destined to be with us much longer. His cancer has progressed quicker than we thought and its really taking a toll. I know a lot of you who have met Bear love him and know what a beautiful character he is, so losing him is going to be a massive blow, as losing Thor was

So yeah….a pretty shit start to the year so far, but this is what happens when you have things in your life that mean something. Nothing lasts forever, and after much pondering and trying to get my feelings into words, these are my 2 cents on life:

“I heard a wise man say the other day that to be able to counteract the suffering and pain we will go through in life, we need to find a level of purpose that can keep us in balance. Happiness is a wonderful thing, but it can be intermittent and temperamental. Purpose on the other hand, can be one of the only things that drives us to get out of bed in the morning when everything else in our life would have us curl up and succumb to the deep despair we will all feel in our lives at various points.

Life is not supposed to be fair, or easy. None of us are owed happiness in any form and there is no cosmic meaning or justice to our existence, just what we find for ourselves. A sense of purpose and belonging is going to be completely unique to each of us and sometimes it can take a lifetime to find if we don’t look in the right places. Everything in life is finite, with a lot of the best things we have and love leaving us far too soon. In those times, having purpose, having friends, having passions and reasons to keep going helps deal with those life blows which bring us to our knees at the mercy of an unfair world.

Life without the beautiful things that bring us pleasure would be meaningless, but they come at a price. You can try to not take risks and seal yourself up in an emotionless void for the fear of what pain you would feel, but that leads to a very empty existence in my view.

Grief and the pain of loss is a medal you wear to show how enriched your life has become because of what you have lost. Yes it hurts, sometimes unbearably, but if you can accept that the pain you feel is a testament to the love you have shared, it gives it a more purposeful meaning. A purpose to carry it with you in some form till the end of your days, keeping the memory of them alive and the pain as a reminder of what they meant to you.

In conclusion, you will suffer loss, you will hurt and you will feel like the world is unjust when it takes away the things you love. But if you can, be thankful that any time you have shared with them is worth every pang of sadness.

I hope you all find your purpose and meaning in life that keeps you going through the dark times. Whatever it is, treasure it and let it keep you afloat when the sea gets rough as fuck.

Much love to you all and to all who have been through the mill of late. If you are still here and haven’t been sunk by it all, you are doing good xxx”

I really want to deeply thank everybody for their support recently and throughout 2021. We were put in a very difficult financial position when we took on a homeless friend and his 7 dogs, but people were unbelievably charitable, supportive and gracious in helping us get through it all. Rehoming 5 of the dogs was heart breaking., with the owner managing to keep one and us taking on Thor. Your help and donations to the dogs cause is what kept us afloat, allowing us to manage to pay for treatment to give a dog 11 months more life than he was initially diagnosed with. So from us all here in the household, thank you you beautiful people for everything you have done. Its a sad house after the closing of Thors chapter, and soon Bears, but it was worth every second and every wonderful memory..

As you can imagine, things are still up in the air at the moment so its hard to commit to live streams in case we have a Bear emergency. But there may be a Wednesday drum stream and a Thursday bumfoolery stream should situations permit. Also this coming Sunday will be the first Vonbeardingham Band gig at the Bay Horse in Sudbury at 4pm. If you are out and about, please come down and see us, would be lovely to make your acquaintance xxx

All the best you absolute stunners and i’ll see you all soon xxx