Long John Silver

Triumph Saint Motorcycle

 

Back in the 1970s when I was a freshly minted Traffic Patrol officer, I had the pleasure of eventually riding a Triumph Saint motorcycle after being broken in on a Triumph Thunderbird. A great machine with only one or two foibles, but still good fun.

One day at the end of my daytime shift I returned home to my wife and newly minted sprog. Nothing much had happened that day and my brain had had little to occupy it, so as I took off my uniform and changed into ‘civvies’ I told her a tale. Went something like this.

“Guess what happened today love?”

“Go on, tell.”

“I was riding along Manchester Road in Rochdale when I came up behind a rather nice Rolls Royce. I followed it for a time and then went to overtake it and glanced into the drivers seat. Guess who was driving it”

“No idea.”

“Richard Attenborough the film director.”

“No!”

“Yes. So I had to pull him over and have a chat.”

“We talked about Police stuff for a bit and the films he had been in and was making and then out of the blue he suddenly said, ‘If you want, I can put you in the next film I am going to make. I think you’ll be pretty good.’”

“Well,” I said to my wife. “I don’t know about that. I’ve got a good job here and don’t want to throw it over for a film that lasts a few months.”

“That’s not a problem,” he says, “I can guarantee you four more films after this one.
So if you do alright in those then you will have a lot of exposure in the industry and can make your own way in the future.”

“So I thought about it for a minute or two and finally said to him, What’s the film?”

“It’s a remake of Treasure Island. I think you would do very well in the lead part of Long John Silver.”

“So I jokingly said, But I don’t have a parrot of my own!”

“ He laughed and said, Don’t worry, we’ll fix you up with a good one. There is only one thing though which might cause a problem.”

“What’s that I asked”

“You have to have your left leg removed.”

My wife thought about it for two or three seconds before hitting me.

Day Two With Ted

So. Rita went back to the breeder we bought her from. She was not a happy dog with us, she was nervous as hell, barked at anyone who came to the front door or entered the house and would not settle at all. Did not like going in the car and ran off when I took her for a walk with Reggie. It took 45 minutes and a high speed Reg to find her in the woods above the lake. Not happy.

Fortunately the breeder was happy to take her back (she was almost two years old and had never really been intended to be sold in the first place.) In her place we took one of the puppies the breeder had. There were eight puppies which were the result of a mating between a Golden Retriever and a Standard Poodle. He is jet black and a real bundle of energy.

Reggie is made up. A happy dog once more and despite the fact that he is still officially a puppy, Reggie has taken the little one under his wing. The pair are inseparable – despite the fact that occasionally Reggie wants to have a sleep. Not to be if the little one – who we have named Ted – wants to play.

When we brought him home yesterday the two of them got on very well together. Not too surprising as Ted had come from a litter of eight pups. Reggie was happy from the word go.

The first night we put them together on the landing at the top of the stairs and put a child proof wooden gate in place to stop the little on from falling down stairs. 6.45am the following morning they woke me with Teds’ whinging. No mess on the landing or in the bathroom where they both had access to and apart from a little disruption of their beds nothing untoward. Great!

Last night we did the same thing. Put down their beds, laid out puppy paper for Ted to poo on and put the gate in place.

Awakened by Ted whinging this morning at 7.15am – an improvement. Puppy paper was ripped up, beds all over the place and the child proof gate pulled down. Both of the little so and sos were romping up and down stairs full of the joys of spring and happy to see me. I went in the kitchen to find five small piles of poop and one a puddle of pee. Should I be angry or happy that the little sod had found the kitchen? Obviously at the moment he has decided that is the toilet. So far this morning he has done a pile on two occasions, or attempted to do two. Caught in the act and shown the back door. Some success.

I put the gate in place at the foot of the stairs just now to come out of the way and type this up. Ted and Reggie have just appeared. Seems like he has more brains than a kid.

It is great to see Reggie happy again. He has taken the little one under his wing, plays with him and runs around the garden with him. Incredible to see lthe development of Ted in such a short time, and also to see how Reggie allows the little one to bite his legs, dry hump him and run around like a loon. I feel that his is a partnership which will only grow in the future. Into a really good firm friendship.

Time will tell.