There are so many other rewards that this past decade has provided. We have made many amazing friendships from like minded services through the phenomenal amount of Professional Development opportunities we have attended or hosted. Recently, one of our families has moved to Brisbane, however kept their space with us for the remainder of the year. A few weeks back we realised that they had not been able to find a space anywhere that they would be happy to leave their child and were waiting nervously on a small number of wait lists. Fortunately, we could recommend an amazing service who have attended every single Village Ways, every single Yarnin’ Up, and a handful of other opportunities we have hosted. It was so rewarding to hear a few weeks later that they had organised a tour and taken a position immediately. This kind of camaraderie between services has flourished over this past decade, something of which many of us have not had the pleasure of experiencing previously.
 
Whilst some of us have very fond memories from prior to the ‘trauma years’ (the ‘trauma years’ are basically the 10-15 years prior to 2012), before the years of over regulation, I still have to disagree with the statement. There is no way I would return to the years leading up to 2012, as what we are rocking right now has immeasurable reward.

... and the most exciting part...
“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.”  ~ Dr. Jonas Salk

 As an avid reader of books relating to childcare and education I was really looking forward to reading a Steve Biddulph book that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t yet read as I have gathered a large collection of his books over the years. We are slowly putting together a collection of reading materials for our family library at Milford Lodge and I really enjoy recommending books to families and following up on their thoughts regarding the content. The book in question which Molly found was titled “Raising Babies: should under 3s go to nursery?”
 This book was first published in the UK in 2006 hence the terminology of nursery as opposed to day care. Biddulph has very strong opinions on advocating for children under the age of 3 to be with their parent as opposed to spending their early days in group care. I actually found the book very depressing and judgemental. I remember saying to Molly afterwards “I’m not sure about including this book in our family library as I think the parents of our youngest babies will really be worried if they are causing long term damage to their child by using childcare”
I was quite torn by my feelings on this subject, as this was the area I choose to do my dissertation on whist studying my Bachelor of Early Childhood. At this time, I also held very strong beliefs about the harmful effects group care could have on young babies and I intentionally choose to nanny or work in preschools with over 3's  rather than work in  long daycare myself. Part of my role as Educational Leader now involves offering tours to families of sometimes very young infants and sharing our philosophy and practice. This is not something I could have confidently done twenty years ago, as I would have felt I was betraying my own personal beliefs. Half way through reading the book one particular sentence stood out for me in which Biddulph bluntly said if your child is in group care they are treated purely as a number and the strangers who work in these services won’t care for them or love them as much as you. A photo I had seen of Sharna and baby Lennox in our weekly news to families from Avocado Cottage immediately sprung to my mind counteracting this opinion.
The phrase ‘a picture can speak a thousand words’ springs to mind.  I had witnessed firsthand the care and attention all our staff, particularly in Avocado Cottage and School House put in to forming attachments and settling new children into Milford Lodge at the beginning of the year. This photo for me captures the complete joy and delight we derive from our relationships with every child who attends Milford. I actually sent Sharna a text message that  Saturday afternoon to say how much I loved the photo especially whilst reading such a negative book.

Having had the privilege of working in childcare for close to 30 years now it is safe to assume I have seen my fair share of both good and bad day-care services in many parts of the world. To be really honest, it was not until I began working at Milford Lodge almost 7 years ago now that I finally found a place that I would happily trust to care for my own children
​(if only they were still little!).
I thought I would share my own personal opinion of why and how my beliefs have changed since discovering this special place.
You may not know this but when Milford Lodge first opened in 1986 Margaretha chose to initially only offer care for children older than 3.  However soon after opening, families began asking about the possibility of caring for a younger age group. Margaretha decided if she was going to offer care for 2 year olds and subsequently babies it was going to be of the highest quality. She opened a new service specifically for 0-2years (this service is now Art Nuvo). Molly’s dad Frank built Avocado Cottage in 2004 and Margaretha ensured that babies had a slow transition into day care and only offered short hours to begin with.
We are very sensitive to the difficult decision parents make when they are choosing a day-care service for their most treasured possession. The research into neuroscience has greatly advanced in recent years and great emphasis has been placed on the importance of the first 1000 days in a child’s life.
This is referring to conception to the age of approximately two and a half years.  With this knowledge comes great responsibility to ensure we act with the greatest of integrity.
How do we do this you ask?

Not too long ago when the resource trucks came past our service, or we had a special day coming up which may require a template craft, each room was given a budget based on the number of children they had in their care across the week.
This was before the regulations changed in 2012, and sadly we were still very much stuck in the era of age segregation, developmentally appropriate resourcing, quality checklists and other such nonsense.
Every single room spent their budget, and usually a few dollars more.
Around the time of the change in regulation, I decided not to bother about the room budget, and just asked people to order what they wanted. We spent LESS THAN HALF of the previous times.
We ordered less resources, and I guess you could say became more resourceful.
How did this happen? Some part of our human condition saw the figure and felt we had to meet that?
It still blows me away.
Ever since then, I have ensured each member of the team knows they can purchase what they need whenever they need it, and for larger purchases just come and ask.

Since the regulations changed in 2012 we have been on an amazing journey at Milford Lodge.
To consider that a few short years ago we were still under the old regulations, and then look at now.
We have 100 children per day, aged birth to Kindergarten who are free to explore around an acre of licensed premise, with the main home and 5 separate cottages / buildings. They can play with whoever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want. They can share their day with their siblings or cousins. They can spend time with previous years' key educators. In fact, one might argue that is still the child's key educator, by their choice to continue to spend a large portion of their day, or share every meal time with them.
 What we are utilising when we allow this freedom for children is what is currently referred to as "Across the Service Ratios." In services where age segregation is still occurring, it effectively allows one room to be over ratio, and one room to be under ratio, so long as the ratios across the service are correct. It is to be used to benefit the children.
A simple example of this is that a child has a sibling commence care. The child is distressed when their parent leaves, however is happy to play alongside their sibling. Both rooms are fine with this arrangement, as the child is happy and engaged when with their sibling (do I need to reference Laevers* again?).
Now, if regulation currently allows these children to be together for their day away from their primary carer, why would we not utilise that?

Sadly many services are using what is commonly referred to incorrectly as "Under the Roof" (Not sure how we would work that one, we have many rooves...) to save on money. And because of this there seems to be a general misconception regarding "Across the Service". There are regular outcries in public forums with educators calling 'worst thing ever', 'poor practise', 'stressful', 'wrong' and also 'illegal'. Fortunately for us, our local department host network sessions for free, one of which was all about Across the Service Ratios. They showed us exactly how it works, who it benefits (everyone!) and why it is best practise. So we have a large percentage of qualified Early Childhood Educators suggesting, no, really truly believing that Across the Service Ratios are terrible. But to be honest, it is the fact that the service they work in most probably uses everything they can to the financial gain.

What if we removed the minimum?
Now, I know this sounds crazy, but then, Milford Lodge comes from a time before too many minimums... maybe none actually. Children played freely outside with their friends, and the adults provided some pretty awesome experiences - cooking, gardening, pony rides, water play, community walks, singing and games.... oh, hang on, that's a bit like 2018 Milford!

Imagine if we created beautiful spaces for children to enjoy, and then provided appropriate adult supervision for those children. Not based on their age or size, but in fact based on experience and common sense. Imagine if we drew on the knowledge of our families and community to provide this - oh wait, this is all in the Early Years Learning Framework, Regulations, UN Rights of the child and many more current documents.

So why are we still so ridiculously intent on counting the EXACT number of 0-2s, 2-3s and 3yrs+ children in one space?
Why are there still siblings in Australia crying for each other through an outdated regulated fence?
And why is nobody actually thinking about what is best for the children?

We *enjoyed* a spot check from our local department late last year, and they loved seeing Across the Service Ratios being put into practise correctly to benefit the children.
Kathy Walker suggests that if the children's needs come first all day every day like they should, then shouldn't services adapt their practices - I can guarantee that it is in every service philosophy in some way, shape or form. I have never read a philosophy that states "We aim to group children by their date of birth to provide quality care" or "It takes a Village to Raise a Child, but in this village thy siblings shall not meet..."

To all of those working with young children, we are now 7 years into the new regulations, regulations which were more favourable to the services who stuck through the "Trauma Years" (Thanks Michelle Scheu - my favourite line). We are in an era where services can now offer more freedom to children.

Milford Lodge is not usually one to promote trends, on account of usually 'walking to our own beat' - but if you are really passionate about quality care for children, and believe you advocate for their rights to play and to be happy - and for goodness sake, to spend their few short early years with their sibling then now is a good time to jump on that bandwagon.
Get on it before it's gone.

We were extremely fortunate to have had the privilege of listening to Wendy Lee for the second time last weekend.
​I love everything she stands for - and her main message, the key ingredient to this 'teaching' gig - RELATIONSHIPS.
​Both times I have listened to Wendy, she has reminisced about two great teachers she has experienced as a child, and that they had cared deeply for the children in their care.
​Having heard her the first time, I thought about my own experience as a school student, and could not recall if I had in fact had a great teacher, that stood out, and whilst I recalled many good teachers, I ruled it out. I'd never had one.
​Having heard Wendy reiterate these memoirs at the weekend, it has had me thinking yet again - have I had a great teacher?
​In the meantime, we have had some exchange students from Tatebayashi, Gunma, Japan stay with us this week.
​This has been very special for me, as I was in fact part of the pilot year for the sister city relationship between Tatebayashi and the Sunshine Coast... 21 years ago!
​We have 2 students staying with us, and one has been extremely homesick. It's all cool - I've done this before! And as we all know when we get older, it feels like only yesterday...
​Whilst the old Japanese is quite rusty, it has made me realise just how much I have known and experienced. Slowly blowing the dust off this week has uncovered so many treasured memories, and has made me realise, actually, I had some amazing teachers at Matthew Flinders.

​In 1996 we hosted the first students from Tatebayashi. We were only 13. The students staying with us, many of whom had never been abroad, were also 13.
For one whole week we had a sister or brother. Language was not easy as both parties had only learned the other language for a few years as a school subject, jammed in amongst all of the other subjects in our week. This was the 90s - no devices, we used our dictionaries to assist our broken conversation. Risa cried most nights, and then pointed to her dictionary "cry baby", then we would both laugh, her through her homesick tears. We got out of school for an entire day to go on tour with them, on the Sunshine Coast. We all had a great week, and were sad when it was time to say goodbye.
​Fortunately the idea was to reciprocate, and so in 1997 - just 12 months later - a whole bunch of us from 3 different grades boarded a plane to Japan with two Teachers, one amazingly fluent, and one with not one word of Japanese.

Our first stop was Kyoto for around a week. Our extremely experienced teacher took us to a plethora of temples, shrines, castles, parks and of course (by bullet train) to Hiroshima. She taught us how to navigate the suburbs, cities and country via bus, train, subway, bicycle, on foot - you name it - she ensured we were all over it. And we were.
​She found us little side streets for authentic gifts and top notch okonomiyaki. Knowing we were going to Japan, she had honed in on the directional language and anything we would need to know to get us around.
​We got back to our hotel each day, after a full day experiencing history, culture, cuisine and people, and changed out of our school sport shirt, and into civilian wear.
​And here's where I realise how great our teachers were.
They basically said 'see ya later' - go out (in groups), find dinner, go shopping, meet people, enjoy the city, and be back by 9pm.
​In a big city, in a foreign country. We knew how to go anywhere on whatever transport the city had to offer and speak enough to work out what was happening. We were 14.
We were also in the mid 90s, and so we had no phones, no devices.
​What a great time to be overseas without your family at 14!

How funny, I kept trying to think if I had great teachers, and kept hitting blanks, as I was considering the classroom.

As we look forward to hosting Peter Gray in October, and having heard his story of allowing his own son to go to London on his own via plane at around the same age,  I realise just how privileged we were as students, not only to be able to go on a 3 week trip abroad without our parents, but also to be able to be given those gifts.
Those two teachers gave us some of the greatest gifts of all - trust, freedom and independence. (Not to mention real knowledge - the useful 'street' stuff!)

​So if you are reading this, sincerest thanks Jo Bush & Lyndel Grant - great memories allowed by two fabulous teachers!

The past six months have been extremely hectic.
November & December are always busy with events and the mad rush to somehow clean everywhere (home and work!) by Christmas Eve, or the day before you leave for holidays.
The first two weeks of January included the finishing touches on our beautiful new Library, and whilst the plan was to then only do small jobs for the remainder of the time - no... we decided to completely gut the bike track area, including dry creek bed and 20 years worth of chip bark, just to make it look 'fresh'.
After this the realisation of participating in a (serious) season of surf boat rowing with an extra decade under the belt, renovating a house, running a business and taking care of a family was not as carefree as I recall from my 20s!
After a disappointing cancellation of our National Titles we were straight off to Ireland for the best friend's wedding, only to return at the beginning of May.
I blinked and six months just flew by.

Now that the calm is setting in (thank goodness) and I have time to partake in the 'think tank' jobs, it has dawned on me over the past fortnight that we have been missing something these past six months.
We have actually lost our greatest teacher.

Duncan McNaught fist began sharing his knowledge with our children back in 2013, when my own daughter Niamh was in Kindergarten. From that first Urban Food Street adventure a wonderful relationship formed.

Over the next few years we became much more frequent visitors to Food Street.
Our children harvested rosellas, turmeric, sweet corn, pumpkin, cabbages, lemons and much more.
We dug with our hands, washed produce with the hose, cut with the secateurs, tasted with all of our senses!
Duncan always kept us on task "Come on guys - this is serious work we're doing now!"
One could quite easily underestimate the learning environment that such a place is for children.
Not only were the children gaining knowledge on various types of produce, there were so many other important learning opportunities occurring simultaneously.
We'll start on the physical. Obviously walking to and from and around Urban Food Street was big enough in itself, but then all of the other muscle groups like squeezing the hose or a pair of secateurs, digging into the ground with your hands or a shovel, carrying produce, or using your hands and fingers to peel.
The there is the social. During our visits to Urban Food Street the children are talking to each other, to Duncan, to other residents or people walking their dog. They are asking for things and taking turns. They are discovering new words for their ever growing vocabulary. They are curious and not afraid to ask.
My favourite was a question from Shi Qi (4 years old) last year who interrupted Duncan mid sentence to ask him "But Duncan, why are you so old?"
Duncan laughed like anything, took it in his stride, said something about how old he was and then continued with what he was sharing with the children about.
And we can even mention the more 'academic' outcomes too if that floats your boat. On many walks to Urban Food Street children began to point out the house numbers and then they began to look for them on the walls and letter boxes, and recite the numbers on the front. The older children would then share that knowledge with the younger children. Number 10 is actually in a big tree. Then there are all of the street signs along the way, not to mention the Urban Food Street community chalk boards (telling of upcoming working bees etc.) and also the little produce signs.
And let us not underestimate the most important outcome for all of our children - wellbeing.
The children being able to spend a few hours of their day wandering around the verges of Urban Food Street with their friends - actually, not just children - anyone!
We could go on and list community involvement, sustainability, health, safety and many more, however I think you get the picture.

As we visited more and more, our children began to share their knowledge and skills - to the point that our families became curious. Then began our quarterly family walks, a beautiful start to the day with a 45 minute walk around the verges led by Duncan and finishing with a complimentary breakfast.
These mornings were such a highlight - with many families bringing grandparents, uncles, aunties, older brothers and sisters, babies in strollers and family friends. They were always filled with questions (from all ages!), sharing of knowledge and lots of laughs.

Six months ago the residents of Urban Food Street each received a letter from the local council stating that they would need to get permits and $20 million public liability insurance if they wished to continue growing, after a complaint was made about the appearance of the street and the safety of the verge gardens

At the time, we shared our sympathy and offered our support.
But I fear it is too late and perhaps we could have done more.
And now we pay the price - we have lost a valuable part of our program and our community.

Yesterday we were all in shock with the news that the council moved in, cut down, and massacred all of the fruit trees growing outside Clithero House (Duncan's house). They did not even stop to allow the residents of Food Street to save the produce which was all ripe and ready, and in huge abundance.

What message are we giving to our children by vandalising this community?
​In an age where we are apparently promoting sustainability, we tear down mature fruit trees laden with the best produce around and just toss it in the bin. In an age where mental health disease is at an alarming all time high, we ask such an initiative which has boosted local community health and wellbeing in immeasurable amounts that they pay Public Liability Insurance. In an age where families are becoming more and more disengaged with each other we cut out the heart of a real community.
​8 years of passionate, hard work to hopefully make a change for the next generation... just taken away.

I have never witnessed any of our children walk into a lemon tree, trip over a cabbage or crack their head open on a nasturtium leaf. What I have witnessed in Urban Food Street is a beautiful and caring environment for our children to share, learn and grow in - a 5/5 on The Leuven Scales for Well Being and Involvement.

Those with children, or working with children would hope not only that their children are happy and involved, but that they also know right from wrong.
On a walk down to UFS to witness the destruction yesterday, my little friend Flossie told me "They're very mean!"
She nailed it.

'We have had the privilege of listening to amazing speakers over the past few years, including Peter Gray, Teacher Tom, Alistair Bryce- Clegg, Niki Buchan, Kathy Walker, Prue Walsh and Juliet Robertson to name just a handful.
One of the first speakers we heard at our first Inspired EC "Unwrapping" Conference back in 2014 was the gentle and softly spoken Wendy Lee from New Zealand.
Wendy shared many beautiful messages and memories with us, but her main focus for that particular conference was meaningful documentation.
It was time to rid ourselves of the DAP system and checklist style documentation that the 'trauma years' provided and really strip back, and start to think about documentation that a child and their family would cherish well past their Early Years and hopefully for their entire life. What an exciting time for us, to be able to really put thoughts on paper in the form of stories and letters for children to keep a memory of their time with us, and not just a tick box chart of whether they could kick a 10cm ball through a 20cm hoop while standing on one leg with their eyes closed.
(OK, the checklists weren't that bad, but we were still very happy to rip, tear and destroy!)

Wendy said that many people suggest to her that they cannot write, or that they aren't writers.
But she says that everyone can write. They just have to start.

~

2014 through to 2015 was a difficult time for my family.
My father, after 6 years of living with an extremely debilitating stroke, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and we all knew that he had actually just had enough. He could no longer handle living like he was.
With a little help from the medical profession, he prolonged his few weeks to around 3 months, but it was not easy on him, or anyone around him, especially his family.

Whilst it felt like odd timing to write one of my first learning stories, it had been on my mind,  and so I actually wrote this while he slept, and about half an hour before I said goodbye to him for the last time. 

Harper's family loved my letter, and I would like to think that they will keep it forever.

I am very much looking forward to listening to Wendy Lee again this year, as she headlines at our Village Ways conference.
I might even take her up the hill to have a drink with my dad.

When we ask people their recollections of Milford Lodge, even from before we offered a full kitchen, they almost always include the enticing smell of baking wafting through the front entrance upon arrival.
As children attending Milford Lodge in those first few decades, we collected the eggs from the chook pen, which then went into those daily enticements better known as morning tea.
There are always many more recollections from the children and families who once attended, however for some reason those wonderful and welcoming aromas seem to have their own special safe place within the memory bank and manage to come wafting back at the mention of their time at Milford Lodge.

There are memories surrounding food that are no longer acceptable now like these children licking the bowl after helping make a cake including eggs from our own chickens. Where do we even begin to list the health and safety issues surrounding that! I recall bobbing for apples against my best friend on another occasion. And I am certain that when it came to lunch time, we all shared from our lunch boxes with our friends.

Fast forward to today and we have had a full kitchen for the past decade, complete with chefs who are extremely passionate about providing good, wholesome food for our children.
But is it all about employing someone to plate food up for children?
Not it is not. It is about so much more than that.
 The chefs have a pivotal role in making food a massive part of our daily program, from the garden to the plate.
Our chefs are not only interested in the food that they are serving to the children, they are genuinely concerned of the health and wellbeing of every child in our care. They ensure children are given the opportunity to work in small groups, helping prepare food, take leftovers to our pets, and even go to the trouble to find odd jobs for the child that just wants to have some quality time with them - like peeling stickers off apples! (No joke!)
Our chefs have conversations with our children, and take a genuine interest in their learning.
They are also extremely patient, and happy to answer the 100 questions that can emerge from a four year old within minutes.

I was part of a conversation of families discussing Early Childhood services recently. The conversation began due to one parent's impending 'return to work' from Maternity Leave. After the general discussion on the service itself, days and the transitions from home to care the conversation moved to the 'perks'. The service was open for those extended long hours that most services are now. The service was currently discussing the implementation of a courtesy bus. The service 'does food'. It was at this point that the other family chipped in "you're on a good wicket when they do the food."
The general consensus seemed to be that the more the service could convenience the family the better that would be.

I absolutely understand the pressure of today on a parent. I am a parent too. We both work, many weekends thrown in the mix. We both have other commitments which take time away from 'family'.
I am in no way judging these families, who happen to be friends of mine, or belittling them in their decision making surrounding care. They are great parents and have happy, healthy children.

I am questioning the sales gimmicks that we now see rampant in the Early Childhood Industry. Many people within the industry detest that word - industry. But the truth of the matter it is an industry, and many services look and feel more like a factory than a home for children. And where sales gimmicks are involved, that screams industry.

There are many Early Childhood services who 'do food' by having a truck come around with pre-prepared and portioned meals that can feed every child at a low, low $2.50 each. They even get up to 2 hot meals a week. There are so many things I find alarming in Early Childhood, and these 'Food Truck' businesses would be right up there. You can't 'do food'.
Food is so much more than that.

In the first five years of life, a child’s brain develops more and faster than at any other time in their life. The early experiences a child has – the things they experience, see, hear, touch, smell and taste – stimulate their brain, creating millions of connections.
Why would we remove an entire experience and one in which is arguably one of the most important, by providing meals from a truck, which apparently meet some tick of approval from some department regarding their 'nutritional value'.

Food deserves so much more than that.

Our friends over at Urban Food Street have re-created an entire community, and it is all from food.
The Urban Food Street neighbourhood is thriving - kids play in the street, families actually know each other, the elderly are cared for, and yes, they gather over food. People have always gathered over food.

But why have they transformed their nature strips?
They are not a business. It is not for monetary purposes.
Duncan & Caroline, and all of the people who live in and around Urban Food Street are passionate about making a positive change for our future. At every quarterly family walk, Duncan is very specific about how important it is for the children to be immersed in this from a young age.
To understand where real food comes from.
To understand where real community comes from.
To understand about really caring for the land and each other.
No gimmicks required.
The results of the passion and hard work from this community speak for themselves.

So, we don't "do food" at Milford Lodge.
If doing food only costs $2.50 per child, then we have gone over the budget at least 10 times over! (...and some?)
Children who attend Milford Lodge are actively involved in planting, weeding, watering, growing, harvesting, chopping, plucking, slicing, squeezing, mixing, pouring, measuring, tasting, licking, smelling, sharing, serving, carrying, counting, setting.... and yes, gathering... over food, glorious food!

This is my village. Buderim Village. This is where I grew up.
Well, it wasn’t quite like this when I grew up in the 80s and 90s.
 
There were only around 4000 people living in Buderim back in 1981 when my parents bought Milford Lodge, and there were cow paddocks down the road. My brother was amongst the last group of children to start their first formal year of schooling in bare feet, and for years my mother took the afternoon group to Buderim Mountain Preschool on the Milford Lodge ponies, and returned with the morning group on the same ponies.
We knew all of the children in the nearby houses and were free to walk to each other’s houses to play.
The kids next door to us had a brand new Sega Master System, which we didn’t have – so loved going there to play video games. We on the other hand, had all of the farm experiences and they loved coming over, especially when there were new baby goslings, ducklings or chicks.
​The other parents would be there if anything happened, but also to chip us if we were doing something wrong.
I got my first job opportunity at about the age of 12 at the local fruit shop, where I already knew the owners as my family had been buying their fruit and vegetables there for years prior. From them I learnt many things. They were fantastic employers and so even from that young age, I had a lot of respect for them and I worked hard for them.
We were effectively… raised in a village.

This is Lola.
She is part of our family and she is also very well loved within her village and neighbouring villages. Even people who do not usually have a love for animals love Lola.
She is also an excellent running companion.
We were out running one morning and she was really slow and panting a lot. We got about a mile away from home and she just sat down and wouldn’t get up again. I then realised she had been pretty tired two nights earlier when we ran and had that little bell ‘ding’ moment in my head.
​I thought, she’s got a tick. I searched all over her and finally found it right near her collar. A huge tick had been living on her for a good few days, maybe more. I knew I couldn’t let her run any more but I couldn’t leave her behind, as she would probably try to follow me. And I am not one of these new age people that run with devices, so I couldn’t phone my husband. So I picked her up and started to jog home. Now, Lola is small for a boxer, but she is still a boxer which is a medium sized dog. She wasn’t light. Eventually I couldn’t run anymore and so slowed to a walk. I had to stop and put her down at one point. During this time I reckon about a dozen cars went past me.
A woman carrying a medium sized dog down the road, and I am sure that my face must have shown a wonderful blend of stress, upset, pain…
Not one car stopped.
Not one person thought that just maybe I might need some assistance. Not their problem.
I was so completely shocked. I still am actually.
Thankfully after a few days at the local vet, Lola was fine again. We still go running, but she gets tired now, being almost 8.
​