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This picture of a French Army Knife was sent to me - mischievously - by Peter in South Shields

In this blogposting...

* The Sheepdog and the Panther

* AGM XXX

* The World:  A Truckshunter Geography

* Barcelona

* Fenwick's Window 2

Make of it what you will...

THE SHEEPDOG AND THE PANTHER
No matter how old and crusty we get, I reckon we never grow out of hearing those old-fashioned stories that have a ‘moral’ - fables that teach us the basic truths of life and the human condition in a gentle and often humorous way.

This one was sent to me recently by Eric and Jean….

An old sheepdog started chasing rabbits and before long, discovered that he was lost.  Wandering about, he noticed a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.


The old sheepdog thought ‘Oh, oh! I'm in deep trouble now!’


Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settled down to chew on them with his back to the approaching panther. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old sheepdog exclaims loudly, ‘Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?’


Hearing this, the young panther halted his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror came over him and he slunk away into the trees.


‘Phew!’ said the panther, ‘That was close! That old sheepdog nearly had me!’


Meanwhile a squirrel, who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figured he could put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So off he went.


The squirrel soon caught up with the panther, spilled the beans and struck a deal for himself with the panther.


The young panther was furious at being made a fool of and said ‘Here squirrel - jump on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!’


The old sheepdog saw the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thought ‘What am I going to do now?’ 


But instead of running, the dog sat down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hadn't seen them yet.  Just when they got close enough to hear, the old sheepdog said...


‘Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!’

And the moral of this story is...

Don't mess with the old dogs.  Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery. And remember - bullshit and brilliance only come with age and experience!

AGM XXX
Please don’t forget our extra special seasonal AGM.

The amazing Kev has invited us to hold it at his workplace so it will take place at 1100 on Monday 19 December at South Tyneside College in South Shields.

If you’re not sure how to get there, just ask.

And remember - a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Be there!

THE WORLD:  A TRUCKSHUNTER GEOGRAPHY
Please don’t forget to send me any quirky and/or surprising information you can find about the weird little country that is the next port-of-call on our ambitious round-the-world trip:  Andorra.

Get in touch in any of the usual ways.

I can’t wait to find out what you come up with!

BARCELONA
In a few days’ time it will be my 63rd birthday and, for the first time in all those years, I won’t be getting a card from my Mam.

I thought a lot about how Mam would want me to ‘manage’ the day without being overcome with sadness and I decided that a good way of doing that would be to go away somewhere - somewhere I’ve never been before - so that the day might be very special and memorable in positive rather than negative ways.

I mentioned my thoughts to a friend, and he immediately drew my attention to the newly-instated cheap flights easyJet are operating from Newcastle to Barcelona.  Wasn’t Barcelona, he asked, one of those places I’ve always wanted to go?

He was right, too.  Everyone I know who has visited Barcelona says it is a remarkable and magnificent city.  Its Catalan culture and Modernist architecture makes it a truly unique city which I have wanted to visit for many years.  It even has trams!

(And Andorra is just around the corner.)

John was right about the airfare, too; a return train ticket to London would be much more expensive.

So I’m going. 

By the time you read this, I should be on my way or may even have arrived there already.  I’ll be staying until the day after my birthday and will have my phone and laptop with me - so, if you’d like to, you can stay in touch.

To be honest, I can’t think of a nicer way to honour and remember my Mam on my birthday.  I think she would approve.

FENWICK’S WINDOW 2

To keep you occupied while I’m away, here are three more short videos of this year’s Christmas window at Fenwick’s.

 

Better yet; if you haven’t already done so, go and see it for yourself!!!

CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or email me:  truckshunters@googlemail.com