Three Great Loves- Tea

Tilly’s greatest loves were cups of tea, food (of any kind- and even things which aren’t meant to be food!) and walks.

No cup of tea was EVER safe from Tilly. Despite being a small dog, she would find a way to get to any mug. We will never be any the wiser of how she reached the tea which we thought we had strategically placed in a Tilly free place. We would place tea on the top of bookshelves or on a table with the chairs all tucked in (or so we thought!), but where there is a will there is way and Tilly was definitely motivated to get what she wanted.

As a family we all love tea, and we drink it that much that I could not tell you how many we consume in a day. This means there was no shortage of tea theft opportunities for Tilly. The number of times I went to sip my anticipated cuppa, only to raise it to my lips and gaze down to see an entirely drained mug. It happened to us all but it was my Dad who was a prime target. Dad loves watching films, series, documentaries, anything… and he will give most genres a try (except horror- can’t deal with jump scares!) Unfortunately, he works long hours, and most of the time will end up watching these TV through closed eyes. Tilly, always on the lookout, would take full advantage of this and by the time my dad woke up the entire mug would be empty. He would not only have missed an entire film, but also an entire cup of tea would have disappeared as well! The conversations would generally go like this:

*Dad turns on TV and instantly falls asleep*

*Tilly sees her opportunity and sneaks forward *

“Dad Tilly is going to drink your tea!!”

“Wha- mmhmm “ *snoring continues*

……….

 (5 minutes later) “Where is my tea?”

*Everyone looks at Tilly”

Dad was the prime target for taking unawares, but it was my Mum that could be relied upon to cave in and just give Tilly the rest of her tea in her bowl. As soon as my Mum was drinking a cup of tea, Tilly would be right next to her on the sofa, staring unblinkingly straight at her. Tilly would gradually edge closer and closer and closer until practically nose to nose with my Mum, and gaze imploring at her. If this was unsuccessful, though admittedly this was rare, she would then resort to her ultimate power move, trying to hold paws with you. Tilly would raise her paw and pat you with it. My Mum always thought I taught Tilly how to do this, but Tilly already knew so I can’t really claim credit for this. In fact, Tilly was always so good at paw shakes that she actually came first for it in a pet competition, and she also won the waggiest tail! (Very proud!!) When Tilly was elderly, and deaf, she would also bark nsistently at my Mum until she was given some tea to share.  the following predictable conversations between my Mum and Tilly would ensue: 

“BARK, BARK, BA-“

*Sigh interrupts the barks*

“Here you are then Tilly”

“Lap, Lap” (accompanied by thumping of a wagging tail)

One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful memories I have involves, tea, Tilly, and my boyfriend. My boyfriend doesn’t enter Tilly’s story until the later years of her life, so I will not be telling this story yet but just to warn you it is a tearjerker. It is one of those memories which helps to remind you of the good in the world, and especially of the pure love which can only be given by an animal.