I last put paw to keyboard on Thursday morning. That was before the little lunchtime incident! I would like to say at this point, that it wasn’t my fault … well, not exactly. You see, Richard had brought some bacon home from the office on Wednesday evening and had told Alex it really needed using up. Alex decided to have a bacon sandwich for lunch and, since Alex the floor fitter didn’t appear to have any lunch, Alex offered to make him one too. He used up all the bacon making the two sandwiches which was good. When he gave the sandwich to Alex the floor fitter, he put it down to move his tools so that I didn’t pinch them (I have a bit of a bad habit of stealing the workmen’s tools and taking them into the garden!). Well, how was I to know that the sandwich wasn’t for me? Alex (my one) turned around to see the last bit of bacon hanging out of the side of my mouth – oh dear, I don’t think he was all that happy about it! That said, he wasn’t kind enough to give Alex the floor fitter his sandwich! He just apologised and said something about “that barking dog” (at least, that’s what I think he said through his muffled chewing of what, I have to say, was a jolly good bacon sandwich!).
On Thursday afternoon, Alex was expecting a van to be delivered because he and Richard were going over to France on Friday to bring things back from the house. It didn’t turn up! Eventually, he contacted Europcar and discovered that, although the booking was for delivery and collection, the person who took the booking hadn’t put either the address or a phone number into the booking. This meant that the local depot couldn’t contact him and couldn’t deliver the van. Following a degree of stress, Cathy (Mrs Cheese) came around to the house to spend some quality time with me whilst Alex went to Croydon to pick the van up. Whilst he was gone I got hold of a bamboo stick and tried to chew it. Cathy took it off me (quite rightly according to Alex) because she was worried I would hurt myself chewing it. When Alex came back with the van Bren took him back to pick his car up, which he appreciated because he wasn’t happy about leaving it parked on the side of the road in a dodgy industrial estate off the Purely Way in Croydon. Richard and I went for a walk, but I knew where the bamboo stick was hidden and I barked and barked until eventually I got it. Richard supervised whilst I played with the stick although I didn’t really want to play with it, I just chewed it and destroyed it in about five minutes!
On Friday I got to spend the whole day with Zena, Simon and, later, Jake! It was brilliant! I got to play with my ball in the garden and we went to the pub and everything! Oh my woof what a day we had! Apparently, my friend Charlie’s dad, Norm, helped to load the van because Alex has a bad arm which was kind of him. By the time Alex and Richard got back from their trip to France I was shattered but very happy. It was about 9 o’clock in the evening – Alex had been to take Charlie’s mum, Irene, to Crawley Down (she had come back with them from France) and Richard had been to pick up a Chinese meal because it was late and they didn’t fancy cooking. Zena walked down the road with me and they all had a drink before Zena went home. I was actually a little bit sad when she went, but I settled down and pushed out a few ????s to forget my sadness in the certain knowledge that it wouldn’t be long before I saw them all again!
It transpired that I would see them again earlier than I thought. On Saturday morning they all (well not Jake because he was in bed) unloaded the van into the garage that Richard and Alex have. I assisted, of course, but it transpired that my assistance wasn’t all that welcome because I can’t carry boxes! Honestly, they are a bit fickle sometimes! Anyway, the good news is that it didn’t take too long and, since my assistance wasn’t required, I went over to Zena’s house and played with Jake (who was now up) which was much more fun.
One of the pieces of furniture that they had brought back was actually being sold to Lesley. Richard phoned her to make arrangements to get it to her and she said that she would be passing in about 15 minutes, so she would collect it. Richard waited for her whilst Alex, Simon and Zena went off to the house to unload the last few bits from the van. When Lesley arrived it turned out she wasn’t alone … she was with her mum Judy. I have known about Judy for quite a long time because she reads my blog, but I have never met her. I had met Lesley before, but never Judy. They came to Zena’s house and, although I was playing with Jake, I paws-ed to say hello. It was lovely meeting Judy and seeing Lesley again. It is quite strange really, Richard and Alex (particularly him) have some really nice friends which seems quite odd when you consider what they’re like (well, him really)!
On Saturday afternoon Bren and Cathy had a garden party which was nice. Before we went to the party, Alex and Richard took me for a walk around Bay Pond and Green Lane. Alex told Bren when we all got to the garden party that it was to ’empty’ me before being in his garden. I don’t think that is very respectful frankly, but you know what he’s like! As we got to the church it transpired that there was a wedding going on. I had the idea that we might pop in and have a look but, apparently, me chasing the bride up the aisle is not the done thing, so I wasn’t allowed!
There were lots and lots of humans at the garden party, including many of my friends – Mrs P, Jean, Fran, Iain, Simon, Zena and loads of other humans too! It was a bit damp though – it rained pretty much all afternoon. It wasn’t raining aunts and uncles like the other day, but it was drizzly and not very pleasant. I got soaked through to the skin, as did Alex, in the rain. When we got back home he had to get the hair dryer out so that I could get dry. It is rather ironic that he should even have access to a hair dryer because I suspect it is a very long time since he might have needed one! I like the hair dryer though and I have great fun with it blowing on me. I usually get a good blow when I have my hydrotherapy but it was good to do it at home!
On Saturday evening, we were invited to Fran and Iain’s house for dinner. It turned out that Bren, Cathy, Zena and Simon where there too. It was lovely, although I was feeling a bit out of sorts. Alex put it down to me getting a bit of a chill during the afternoon but, just for a change, he was wrong. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but he isn’t the brightest human ever born … he’s got a bow but no arrows, if you get my gist. Anyway, it wasn’t a chill at all, I think it might have been something I had eaten. By Sunday morning I had definitely developed a dose of diarrhoea! During the course of the evening I didn’t feel too great, so I got Alex and Richard to take me home relatively early so that I could settle down and go to sleep.
On Sunday, although I had definitely developed a dose of the trots, we went down to The Green to play with a new ball that Alex had bought for me. As an aside, I have looked up my symptoms on Doogle and have discovered that in Mexico it is called ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ (or ‘la venganza de Montezuma’!) which I think is a pretty accurate description because boy oh boy was something getting its revenge on me! We had a really good time on The Green with my ball though. Travellers had moved in on The Green on Saturday afternoon and, although they hadn’t stayed long, they had left quite a lot of mess. Alex and Richard found themselves trying to prevent me from eating the horse poo that was all over the place. As I wasn’t feeling too good in that particular department, I didn’t really have much appetite for it anyway!
Monday was back to the usual routine! Simon came and continued building the new kitchen (I like the new floor, it is really cool and comfortable) and Alex was working in his study. The kitchen is really coming on now and I think Alex is quite excited that he can see light at the end of the tunnel! Having said that, he was getting very stressed in the afternoon about the French house sale. It transpired that the buyers weren’t quite as far advanced as he had thought and that completion was not going to happen very soon. He was definitely not happy! At about 5.30pm he went out and left me on my own – I don’t mind short periods on my own nowadays. It turns out that he was going for another physiotherapy session on his arm. When he got back he was explaining to Richard (who had come home only about 20 minutes after Alex had left) that he now has three damaged tendons in his left arm (two torn and one inflamed). He blames them on me, but I can’t see how my gentle tugging around the village can be responsible! I think I’m just an easy target for his blame!
It is Tuesday already and I have just got back from my hydrotherapy session with my personal therapists Emily and Katie from Hydro Hounds. I did 12 minutes today which is excellent! I have been outside and had a drop of paddling pool because I was a little thirsty on my return but I am a bit tired right now and thinking that pushing out a few ????s might be in order. Alex is moaning again – I have had the odd little bottom burp this morning and he says it stinks. He is always so rude! Actually, Simon has now also noticed that I am producing quite regular bottom burps and that they are quite pungent, so there may be some truth in the allegation. No, I take that back, I have just produced a stunningly pungent bottom burp and Alex says he is going to have to leave the room, so it is true, I have wind! At least my diarrhoea has cleared up, so things are looking better! Mind you, this really is quite a bad one and I think I may have to leave too, so for now, must paws … ????
Quite a good shot of me with Monty but I didn’t know Fran had suddenly developed a blonde head of hair. But she did look very nice, I must say!