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2 Dec 2010

December 2010 - MY NEW COAT

I had a lazy start to the day today, just couldn't seem to wake up.



Eventually I managed to drag myself away from the settee and we went for a walk into Seaton Delaval, it takes us about half an hour to walk there. Its a nice walk along the main street through the village and we normally meets lots of other people and other dogs.

It was nice when we set off, but it started to snow pretty bad, I was well soaked. And to be honest even I didn't really enjoy the walk home in the blizzard, it hurt my eyes a bit.

Anyway most of the other dogs had nice coats on,they looked really cosy. So on the way back we popped into Carltons the big pet shop, and I got a new coat.



I wore in on the way home and it kept me nice and warm and dry. Now I wear it each time we go out, I like it.

Today we went for a walk along the Dene and I met my friend Charlie and he had the exact same coat on.






Here are some photos from our walk along the Dene.









Well its snowing again so I think its time to relax now.

28 Nov 2010

December 2010 - SNOW TIME

The other day I came downstairs, went outside in the garden and my feet disapeared.  What a fright, I thought it was a bit bright outside, but I must have still been half asleep I didnt notice that everything was white.  I snuffled around to see what was going on, it seemed all right.  I heard afterwards that this was called snow, and it comes to Britain every year around Christmas time.  I remember something like this in France, but not as deep and not as much, in France where I used to live it just came down, made the road look white for a few hours then went away.


This is just great


I was a little worried that I wouldn't get a walk that day because of this snow, as Mam and Dad didnt seem too happy about it.  But I was wrong, soon after breakfast we all got ready, boots and coats, scarves and gloves, (except me, I didnt need anything extra) and off we went for a walk.



I just could not contain my excitement, it was great fun, a bit like being on the beach in the sand.  I got into trouble a bit for pulling on the lead, but I couldnt help it, I just wanted to get to the Dene and play. 


Snowball Searching

Well today we woke up to find it has been snowing again and its really deep now, even I found it hard to walk in. Anyway we have been out for a walk this morning, it was still snowing when we went but that didn't matter, not to me anyway.

As soon as I was off my lead that was it, I was off, rolling and jumping and running through the snow, its great fun.  It was very deep in places, it went right up to the top of my legs, bit chilly on the underbelly bits but great fun.
Snowball Catching

My favourite game now is snowballs, I can catch them when Mam and Dad throw them at me, they make sure they are soft though, don't want any broken teeth.  Sonetimes they throw them so I can chase them, and this is great fun, the funny thing is I can never find them but I enjoy the chase, and the search.

Dad says watch out for the yellow snow, I think I know what he means, he can be a bit rude at times.

When I get home we have to pick the lumps of snow out of my feet and face and I have to get a good towel down and a brush.


Its nice and sunny now, although the snow is still deep on the roads. Mam says the snow should start to melt, they have cleared the path and uncovered the car and they say they hope that will be the end for a while,  This has been one of my best walks ever, and I am sorry but I am wishing for lots more snow.

Takes a bit of clearing off my fur

20 Nov 2010

November 2010 - WORKMEN IN THE HOUSE

Tuesday morning we where up at the crack of dawn, and I mean dawn. It was hardly even light when the alarm went off.  We all got up and Mam and Dad started moving furniture and putting ornaments and things out of the way.  It was a bit like when we where moving house, the place started to look empty. 

Then a van pulled up outside and a man came to the door.  Well I gave him a good barking at, I had never seen him before.  Mam told me not to worry and she invited him in. I got a nice ear rub off him, this looked like it was going to be ok.

Soon another man arrived, and together, they quickly took over the garage, with their tools and boxes, pipes and other things. 

They went through the house and took all the radiators off the walls and took them away. They drilled holes in the walls and made lots of noise. I followed them around, all the time getting tickles and strokes, I didnt like the noise to much but it was ok.

Then lunch time arrived. They sat in the kitchen with their sandwiches, one had ham and the other had chicken, and they smelled lovely.  I worked hard on my 'I am so hungry' and 'please feel sorry for me' looks.

Normally I can get a snack by using my eyes. First, I drop my head and look up longingly with big staring eyes. Blast, nothing forthcoming. Hmm, I thought, that normally works, I must be losing my touch. I decided that the 'Ben would love to share your food dance' was needed.  This dance is a sure thing for getting a treat or a tit-bit. 

I start by sitting on the floor making sure I am facing all the people who are eating and that they can see me very clearly.  Then I drop my head low and raise my eyes upwards, the feel sorry for me look, then I carefully move my front paws in short shuffly moves side ways to the left and to the right.  This gives me a very small movement, but just enough to attract attention.  If this still dosen't work then a very small whimper is sometimes needed. I think they were so busy talking it took the whimper to clinch it.

It worked, yummy, from that day on I shared their lunches each day in the kitchen. In fact I think they brought extra for me.

It took them only 4 days to complete the work,  I missed my lunch breaks after that, back to chew sticks instead. Oh well, never mind, I understand its better for me to stick to dog food, Mum says I am getting a bit podgy.

The house is nice and warm and back to normal, and its nice to sleep by the radiators after a long walk in the snow.

Looking forward now to the next workmen to arrive, hope they have good sandwiches.

17 Nov 2010

October 2010 - WHERE HOME AT LAST

Hi, I havent written for some time, thats because I have been so busy settling in to my new life.  I intend to continue the story now that things have settled down and we have more time. 

Well I love my new house, now that I am getting used to it.  People walk past the house with their dogs and I can see the kids going to school and the postman, and lots of other things going on in the street.  We didn't get to see all this activity before as our last house was surrounded by large hedges and trees.  It was funny at first, I thought everyone was walking in our garden, so I just barked at everything and anything that went past. 

The paper boy is getting used to me now, I think, and the postman as well. The postman walks past our front window as he takes a short cut from the next door house. I am usually asleep when he comes, and I suddenly hear his footsteps outside and see him at the window, this gives me a fright, so I give him a fright back by barking and jumping at the window.  Dad gets a bit annoyed about this and tells me to stop it. 

There is a puppy over the road, he is a lovely looking black and white dog, with a lot of white on his face. And there is another dog down the road, also black and white, but he looks a bit older than me. I see them quite often going past the house on their walks.   We live at the edge of Holywell Dene and we walk for miles in there.  We get to meet loads of other dogs and people in there and I have made lots of friends.  I am still trying to understand the Geordie language.

It is colder here but I have a fur coat and I dont feel the cold too much, in fact I quite like it being cool all the time.  We often go to the beach where I can swim in the sea, yes even in the winter.  Mind Dad says I can't go in the water just now, he has read in the paper that a dog drowned in Cullercoats Bay last week, thats not far from here and he is worried that I get swept out to sea as well.  Thing is I love the sea, so its something we will have to be careful with.

We get lots of visitors, Sarah and Mike come along sometimes with Connor.  Connor is 6 years old now and he loves to come for walks with us. Its nice to have someone to run with me through the woods, Connor is quite fast. He is good fun to be with, and he feeds me his spare biscuits.

Nick and Kellie come along often with Morgan, now this is fun, Morgan is nearly two years old and he goes straight into the kitchen to get me one of my chew sticks, he often drops his biscuits and I normally get them.

Jen and Dick, Poppy and Sam have been, I took them through the Dene and along the sand dunes.  All Mams and Dads family have been along so its been a very busy time.

We get along to Nans as much as possible she loves to see me, and I get lots of tickles from her.

We have had to have a lot of work done on the house as well, new heating, new bathroom, so we have had lots of workmen in the house.  This has been interesting and I am going to tell you all about it in my next blog page, this has been fun.  But the strangest thing is how things keep changing.  The chairs keep moving around, the beds and tables are often in other places, and worse my dishes and toys keep moving, I never know where my lunch and water are going to be.  Mam says she is just trying to get things in best place to make the house look comfy and nice.

Next story is going to be about the Workmen in the House, great fun this was.

13 Jun 2010

May to June 2010

Its a long time since I wrote in my diary.  Its been a very busy few weeks.  The house is up for sale and there have been lots of people viewing it.  Linda (who I like) comes along quite often with people who want to live here, some are French and some are English.  I know this as I can understand both languages, having been born French and living with English people.

Anyway the house sold with no problems, and now everything is packed up again.  I was a bit worried at this time, but I saw my bed going into the removal van so I considered that I was going with them.  The van took all our things away and we had nothing but an empty house.

Mum and Dad cleaned it all through and cut the grass and gave it a general tidy up.  Then we set off to a cottage in the Loire where we were to stay for a couple of weeks while all the paperwork was sorted.

The cottage was very nice, we could walk to the river so I had some nice swims there, we found a  nice restaurant nearby overlooking the river and went there a couple of times.  There was a retriever there called Maximum who I got quite friendly with, he lived there all the time, which is probably why he looked a bit overweight, he got lots of food off people.

At the cottage there where 4 other dogs, all females and they wouldnt leave me alone, I wasnt interested in any of them, I think they where a bit of show offs as they could do jumps and agility things.  I cant and to be honest I dont want to, cant see the point of it myself I prefer to swim.




Anyway we set off in the car early one morning and came to England through the Tunnel,  and here we are back in the North East.  Its nice here, lots of places to walk and lots of great beaches, we have walked miles already and met some great Geordie dogs.

We are staying at Nans at the moment, and i think she likes us being there, she gives me lots of cuddles and I like to sit beside her.  We have found a house we like near Holywell Dene in Whitley Bay so we are looking forward to moving in.  Mum and Dad like it as it is nice and cosy but spacious and very close to the Dene.
We hope to be in there by the end of July and then I will start my new life for proper as an English dog.

Will write some more soon

3 Apr 2010

April 2010 - I AM FOUR

Its my birthday  I will be 4 years old, the poster in the vets office says thats about 38 in human years.

Its only one day to go before my birthday tomorrow 4th April 2010
The weather forcast is not looking good for my birthday so we have taken a decision to go for a birthday treat walk today.

We are going to the Isle of Pies, which is not too far from our house, its a lovely part of the river and Isle of Pies means Island of Magpies, its an island in the middle of the river. On either side of the river are lovely walks, and places where people can climb rocks and there is also a place to hire boats.

The sun was shining as we got out of the car and wondered down to the river. There was a large cruiser boat moored at the pontoon, one of the first of this seasons tourists out on the river. Mam and Dad where ambling along talking and I was just having a look around when suddenly I felt myself sinking fast into water. It reminded me of when I fell in the lake all those years ago. Soon I was starting to go back up towards the top of the water, I could see Mam and Dad looking into the water, they looked pretty worried. The current was running fast as we have had a lot of rain and I was starting to drift away.

Soon my head was out of the water and I could see Mums hand reaching out to me, trying to grab my collar. The pontoon was a long way up, Dad had to help her to drag me out I was pretty scared.

I got onto the pontoon and had a good shake, Mam shouted at me "wait" but it was too late, she was drenched, she had laid on the pontoon to reach me and her sleeve was wet from grabbing me, but now she was soaked from all the water I had just sprayed on her.

She used Dads hanky to dry herself off, and as it was sunny and warm she managed to still have a long walk with us.

I did get a fright, but about half an hour later I was starting to forget about it and managed to dip my feet into the water further down the river.

I still dont know how I managed to fall in.

Anyway thats todays story, I dont know what surprises are in store for my birthday tomorrow

9 Feb 2010

January 2010 - A NEW YEAR ALREADY

Well its been along time since I had any time to write on my blog, so its going to take some catching up.

The reason, well we have been away in England for a few weeks over the Christmas, and what adventures we had while we were there.

This isnt the first time I have been to England, we were there last year as well for Christmas, its great fun seeing all the family. 

Once again we took the Channel Tunnel, Dad says it better for me as I can stay with them all the time, if we were to take the ferry I would have to stay in the car and thats no fun for me, especially since I am scared of loud noises, and apparantly the car deck on the ferry is very noisy.

Anyway we had a good trip up to Calais, took about 4 hours and we got onto the Channel Tunnel Train in good time, we checked in at the dog passport office where I got a drink of water and a nice tickle of the officer.  Then we drove on to check the car in at security and customs. Once on the train, it only takes 30 minutes through the tunnel.

We were soon at Aunty Jen and Uncle Dicks and there was my best friend Poppy waiting for me.
Sam was also there, but he isnt as much fun as Poppy.  We had a lovely couple of days here, we walked the canals and fields and I saw some snow, not much but it was funny this white stuff coming down from the sky.
Poppy and me had lots of time to catch up, but all too soon it was time to head off to see Nan in Tynemouth.
The part I like best is going in to see Nan in her bedroom first thing in the morning, she is usually awake, and I get lots of fuss,  but sometimes she is still asleep and I get to lick her and wake her up, she laughs at this.


From Nans house in December 2009


Tynemouth is right on the coast and there are great beaches where I get to run and play with loads of other dogs its a great place to be.

Nan was ever so pleased to see us, she is a very remarkable person, she is nearly 90 years old, I dont think I will ever be that old, but she is so active and she loves me to bits.  Nothing much had changed much in the house since the last time we were there, it was still warm and cosy mum calls this home as she had lived there since she was 5 years old.

We had a lovely evening with Nan and caught up on all the news, over the next few days we visited all the relatives and we went along to see the new baby Morgan.  He had grown since the first time I saw him, instead of lying in his pram he was crawling about on the floor, ever so fast he was, I was a bit worried about him, particularly when he banged me on the head with a plastic train, I dont know why he did that, I suppose it was just because he was a baby, he didnt know any better.

We had a nice Christmas day at Enids, Enid and Paul have a pekinese dog, she is called Angel and is very small and very fluffy, she is alright but I have to be carefull as she is so tiny, I dont want to hurt her.

We went up to Edinburgh to see Sarah and Mike and Connor and Lee, that was fun, as it was really deep snow, I had never seen it so deep.  It was great fun, Lee threw loads of snowballs for me to chase it was hillarious, and I loved to dig my face into the snow and come out all white.



Aunty Sarah got her car stuck!

Unfortunately Mam and Dad got colds which turned to flu, and hey spent about 10 days feeling very poorly, we only went out to do the shopping or for my walks, so we missed out on a lot of fun this year.  We did manage to go and buy a new car which I think Dad loves, I think its ok.



Dads new car - he's called 'Heavy Joe'


All too soon it was time to go back home to France, and we headed off back to see Poppy on the way home.  The roads were very snowy and Dad was a bit worried about the journey as the news on TV said that travelling was dangerous.  But we made it all right and by the time we got to Folkstone the roads were clear and it was easy going.

We were sad to leave but we had to return as there were people coming to buy our house, we have all decided to return to England to live so that we can see our family all the time.  We are all looking forward to that.