Conned, surprised, delighted, exhausted!

So there we were, dad and I, last Thursday - two days before the Big Party - working away in the garage getting things ready. Mum had left earlier that morning to "go and have lunch with Auntie Jo in Mirepoix" (reason for the quote marks  will be obvious shortly). The front door bell rang. As we were not expecting anyone dad and I went down to investigate, only to find the godkids from England, Grant and Becky, coming in through the gate, shortly followed by their parents in the car with mum. Turned out that the whole Brigdale clan had arrived for dads party and we had been right royally conned by mum - something she planned back in December apparently. Naturally dad and I were both gobsmacked and delighted to see them all and I gave my usual extravagant welcome to each of them in turn.

Even better news was that they were staying for a whole week so I had loads of time to have fun with my mates.

Then came the day of the Big Party. Bar-Nez was fully stocked, the music was up and running, food fully prepared, and the pool freshly cleaned.  The initial trickle of party goers soon turned into a steady stream and things were off to their usual lively start. It was lovely to see loads of old friends again including by bestest mates Lily and Boudie. A few snaps of the event follow to which I will add no comments!

General concensus was that the party was up to normal standards and certainly, judging by how tired I was the next day, I sure did have a good time.

The rest of the week was really just a continuation of the party with just us and the Brigdales. As I am sure you can imagine, far too much of the bottle stuff was consumed (especially by dad and Uncle Clive) and a good time was had by all. Sadly they have just left to fly home. I shall miss them a lot as it is always so much fun when they are here. However, after all that partying I have some serious catching up to do on my kip so you may not hear from me for a while.

Hippie Birdie dear Dad

Today is my dad's 65th birthday and I have been giving a lot of thought to what I might get him as a present. I finally decided that I would have a T shirt made for him with one of the two logos shown below.

First one is a bit geeky as he loves his computers but at least my mate Jon Tack will appreciate it. The second is 'cause he can be a bit of a big kid at times. Problem is I could not decide which one to have made. In the end I ran out of time, but apparently it is the thought that counts.

I spent some of the morning helping him read his cards and unwrap his presents - just love the ripping paper bit!

Then Auntie Jane and Uncle Martin came round with my best mate Lily and we spent an hour tearing round the garden. Trouble is I'm not used to all this exercise during the morning and had to have a rather large kip on my dad's lap at lunchtime. Mind you, so did he!

Big party on Saturday with loads of friends coming round together with my mates Lily and Boudie. I had better start stockpiling some rest as it is going to be a tiring day, I feel. Full report later.

Early morning, vine pruning, loss of a mate, and a late night

What a day it was yesterday! It all started at 6:20 am - yes I know none of us normally see that part of the day - when I was rudely awakened from my slumbers by two cats fighting outside. Naturally I had to bark very loudly at this, in the process waking mum and dad, and then I demanded to go outside to investigate. Having satisfied my natural curiosity I then went straight back to bed to finish my kip but for some reason mum and dad seemed unable to do this!

That morning dad and I decided that our grape vine growing over the drinking patio needed a good prune to keep it in tip top condition and to allow the plentiful bunches of grapes now forming to develop. He chopped away and I tried to collect all the bits as they fell, but apparently distributing them around the garden and eating them was not what I was supposed to do. The the vine was sprayed to prevent mildew, at which point I had to retreat as we had not got a mask that fitted my muzzle.

Over the last few months I have been watching the growth of an albino baby bunny in the garden opposite and have grown quite fond of him. Imagine how distraught I was to look over the wall last night to find he had been run over right outside our house. I shall miss watching him gambol about.

Dad and I sat down to watch the Canadian Grand Prix at 6pm. Five and a half hours later (!) it finally finished, having been stopped for over two hours due to torrential rain. However, it was well worth staying up for as it was a stonker of a race and my dad's favourite, Jenson Button, won in the last lap.

So what with being woken up at 6:20 am and not getting to bed until 11:30 pm it was a very long day for me. I somehow feel that today will not involve a lot of activity on my part other than curling up on the sofa. so Shhhhhhhh! - don't wake me.

Invasion of the tinies

Now as you regular blog follwers will know, I love having visitors and I also love kids. Imagine my delight, therefore, when, in the middle of last week, some visitors arrived with children.

 It was Auntie Debbie and Uncle Chris who I had never met before (but who turned out to be really nice) and their two delightful little sprogs, Leila and Tegan. They were here to stay for a week so I was determined to thoroughly enjoy my time with them, despite the weather deciding to be unseasonably wet for the whole week!

Leila is the youngest at two and she and I formed an immediate bond. We followed each other everywhere - me at a slow stroll and her at a surprisingly fast "bum shuffle" as she does not walk yet.

Tegan, her older sister, is coming up four and is a very chatty little girl. She took to sitting on my mum's lap which is normally my position, but we soon learnt to share it.

She loves helping out in the kitchen and was soon helping mum prepare one of the many different gourmet meals she served up (to the kids) that week.

Dad, on the other hand, was content to sit on the drinking patio and soak up some sun and me and the kids were happy to join him.

 Do note in both of the previous photos the normal presence of the bottle stuff close to hand. Why am I not surprised!

The kids also loved the pool but with my natural aversion to water I was content to lay on the deck in the company of my new best friend.

All in all it was a great week despite the best endeavours of the rain to spoil it and we all had a really fun time. As usual, I was very sad to see them go. One thing I will say, though, about being with young children for a week is that it fair wears you out. I feel I could sleep for a week and probably will.