I think I may have swine flu!

Today my dad popped over to Quillan to have his swine flu vaccination as he comes under the heading of "Fragiles" according to the French health service. Now I have spent quite a bit of time with dad today and I have started to exhibit some strange symptoms. Firstly I am sneezing rather a lot - something that I rarely do. Then there is the fact that I am being rather extra naughty today. For example, this afternoon I chewed through the electric cable that makes our front gates work - they don't any more! I have therefore come to the conclusion that I might be coming down with swine flu so am considering retiring to my bed for the next few days and I would advise my best friends to stay well clear for a while.

Further medical bulletins will be issued as the situation develops.

Happy Birthday to me!

Wow! What a weekend I have just had. I'm absolutely shattered but felt I must just tell you all about it before I crawl into my bed for a well earned kip.



For those of you who are not aware, it was my first birthday on Friday (30th October - make a note in your diary) and that heralded the start of a weekend of celebrations. Unbeknown to me a surprise party had been planned and the first people to arrive were Auntie Mary and Uncle Tim who had come for the whole weekend. Then Uncle Martin appeared with my absolute best mate, Lily, and finally Auntie Jo and Uncle Roy (they are always last to arrive!) with my other great mate, Boudie. Not only was it great to just see them all, but they all came bearing presents for me and even a special doggy birthday card. The adults then settled into their usual food and bottle stuff consumption whilst us dogs did what we do best and just tore around the garden playing. Boudie and his parents had to leave by early evening but everyone else was there 'til late.



The fun continued on Saturday when I met up with Felix, Tasha, and Paris (aka "The Ginger Ones") on my evening walk and we all had a great chase around. Now although she did not come on the walk with us, I felt that, as the wild boar hunters were about in force, Auntie Mary should wear some safety equipment as I do in those situations. She did not seem too impressed but Uncle Tim seemed stangely excited by the sight of his wife wearing a collar and bell. Can't think why.



With her mum away in the UK and dad busy for Sunday morning, Lily came over to stay for a few hours, so there was lots more chasing and rolling about action then. And all of that was preceded by another walk with the Ginger Ones (to be a regular feature over the next week or so as their dog sitter has injured her knee)and all brought to a close by dad and I settling down to watch the last Formula 1 race of the season.



So you can see why I now need a good rest to recover! Oh, and I forgot to mention, I have managed to get the remaining beer mat stock down to 489.

Hoorah! My trampoline is back.

You may remember that in the early part of this year when I was but a babe, I discovered that the winter cover for the swimming pool made a great trampoline and gave me hours of fun. All that stopped in May when the pool was opened up, but I did at least gain a 42,000 litre drinking bowl in its place.




As winter now approaches the pool has today been put to bed and my lovely blue trampoline is back. As usual I gave my dad a hand in the closing down and in pulling over the winter cover.






Well, you have to to your bit, don't you. I am sure it was greatly appreciated, unlike my first attempts at nibbling the edge of the cover once it was in place. That did NOT go down too well.

Brian de Pays de Galles visit

Mum and dad's friend Brian from Wales came to visit for a few days this week. Now I had not met him before but we got on famously despite me drawing blood on him within five minutes of his arrival - an accident of course, caused by my youthful enthusiasm! He is a real dog person and understands us canines so he has been promoted to my new best friend.


I have recently acquired a taste for the coasters used under cups and glasses in this household and to date have totally destroyed the twelve attractive ones we owned. Thankfully Brian is on the committee for his local rugby club so was able to bring with him 500 beer mats to replace the other coasters. Whilst not as tasty as the cork ones, I have managed to snaffle some of these and currently we have 496 left!


I have attached a photo of me taken by Brian in what I think is a rather distinguished pose on top of a pile of rocks. Signed copies are available on request.

Orange for danger!

Now you may or may not be aware that the wild boar hunting season, which reopened in September, is now in full swing. Each Wednesday and weekend groups of shotgun and rifle toting locals, each with a load of dogs, can be found lurking amongst the vines, in the hedgerows, and down in the forests. What you also may not be aware of is that the majority of these heavily armed hunters are generally in their 50’s or 60’s so with not the best of sight and hearing (especially after all those gunshots), and have usually spent the previous hour in the local bar breakfasting on red wine.


I hasten to add that we do NOT take part in any hunting, but with these facts in mind, dad and I have decided that discretion is the better part of valour and that we should take great care to ensure that we are both very visible and easily heard during our morning walks on those days. Lots of fluorescent orange and jingling bells are therefore the order of the day so, after a trip to the local rural supplies shop, we have equipped ourselves accordingly, as you can see from the photo. I’m sure that I would never be mistaken for one of those ugly boars but I am not going to take the chance.

The only good thing to come out of this is that I have made friends with one of the hunt dogs – a lovely lady called Aude - who comes from the same place as me and my (doggy) mum and who probably knows her as they are of similar ages. When we meet we usually have a bit of a chase around, much to the dismay of Aude’s owner!

A trip to the seaside

I know I’ve been a bit quiet recently as there has not really been that much going on. However, that all changed on Thursday.

Mum and dad took me for my first trip to the seaside – Port Vendres to be precise – as apparently my dad is off there shortly for a little holiday and mum needed to check out the route. To ensure my comfort a new chunk of foam has been installed in the back of the car which makes seeing out much easier and is ever so comfy for crashing out on.



I actually managed the two hour journey there without being travel sick – a record for me, and my thanks go out to Rescue Remedy for helping with this. Once we had arrived we had a bit of a walk round the harbour where I encountered boats for the first time. Not sure if I like the idea of these but I will reserve judgement until I have actually been on one. These harbour places are great fun ‘cause there are some bizarre smells and loads of birds wandering around just asking to be chased.

Then it was off to a restaurant for lunch. Now you may remember me talking about a film called “ Marley and me “ in which there is a scene (which those of you have seen it will recall) where Marley is tied to the restaurant table and then flies off after another dog taking the table with him. Well I rather brilliantly re-enacted this scene using a low flying pigeon as the item to be chased and causing my dad to be covered in beer and my mum to cut her hand on the resulting broken glass. After that for some strange reason, I was tied up to a nearby bench for the duration of the meal.



The journey home was really hot and despite my best endeavours I failed to make it as incident free as the outward journey, finally succumbing to travel sickness in the last ten minutes. Still, not bad for a dog who, only a month or so ago could hardly go round the block in the car without a problem. Mind you, I was so tired when I got home that I actually fell asleep standing up, although I cannot recall any of that!

Oh, and I forgot to mention, as of Wednesday my international travel passport became valid so I can now travel around Europe with gay abandon.

Lily and I ride the train

Saturday saw our neighbouring village, Antugnac, celebrating the start of the grape harvest. Naturally we all walked up there to join in the festivities including Aunty Mary and Uncle Tim who came over especially for the occassion.


On the walk we met up with the procession of very important looking people in funny outfits off to bless the vines or something. I was not interested in this much so dad took me to my mate Lily's house where we both had a doze whilst the humans went off to do lots of that bottle stuff and eat baby pigs! And all of that took place in a winery. Dad reckons it came close to his view of heaven.















After the lunch Lily and I were retrieved and taken to join the remaining celebrations and socialise a bit.


Then came the best bit. As part of the fun they had this little train that was doing tours of the vineyards and Lily and I got to ride on it.



I've never been on a train before, not even a toy one like this. It was great fun and I especially liked sticking my head out and watching the world go by.