I should know better

Well, a slow slide into Autumn here, with days of grey drizzle and just a few falling leaves. As usual I dread the winter to follow, especially as the BBC has declared it will be a mild one - and we all know what that means....snow up to our knees.

Had my usual day of cleaning out the coal heating stove, involving intimate and filthy exploration of its side and back passages with a variety of tools collected over the years. (I find a bent barbecue fork very useful) . Came away looking like a miner coming off shift, but congratulating myself that -

(a) there wasn`t a dead bird up there (the ultimate disaster),
(b) I didn`t have to take the huge cast iron flue cap off with the big hex wrench,
(c) I had the foresight to shut the puppies up first.

There has been a succession of very forgettable shows - good company, but judges who liked reds, long noses, lunch as soon as possible and so on. We always seem to be on the last day too, when the ring smells delectably of all the large ladies who have been there on the previous days, making Merlin very distracted.

Truly may have enrolled in the pudding club......she certainly thinks she has, and is treating other bitches accordingly, leading to a certain amount of discord. (Let`s be honest here - she is very free with her teeth, and the others are reacting accordingly. For a little girl who is all adorable sweetness with people, she has an alarming lack of ability to fit in with other Papillons, and a very exaggerated opinion of her ability to dominate them. ) I am keeping her carefully separate.

Puppies are growing like weeds. Allegra`s strenuous workouts are giving them muscles like weightlifters, and they are very active and more cute than anything has a right to be. I realise that I will shortly be looking for a nice pet home for Blanche, whose decorator short changed her a bit. She is a sweetie, and should make someone very happy.