Blimey, I've not dogblogged for nearly 3 weeks !

What has been happening with you lovely people over the last couple of weeks ?
(ooooo, look at me engaging with my audience !).

After the excitement of AS & UD's lounge shinanigans, things have settled down again. I like routine. It makes me feel safe.
Mummy's new work routine is nice. Not that it makes much difference to me when she is in or out. If she is working from home, I curl up on the settee and have a dog-nap. And as soon as she leaves the house for work, I curl up on the settee and have a little dog-nap. So long as she is home nice and early so I can pop round to say Hello and check up on AS & UD.
UD bought me a lovely new rug for me to wipe my little feet on when I go in and out of the house. Nice idea UD, but you know I'm just going to jump straight over it! Mummy does the same thing, and you can still see my pawprints all over the kitchen floor ! ha ha ha, I'm a dog, its what I do !

I moved in with AS & UD last weekend, which was cool. Mummy muttered something about 'seeing me in a few days', and drove off. Hurrrumphhhhh. I'd just settled down on the settee for a little dog-nap, when AS/UD came to get me, my food bowl, my water bowl, my lead , and my bed !! Yippeeeee, that means a sleep-over. Fantastic !
I'd just settled down on AS & UD's settee . . . . .when it started snowing outside. UD said "Nice timing, getting out of snow walks". I think he must have been talking to someone else, because there's no way I'm going without a walk just because it snowed ! I love the snow, and just don't care if my little belly and legs get cold and wet ! Its great fun. And its easier to find the places all the other doggies have peed in, you just look for yellow snow.
So AS & UD had to come with me for a couple of cold and snowy walks. I think they enjoy it though, because they happily tag along a couple of times a day.
They went out on Saturday evening, so I stayed in to guard their house for them. I must have fallen asleep (unusual )because they didn't seem to be out for long. And when they came back, I smelt lamb bones ! Uncle Les had given them a bag of lamb bones for me, but AS said I had to wait til Mummy came home to have them. Not fair !
I think its because last time I ate one my butt exploded !

By Sunday morning most of the snow had gone, so not so cold or wet. UD went out to the rugby in the afternoon, and I stayed to keep an eye on AS. I must have fallen asleep, because UD seemed to come back quite soon. And he had Mr B with him ! I gave them a really good welcome, man to man .. . well dog to man !
A short while later AS said 'lets go home', and so we popped back to my house. Mummy was there ! Hello Mummy !! She said she'd been back for a while, but of course I was busy watching AS. So I said a quick hello to her, and took her for a walk. Then I popped back next door to see AS & UD again (Mummy wasn't cooking, but AS was !!).
Once I got a bit tired, I went back to see Mum, and she let me have a small bit of the lamb. Whoop whoop. And with that full belly, I went to bed.

On Monday evening, Mummy shouted 'Jack, car'. I love love love the car, and got really excited and jumped about like a puppy. We drove to Mummy's office, and I went inside and ran up the stairs. Claire was there. Mummy said she had been looking forward to meeting me for ages. We got back in the car, and drove to a totally new place I'd never been too. I think it might have been Claire's house, because she made us Spaghetti Carbonara, which was scrummy ! I just had the meat, and a bit of the cream ! I settled down on Claire's settee until Mummy said it was time to go home. Then we drove home, and I went to see AS & UD !
Well, its rude not to check on them every day !

Mummy says that tomorrow my 'Grandad Keith' is coming to see us. That will be lovely, as I haven't seen him for ages. I hope he's forgiven me for peeing in his bathroom ! Whooops

Chapter 6 - a new home . .. again

Ah, this time the new home was far less traumatic, well for my anyway.
I'd been living with Mummy and Daddy for a couple of years by this time, and loved my home and the garden, and where I took them for their walks.
Then one day, they started packing all their belongings up, and told me we'd be moving to Bristol . . wherever that was.
In May 2008, we all jumped into the car and drove to 'Bristol'. Mummy told me we were going to see our new house. How exciting! The journey didn't seem too long, and my car sickness was well under control. We parked outside a lovely little house and all went inside. I ran through the house, to get an idea. There's 3 rooms up the stairs, a lounge and a kitchen downstairs. Seems ok to me. Then Mummy opened the back door so I could christen my new garden.
I ran around and sniffed and peed on everything I could, but some smells would need to be watered again, to really put my mark on them.
The garden was mainly gravel and paving, with plenty of shrubs (and weeds) for me to wee over. Plus the old shed at the bottom of the garden was just right for me to cock my leg up on !
There was a tall fence on one side of the garden, and I definitely got a whiff of another dog on the other side. I learnt later that his name is Murdoch, he;s older than me, and keeps himself to himself. I hear him woofing crazily sometimes, but he doesn't really bother me much.
Anyway, I digress. On the other side of our garden was a sort of fence, that was high enough for me to walk right under. And on the other side . ..heaven !! A whole garden of grass . . and another shed to wee on ! Awesome. So, off I went expoloring (and weeing).
A lady came out of the house and said "Hello". I presumed she was talking to me, so I ran over to say "Hello back". I gave her my best moves, wagging, kissing and sitting up on my hind legs waving my paws at her (Mummy likes that move !).And it worked on her too, cos she shouted at "Dave" to come and meet the 'cute little dog' .. thats me ! A very tall man came out of the house and said "Hello" to me too. He also got some classic moves.
And that is how I met Aunty Sarah and Uncle Dave (AS & UD)! I treated them with a bit of respect . .. initially, as you have to pick your moments before you become King of the Household. I'll tell you about 'my' moment in Chapter 7 !!

We went back and forth between our old house and the new one for a few weeks, and Mummy and Daddy painted and decorated, and got lovely new carpets and settees for me to lie on. Then one day, they said that 'today was the day', and to say Goodbye to the old house for good. OK, Bye House.
And we moved to Bristol . . just like that. Easy.
The new house is nice and I love my (double)garden. I also love going for walks here, as there are loads of places to go, and loads of other dogs to eat .. . sorry, I meant meet !
I've come to know and tolerate Rio and Tilly. Rio lives in one of the houses behind us, and he is a little terrier too. He's ok I guess. Tilly is an elderly lady dog that we see when I take Mummy for a walk. Tilly doesn't bother me either, well she's old, so I cut her some slack.
Besides, there are plenty of other dogs that catch my attention far more ! So far there's a tiny young puppy that has been put in its place (well I tried to eat it, but Mummy stopped me), there's a trio of Yorkie's that I go paw to paw with now and then. There's a couple of big Labrador types that have learnt to show me some respect, and a Jack Russell that won't be quite so bold next time we meet.

Chapter 5 - New blood

We had a nice little routine. I took Mummy or Daddy for a walk twice a day, and in return they fed me sausages!  Everybody happy.
I'm a shaggy-haired terrier, and one of my  'things' is that I shake myself .. . . alot.  When someone comes into the house, I shake myself. After food, I shake myself. When I first wake up . . ..  well you get the picture.
One day, I just wasn't feeling quite right. . you know when nothing's really wrong, but . . . .. Anyway, Mummy came home on a Friday evening, and I rushed to say Hello. But when I went to shake, it hurt and made my head all woozy. Mummy noticed, and asked me what was wrong. I couldn't tell her.. . .. .cos I'm a dog remember !
I spent the evening curled up, just resting.
Well, the next morning, I tried again to shake Good Morning to Mummy, but just couldn't do it. So Mummy rolled me over onto my back and took a look at my belly. Good job she did. . . there were loads of purple-black bruises all over my belly.
Straight into the car and off to the vets with me. No messing with my Mummy when she is worried about me .. off we went. The lovely lady vet had a look into my ears and told Mummy there was a lot of blood, then she looked in my mouth and said my gums were pale. And then she looked at my belly, and told Mummy I needed to stay in overnight, as I appeared to have developed a serious problem with my 'platelets'. Now I now the word 'plate' (cos Mummy and Daddy let me eat whats left on theirs sometimes!!), but 'platelet' was a new one on me. Apparently the problem was with my blood, and nothing was clotting, which is why my ears were bleeding and the bruises on my belly were blood bruises. Mummy had to leave me with the vet, who said I needed a blood transfusion, and she would ring Mummy later.
Mummy looked very sad as she left, bless her, big softy. I was fine ! The nice lady vet took me to a room with a blanket in it, and told me she would be back a bit later.
The bit I didn't like, was later! Lady vet(no longer 'nice') shaved my leg and my neck which was awful, cos there was a horrid cat in one of the other rooms who laughed at me. Spiteful thing. Anyway, they poked something sharp into my leg, which made me a bit uncomfortable for a moment, and then I just went to sleep for a bit. When I woke up I felt sooooooooooo much better ! All pepped up and full of energy. I woofed at them to let them know, and they took the nasty spikey thing out of my leg. Then they said Mummy was on her way to get me. Yipppeeee I was going home.
When Mummy got there she cried (softy)and took me straight home and gave me a couple of sausages ! She coo'ed over me all evening. The nice lady vet said it could happen to me again, but then again maybe not. So Mummy has to roll me over now and again to check my belly . She says its to check for bruising, but its fine by me cos I get a big ol' fuss and my belly tickled ! hee hee hee.

Plasterers, rugby and food, food, food . ..

Well, after the drama last week of AS 'breaking' the lounge ceiling, I was hoping for an uneventful week. No such luck.
Firstly Mummy decides to 'freshen up' our lounge, which basically meant changing the colour of everything that wasn't pinned down. The curtains, the cushions, the rug . . all now scarlet red. She literally pulled the rug from underneath me ! And, I now have a brand new cushion in my bed too . . . red, to match the rest of the lounge ! Really !! I suppose I should think myself lucky that I haven't had a trip to the hairdressers to have a "Cheryl Cole" style makeover too.

So, halfway through the week and I was babysitting UD while AS was at work. This bloke called round. I barked, then just let him straight in. He started making loads of mess in the lounge, which actually seemed to make UD happy. Turns out he was actually re-plastering the ceiling to make it all look nice again. I stayed there all day, checking his work to make sure the plaster was smooth enough, and the coving went up ok. I helped alot.
There was a knock at the front door around lunchtime. I barked. UD answered the door, and it was Mummy ! Hello Mummy, oooooo you've brought food. Nice one. Macaroni cheese. One of my favourites (well its food, so its all a favourite !)

Once the blokey had left and I'd done a last check-over of his work (which seemed ok), I was able to have a nice little 8 hour sleep. Its very tiring work, being a gaffer.
I was round AS & UD's place on Friday evening, settled down on the sofa for a quiet night, when there was a knock on the front door. I barked. It was Mummy . .again.
With food . . again ! Mummy had nipped out for a takeout curry. Well done, and well trained Mummy.
I sat patiently and unobtrusively 2 inches away from AS whilst she ate her food, which seemed to work, because I (finally) got some chicken and korma sauce ! Result !!
Mummy said my butt was better on Saturday morning after a curry than after Key Lime Pie, which is good news for me for the next curry night.  Then she bathed me ..  boooooo.  She actually used Johnson's baby 'no more tears' shampoo ... . .  can't complain though, it smelt nice.  And its the lavender one, so just made me relaxed and ready for a snooze.

I was round AS & UD's house on Saturday afternoon .. .. just chillin' out, like you do. When there was a knock on the front door. I barked (are you getting a de ja vu feeling ??)
Anyway, it was Dave B ! I haven't seen him for aaaaaaaaages. Last time he came round our house (well, you know it feels like its my place too) I sat on his lap !
This time however, the rugby was on tv. Which means lots of loud hand clapping and shouting at the tv - and thats just AS.
I was just getting to the point where I didn't think I could put up with the noise for much longer, when AS dished up lunch. Awesomeness of fish chowder ! Yippee, I love fish, and as my bowl was as full as everyone elses, I dived straight in. Fantastic. Nice full belly, so sod the noise, I just curled up for a little sleep.
Next thing .. . Mummy arrived. Honestly, has she no home to go to !!

I took her for a quick walk (she seemed to need to go). Then it was back round to AS and UDs. They all had some beer, shouted at the people playing rugby, and generally made lots of noise. So I commandeered the armchair, shut my ears to them all, and had a little sleep.  Lovely.  I have no idea what they were talking about, but they seemed to think there was  a not-so-sweet smell coming from my butt !  Ha ha ha, Fish chowder appears to have had its revenge.  Well thats not my fault !
While AS, UD and Dave B all seemed to be experiencing syptoms as though tear gas had been let off in the room, me and Mummy were fine. I guess we're just used to it . . . .  . . .

Sunday saw Mummy working from home, which was lovely, cos I could pop round between the two houses and keep an eye on all of them.    Weirdly, AS and UD came round to ours for elevenses !  I gave them a lovely welcome, cos I do love to see them, and to have them round as my guests was a lovely change.