By Huw Le Lytle

10 June 2017

Today, Howard showed his predisposition for sleeping in awkward places, and fell asleep on a plastic storage box on a table.

Deputy spent the day on the phone changing our insurance. Insuring all of us has become a bit like managing the employee benefits for a large corporation. Speaking of benefits, we also all got fish skins today, lovingly prepared by Deputy. And to show his appreciation for the effort, Jeff made off with Deputy’s socks as they fell out of the dryer. Nothing beats a warm laundered sock!

11 June 2017

Today, I played the duvet game with Howard and Jeff. I climbed under the sofa blankie and then they both pounced on me. It was hilarious fun. Although Human got worried for me and lifted the blanket off me, which meant that I had to go to the trouble again of getting myself back underneath it for more hilarity.

12 June 2017

The Mary Rose Dog!

Today the humans went to see a famous ship that sank in the 16th century and did not get saved until 1982. The ship is called the Mary Rose and the crew included a famous ship’s dog, who was apparently a whippet or terrier type.

When they got back we all greeted each other enthusiastically. Howard always stands on his hind legs and criss crosses his front legs back and forth and back and forth, like a little wave, or a cross between one of Madonna’s backing dancers and someone doing the chicken dance at a wedding. And then we celebrated life with a ribbies party and the humans had ice cream.

And tonight we were all watching the original Twin Peaks, and Howard got so caught up in the excitement of it that he tried to get closer and closer to the screen until he then fell off the tele table.

13 June 2017

Treats!

Our Grand Lady visited and we all got treats from Bow Wow London. The humans had dinner in Covent Garden and Human is quite certain they saw Zandra Rhodes sitting outside one of the bars with a dog. It might have just been a Zandra Rhodes adjacent. But really Human was more interested in the dog.

Have I mentioned that it is also getting rather inconveniently hot? And Jeff also rounded up the wood pigeons in the back garden again, challenging them about their aerodynamics when they eat so much.

And tonight we chatted to Grand Human in Australia. Grand Human is visited by very many lorikeets every day, usually around 30 (at last count, 34). Grand Human buys them special lorikeet food because they must not eat bread or seed as this damages the brushes in their mouth and then they starve to death. Unfortunately people think they like to eat bread and honey or bread and jam, but this is some of the worst food in the world to give them. Grand Human was sitting on the front verandah, with all the dogs and the chorus of lorikeets singing their pleasure at breakfast, and Grand Human noticed that people were walking past this brilliant green flurry of sound, wearing their headphones, looking down at their phones, and seeing none of it. But then an older lady walked past, looked up, and smiled at the beautiful sight. Grand Human said it is such a shame that almost nobody looks up at nature.

14 June 2017

Human woke up this morning and told us a dream that Human had that night about two dogs. One was white and looked a bit like a smallish Otterhound crossed with a cartoon. And the other was an adolescent German or Belgian Shepherd. The white Otterhound kept visiting the neighbours across the street, until they got new carpet, and then Human said to the Otterhound, you probably can’t visit anymore. And the German Shepherd was about 6 months old and Human was supposed to be introducing it to a prospective new owner, but it went home with Human instead. I have no idea what any of that means. I think it just means that Human likes dogs.

Today Howard has expressed irritation at people sitting on their doorstep on the other side of the road. He seems to think that this is a most suspicious behaviour and that he must let us know that people are doing this. Howard simply cannot abide loitering on doorsteps.

And getting a measure on all things, Howard grabbed a ruler off the desk and made off with it … briefly.

15 June 2017

Jeff on the roof with his penguin

Today has been very hot indeed. We spent some of the morning on the roof, but Human said we couldn’t stay long as we might get hot or sunburnt. We have spent most of the day in the cool of the Lookout Library. We have helped with a lot of things, including paper shredding. We have even been enjoying ribbies in there. Aubrey has taken to sitting right under Human’s desk so that the chair can’t go in and Human has to stretch to reach the desk. But Human doesn’t mind, because having Aubrey sleep on your feet is apparently quite wonderful indeed and not to be disturbed. And Aubrey thinks it is the best place to sleep, notwithstanding the potentially hazardous situation with the chair.

Paper Shredding Committee

Jeff and Howard have also been helping Human with some gardening this evening. They have done a lot of watering. And Human was thinking of Finnegan, who loved to garden and play in the water. As they were finishing up, Human looked up and barely a foot away from Human’s face was a little red robin, sitting on the fence, twitching and chirping. And the robin’s little mate was a bit further down, standing on the table. Human said, oh my goodness, hello! And the little robin just sat there, chirping and twitching. And then it flicked its tail and joined its mate and they flew around the garden and then settled in the tree above Human.

Finnegan always loved gardening.