Not a lot going on.. Mum and I have been out for walks round and about my Nan and Granddad’s place. Makes a change from my usual walks.

It was my human sis’s 14th Birthday last Saturday! She had a lovely time. She brought home a toy meerkat for Mum (Mum loves the Meerkat off the TV…. ) They saw some real Meerkats at a local wildlife park, and were able to feed them. Apparently they were really funny little things….. Have to admit I don’t see it myself…

A friend, Smudge ( re Springit blog link), has given mum loads of used stamps, she’s wondering how to store them till she can hand them over to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People…

Might get a box to put them in. we can then take them to hand over at the summer fair in June, or if Denise my trainer comes before that we can give them to her. In March we are going to see lots of children at a local school, they are having a special week where they learn all about different “dis”abilities. I’m looking forward to that.

This morning Mum had an email from a friend, her nephew is running to raise money for Demelza House Childrens Hospice. His daughter Molly and her family have had a lot of help from them. 

Mum’s friend wondered if you would help by sending on his Justgiving link. If you are able to donate a little too that would be great, but Mum understands if you can’t. http://www.justgiving.com/john-debsouthern

It’s a fantastic, happy,  place, somewhere for poorly children and their families to go for support and to meet others in the same situation as them.

Well, keep warm! I’ll catch up again soon.

Mum, Sis and I are staying at my Nan’s. Mum says we are “house sitting”…. I think it would be uncomfortable to sit on it personally……… They have a cat, called T0m. Mum says he looks like Bagpuss.

I always know when he’s around, because when he jumps down off anything there is a loud “thump”! He tends to “watch” me…. and that means I “watch” him too….

If he comes close enough I get to sniff his back end…. (well, it’s what we civilised dogs do…. maybe he’ll learn some social manners!! ) He then just “flicks” his tail in my nose, and with his nose in the air marches off…….

Mum got up this morning wondering where she would find Tom. He tends to have favourite places round the house, but keeps changing his mind… (Don’t understand him at all! Once I get comfy that’s “it”, I stay put!) She came across him in the utility room, curled up in the laundry basked on top of the pegs!! How could that be “comfy” I ask you??!

Mum has to try and read the newspaper early, because in the evening he insists on a lap with newspaper laid on it to lay on…..! If she’s reading when he wants to lie down, he just steps over and on to it!!

He says he has “rights” because he keeps pests out of the house…. (I think he looks at me as if “I’m” a pest somehow…………….. But maybe I’m a bit too big for him… )

No Internet at Nan’s, so we don’t get online much at the moment.

We were at one of my favourite places again yesterday, Queen Victoria Hospital. Word went round that I was there, so all my friends came and saw me. I stayed “cool” (it’s expected you see……) But I do love them all.

Not nice weather here…. raining constantly. All the snow has gone, apart from places where there were snowmen, they seem to be sticking it out as long as they can as they shrink little by little…

Hopefully now Nan and Grandad have “finally” got away they will enjoy the rest of their holiday. Not sure their cat will though………..

While the majority of Hearing Dogs are from rescue centres (like me ) They have started a small breeding scheme now and on the 30th December this little lot arrived! Mum thinks they are “almost” as cute as me!!

Click on this link to see them. http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/

Wow!! We’re still getting snow coming down! I love it, but not for too long!! It’s very cold! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Here’s me jumping for joy when I went out and first saw it!

I like sniffing around in it too, but it does make my nose cold!

Well, we hope you are keeping warm! We’ve not been out much…… But I’m getting to run around in Nan and Granddad’s garden while we stay with them, and Mum and I walk with Granddad to get the morning paper… But when we get home, we get in the warm!!

When Mum took me out front to chuck my ball yesterday we found my friend, Reeba, out there waiting while her Dad cleaned their car.

She had her own ball. Mum threw her ball between throwing mine, only thing is in the time it took Reeba to fetch her ball I’d been back to Mum at least twice! So funny!

She’s not as keen on chasing the ball as I am. In the end Mum learned to only throw it a few foot away, because Reeba lost sight of it because she didn’t move till it had landed. But we had fun. A couple of times I fetched the ball for her!

We had a short blizzard of snow the day before yesterday, it lasted an hour. I peered through the window, watching the big white flakes falling. We got excited, hoping that “at last” we were to have some snow to play in!

Sadly not… The sun came out, and within half an hour most of it had melted! Ho hum…..

We’re still wondering if the sea will freeze this year. Last January it did! All on the beach, every time the tide went out there was ice left behind. Over about a week it built up every time the sea had been in. Mum will make sure she has her camera with her when we go to the beach, so we can get pictures to show you if it does freeze.

We were in a shop yesterday, and again someone was asking Mum to move from behind her. This person had been in front, and saw me. But sadly she didn’t realise, despite my jacket, that Mum is deaf…. This happened in other shops recently, before Christmas when it was busy. When my sis came back to Mum where Mum was looking at something, from being ahead looking at something different, to tell Mum she was “in the way” Mum turned and said “Oh! Sorry, you need to poke me” and laughed. The lady “then” realised what my “Hearing Dog for Deaf People” meant, and said “Oh, of course!” and laughed with Mum. Mum likes to make it fun, it helps people remember, and stops them feeling “awkward”.

She’s going to suggest to HDfDP that our jackets aught to have something like “Want to get past? Prod the person attached to me, gently.”!!

Yesterday we were stopped by a couple of ladies to chat about me (of course!) and Mum told them that Hearing Dogs for Deaf People were able to raise £5,000 between last February and November from donations of used stamps. She said it’s a great way to help, and at this time when people are short of money in particular it’s great, because it doesn’t cost “anything”, apart from the postage to send them in. Check out this link for the address to send it to. Tell all your friends. http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/index.php

Well, that was quick! As Mum says, there is all this lead up to Christmas, but when it does get here it’s “gone” in the blink of an eye! But we did have a great time!

Various family members were shooting off here and there over the Christmas period, but thankfully everyone ended up in the places they were meant to be at the right times!

I felt I needed to check that all the presents had gone from under the tree, after all, you never know!

I had a dumbell shaped toy from my Aunty Wendy, it “giggled” as it rolled around…. I didn’t know whether to chase it or run away!! Mum gave me a Turkey Jumbone…. YUM! Best of all I got to see lots of my family over the Christmas period, some are a soft touch (Like Grandad!!) Mum says….. Ha ha! Well, I have to help, otherwise there would be so much left over food……..! Tom, Nan’s cat, turned his nose up when he was given Duck a second time! Weird creature!

Well, New Year next, we’re just hoping there won’t be many fireworks…… :-?  

We hope you all have a great 2010. xx

Well, Christmas is almost here!! We hope you have a lovely one.

Mum’s been taking me to the beach more, as it isn’t muddy there!! I can run and run, and not end up needing a bath, so we’re both happy!!

Bye for now.

It’s so cold! The towns near us had quite a bit of snow, but we’ve had very little. The tiny bit that came the day before yesterday has remained….

Mum took me on the beach this morning, and it was warmer there! She said it was possibly because the sun was right on us.  We spent all of yesterday daylight in town, shopping…. So Mum said I needed a really good run today.

The sea was out a little way, so plenty of room for her to chuck my ball for me! I ran and ran, fetching it and bringing it back for her to throw again. She is well trained!

When I felt hot I headed out to the sea, ran round sploshing and then had a lie down in it. Mum said I’d make a great garden sprinkler system, as my tail keeps wagging and the sea water shoots off its tip in lots of sprinkles!

When we got home she had already got my Christmas present ready (the Paw Plunger arrived the other day). It was just inside the front door, with a towel. Before we went in she gently used it on each paw in turn.

Well, it did a great job! My feet were lovely and clean, no sand between my toes! Mum dried them gently, and then tackled the rest of me! She said she wondered if they will develop a Dog Plunger!!

Keep warm!

Mum’s just told me she’s ordered my Christmas pressie, she said if it arrives before Christmas she’ll let me have it straight away! It’s a Paw Plunger, and she felt I’d best start using it sooner rather than later!!

http://www.pawplunger.co.uk/press.htm

She asked around to see if anyone had any ideas on how to get my paws free of mud “before” coming indoors….. (We don’t have a hallway, straight into the living room from outside! ) No matter how much she goes at my little feet with a towel, there is always mud left behind…… She hopes this will be the beginning of a mud free floor!

Mum decided to chill today…  (Well, certainly cold enough to!!)

We headed out to the bank, got some money so she could get herself a treat…. She’s decided to join the SAT Nav society! She never dreamed she would ever do it!!   She said she’s decided I’m not good with a map!!!!

Having borrowed my human brother’s SAT Nav to go to her friend’s, and seeing how easy it made the end of the journey, when we had to find the house, she’s hooked.

We went to see my brother, he works at our local Comet store… And he showed us the up to date version of the one he has. Mum is pleased to see that they have made improvements, it is much easier for her to understand how to program it etc. (She said something like “That’s great it’s idiot proof!” whatever that means…… )

While we were in the store I laid down, but Mum wanted me to sit up… I got a bit confused at this point, so did she. She showed me the treat in her hand and asked me to “sit”, but I felt I had to lay down even more…. I pushed my legs forward, putting my head really low, looking up at her asking “Is this OK?”.

She suddenly had a thought…. she asked my brother if there was a high pitched beep, similar to a smoke alarm, sounding…. turned out it was! (It wasn’t that sort of alarm though…) She realised then that I thought I was practicing my smoke alarm alert stance! She knew when it had stopped, because I sat up! These things happen, but at least she got to ask my brother, so knew all was OK.

She’s been having fun setting the date etc on the SAT Nav, and feeling very satisfied that it didn’t “beat her”! My Uncle Col advised her, he said that the Police say that people mustn’t store their home addresses in the SAT Navs, because if the SAT Nav and/ or car is stolen the burglar will know she’s away from home, and how to get to our home! Good thing he said…… I wouldn’t want anyone getting in and pinching my things!

We decided we didn’t have to rush home, so she chose to have dinner out. We went to one of our usual restaurants (OK, our “only” usual restaurant!!:D ) and she had a lovely dinner and a pot of tea. I laid beside her, snoozing… She gave me a little piece of chicken when she’d finished her dinner, as reward for being so good. Then we finished off our chill time by visiting Nan and Grandad.

When we got home she put me in the bath! She said I needed “freshening up”….. Oh well… Isn’t “so” bad once it’s over, I get to have lots of rubbing all over with a towel, my most favourite thing! Now I’m drying off in front of the warm heater.

She still has presents to get…. So I am sure we will be off to more shops during the week!