Really Here!

Well - we made it. I can't quite believe I'm really in the "Steak-Lady's" house in Portmarnock, Co. Dublin. Mum and Dad finished work yesterday afternoon, and we all got a quick walk in the Rec to wear off some surplus energy. Then we were all loaded into the car - some of us in between the legs of an old wicker child's crib, that M+D have to take over to Ireland ready for Baby-Cotcho (more of that later).

Dad was issuing dire warning of how awful the M25 would be on the last Friday before Christmas, and with Heathrow-killer fog everywhere. But we sailed through. M+D share the driving in 2 hour chunks, and Meg, Haggis and I share the sleeping crashed out on the back seat. Every 2 hours we are rudely awoken and encouraged to charge around places called Motorway Services. These seem to be great big, well lit car parks with lots of grass for dogs to find comfort on (ahem), and shops for humans to get coffee in

6 hours later we were in Holyhead, and very quickly (after another carpark comfort stop) driving into the gaping maw of a HUGE ferry called Ulysses. We dogs get to stay in the car and sleep for another 4 hours then listening to the thrum of big engines but not being able to see anything except everyone else's parked car

Then we drive off the ferry, sprint North through Dublin's dock area (cars can't use the new tunnel yet), and round the edge of Dublin bay, inland at Baldoyle, and so to Portmarnock. here we park up for a proper walk along the huge flat, sand-dune-ish beach. But now everyone's tired out, so we have adjourned to the Steak Lady's house for breakfast and more sleeping. SL's house is amazing! Normally inhabitted by a cracking small Yorkie called Cracker, it is a treasure trove of hidden bones, treats and toys that no-one but an inquisitive pup could find. I have scared dad to death several times by suddenly going quiet, only to be found under a sofa with a nice, crunchy bone! The Git keeps taking them off me! ... Ah well, plenty more if you know where to look

More soon
Deefer