Poets

With Dad having blagged a "poets" he's finally home in the dry daylight, and we are all treated to a walk down at Conyer Creek. We love this logo on the gated community at North Quay, which is cut out of sheet metal and painted white.

Conyer is, as ever, alive with bunnies and there is much fun to be had hunting in amongst the bushes, but it also seems to be THE PLACE to take your dogs at that time of day, presumably squeezed in between the end of work and it getting dark.

Quite sociable it all was. Have a good weekend

Deefer

PS - we seem to have swept straight through the third birthday of this blog, which was the 18th November. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun.

Going Backwards

At the risk of going backwards on this blog, having finished the building works, I attache, courtesy of the Angel B, this striking pic of the house with a big hole in it, prior to the Panini Boys installing the new French Windows.

It seems a while back now - all the work finished and our visit from the Silverwoods come and gone. Dad dropped them back to Gatwick this afternoon. They had a great time and did a lot of the stuff they had on their lists including this morning a good old play around the "toys" in the Rec and a drive in the 2CV out to see the old Mmle car. We also fitted in a couple of trips to Diamond's place, where little J-M (9) has now fallen in love with most of Diamond's wardrobe and doll collection. Look out Diamond - count the dolls before we leave!

But now it's nice to have the house back - no builders, no guests, just us lot chilling out and watching a bit of Antiques Roadshow

Look after yourselves

Deefer

Them Jonasses again

Well - you'll be pleased to know the girls thoroughly enjoyed their Jonas concert, coming back very tired at 02:00 but saying words like "brilliant" and "cool". Mum reported that it was very loud and at one stage asked if you could die from the screams of tens of thousands of pre-teen girls, plus reporting that she was pleased she'd taken her ear plugs but was sad she'd forgotten to take a book to read, and some Bach to play through the earphones. Mrs S was more "up for it" and has J-M balanced on one chair seat while Em-J was boogie-ing on the next chair.

Dad was meanwhile, chilling out back here with us to Terry Wogan and the "Children in Need" thing and "Autumn Watch". With all this stoppin' out, nobody was up very early for breakfast, so we got a walk through the soggy grass of the Cemetery, and were very dirty by the time we joined spanking-white westies Jasper and AN Other in the Rec.

Today's main entertainment for the humans was a trip down to see the Pud-Lady in Hastings, but with the car already full of people, there was no room for us. We got to sleep all day in the house. Panini-boss John called round to collect his money, so he's happy too.

Now Em-J and J-M have been practising their frog catching skills down at the pond, with torches and rain coats against the rain. Mad, the lot of them. Indoors we have a coal fire going in the Panini Room, so when they come back in at least they can get warm and dry.

Have a great weekend

Deefski

Jonas Brothers

These are the guys about whom was all the fuss, the Jonas Brothers. Mum has invited Mrs Silverwood, and the 2 girls Em-J and J-M over to join us for the weekend so that tonight they can all head for the Wembley Arena. None of us have the first idea what they sound like, although the Angel B claims to have caught them by mistake on the TV. Mrs Silverwood says they are actually capable of "rocking out" - it's not all too sickly sweet, cute and poppy despite its Miley C and Hannah Montana links.

Enough on that because we really are speaking from total ignorance here (no change there then!). It's been fun to have them around despite some appalling weather. They had made a big list, Mum-style, of all they wanted to do in the short time they were here, with the intention of ticking them off (revisit our town Rec's excellent swings-and-slides park, visit Diamond, climb the James Grieves Tree in the back garden, watch X-Factor (what? - our TV doesn't even receive chav-TV girls!)).

Because of the rain we've not got through the list very well yet, although we did visit Diamond and the Sparrowhawk came through and let them see a fresh kill, which wasn't on the list, but would have been had they known it was available. Now they've gone off to see their concert, and it's all gone a bit quiet in the "Panini Room". We got our walk, and we've been fed, so now we're all chilling out. Mr Silverwood is believed to be chilling equally with the 2 infant charges (Toddler-M and Baby R) with whom he's been left while Mrs S abandons him for the weekend in Ireland.

Can you cope, Mr S? Dad says it's really tough you guys not being able to go see the Jonasses but I don't think I quite believe him.

Have a great weekend

Deefski Jonas (we love the fact that the Jonasses come with a small 8 year old brother who's not yet allowed to tour with them, and he's called Bonus Jonas!)

Bye bye Paninis

With a final flurry of electrics work (lights, central heating thermostat) and then clearing up, the Panini boys finish and depart by about 11:30, off, we are told, to re-supply electrics to an address in Margate which was disconnected when the tenant got busted for owning and running a cannabis factory in there!

Brilliant blokes, and very easy to be a around, these guys have done an excellent job for us and Mum and Dad are delighted. They'd recommend these guys to anyone in the Kent area as builders (seriously, so Dad says if you want to know who they really are, leave a comment).

Dad's been around today - using up some holidays and running errands, plus the boys were in and out a bit quick, so the Panini supply was a bit limited. Dad's had some fun spoofing up one of their flyers with extra dog and bakery graphics, and extra "services" added to their list - General building work, roofs, tiling etc, no job too small, local bakery businesses well supported, no dogs knowingly starved etc.

So there y'go. Now there's just the awesome task of putting the place back together ready for the arrival of the Silverwoods.

Look after yourselves. I was going to say "have a great weekend" but it's not that yet for most of you, is it! Shame!

Deefski

All is revealed

The Panini boys are hard at it again today and by the time Dad returns from work (at a sensible hour this time) we have a posh new wooden "reveal" around the inside of the French doors and a much tidier garden. The boys are cruising in towards the end of the job now - I'm thinking maybe tomorrow will see them all done.

Just in time then for the imminent arrival of some of the Silverwoods, who are over so that the girls (Em-J and J-M) can be taken to a concert at the Wembley Arena, of the Jonas Brothers. This is a treat from (our) Mum, and Mrs Silverwood is coming along for the ride (or perhaps she's a secret fan?). The men are notable by their absence, strategically swerving these delights and unaccountably volunteering to stay home and look after the infants (M and Baby-R in the case of Mr Silverwood, we three doggies in the case of Dad).

We're quite alright being left on our own, Dad, if you really really want to go see the Jonas Brothers.....

Megan, meanwhile has suddenly perked up as if the discomfort of the operation-scar on her foot has suddenly eased. She enjoys a walk to the Rec, round the outside and back, positively scampering at some stages, and not needing a carry back along the tarmac path, by Dad. She is, says Mum, also no longer given to TOGG-ish "Do I come here Often?" looks (how rude!).

Fun ahead, but we'll miss the Panini Boys
Deefer

French Doors

With Mum and Dad out at work all day, the Panini boys are back and with the weather improved since Friday, they get stuck into extracting the old "back door" (Dining room exterior door) and replacing it with double French doors and the 300mm side panels.

This seems to generate huge amounts of stacked rubbish in the back garden, but luckily not the predicted gentle dusting of brick dust over everything (Mum would just about have cracked up at that point!)

Unfortunately, Dad gets held up at work, so Mum is home first, but after the Paninis have left town and not left the key for the new doors in any obvious position. This leaves Mum with the prospect of calming all dogs down and explaining why they can't go out the "old way", but have to be carried one by one out of the front door and round the side passage to the back garden, and one by one back round again when they've done their business.

It's all too much for me, so I hop around squeaking and jumping up at the locked new door, making Mum shout at me, and Meggie decides to be sick in the hall and the kitchen. Then the front door sticks leaving Mum locked out for 10 minutes. It's not the usual, shall we say, smooth running, cool, calm and collected arrival, of a home coming. Mum goes from content to frazzled all in about 10 minutes, and texts Dad to say she's moving into the Home for the Bewildered out the back.

By the time Dad gets home, of course, she's in, has now found the keys and some semblance of normality is restored.

We think that Mum will be soooooo relieved when the Panini boys have finished and gone and we can all tidy up........ We'll miss them though.

Deefer