Bedlam but we made it!

We made it through and it is now Boxing Day. We survived not only the Silverwood's Christmas Day with its alternating bursts of bedlam and calm but also the "No Laptops" rule. It was brilliant, so a huge Thank You to the Silverwoods for having us along for the ride. Mum and Dad halped out with bits and peices like present wrapping, cooking and child-wrangling too, so we think we've still a few hours of welcome left before it all wears off and they send us back to the damp and cold of Roscommon.

Format for the day(s) is a big supper on Christmas Eve, which in this case was of a risotto done with the meat from spiced turkey wings from the day before, plus prawns, before the various tired children are read "Night Before Christmas" by Mum and off they go to bed. No problem getting them to bed that night of course. The rules are that they get the stocking in their room to wake up to and must then stay upstairs till all 4 are awake which, naturally does not take long once on is up and about.

By about 06:30 we are all coming downstairs to get coffees and teas organised and for we dogs to get a comfort walk round the block. Mr S then disappears into the front room where the tree stands to turn on the Chistmas lights. In there are the big Santa sacks on various easy chairs - these are the sacks of presents from Santa (or in some cases signed by elves and reindeer) as opposed to the presents from relatives and friends which are under the tree. There are a couple of sooty handprints as evidence of Santa's comings, one on the door, one on the mantle. The kids are allowed in all together for the first bedlam session, the Santa presents.

These are brilliant and received with delight by the children, bikes for M and R, an electric guitar for Em-J and a model dress-making kit for J-M plus reams of other stuff. That done and some time spent playing with those presents, Mr S cooks a proper Irish fried breakfast with black and white puddings, bacon, eggs, beans, sausages etc. Then we all adjourn back in there for the under-tree presents which again are a big success. The rest of the day round till about 6pm when it's time for the turkey meal.

After that it finally does go a bit quieter as the little ones get wrangled off to bed and are asleep in seconds. Today is more of a relaxed affair with all the toys to play with and the catering is mainly about help yourlesf from the fridge mountains of left over turkey, ham, cakes, gingerbread, crisps etc.

Some photos of all this soon. We had another lemonade-into-laptop incident involving small child and we are down one laptop for messing with pictures.

Deefs

Happy Christmas!

OK, this one's a bit of a swizz, as the snow round here has, in fact, almost all washed away but I thought you might like a quick picture of our old chum SB Greta all snugged down in her poly-tunnel under the snow, with a smudge of smoke coming from her chimney. Owner/Skipper has a superb heating system down in there paid for by his main sponsor in lieu of a corporate sailing weekend. Looking for all the world like an old fashionned Kitchen Range (even down to the dark green enamel), pull open any of the "oven doors" and you reveal a hi-tech display of buttons, lights, control dials and digital displays. The barge is as warm as toast inside, even when we are reading -11 degrees C up on the Thanet Way.

There's no 'white Christmas' this year, but we're all awake from about 06:30 and the humans are up to their usual silliness ripping presents open on the bed before they have drunk their first cups of coffee. Mum had been to Midnight Mass so we were all a bit surprised she woke up. She'll probably collapse this evening and sleep like a log.

Today we are off to Hastings to visit and feed the Pud Lady and the Stamp Man. I say 'we' - it's actually a joint effort this year. Dad's bro, Tom has got the party started by putting the enormous turkey in before we got there and set the bread/onion sauce going. Our part is to do veg's and the final cooking, serving, carving etc, so we come down armed with allotment spuds, carrots, parsnips, sprouts etc. It's a good drive down on clear roads with only occasional patches of ice. The meal goes well and everybody has a good time. Mum gets Pud Lady well tanked up on sherry and champagne (not both together). We come away with a mountain of goodies - as well as the presents we have half a turkey, a whole salt beef (still frozen), barm brack and a very pink Acacia. J-M Silverwood would love it.

We race back in time for Doctor Who and, with the car now parked up and no longer needed, Dad can also have a drink.

Hope you're enjoying your Christmas

Deefs

5000 visits

Hey! We made it. Site meter is recording the fact that this blog scored 5000 visits by Friday 25th which is quite neat timing.

We were off down to visit Pud-Lady and Stamp-Man, where Mum and Dad were due to cook the turkey dinner. In the event, Mum got so focussed in the small kitchen and was enjoying herself so much that, except for lifting heavy turkeys out of the oven and the carving itself, she rebuffed all offers of assistance. Dad was left to chat with the other guests, T-Fer and friend-of-the-family, Jane.

I caused a quick flurry of excitement myself, of course, when I found that a badger dig under the fence meant I could get out of the Steak Lady's garden, and then off across 3 or 4 more gardens. This was much too exciting for me to worry about Dad whistling and calling (won't be a minute Dad; I just have to check out these hutched rabbits and these Dogs going mad barking at me strolling around because they are inside a fenced cage).

I was very good - I always knew where Dad was, and I made sure to keep giving him glimpses of me in various gardens, but eventually he clambered over a few fences and cornered me. There after I was only allowed out in the garden on a lead, which seems a bit mean.

Meal eaten, prezzies exchanged and opened, we headed back to home with a pleasing amount of cold turkey left overs, via a nice sighting in the headlights, of Fallow Deer in Challock Forest, to chill out with our bloated stomachs, to watch Doctor Who. It's been a very good Christmas all round. I hope yours was as nice.

My pic shows a recent Cambria shot, just for an update, deck-beams almost complete and the start of deck planking going on, as we headed in to Christmas.

Enjoy the weekend

Deefer

I Cracked.....

OK, I admit it. I am not, by nature, a "good" person, and the strain of being good up to Christmas to make sure I was still on the list, ground me down. I cracked at about 07:30 a.m. and reverted to type. 07:30, is when Mum wakes up, as bright as a button, and starts prodding Dad and whicpering sweet nothings in his ear about Santa having been.

This is the family cue to round up cups of coffee, any dogs who have wandered downstairs in the night, and any prezzies left around the place by the aforementionned red-suited, bearded gentleman. It came to pass that all three dogs got prezzies. For me, the clever old sleigh-rider had bought a rubber ring for chasing in the park - he obviously got my letter about the death of the yellow frisbee.

For Meggie and extremely squeaky ball. Everyone knows Meg is mad for a squeaky toy, and can actually keep one intact for years, ceaselessly enjoying the squeak and never doing that bad-dog thing of chewing it up to kill the squeak. When she was a pup, well before my time, her first Christmas present was a rufty-tufty mince-pie shaped squeaker and Dad tells me she had that thing for about 6 years, still squeaking till it got left out in the garden and filled up with water, which rusted the squeak into silence.

For Haggis (who lives in mortal fear of the sting of being thwacked in the side by a kicked tennis ball, thanks to Dad when he was a pup (Pure accident, pleads Dad - I didn't expect him to run that direction!) a soft-toy "ball" on the end of a throwing "rope", with a rubbery handle. Also, by chance, a squeaker in the end of the ball, but not as in-yer-face as Meggie's.

So where do I come into all this? We got these gifts at 07:30. My throwing-ring was great but that squeaky ball of Meg's bored into my consciousness like the "Ring" for Smeagol (Gollum from Tolkien's books). I needs it. I wants it, My Precious.......... The craving! I had to endure it for one minute, two minutes, three!......At about 25 to 8, I saw my chance and whipped in and nicked it, racing downstairs. Dad saw me and ran down after me, retrieved it and gave it back to Meg.

The 2nd time, though, he was not so vigilant, and before he could realise, I had it downstairs and chewed great holes in it. The squeaker stopped working. Megan (ha!) was powerless to do anything, as she can't get down stairs. One-nil to me, I think.

Later that day, I spotted a chance to nick the H's throwing toy, and very soon had that dismembered too. No more squeaking for that one either. I am that BITCH. Two-nil

A good couple of days, even so. On the big day we're down at Pud-Lady's and with the Pud Lady not to sure on her pins at present, Dad does a good chunk of the cooking (plus Mum and Dad wade in with some general house-keeping type help. Pud Lady is delighted and is pleased to report that she's had the "Laziest Christmas for about 50, no maybe 52.... no it's 55 years"

Now we're all back here and Mum and Dad seem to have forgiven my indiscretions of Christmas Day (though I suspect I may be on the "other" list next Christmas) and we all get a lovely walk in Challock Forest. The house is full of Westie stuff. 2 different people independently give Mum and Dad each a nice Westie mug, there are westie diaries, Mum has westie socks, we have a proper westie calendar, and we have a "water-ski-ing westies" calendar, which is quite fun.

Merry Christmas everybody.
Squeak squeak
Deefer

Look what they DID to me!

Oh dear, Oh Dear. Look what they did to me! That Angel-Betty who is normally on my side! Doesn't she realise I have to face my gang on the Rec and beat them up occasionally. All my street cred will be gone! I can just hear that Ellie now, and Archie.... "They did WHAT to you?" I am meant to be a ruffty-tuffty Scottish Highland dog, out in all weathers, tirelessly pursuing vermin across the heather and bracken, fur full of burrs and wildlife, feet muddy from peat bogs, nose bloodied and eyes gimlet thin, the steely-eyed killer look.

Ah well - thanks for the photo's Angel-B. They are great!

Meanwhile, today finds us back in Portmarnock, at the Steak Lady's house, but the Steak Lady is away on hols, so the house, which is a B+B, is immaculate and quiet, with even the crackin' little Yorkie, Cracker, being dog-sat next door. I've been used to the Silverwood house, baby-M trying out his 1 year old vocals, J-M and Em-J racing about excited by all the Santa provisions, piles of toys and games and wrappings, toys that make tunes and noise electronically, like trains and planes, dog/child-friendly furnishings, dogs Chance and Sam periodically taking us on for bouts of play-fighting, comings and goings, and the voices of Silverwood and Mr-Em, plus our own Mum and Dad rising above it all. Mayhem, but Puppy-heaven.

I am afraid, I'm suited more to that than the peace, quiet and "keep off the furniture" of Mum (nursing, it has to be said, a minor hang-over) and Dad (scared stiff we'll break something or I might leave a small curl of poo somewhere bad). I have already been shoo-ed out of the "best room" when I was caught lifting every thing one-by-one out of a pot-pourri, so now I'm confined to the more dog friendly kitchen area, where there are at least dog toys. One (rather alarmingly) looks like a pink ghost and laughs like the Laughing Policeman when you chew it's arm

Never will suss humans. Why can't we just stay in Silverwood?

Deefer

Paper Storm

Before I start, one quick thing I didn't mention yesterday; there is another member of the Silverwood family,the current foster-baby, Baby-M (yes, another M)

Well - I've had an exciting day, that's for sure. I have never seen the likes. You would not beleive the frenzied activity this morning, as 3 small humans unwrapped a small mountain of gifts in record time, the paper ripping and flying about like leaves in a hurricane.

I can now list for yousome good things to eat on Christmas Day,

Custard cream biscuit dropped by baby

Football

Baby's dummy

Wheels of toy train (train also worth barking at as you can make it change direction)

Paper

Santa sacks

Unfortunately, all the more likely doggie-fare was kept from me on the grounds that I already have a "squitty bum" (whatever that is) due to food-thefts over that last few days,of inapropriate food stuffs.I am reduced to "proper puppy food" (zzzzz)

My Dad is an expert at extracting Bratz dolls from their wrappings (lots of card board, wire, threads and strands.), has been thrashed by an 8 year old girl at Battle ships, has chatted to Mr-Em on a Nintedo DS from next door rooms in the same house (comments from Mum that it's easy to keep 2 blokes amused).

Plus I've been for a nice walk round the town via a stream path (lovely dark brown peaty water). Have to go now - must supervise Dad doing the roast potatoes

More (and more pics) when I have more time

Deefer