Open plan living, Daddy style. By Bessie

So the other night Daddy noticed the bubble in the bathroom floor was getting bigger so he had a good look and discovered the toilet is leaking.  He pulled all the floor up and there was water in the roof space and he found mushrooms growing under the floor.  MUSHROOMS!

We thought Daddy was going to go ballistic but he was remarkably calm all things considering.  He said he wanted to replace the floor and wall tiles anyway so he may as well get on with it.   So he ripped all the floor up and the rest of the wall tiles.   The toilet come out and then he was scraping all the rotten wood out and Mummy shouts "OH MY GOD THERE'S A MASSIVE HOLE IN THE WALL!"   

So Daddy come to look and he had knocked right through to the lounge.   Well, open plan is very fashionable, we've seen it on Grand Designs.  Not sure about the open plan lounge/bathroom though.   So when Daddy finished scraping the rotten wood out he mended the hole in the wall so now we can't watch telly from the shower.

On Thursday Mummy, Tom and Bryn took Lotty with them in the car.  They said it was her turn for an adventure cos I always get to go.  Well of course I always get to go, that's cos I'm the oldest and the most important.  Anyway they went to Tewkesbury where they met Miss Adele and Mr Daz and Jackson, the new dog Adele rescued for us.   They got there a bit early cos they thought it would take longer to get there but they have finished all the roadworks on the M50 now so it not take as long.  So they were waiting and watching the other cars arriving and trying to work out which one was theirs.  Lotty sat on Mummys lap so she could look out the window.  Then a people carrier come into the car park with the back window open even though it was cold out.  Mummy said, "I bet that's them and he's just been sick."

Then the car parked next to our car and Miss Adele got out and said Jackson had just been sick.   But apart from that he was very lovely and sweet and Miss Adele and Mr Daz said they loved him very much and was going to miss him.   

Then Jackson and Lotty got in the car and apparently they were both very good and did not argue at all not even once.  And Mummy drove to Bridgend to take Jackson to Miss Lesley who is going to foster him for us.   When they got to Miss Lesley's Jackson and Lotty ran straight through the house and into the garden with Bella and Wilbur.   Jackson very brave boy, he not bothered.  And all the dogs was very nice to each other, not a cross word between them Mummy says.  So they all gave Jackson, Bella and Wilbur big kisses and they come home.  By the time they got home they had been on the road 5 hours.   Them was all shattered and went straight to bed.

On Saturday Katie and her friends wanted to go into Cardiff so Mummy said she would take them and do a bit of Christmas shopping herself.   Bryn stayed home to help Daddy with the plumbing and Tom come with Mummy to keep her company.   

When they got to the park and ride there were two buses in the bus stop.  Both were completely full and there was a big queue of people stood waiting for the next one.   Mummy and Tom did look at each other like oh god what are we doing.   So they join the queue and the two buses went and another one come a few minutes later.  Luckily they managed to get seats and they went into town to do the shopping.   When they got off the bus the teenagers went off by themselves and Mummy and Tom went to Poundland and then to Burger King to get some lunch.   After they had eaten it they went off to do some shopping and it was when they bought something Mummy realised she had left her shopping bag in Burger King.  What was in it was a packet of haribos that she had promised Bryn for helping his Daddy and a box of choklits she bought for the raffle at the Basset rescue Christmas party.   

So they went back to Burger King and the queues at the counters were so big people were queuing out the door.  So they tried to push their way through to get to the stairs when Mummy noticed a little toddler crying  He didn't look like he was with anybody nearby so she knelt down and asked him what was wrong.   He said he lost his Mummy so Mummy lifted him up into her arms and shouts really loud "Has anybody lost a child?"   Loads of people all looked round and this man said he thought he was lost and then he sort of shrugged like to say "I'm a man, I can't pick him up."   Then the little boy points at a lady walking our way so Mummy goes over to her, still carrying the little boy so he not get lost in the crowd again.   Mummy expecting the lady to be cross when she see Mummy holding her baby but she just sighed and said "What you doing there?"  Mummy explain how he was lost and she lifted him up so he could look for her.  The lady just take his hand and drag him off telling him off for leaving the table.  Me think a two or three year old far too little to be left at a table on his own.  Them queues was so long I bet she must have been gone half an hour, no wonder he got scared.

Anyway after all that excitement Mummy and Tom went upstairs and the bag was right where she had left it under the table.  So they had a look in a few more shops but town was so busy it was horrible, everywhere was so busy that even if they wanted to buy something they would have been queuing forever.  So they mooch about not really doing much for a bit then they phoned Katie and said they want to go home.  Surprisingly she was ready and only a few minutes away so them went back to the bus stop and joined a massive queue.  They didn't get on the first bus cos it was too full but they got seats on the next one so them was happy.

At tea time someone phoned to ask about Jackson.   They sounded perfect for him, two men who's basset did go to rainbow bridge recently.  They have another doggy and they arranged to come and see him next week.  If they love him, which they will cos everybody does, then they will take him home with them.

Today we had a lazy day.  Mummy did a load of cooking and baking and we sat and watched.  Carly ate some raw marrow and sweet potato but Lotty and I did not think that would be very tasty.   Carly said it wasn't very nice but as Mummy had given them to her she didn't want to offend Mummy.  I said Carly was stupid and Mummy didn't give them to her, she dropped them.  Carly is such a weirdo.  She's always creeping up to Mummy.  Mummy calls Carly her little stalker cos every time she moves Carly is right behind her.  

Our rescue. How it all began.

Have I told you about our new rescue?   Well, two things happened at the same time.  Firstly people kept asking us to help them with bassets but because of the rules of the basset rescue we were looking for we couldn't help.   Then, while we were moving house Miss Sam arranged a rescue of a basset being transported all the way from Devon to Aberdeen.  we couldn't help because we were moving house but it got us thinking that maybe it would be quite simple to set up a basset rescue of our own.  So we did.

We have been going for eight weeks and we have rescued seven dogs so far.   I'll tell you about them in a minute.   First we made a facebook page then we asked Miss Sam and Miss Louise if they'd like to help.  So Miss Sam is our treasurer and Miss Louise is our secretary.  Then we asked Uncle MrJeff if he would help us with our website so he is building our website for us.  It's nearly finished now, we're ever so excited.  Uncle MrJeff is sponsoring our phone too and Aunty Jayne gave us a phone so people can phone us about the houndies.

We are trying to do it all with just the group of people we have at the moment and the two people in Northern Ireland, Miss Alice and Miss Nikki.  But it is getting more and more work.  We did think we would need to get more people, area reps we thought,  in the future when we get busier but we think we are already much busier than we expected.   Ooh and we're having a Christmas Party too.  Miss Sam found a village hall that allows dogs and we have booked it for the 8th December.  We've got all sorts of fun and games planned.   Santa is coming to give all the dogs and children a present.  We will have a very silly dog show with rounds like dog who looks most like their owner and saddest face and some activity rounds like snossij relay race, egg and spoon race and musical cushions.   An obstacle course and fancy dress and we are having mulled wine and a buffet lunch.  It's going to be tonnes of fun, we can't wait.

Anyway, our dogs.  So I'll tell you about Daisy first, she wasn't our rescue like I said but it was her story that inspired us.  So much so that Miss Alex, her mummy, said we could use her picture for our logo.  So Daisy was rescued from a barn in Devon where she had been used for breeding.   She spent four nights in Devon at the first rescuers house, then she was taken to Bristol where she met the next group of people.  They took her to Stratford on Avon where she swapped cars again.   Then to Nottingham to meet some different people who took her to Rotherham where she met her forever family who took her the rest of the way to Aberdeen.  An incredible 600 mile journey.   So it was this story that inspired us to start our own rescue.

Next we have Bertie.   His owner couldn't give him the attention he craved so he came to us.   The next day we took him to meet Miss Louise.  He is staying there with Frank and Penny for now.  He loves it at Miss Louise's.

Then Roxy.  Roxy was found as a stray living in a forest in Northern Ireland, scared, skinny and pregnant.  She was taken to the pound where she had her puppies and when they were old enough to be weaned the pound phoned Alice, our Northern Ireland rep and asked her to take her in.   Roxy has now been spayed, deflea-ed and wormed and had her bad skin treated with antibiotics.  She is now a million miles from the little stray.

Photo above is Roxy the day she arrived.

Below is her now.

Merlot is very special to us.  They are all very special to us of course but we feel very proud to have rescued Merlot.   We first saw her advertised as free to a good home and asked the seller if we could take her but they didn't respond to us.   Then she disappeared off the website and we were all very worried about what had happened to her.  Three weeks later another dog appeared on the free ads, same age and description but different name and slightly different location.  We didn't put the two together but we asked if we could have her and this time the owner said yes.  One of our transporters, Lesley went to pick her up and that evening our foster carer, Susan brought her home and had a good look at her papers.  The owner had changed her name but the microchip form told us that her name was Merlot and her previous owners name and location was the same as the Merlot we had tried to rescue three weeks previously.  We feel she was sent to us from up high.    Merlot was in season so she stayed with Miss Susan until her season was finished and her vaccinations had been completed.  Yesterday she met her prospective adopter, the lovely Miss Zoe, for the first time and it was love at first sight for the both of them.  Merlot will be going off to Scotland to start her new life at the end of this month.  A happy ending for a very special little girl.

Cooper 's owner couldn't look after him any more so he was given to a lady who had dachshunds.  Unfortunately being a lot bigger than them Cooper was standing on them and the lady was worried for their safety and asked us to help find a new home.   We put his photo on our facebook page and the lovely Miss Sue applied for him.  We thought she was the perfect Mum for a sweet but boisterous young boy like Cooper.  And we were right.  He now lives in Cumbria with his beagle siblings.

Alfie's owner couldn't take him with her to her new home so he had been locked in a shed while he waited to be rehomed.  Our Northern Ireland rep Nikki took him in and he is settling in with his new brother and sister.

Harvey lived with three other dogs and a loving family but he wanted to be an only dog and would fight with his siblings.  His family very reluctantly decided that he would be happier in a home where he could be the only dog.  Luckily we knew just the people.   He went to his new family yesterday and is already settling in well.

Jackson was at a rescue centre and not enjoying life in kennels at all.  On our behalf, Miss Adele offered to help as he had been there for four weeks and we thought we might be able to rehome him quicker.   Miss Adele is picking him up tomorrow and we will meet her halfway on Thursday and take him to Miss Lesley who will foster him until we find a suitable home.

So that is us so far.   Lots more success stories to come, we are sure.    We are really enjoying running our new rescue and we've got some really good and kind people working with us and have had loads of support from the dog community.

I'll get me coat. By Bessie

Firstly I have to tell you that ever since Mummy smelled that salted caramel candle she's been wobbling on about needing to buy one.  Anyway she had all her candles on yesterday and when one ran out she went to get a new one from the massive stockpile and realised all this time she already had salted caramel.   Stupid woman.

On Tuesday Mummy asked her boss if he could remember how many holidays she had left cos she couldn't remember.  He phoned the wages girl at head office and when he come off he says "Well you may as well just go home now."  So she stood up and put her coat on.
"No, not really.  Please don't," he said.  So she agreed that even though she had so many days holiday left that she didn't need to work again this year she would come in every Wednesday.  Because quite frankly it's easier to lose four days holiday than let someone else near the invoices.

So Thursday she didn't go to work, she went to Tesco and then she came home and played with us.  On Friday Grandma and Grandad came to stay for the weekend.   The humans went to B&Q to steal wallpaper samples for Katie's art homework on Saturday afternoon.  On the way out the alarm went off and Mummy told Katie it was because she had stole more than a metres worth of wallpaper.

That night they went out for dinner to an Italian restaurant in Cardiff for Tom's birthday what they paid for with clubcard vouchers.   It was nice foodies.  Katie had chips for her starter though cos she is strange.

On Sunday Aunty Mic, Uncle Rob and Ben come to visit.  Mummy attempted to cook dinner for 10 in her tiny kitchen.  She did the chikkin in the slow cooker and all the veggies in a big baking tray and she did manage to make the dinner.  Unfortunately Daddy thinks that means the kitchen is fine and she don't need a new cooker.   Hmph.

Tomorrow is Tom's birthday.   He will be 21.  

Not in a candle shop. Not again. By Bessie

Yesterday Mummy smelled a salted caramel yankee candle.   This is the noise she made while she was sniffing it:

"Ohhhh hmmmmmm ohhhhh yessssss hmmmmmmm.   I like this.  Sniff this.  NO, don't take it off me.  Smell that one there.   Hmmmmmm yummy."

Suffice to say Tom said he's not taking Mummy into any more candle shops.  Ever.

In other news Mummy put half the contents of our house, particularly the contents of her wardrobe, on Ebay.  She says she will use the money to pay for the minihumans Christmas presents.  She also said she's selling every pair of shoes that hurts.  Cos she doesn't see the point of wearing anything that isn't comfortable.  So if you ever see Mummy at a posh function she will be the one in slippers...or converses...or doc martens.  Not nice shoes anyway.  That is the point I am trying to make.

In which Bertie wins at hide and seek. By Bessie

Today we went out with the pack.   We got up nice and early and Mummy made bacon and hash brown rolls for breakfast and chicken and cheese rolls for lunch while Daddy got the car ready for us.  When it was time to get in the car Daddy couldn't find his keys even though him only had them a minute ago.  So we all looked for the keys but they was nowhere to be found and we really needed to go or we were going to be late so Daddy got his spare set and off we went.

It was the same walk we did last May so we thought we knew where we was going.  We drove to the place where the walk started last time and we waited.  And then Mr Guy, Alice, Jessica and Maude came so we got out the car to talk to them.  And then it got to twenty past and we thought where is everybody?  Some people walked past and we asked them if they seen any more dogs like us.  "Oh yes," they says, "there's loads down there."  So we thinks we ought to walk back and meet the rest of the pack so we did.  It took ages to walk down cos we was parked so far away.   Everybody else was parked in a completely different place (which by the way wasn't anywhere near as good a place to park as where we was but ho hum).

Then we give everybody an invitation to the basset rescue christmas party and we set off on our walk.   By the time we got back to the monument by our car we realised there was two dogs missing, Bertie and Flash.  Then Miss Diane got a call to say Bertie was found but Flash still missing.  So Miss Louise and Jordan went back to see the lady who apparently had Bertie.   Mummy said me and Carly and her would go and help find Flash.  So we followed Miss Louise and Jordan but they was running so we lost them. We went back into the woods and tried to retrace our steps until we found a lady who had been on the walk with us but had got left behind.  We felt terrible cos we not know if anybody even knew she was left behind. So we showed her how to get back to everybody else and then we went off into the woods.  Then Brian and his humans catched us up and say they would help look for Flash.  Then we heard a voice and it was Miss Louise.  She went looking but she couldn't find the lady with Bertie.  Her was not where she was sposed to be.  Jordan had run into the woods to look for everybody but now we had lost him too.   Then someone phoned and said the lady now had Bertie on a lead and Flash had run off back to the cars and she was coming back with Jordan.  So we went back the way we come and we seen Mr Ryan coming towards us so we all went back.  Then Tom phoned to ask where we was cos the rest of the pack was carrying on the walk.  We say it ok, all the dogs has been found and we is on our way back.   So them say they wouldn't walk with everybody, they would come and meet us.  So we went back to the path.  But when we got there Jordan was with Daddy, Tom and Bryn and he said he hadn't seen the lady with Bertie or Flash.   So we all started looking again.  We decided the best thing was to go back to the cars in the hope that both the dogs, and this lady whoever she is, made it back there.  So Daddy said he would move our car so it was with all the others, so he went back to get the car and we walked down to the other car park.   When we got there Miss Sam and Mr Dave were there with all the children but Bertie, Flash and the lady weren't.  Then the lady who had got lost in the woods came and described the dog she saw with the lady and we was convinced it was Bertie.  So we said we would go and look for Flash then if we know Bertie is safe.  So we all went back into the woods to look for Flash and Mr Dave drove up the lane to see if he could see anybody.  Then he came back and said he saw a basset running across the road but it was going too fast.  So Daddy went with Mr Dave so if they saw it again he could jump out and try and call it.   In the meantime the rest of us were walking round the woods calling Bertie and Flash.

Then someone shouts up the lane that they have Bertie but Flash is still missing.    So we say we will look, then suddenly Flash is back too.  We never did find out where the dogs had been and which dog, if any, this lady had found cos by the time we got back to the cars she had gone home.

Then the humans ate their lunch and we all had some snossijs and then we went off for the second half of the walk.  Bertie had to stay on his lead this time after disgracing himself.   We was having a lovely walk too until we was 300 yards from the end when Mr Wayne shouts "Come back, we've lost another one!"   Narla had gone missing this time.  So we all walked back shouting her name and us dogs were all barking and howling to attract her attention but we waited for ages and we were all in the woods looking but we couldn't find her anywhere.  So her mum said we should go back to the cars and hope she has run back there.  So we started walking back and then suddenly Lotty ran off into the woods.  Bryn and Daddy raced after her but her was so fast she was really far in seconds, then Bryn managed to corner her against a fence but she didn't want to be caught.  She had the scent of something and she wanted to be off.  Bryn had to throw himself on top of her to stop her running off.  So then Lotty had to stay on her lead.

When we got back to the cars most people decided to stay behind and help search for Narla.  We was all standing round deciding where to start when Mr Guy and one of Narla's humans come walking down the path with Narla on her lead.  We was all so happy and relieved.   Then we all did huggies and kissies and we got back in our cars and went home.  We was so tired after all the excitement we slept all the way home.  Luckily Daddy stayed awake so he could drive the car.  There was a massive queue at the toll and it took ages to get back into Wales.  Then we picked Katie up from her friends, came home and had baffs (grrr) and our tea (yummy) and slept most of the evening.

At bedtime Mummy went to lock the back door but the key was missing.  She asked Daddy where it was and he had a look then announced that someone must have snuck in and took the key.  "Oh that reminds me," said Mummy, "Did you find your car keys yet?"    "Yes," admitted Daddy, "They were in my other coat pocket."   Then he went upstairs and the back door keys were in his coat pocket too.

Ooh I almost forgot, we arranged another adoption this week.    Someone in Lancashire needed to rehome their basset so we advertised him on our facebum page and we rehomed him.  He went to his new family today and he's already settled in.