whoosh

The days - and the weeks - are zipping by. I am swamped in soiled newspaper and sticky soaked puppy kibble & other stuff I'd rather not analyse. I'm suffering from sleep deprivation and I'm way behind with all my various work projects. Next week Jay will be otherwise occupied in another country leaving me to cope by myself with the 4 adult dogs and 7 babies. And work, musn't forget that. Oh, and I have a new term of puppy classes to teach starting in a few days too.

But the fat little wagging tails and puppy kisses on the nose make it all worthwhile. Well, all apart from the sleep deprivation, maybe. But that's not the puppies' fault.

They still haven't been out to see the big outdoor world, but I'm going to try to put that right very soon. If it ever stops raining.

In the meantime I've officially run out of newspaper and will now have to resort to buying some for the gang to wee on that I will then bundle up and put in the bin. I could make a joke about wasteful and frivolous frittering away of one's own money, and methods by which to do so, but I'll resist the temptation. Today I'll throw myself on the mercy of my neighbours and send a plea out for their discarded papers. But I do wonder whether this age of all the news all the time readily available online at any moment is doing away with daily newspapers. There certainly doesn't seem to be as many of them around as there used to be.

And with all that, here it is the 8th of January - well after xmas, well past 12th night, even (whenever that is, but I'm pretty sure it's past), and perilously close to the very last day our local composting group will take discarded trees. And where is our tree? Still up, still decorated - well, apart from the one casualty that came to grief thanks to a passing wagging tail. I have been determined to get some adorable-puppy-under-the-tree photos. So we try. And try some more. What chance the xmas tree will still be in situ in July? Oh, wait a minute, I have 7 eager new puppy owners who'll be knocking down my door in a few weeks so I'd better get on with the photos, then.

Oh, you want an example. Ok, but it ain't great. It might have been cute ... if it had been in focus ... and if the light had been something-or-othered.




Vee tucked into the wreath.










And a selection of adorable-puppy-not-under-the-tree, but at least in focus. Er, more in focus.

First of all, Honey meets Maija ...















... who invites her for a game ... although Honey doesn't look too impressed ...














... and after getting a whack on the head, perhaps she was right!














Meanwhile, back in the pen, the pheasant is the favoured toy-du-jour.








Budgie spots it first and after carrying it all around the pen and giving it a few good shakes to make sure it's quite dead, she settles down for a chew on its feet.









Junior is the most gentle & polite of the litter, but he eventually gets his turn when everyone else is asleep. After getting a good grip on it, he gives it a mighty whack with his paw. (Hmm, wonder where he learned that, Maija?)















Other puppies make do with other toys (while Honey has the pheasant).