Halloween, Fireworks and Bed Fellows!

I'm so happy I could laugh!

You've got to be quicker than that Toby!

It was Halloween on Thursday night and much as I disagree with the whole thing I always have a big bowl of sweets and chocolate ready for the neighbours kids when they come knocking at the door.

Hugo and Pip were brilliant - to begin with every time the door was knocked Pip would bark and they would both come with me to the door to see who was there - the kids love them and almost forget why they are coming round as they try to pat and stroke the dogs. Of course, Hugo and Pip were in their element and the strange masks and wigs didn't bother them in the slightest - they were, however, slightly miffed that chocolate was being handed out with no sign of any coming in their direction. After half a dozen or so callers Pip had had enough and woofed from the settee without moving so Hugo got all the fuss.

This way!

Both Hugo and Pip sleep upstairs at night with Pip on her blanket at the top of the stairs and Hugo on his on the floor at the foot of the bed - a bit of an obstacle course if you have to get up in the night but they seem quite content. Miss Pip, however, has discovered our bed is more comfortable then her blanket and we quite often find her on the bed when we wake up in the morning - usually with pins and needles or cramp because she is laying across our legs. Then she tried pushing her luck by getting up as we were going to bed and we had a couple of nights very poor sleep as she would lie across the bed rather than down it so we started to push her off. Hugo does get up on the bed but usually for never more than 5-10 minutes before jumping back off but he has now taken matters into his own hands. As we go up to bed HE gets on the middle of the bed and lies down (surprisingly although he is twice the size of Pip he takes up less room then she does!). When Pip comes in there isn't room for her so she goes and lies on her blanket, we put the lights out, Hugo waits for about 5 minutes and then gets off and we have a free bed - what a clever boy!

I can smell something, where is it?

There are still remnants of the big bones they had last week lying around the house and some of these pieces have found their way upstairs. Pip is a bit of a madame and will steal Hugo's from out of his mouth but he is getting crafty as well. The other morning Pip was downstairs and Hugo jumped up on the bed between us for a cuddle (he's a big softie first thing in the morning) when he heard Pip coming upstairs, quickly jumped off the bed, found his bone, jumped back on the bed and lay on top of the bone so she didn't know he had it.

Fireworks, what fireworks?

Toby and I took Hugo and Pip up to Randwick woods this afternoon and we walked for well over an hour with them - they had a fantastic time and had us wrapped round the trees several times. It was beautiful up there today with the sun streaming through the branches on to the fallen beech leaves below. They were quite skittish and darting hither and thither. Several times Hugo picked up the trail of something and I was dragged after him through the undergrowth - didn't actually find anything but he had a great time. We saw a couple of people with four Huskies which Hugo and Pip would have quite liked to have joined but we wouldn't let them - think they had their hands full as it was.


Fireworks are going off all around tonight and I am pleased to report Hugo and Pip are not bothered in the slightest, even when our neighbour across the road let off several really loud ones - they just twitch an ear or stretch but don't seem to even notice most of them. Hugo asked to go up the garden when I was cooking tea and a rocket went up from just a few doors down - he just looked up at the pretty colours with his head on one side until it was finished and then carried on as normal.