Oh dear...but life goes on.

Lots of good news...Pickle chewed the microphone cable in two. Yes, it's good news. It didn't do any harm (apart from rendering the microphone unusable and so we can't talk on Skype until we have a new one). She could have chewed on the high voltage heating cable lying next to it.

A healthy family, busy doing rewarding jobs - including Richard, back flying after nearly 8 months.

Entertaining weather. THICK THICK fog - literally, pea soup; bright warm sunshine, picnic weather; torrential rain of tropical proportions, roads and paths becoming rivers and streams.
Entertaining.

But...Pickle does get herself in a pickle.

The last couple of weeks has seen:
4 shoes - aka 2 pairs - chewed.
Countless tennis balls ripped down to baldness.
1 pot hyacinth bulbs dug up.
1 garden 'lost' in - as in 'What? You're calling me? I can't have heard you...'
Hmmm....
Wish I could train her as well as this Jack Russell...
 However, she does have very exciting playdates with Howie the Boston Terrier...

Pickle's capers

Just when I thought there was no more new news about Pickle and her pursuit of pleasure - this happened:

A crab claw. Yes, it really is much bigger than her head...

She found it on the beach. Carried it home. Traffic stopped. Strangers smiled. So did we.

Then this:

(The answer to 'How DID she get caught in the wood basket' is that she was trying to grab the last little log hiding at the bottom...the log escaped, this time.)

Then this: toy no.3 on its way to annihilation...

...replaced by toy no.4.  Which proved a match for her.

Added to all these antics is her earnest desire to learn computer skills... she watches the movement of the mouse quite avidly and then tries typing on the keyboard...

Pickle and the Pollack

Pickle is a...

Hem grabber

Ball nabber

Tail chaser
Step racer

Water slurper
Belly burper

Eye roller

Garden holer

Stick chewer
Bone hewer
Plant stealer
Potato peeler

Hand nipper
Rug ripper
Fir-cone gnawer
Toy hauler

Teeth snapper
Little yapper
Shin bruiser
Sofa snoozer

Soft snorer
Persistent pawer

Morning smiler

Heart delighter.

Pickle!

Pickle's present

NO, we are NOT besotted with our new dog.  Every post in the recent past might be about her, but that is just because she is the most exciting thing happening at the moment. Honestly.
Receiving a card from my dear friend Ruth which said 'CONGRATULATIONS on your NEW ARRIVAL' and 'Enjoy the precious moments with your new bundle of joy' was just a joke. Or so I thought, until she turned up with a beautifully wrapped present 'for Pickle-Lilla with love from Aunty Ruth and Uncle Graham xxx'.  Then I started to wonder if I had, perhaps, chatted about our puppy just a little too often.
On the other hand, Ruth is a wonderfully warm, kind-hearted and empathetic friend who just loves to do good wherever or whenever she can. This was one of those occasions...

The parcel contained a squeaky toy

...so delightful...

bliss.

We hid it at bedtime.

Pickle's progress - some statistics...

7 chewed fircones
6 plant pots emptied, then batted and bowled around the lawn
5 small succulents left lying soil-less and desolate
4 balls (one old tennis ball, one small football and three still-bouncy tennis balls) played with
3 small puppy-sized meals eaten
2 adults loved to pieces
1 sofa sat on.

Hard to tell what was the most fun...

Puppyness

Puppydom has arrived!  Her given name is Lily...images of white beauty and sweet smells don't seem to go with the black squirming reality which is making her presence felt in our house....

The Swedish word 'Lilla' means little, used as a term of endearment...and she definitely has Jack Russell in her genes - so 'Lilla Pickle' it is.
Pickle for short.
And so the adventures begin...

Hmmm...looks interesting...

...wonder what this is? POND? What's a 'pond'?

Whoops!  

Man, that was WET!

Towels are for chewing. NOT drying - what a silly idea!

All done and dusted.

Well and truly pickled now.