Return of junior dog

Mojo - half Rottie, half Collie, all nutter - has returned. This is the young bitch (in the canine sense) we looked after last year when her mistress broke her leg. Then T was diagnosed and Mojo returned to her home, but a week ago, her mistress called to say that she was going into hospital and could we have the divine Miss M for Xmas?

We have just collected her.

M: THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!

T: I think if we swing by Bristol, and pick up that stock....

M: THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!

Me: Fine - we can be back by half three.

M: THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!

And so on. On arriving home, my plan was to introduce Mojo and Sidney as gently and calmly as possible. Then I turned round in the yard to see a fleeing black figure pursued by a larger fleeing black figure. Sid shot straight up the birch tree to a height of some 20 feet and stayed there. He has been persuaded down, which he achieved - impressively - by swinging like Tarzan on a strand of virginia creeper.

Since then, everyone is in the living room. Mojo has had her nose swiped twice and been sworn at once, by a thing like a night-coloured firecracker.

Sid: What the HELL IS THAT???
Mojo: M: THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!! Will you play with me? You're my bestest new friend in the whole world ever!!!
Sid: WHAT THE HELL? [elaborately washes foot to demonstrate supreme unconcern].

But he has not run away. All 3 dogs are now engaging in 'who is dominant?' behaviour, all very tedious.

Pony show

Many thanks to everyone for their very kind comments about our horse. The Shetland is a lot less visibly distressed than I'd expected, although it's difficult to tell. We're going to have a word with the yard over the road, which would be ideal, to see if they'd put him in with their horses and we continue to feed him. But we'll see how it goes. He's had a lot of attention and, more importantly, carrots, today.

RIP

I was very sorry tonight to learn of the death of Arabella Churchill. I knew Arabella years ago and learned of her illness a couple of weeks back, via a mutual friend. She was very involved in the children's festival in Glastonbury, was the first person (AFAIK) to undergo a facelift online, and despite being Winston's grand-daughter, defied tradition by marrying (and staying married to) a juggler. she was in her 50s, no age at all, especially for such a vital person.

A welcome to the new folk

A big welcome to the new people on the f-list - do feel free to introduce yourselves, or simply lurk if you wish. I probably won't be able to respond at length over the next few days due to seasonal reasons (ack) but I'm not ignoring you, honest!

Dog settling in

Mojo sprang at Cobweb the cat and made her levitate up a partition wall. Sid is increasingly less fazed, despite the following:

Sid: 'I CANNOT POSSIBLY be expected to put up with this kind of thing in MY house - it is completely unreasonable, I won't be in the same room as this, this, this person, and I am traumat - ooh, dinner.' [runs between new dog's legs to attack his plate].

Mojo has been into town, examined the shop - she ought to recognise this as she assisted in the refit, mainly by horking up on the carpet the minute we'd finished it. We took her to the pub for an hour or so and she slept peacefully while we read the newspapers. Both she and Sid are now asleep, about a yard apart.

Dept of You Couldn't Make It Up

We are sitting in front of the Racing Channel. Racing at the all-weather track at Wolverhampton has been halted, because of a fox, which has buried something on the track - something that is now believed to be a hedgehog.

So the track is being scoured by severe men in bomber jackets, all searching for a buried hedgehog.

There was footage of the fox, looking furtive, or as furtive as you can be under heavy spotlights and in front of the gaze of several thousand people.