Seasons of Fun and Friendship

As this year draws to a close, Mummy reminded me that I haven’t blogged for an age so I’ve given my thoughts on what has been a funny old time.

The start of the year met with cold and bleak conditions as is always the case in the Great British winter. No doubt the readers will recall that I hail from Kenya so I am used to a warmer climate and I find it hard to get used to this greyness. The cold weather caused my brother-from-another-mother and partner in crime, Hound Solo to slow down dramatically. He had always been a old man, and couldn’t keep up with my athleticism but things changed. He wouldn’t even walk fast enough to keep up with me and he had always shown me the way. I had learned many valuable lessons from him in the art of sniffing, and tracking prey, and checking the garden, supervising the parents and doggy life in general but I found that I was running rings round him, literally. I tried to leave him alone so he could perk up, and I stopped hanging off his ears but then he was gone.

I knew something was wrong, but then he left and he didn’t come home. I looked for him for ages in the garden but couldn’t find him in the usual places. I stood on the patio and stared around for weeks on end, but he was not to be seen. Anywhere. I could no longer hear the jingle jangle of his collar. Just silence.

Mum and Dad took me to the river, our favorite haunt, and I looked for him there, but still couldn’t find him. He didn’t come for dinner, which was weird as he loved his food. He didn’t come to bed. He just went. And he hasn’t come back. I like to think he is still around, and I can certainly smell him on our blankets, but I just can’t see him anymore.

As winter edged away and spring started to make an appearance, Mum and Dad took me to Heacham Manor Hall for a night away. We stayed in a lovely room overlooking a golf course and the parents popped out for what they called a ‘murder mystery’ night, whatever that is. It was a stone’s throw from the beach at Hunstanton. Heacham Manor can be found on the North West Norfolk coast line and it was lovely. The sun was starting to make an appearance although there was still a little chill in the air. We had a lovely walk along the beach at Hunstanton although it was strange without Solo being around. But I got to run to my heart’s content along the golden sandy sea front. I also managed to catch a bunny, so my hunting skills hadn’t faltered. The parents were not at all happy about this though.

We had the best breakfast at Bennys Diner where I was treated to a sausage in a silver platter. Highly recommended! It is an American Themed Diner and a very popular pit stop with generous portions and everybody fussed me a lot. On this occasion, I hadn’t felt the need to hunt my own food.

As spring brought light into our lives, the parents took me to a dog show called All About Dogs. There was also a garden show there and some wonderful food stalls, so Mum was happy looking at the flowers on display and Dad was pleased with the artisan cheese. While we were there, the sun came out and the folks decided to enter me into a class called the Prettiest Crossbreed bitch. It was a heavily subscribed class but Mum charmed the organizers and I did my best pretty girl-dog smile and we entered rather last minute. Dad was a little bothered by the heat of the day and he begrudgingly led me around the ring alongside 62 other dogs. As it was, none of the other dogs were considered as gorgeous as me and I won the coveted title of Prettiest Cross Breed bitch. Not bad for a rescued street dog from Africa.

Mum and Dad were so proud of me and even more so as this has qualified me to attend at a show called Crufts. According to Mum, this is quite a big deal and not many dogs get to do this. It will require a trip to somewhere called the NEC in Birmingham so I very much look forward to an adventure. Even the local papers such as the Fenland Citizen, Kings Lynn News and the village publication of the Outwell Oracle all agreed that this is a big deal, and I appeared in print. I was also interviewed at BBC Radio Norfolk so that was a journey to Norwich. Dad had to do the talking as I was too busy charming the presenters, and they were far too busy fussing me.

After all of this fame and glory, I did right things by continuing to roll in fox poo at every opportunity much to Mum’s disgust. I had to suffer the indignity of a shower but I did look rather glorious after this. I will have to practice looking beautiful and make sure I look stunning when I make my debut at the biggest dog show in the world.

We won’t mention the time when I fell in the river. The slime and algae on the water looked like grass so I had a little slip up…

The seasons moved on and spring evolved into summer. Mum and Dad have had quite a few trips away without me and I went to stay with my friend, Honey. She is some sort of Gremlin type dog but she is very young and excitable and it was good company for me given that I am now alone in the world. Honey is such fun although in small doses. I have heard the parents say that she treats me as I treated Solo and I can now understand that this may have been quite exhausting at times. I’m sure Solo thought it was fun, but I have found that Honey looks to me for guidance so I have had to show her the ropes, such as supervising parents when they go to the bathroom, watching over them always with every task and following their every move, zoomies in the garden, playing with the tuggie and growling at each other (in jest of course) , although I will add that sometimes she doesn’t know when to stop. When she does though, and peace is restored, she is adorable. And she snores like Solo did so this is a comfort.

Honey came for sleep overs at our house too which was fun. I’m not sure I liked sharing a bed with her. She did bring her own bed, but kept getting on mine regardless of my looks of disdain in her direction.

Talking of friends, Mum and Dad’s friends Ann-Marie, Chris, Olly and Sam came to stay and they brought the beautiful Basil. He is a big fox red Labrador and I love him a lot. To be honest though, he loved his tennis ball more than me which I didn’t mind too much really. But the summer was wonderfully hot and we spent some great times walking by the river, and having a picnic at Sandringham Estate while Dad and the lads played cricket and Mum and Ann-Marie drank prosecco. Much sun bathing and basking in the heat was done.

The parents took me to see friends Vicky and Jeff. They are the parents to Tag, a handsome Tibetan Terrier and stories of him are legendary but he always favoured Solo over me so it wasn’t a bad thing that he stayed at home whilst the parents reminisced and regaled tales of their escapades in years gone by. I got to have a pub lunch though so I was quite content.

Autumn arrived with its beautiful colours although the parents have grown tired of raking up the leaves in the garden. A mole or moles have returned to the garden which has upset Dad no end as his lawn looks like a battle ground. There are upturned buckets littering his precious lawn so zooming around has slowed a little as I’m not enjoying those obstacles. The parents have spent the entire year cultivating the garden with the addition of borders and planters, and flowers so this wanton destruction has not been welcomed. I do try to deter the furry critters by urinating on their eruptions but this has not worked very well and they keep on coming.

The darker nights are apparent and Mum has bought me a high viz vest with red lighting. I didn’t enjoy this at first but now I can see that it highlights my importance and certainly makes me more noticeable which is always a good thing. It hasn’t gotten as cold as normal so the big coat has not made an appearance, but it is certainly rather damp and grey. Not my favourite.

And now we are back to winter as time has marched on and completed its cycle. We also went to meet other friends most recently, that being Kerry and Richie and Khalee. This get together had been a long time coming and although Khalee doesn’t really give me the attention that I deserve, it was lovely to catch up. She also is a street dog from Kenya so we have much in common. She most certainly does not like wearing a Santa hat and we share a contempt for clothing.

We have had many road trips to spend time with family up North throughout the year. I have had sleep overs with Grandma and Grandpa Nomad, and also with Nanna Nomad. We have had some wonderful family time and spending time seeing many friends. There has been so much to do this year and I am told we are venturing up north once more over the festive period which is wonderful as I get to lick the nieces and nephews, and I also get to catch their crumbs. Solo used to be the first to snaffle those free snacks so I have merely picked up from where he left off. He taught me well – wherever there are children, there are snacks.

Although we all miss Solo, it is touching to know that we are surrounded by the warmth and love of our family and friends and nothing feels any more important than this. This year started out somewhat bewildering, and lonely, but the endless fuss and snacks evidences that love is all around and we don’t have to look too far to find it.

Roll on 2026 and my shot at fame and conquering the doggy world… wish me luck

#MerryChristmas

#allyouneedislove #andsnacks

#divadog

#missmymate

#nomadicfamilyunitminusone