LOWDOWN Winter 2011 page 5
FROM THE CHAIR BY BRIAN MALIN
Hi, everyone.
THREE IN A BED - compulsive viewing I thought (and I bet some of you thought so too) - worth investigating! However, the programme was about three B&B owners visiting and criticising each other’s establishments.
Talk about nit-picking. Triumphantly one would announce a hair found in the food, in the bath, or a crumb under the carpet - SHOCK HORROR!!!
One realistic pet owning hostess brought her guests back to earth by replying in a relaxed manner, “Of course there are hairs” - BRAVO! Peeling back the edges of carpets (beyond Basset muzzle reach) to seek dust, crumbs or hair was a test I would certainly have failed, as I thought brushing such matter under was standard practice, especially if an item is found just as a visitor is coming up the drive. Our carpets are reinforced by hairs!
Naturally, the tests used to annoy Jill were commonplace - running fingers along tops of doors, cupboards and picture frames; but most amazing was the fiend who brought a mirror on a stick with which to view up and under the toilet rim - the mind boggles!
I guess it's time to change the subject.
Our best tonic is non-alcoholic (surprised?) always on tap and free! Nothing lifts the sluggish spirit more than rejoining our hounds and receiving an (over) enthusiastic greeting. You can turn this tap on even if you are out of the room for a few minutes and you stop them following; and should it be for longer then the greeting is proportionately more passionate. Suddenly all is well with the world as you struggle to avoid treading on the tangle of hounds blocking your way.
There are no reproachful looks for excluding them - just joy in the certain knowledge that good things will follow, be it walkies, dinner, or just a stampede into the garden to hurl themselves onto the grass and kick legs in the air. Inevitably, however weary we feel we respond to their advances because the tonic has revived us.
So if your Christmas preparations (or the thought of demanding guests) get you down, just ask your Bassets to recharge your batteries and put life in perspective.
As many have found, it works!
Drawing by Sheila Williams©2011
On this note I hope you and your hounds will enjoy a MERRY and ENTERTAINING
CHRISTMAS coupled with a HAPPY NEW YEAR determined to renew your modest subscriptions and so make the most of the events so carefully planned by your hard working officers and committee, all of whom have supported me so willingly.
I am a lucky guy
Drawing by Sheila Williams©2011
Hi, everyone.
THREE IN A BED - compulsive viewing I thought (and I bet some of you thought so too) - worth investigating! However, the programme was about three B&B owners visiting and criticising each other’s establishments.
Talk about nit-picking. Triumphantly one would announce a hair found in the food, in the bath, or a crumb under the carpet - SHOCK HORROR!!!
One realistic pet owning hostess brought her guests back to earth by replying in a relaxed manner, “Of course there are hairs” - BRAVO! Peeling back the edges of carpets (beyond Basset muzzle reach) to seek dust, crumbs or hair was a test I would certainly have failed, as I thought brushing such matter under was standard practice, especially if an item is found just as a visitor is coming up the drive. Our carpets are reinforced by hairs!
Naturally, the tests used to annoy Jill were commonplace - running fingers along tops of doors, cupboards and picture frames; but most amazing was the fiend who brought a mirror on a stick with which to view up and under the toilet rim - the mind boggles!
I guess it's time to change the subject.
Our best tonic is non-alcoholic (surprised?) always on tap and free! Nothing lifts the sluggish spirit more than rejoining our hounds and receiving an (over) enthusiastic greeting. You can turn this tap on even if you are out of the room for a few minutes and you stop them following; and should it be for longer then the greeting is proportionately more passionate. Suddenly all is well with the world as you struggle to avoid treading on the tangle of hounds blocking your way.
There are no reproachful looks for excluding them - just joy in the certain knowledge that good things will follow, be it walkies, dinner, or just a stampede into the garden to hurl themselves onto the grass and kick legs in the air. Inevitably, however weary we feel we respond to their advances because the tonic has revived us.
So if your Christmas preparations (or the thought of demanding guests) get you down, just ask your Bassets to recharge your batteries and put life in perspective.
As many have found, it works!
Drawing by Sheila Williams©2011
On this note I hope you and your hounds will enjoy a MERRY and ENTERTAINING
CHRISTMAS coupled with a HAPPY NEW YEAR determined to renew your modest subscriptions and so make the most of the events so carefully planned by your hard working officers and committee, all of whom have supported me so willingly.
I am a lucky guy