Wanted for questioning in connection with the disappearance of a slice of orange and cranberry Christmas cake valued at, say, 49p. The said cake, which was left for scant seconds on a kitchen tray, had vanished without trace seconds after being placed on the table. No witnesses have as yet come forward though we suspect there may have been an accomplice . . . Well, here we are again after an overlong, Covid-compromised absence from THS. This, our fifth winter ‘sit’ in the UK, has kept up our record of succumbing to awful weather - Storm Dennis, a bank-bursting river Severn, West Sussex tidal surges - what next ? Typhoon Terry ? Ah well, despite daily rain and incredibly muddy Cotswold hills, looking after Billy and Ollie has been a delight, especially in such a beautiful home, in a stunning setting surrounded by numerous footpaths. Murphy's law I suppose, but our last day was marked by a brilliant blue sky, sunshine and the beauty of our surroundings. Billy, a one year old wire-haired Viszla, is an incredible bundle of energy ( we tried and failed to to find his battery compartment to yank out a couple of AAs) with but one simple aim in life - to pursue and destroy all tennis 🎾 s. Not sure of his parentage but, judging by the state of the kitchen chair legs, we suspect part beaver, and with a smattering of mongoose. Ollie, a five year old terrier, was shy to begin with but we broke the ice early on day two and a switch was thrown - then he became almost inseparable ! How he puts up with Billy’s mad frolicking we don’t know but despite the thundering paws inches from his nose, he seemed unperturbed. Loved his cuddles ! It was challenging walking in horribly slippery conditions, but we managed a good 4 mile romp in the mornings and a mile or two later in the afternoons ( and a lot of ball tossing in the capacious gardens). The wellies were soon on their last legs (pun intended) and were consigned to the bin by the end of the week. We even managed a few hours of tennis over the week. Well, 'tennis' might be a rather loose description - perhaps a game of 'Sorry' might be more apt. Anyway, a very quiet New Years eve as we felt it best to stay away from the Seven Tuns that evening given the Omicron situation. But we made sure to sample their wares before the sit was over. And we did, twice - great food, lovely beer and the staff don't bite ! What more can we say - lovely hosts, fantastic house, smashing location, great walking country and two very different, but adorable, hounds. How we never smuggled these beasts home with us we will never understand. It was the most heart-breaking farewell - the tears are still in our eyes.
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