Kate and Sidney Pud'.

Lord Magnon is the cook of the family, and as he's pretty good at it I just let him get on with things. But there are certain recipes that he'll never attempt; amongst these is anything that involves PASTRY.

Yesterday (Sunday) I had a sudden desire for either a Kate and Sidney pie, or pudding. I put it to the vote, and we both plumped for pudding. I used a Guinness and wine mix for the liquid, and added some mushrooms; otherwise a standard recipe.

About 10 minutes after I took the 'finished' picture, there wasn't a lot left... It was delicious. I wonder when we'll eat another one?

The fan club.

When Lord Magnon first got his dog, Hamlet, people told us that it was the very best way to meet people; and they were right. The young, the old, and every age in between, would stop, bend down to stroke him, and instantly start a conversation. Without the pup with us, they would simply have walked on by.

The same is already happening with Monty, and I think the three children above are about to start his official fan club; they visit every afternoon.

Actually, they've only just got their own puppy; a mostly black Border Collie. But for some reason they've decided that they prefer to play with Monty; I'm sure they'll change their minds before too long, their little dog is a sweetie too. I'd hate to think that they'd redirect their affections.

Monty, aged 8 Weeks.... Sleeping.

This is one of my favourite sleeping positions; lying down with feet outstretched, pretending that I'm actually standing up.

My second favourite position is the 'Hang Dog'; I keep most of me in a box and let my head hang over the side. You should try it!

Thirdly, my absolute fave position; I call it the 'Amateur Contortionist'. I'm still working on this one!

And they call it puppy love....

We do seem to be surrounded by dogs at the moment. We're looking after one (Oscar), for a friend, and as a result another half dozen turn up regularly for 'walkies'.

However, we still don't have a dog of our own. 40 years ago (when we first moved to France) Lord Magnon had a scruffy black and tan Mutt named Hamlet, and when he died he was simply never replaced. But I've recently seen some Lab' pups, and I've reserved one.

I'm not sure if ours is one of the pair above, but that's the mother and she has 6 puppies in all. I think it'll probably be a question of selecting one on the day, when we turn up to collect; they all look the same anyway. The one on the left would do just fine!

Less than 2 weeks to go; then chaos!