New toy! New friend!

This afternoon we went to see J, Bailey's mum, playing with her orchestra. It was brilliant! I would have loved to have taken photos - there were so many great faces, full of concentration while they played. I especially liked the timpanist - he was a skinny old(ish) man with long white hair and an even longer white beard! How topical.

I am so jealous - it must be wonderful to be play in and orchestra or band. Thanks, J - let us know when the next one is!

On the way back, I discovered that a neighbour now has a new dog! She had a wee dog for years, but it died. I asked if she would get another dog, but she wasn't sure about getting a puppy again... They are a lot of work.

But she has got a five year old shih tzu whose owner died. His name is Dexter, he's only been there a day or two, and he's already had a drama - getting out of the gate, wandering along the road as far as the shop, where they rang for the dog catchers, as he had no ID on him. However, he's now chipped and tagged, and there"s a big 'Please Shut the Gate' sign.

We brought Archie along to meet him - it would be great if they get on - and they did. Though it would have been better if they had had space to run around in. And so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of Dexter!

I have a pile of Archie's toys that I haven't got round to sewing up yet - he's not so keen on his (very clean) plastic ones because he loves a tug-of-war. And so this morning JR gave him one of his Christmas presents. He was delighted.