Spruced up Archie

A day of pottering, washing and packing, though I found Archie in the lounge with a pair of socks he'd pinched from my bag. We sat out in the sun this morning, and jings it was hot. Janet came to take Archie out with Bailey, then came back for lunch. JR had made enough fritter batter yesterday to feed an army, so we needed some help with the sweetcorn and courgette fritters.

Archie's ears have been bothering him a bit of late - he had trouble when he was a puppy, but no problems since then. We have been cleaning them with a solution and tried to clip as much of the hair away as possible. He's so good when we're poking about with him, he knows we're only trying to help.

As he's going visiting all week, he needs to smell fresh, at least for one day, so he had a shower too. He's not too keen but - bless him - he just stands there looking miserable, thinking of the treat at the end.

Dropping Archie off at the sitter at 7am tomorrow, then our flight at 9.30 - not too silly a time. Exciting!