Are they nearly here yet?

An extra hour of sleep on a Saturday night.  Excellent.  That idea could catch on! :) 

Well, it's been a bit of a whirlwind day.  Well the part from 11am to 4pm!

We had another get together with J & P and their gorgeous golden boys Bertie and Toby, this time at our house.

They arrived just after 11.00am, full of doggy nonsense (that's Bertie and Toby I'm talking about not J and P :-))) and Lola was delighted to see them. Luckily the weather was sunny and dry so the back door was open and they could head out to the side garden when things got too boisterous!

After a quick coffee, David and P took the three Goldies to Gleneagles moor for an hour to let them burn off some energy.  J and I got the long short straw and stayed at home to relax and chat make lunch.  The plan was the dogs would come back exhausted and have a snooze whilst we ate lunch in peace.  

Hahahahahaha!

Actually, they were very good and for the most part did behave themselves while we ate lunch, helped by being distracted by the toys I bought for each of them.  Of course they wanted each other's toys and Lola ended up with the stuffed toy that was meant for Toby, and set about de-stuffing it.  Not a problem per se as she ignores the stuffing once it's out, but Toby fancied eating it!  A fast fluff clear up commenced!

J & P are vegetarian so for lunch I made my sweet potato, chilli, ginger and coconut soup but without the chilli as J suffers with psoriasis and chilli is one of the foods she avoids (she's actually recommend a really good book about curing psoriasis through eliminating certain foods and as a fellow suffer, I'm enjoying reading it.  Not sure I will be able to eliminate all the foods suggested in the book but willing to give it a go.)  To go along with the soup I filled toasted pitta bread with hummus, finely chopped red onion, cucumber and feta cheese.  They were very complementary about lunch and had seconds of the soup.  Always satisfying when friends enjoy what I've made.

By that point the dogs had enjoyed a power nap and were in playful mood again.  Bertie, who's two years old, is completely in love with Lola.  He follows her everywhere and wants to play constantly.  She is fine with him but tells him off when he goes too far.  I swear it makes him love her even more!  When she turns and looks right at him you can actually see him melt!  He grins and quivers and makes the most delightful noise that actually sounds like a little bird!  You'd swear there was a canary in the room!  So cute!

Toby is 10 months old and is a big lad.  Much bigger than Bertie and Lola but he is a placid, gentle giant and is a bit bemused by how Lola has such an effect on Bertie.  She's just a pal as far as he's concerned :-)

After coffee, scones and more chat, it was time for them all to leave.  I had my camera to hand for most of their visit but it was virtually impossible to get a decent shot of the dogs.  I have put the best of the bad bunch in extras - a shot of the three of them just before they left.  A shot of the three of them with Toby in the middle acting as chaperone and a shot of Lola and Bertie - mutual admiration society!  

The house was very quiet once they'd gone but another get together is in the planning :D