The Princess and the Pea

This is one of my favourite stories from childhood and I can still remember my little hardback Ladybird book.  It tells of a prince who is having trouble finding a suitable bride with many a fake princess digging for his money.  To check one out, the queen places a single pea underneath a mattress knowing that a real princess would, of course, still feel the pea 20 mattresses and 20 eiderdowns later.  In the morning, she was black and blue; the real sign of a true princess.

Now, let’s be clear, I am no princess.  But I tell you, sitting on my saddle hurt today. I’ve added another mattress gel cover for my next ride so it’s getting rather like a sofa but I’m not sure I’ll fit too many more on there.

The real princess is Little Dog who had her Platinum 1 obedience test yesterday afternoon and came out with 92%, a certificate, a rosette and a fine platinum metal plastic cup.  

She attempted to celebrate last night by bringing her food bowl halfway to the lounge 45-minutes prematurely but sadly, even real princesses don’t get their dinner early.