Helllllloooooooo! Lady Ash of Chesters has finally got back online. Now I can update you with happenings chez moi. We'll start with Christmas as it was a very fine day for this dog. Leisurely breakfast on a frosty morning followed by a drive down to Kielder Reservoir. 
The place was deserted and quite eerie - very still and misty, yachts at anchor, hardly any birdlife on the water though a few little birds in the trees as we walked. 
I didn't venture in for a swim or even a paddle - a bit nippy for that - but we had a fine outing, culminating in a flask of coffee and flapjacks in the car before we headed home. There we set to with present opening. I had considerately wrapped some bottles of beer for Hugh and even more considerately helped him open the package again, and indeed any other parcels he seemed to be struggling with in the course of the afternoon. H and L then succumbed to a fancy dinner cooked in the Rayburn, including the best roast potatoes herself has ever done (as in this is the second time she has ever cooked them and they were better than the first...). I believe I may have scored for a little left over meat in the course of the evening. 
So that was Christmas. The festive tone continued for several days so I had extra interesting walks instead of the same old sniffs around here.
There is a wee fly in the ointment, however.
On Christmas Eve the vet phoned with the results of my hip test thingy. Lo, I have the potential for dodgy hips and am advised not to have pups! Imagine! Me! Miss Fit and Healthy - pah! So there we have it - my amazing bouncing genes are not to be passed on to another generation. No pretenders to the throne of Lady Ash. Or is that really true? I happen to know that H & L bumped into friends in Hawick whose dog had pups on New Year's Day. Can you see where this is going? I, too, have strong suspicions and will report back so soon as I know what's afoot.
I am amassing evidence...
