CHIHUAHUAS & DUALERS

I really cannot believe that we are almost into November! Christmas is less than ten weeks away and, although we have already got quite a selection of presents hidden away just awaiting the wrapping paper, we have still got a lot to do. We have decided to spend it at home this year. At the moment it looks as if my mum will be spending it with us. Which means she'll bring Arlo.
Hubby refers to Arlo as 'the rat' - which probably gives you a very good indication of what he is - and Cat really doesn't like him. So what is it about chihuahuas that turn so many people off? He is a little sweetie, he really is. And okay he is barely ten inches high, he does have big pointy ears and very large, glittery eyes like Gremlins personified. But he is good company for Mother and he's funny. He also has a loud yap and a tendency to ruck up the little rug in the hall if Mother leaves hm alone for too long.

The first ime she brought Arlo over, Cat did not know quite what to make of him. Here was a creature that looked like large vermin but smelt and barked like a dog and the fact he is only an inch or two taller than she is did nothing to help her confusion. She only knew that she did not like him and made a beeline for the garden where she sulked throughout the afternoon. He's been over a couple of times ever since and the last time he came they just regarded eachother for several moments with the utmost disdain before Cat sidled very slowly and defiantly out of the room, never once breaking eye contact with him. And then running for the hills just as soon as she was on the other side of the catflap! So if Mother comes over with Arlo on Christmas Eve, it could end up more like Guy Fawkes night - with all kinds of feline/canine fireworks flaring up. Or they may just totally ignore one another the whole two days!

How was your weekend? Ours was hectic as ever. On Friday evening, Hubby and I went to the Ashcroft in Croydon to see a Dualers concert. They are two brothers - Tyburn and Si - who I first saw busking outside Debenhams in Croydon some eight years ago. They were singing "Chain Gang" and I was completely hooked by the time they finished. They are truly sons of Croydon and they always draw huge crowds whenever they appear. They have also had a couple of top 20 hits "Truly Madly Deeply" and "Kiss On The Lips". They have won a huge following and over the past few years have started filling local concerts halls and theatres. And because they are very talented and very local, everyone feels like they know them personally and it always ends up like a gigantic party. And the amazing thing is that they have polished the knack of cutting across all the age barriers - and their fan base age in range from zero to a hundred. So we had a brilliant couple of hours there.

On Saturday morning, we had another newspaper photographer round because of Yucketypoo. This was more like professional photo call though for he must have taken nigh on fifty photos of me with Hubby, me with Book, me with Cat sneaking into frame and trying to win fame and forune for her long tail, me in the garden, on sofa, by the door, holding up Book, not holding up Book, sometimes both Hubby and I holding up Book. What an experience! What's more, he has said he'll burn all the photos onto a disk and send it to us. We also exchanged email addresses before he left after a solid 90 minute stint.

Once he had gone, Hubby and I head to London - and in particular Covent Garden - where we spent the rest of the day. We even got tickets to a rather brilliant comedy play called The Vegemite Tales which we saw that night at The Venue in Leicester Place. It was really funny. It was all about Australians living in London and it was by a woman writer, so good for her. We really enjoyed it. We got home around quarter to midnight and fell into bed around 1.30.

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary - our 8th. Next May we celebrate our unofficial anniversary - meaning that on the 1st we'll have actually been together for 25 years. Even Bank Robbers get time off for good behaviour! We exchanged official anniversary cards earlier this evening. Hubby has said that since he's working and we can't go out for dinner, we 'll go out for breakfast tomorrow instead. I got both of us a present as well - tickets to see Meatloaf next Tuesday at Wembley.

And to hell with the fact I'm a vegetarian!