Henrietta Stays for Good

Not that it was ever in doubt (I would have had a physical punch up if it had come to it, as there is no way I could part with her now!!) but Henny's 'social worker' as we knick-named him - or Paul & Pam Woodhouse to give them their proper names, the representatives from United Gordon Setter rescue came to pay Henny her final visit to ensure all was well on Saturday, and to sign her off into our permanent care, so I am pleased to say Henny is now well and truly our adopted dog. They came armed both with some nice doggy treats, which Poppy shared in, and with their newest Gordon setter in their car - an 11 month old Gordon setter - Domino - who stayed in the car for some of the visit, but had a little run around in the garden on her own so we could meet her. She is, needless to say, adorable - and seemed very grown up for 11 months old.
We intend to meet on the beach sometime, so that their 3 Gordon setters can meet our 2, and there is plenty of space for them all to run around together.

Peakirk Books at Stibbard W I

Stibbard W I asked Jeff & I if we would give a talk last Wednesday about what we do at Peakirk Books. Armed with a few props Jeff & I went across to the village hall and were pleased to see that so many villagers had shown interest in our business, and had tuned out to listen to what we had to say. There were even 2 men there, much to our surprise!

There were lots of questions, and despite it being cold and dark, about half the audience chose to accompany Jeff over to the book room - fighting their way past the builders skip and other tools and general debris to get there. They showed great interest. They were also kind enough to give us flowers and wine as a thank you for the evening. The picture shows some stragglers discussing the books.

Seals at Wells-Next-the-Sea

During the Winter period we have been taking quite a few beach walks with the dogs, and have seen that the seals have been quite visible on the beach and at the waters edge at Wells Next the sea. We have of course kept the dogs well away from the seals, but watched from afar. What a treat.

We have been hibernating

The long long winter has, I think, been causing us to largely hibernate, and thus our blog has got neglected. Lesson to self - I must do better. What a long cold miserable winter it has been, and thank goodness the winter is nearly ending. March begins tommorrow. Hurrah. We have had the builders with us for the last month, and the house is slowly transforming into the shape we would prefer it to be in. We are doing the house transformation in stages - due to financial constraints - but the first stage is the largest. The front door is moving, a new hall is being instated, the main reception room is growing, the kitchen is gaining another door, we are having a new porch, the downstairs bathroom is shrinking, we are having a new window put through a wall, plus several windows replaced - some internal walls moved - not just a few cosmetic changes. When the builders eventually leave us, there will be an awful lot of decorating to do, but it will all be worth it - in our opinion obviously. When chatting to some local villagers it was interesting to hear that we are actually putting the front door back to where it used to be - and it also used to have a little porch, much as we plan to have built. What goes around comes around!

Christmas tv & radio

Christmas on the television was mixed as usual but we did have some favourites. Strictly come dancing is a favourite of mine, and Jeff quite enjoys it too, so the final was a must - and I think the correct decision was made. Much as I loved Matt as a character, Kara was the better natural dancer and a joy to watch.

My favourite over the Christmas Season was - tucked away in the middle of the day - but on for 4 days - The Just William Series. The casting of William was inspired - Daniel Roche - better known for playing the younger boy, Ben, in Outnumbered. Daniel was William Brown - with his expressions, grumpiness, speeches about 'girls' (yuck) - the whole thing I felt was true to the books by Richmal Crompton. Martin Jarvis, so well known for his radio 'William' episodes has a place in these tv versions, gving a voice over type commentary, and the whole thing worked very well. I am just amazed that the BBC put this on in the middle of the day (we taped them and watched them in the evening) - but if you missed them, do keep a look out for repeats that are sure to come along at some time - they are very funny and not just for children. Needless to say we have lots of ~William books in stock on our site at www.peakirkbooks.com