Mission Accomplished....

Hello my friends....as you know, we have been having the most exciting Christmas with Miss Islay and the Colonel in residence at Border Terrier HQ....but all good things must come to an end......

....we have had our last walk at Headley Heath with William....terriers in strict single file....

....despite his best laid plans and superior cunning, Colonel Rocky never did quite conquer the stairs and gain access to the hallowed sunlit uplands that are "upstairs".....

.....but every sniff has been sniffed....

....and no trail has been unwalked......

....the Colonel has made sure that at least one terrier has been on guard at all times in case of intruders...we are expecting to receive a visit from the noise police thanks from the neighbours at any minute....

....of course, its not easy being a soldier and there were times when even the Colonel and Miss Islay were asleep most of the afternoon pinned down in their foxhole by naps enemy squirrels

...Miss Lola has been moaning about the lack of chews due to the Colone's strict dietary requirements kept terrifically busy......

....and has registered her displeasure at the end of operations.....accidentally put the bitey on the typist...during a play fight with Miss Islay ...

...."iz colder owt ere dan i fort....makes way...i iz comin back to i bed" ...says Miss Islay....

....Miss Lola wonders how she will keep all this territory under control on her own....

....the Colonel conducted one last master class in camouflage.....

....and has filed his last report about the UFO which landed here on Saturday.....

'Wot time be checkout?"

...we are very sad that our wonderful friends have had to go home...but we hope to see them both back with us again soon.

Woof....Clapton, Innkeeper....

Ten-hut, Colonel on Parade...

Hello my friends....I was counting down the days on my #BTPosse calndar until last Tuesday...

....when will it be Tuesday?....

.....suddenly there were extra scavenging terriers in our kitchen....I wonder who it could be?....

...why, look! Its Miss Islay (@issiebissy)...and if she's here then Colonel Rocky is not likely to be far behind!...

...ah ha, ......the Colonel is of course well camouflaged and in his command bunker......ten hut, Colonel Rocky on parade!!

...Miss Islay helped to snoopervise some physio for the typist.....1, 2, 3 etc...

......Colonel Rocky watched and made notes in his Big Mental NoteBook of Terrier Things....

.....the extra terriers made for quite a welcoming committee whenever the doorbell rang....can you imagine!....

...Miss Islay is a pleasure to have around and her tail never seems to stop waging...

....Colonel Rocky made sure that he had the bess seat in the Mess.....NB: normal terriers may not be comfortable quite this close to the fireplace....

.....but Colonel Rocky is rarely ever still....

...he has the troops practising their skills at all times.....

...he is prepared to get into the thick of the action to make minor corrections to technique....

.....he made it quite clear to the typist who was to occupy the high ground in the lounge.....

..and when gentle discussion was not sufficient, he sent in Miss Islay for an ambush attack to discourage the humans from thwarting his plans...

...these lessons were put into action in meticulously prepared practice drills...

...and at mealtimes he had the BT HQ Brigade perfectly drilled in the art of the Dinner Whine....

....effective as always.....

.....and he has much wisdom to impart in the field of the Nap too....

...and again the BT HQ Brigade was asked to practice until they were perfect.....

....but he is not just there to issue orders...Colonel Rocky also likes to lead his men (ladies) into battle....here he is clearing the local area of squirrels...he did so well here that later that day Miss Islay and Miss Lola actually knocked a squirrel over in the woods but were not quite quick enough to get their teeth into it....

....the Colonel also has a helpful appetite for apples and so, miraculously, Miss Lola found that all the windfall had magically been removed from the garden...

......even the bird feeder had to be moved to a safe location.....

...the Colonel was also quite keen on keeping up patrols after dark and in the early morning....he liked breakfast to be on the table at 5.30am sharp...this had to be delicately negotiated with a rebellious canteen staff....

...Miss Islay would perhaps have preferred a longer lie in some days.....

...and Miss Lola was almost put in the stockade when she was caught pleading for extra naps with the typist

...Colonel Rocky was prepared to allow for a few hours of R&R on Christmas Day thank goodness....

...and even joined in the Christmas woogling....

...Miss Lola loved her new comfy bed lining which Santa brought for her.....

....and I am very proud of my new hat and tail (*wag wag*) that lovely @bordermeg made for me....don't i look smart!....

...some reconnaissance of Headley Heath was ordered after lunch.....

.....we met a few terriers and exchanged intelligence.....

.....and after that the BT HQ Brigade resumed guard duties over the typist's dodgy leg....

....Miss Lola made repeated requests to be allowed to help clean up the turkey carcass....

....Cousin Tilly came to see us....and her and Miss Islay were soon playing nicely in the garden....

...we went to the big field for a walk, but Miss Tilly was quite disappointed about not being able to herd the terriers into a neat formation.....

....being allowed to play with BT HQ tennis balls soon put the smile back on her face though.....

....Miss Lola tried to disarm all the visitors with her cute....a new tactic from the Colonel no doubt.....

....but I think the military life might be sapping her energy....we have the Colonel and Miss Islay for a few more days....

.... but even when they are gone there will be some corner of a Surrey lounge that is fur-ever Rocky.....

*salutes*...Brigade dismissed.....Clapton, private 1st class

Christmas Feast

Hello my friends…..I had such an adventure at the weekend…..

…on Saturday morning I found myself with Miss Lola and the typist at the station waiting for a train….

…Miss Lola has not been on trains very often (unlike me)  and she was very keen to look around….

…..we watched the scenery go by….

…it seemed that we were rolling into London!!…..how exciting…..

…Miss Lola was a bit less impressed than I was….

….we arrived at Victoria Station and had to be careful of the crowds…..

….we walked for a while….it did not seem that news of our visit had leaked to the press in advance…..

….we found ourselves in a place called Pimlico….I thought that name sounded familiar from a famous Blog that old Marley wrote a few years ago….

….and sure enough I was delighted to find ourselves outside the Lily KItchen Santa's Grotto!!….

….you can read all about it and Lily's Kitchen here …..Miss Lily is a lovely border terrier who has her own dog food company…and she had opened up a fine dining experience for her customers……she did the same a few years ago too and old Marley  was lucky enough to meet her in pawson that day…he and the typist have never quite been the same…..

….I was almost tempted to go into the shop next door …but I thought I might need a hand getting up into the seats! BOL!...

….and I quickly decided we should get inside in case the typist got any funny ideas about using the local transport….it's not good for him….

…the lovely staff were immediately on hand to let Miss Lola have a festive "mince pie" (*doggie friendly recipe)…..

……...Miss Lola was also given a full helping of Lily's Christmas Dinner to try….….I believe this poor German Shepherd never did see her portion….sorry Miss Shawnee….

….and our great pal Mr Seb was also in attendance….he spent most of the day behind the till with the staff helping to soak up the heat from the fire and eat all the scraps  serve customers….

…the Christmas Dinner was excellent I was told, so I immediately set about cornering the market in it….

…...I also volunteered to help with local deliveries….

….while Miss Lola asked the staff if she could sample any of the Christmas treats on display….nice hat!

….I did my own stint in customer service…..

 

….leaving Miss Lola free to menace Santa for snacks discuss with Santa if she qualified for presents this year….

….he and I exchanged beard grooming tips of course…..

 

……..Mr Seb was altogether better behaved and got an appropriate reward…….

…….whilst Miss Lola may have helped herself to a second serving of Christmas dinner….

….and I attended to stock take to ensure the doggies that came after us had enough to eat…I think they are open for another week at least….

……...oh dear……..

…Mr Seb and Miss Lola had one final raid on all the snacks behind the counter session helping the staff…..

….and once we had finally been ejected by the weary staff done all our shopping we went next door with Mr Seb to have a coffee...

….typist making a rare and ill-advised appearance in front of camera…..

…..Mr Seb was the pawfect gentleman and enjoyed his day in The Big Smoke….

 …but the fun was all to quickly at an end and we had to get back on the train to go home…..

…..I stood guard over our bag of shopping…..

….but Miss Lola was not at all happy about sitting on the floor….

…and was soon up on typist's lap and requesting that other passengers tweet out the important happenings from our trip…I expect the BBC were waiting for updates…..

…we made it home safely and this is our loot….we even got some fish skin snacks which The Colonel will be allowed to eat when he comes on Tuesday for his festive retreat with us….and also plenty of snacks for Miss Islay who will be here too...

….but the excitement was not over….look what arrived in the post! Its the #BTposse 2014 calendar….and look who is one of the cover stars!! Me!!…..

If you are in the UK, Europe or the US and Canada, you can order a copy of the calendar HERE   ….100% of the proceeds are going to support charities which are dear to our heart: Border Terrier Welfare and Terrier Rescue. For any of our pals in other parts of the world (Mr Bodie, I am thinking of you down there in NZ) who would like a copy…just leave a comment and we will see what we can arrange. We hope that many thousands of pounds can be arranged for doggies…I think we have sold nearly 400 already but there are plenty left.  The calendar is full of border terriers…..we think it will makema perfect Christmas prezzie for your family….

…and all of this was just a warm-up for the Border Terrier Posse Christmas Concert which took place on Twitter on Sunday night. That deserves a blog all of its own later this week….


*YAWN*…Clapton, Border Terrier HQ….