We were in a darkened room with tightly battened shutters. Three roof windows were cracked open ever so slightly for air and also allowed just the tiniest ribbon of light in, to paper the walls in haphazard, bright stripes. The room was hot but our alien/fan was doing its thing on a low table. My human stripped off her t-shirt.

Suddenly, a large, dazzling light accompanied by an explosion of sound burst forth from the corner of the room. My human was not alarmed by this and by now clad in a swimsuit top, proceeded to plonk herself onto a low chair, elevate her legs and sip a cup of tea. So despite my anxiety level I thought it best to plop on the floor nearby.

A pyramid of colours shot out in my direction. I recognised lots of reds and yellows but other more obscure shades were there in the background. Overall it was so dazzling I decided to close my eyes & snooze.

The sounds were very intrusive though. Lots of cheering, clapping & chanting, followed by tense silences and weird, whacking squawks. Excitement levels varied in the voices of the people who seemed to be describing the proceedings. I heard the word ‘England’ being mentioned. I opened one eye and saw mostly white on the box. Still not sure what it was all about, Missy & I decided to play mini-chase around the lush, cream floor rug. Well, that was nipped in the bud fairly quickly by one emphatic human command.

As I plodded towards the water bowl I noticed that the (now beige) rug had strands of glossy, black hair all over but my human was so engrossed in what now seemed to be balls in the air … I don’t think she noticed.

The box proceeded to explode once more in a hooping, hollering sound which died down more slowly than the previous time. There was a sense of excitement and anticipation in the voice tones of the speakers and shortly thereafter their delivery paused again. I definitely saw a ball from the corner of my eye. Then two feet. And a white line on the grass.

The phone rang and my human had a fleeting conversation. The words ‘World Cup’ and ‘penalties’ were mentioned before she returned her attention to the spectacle on view in the corner. That must be what this is about I decided.

Ages later, what sounded like extended applause, soon followed by music and a change in the body language of my human, indicated to me that whatever it was, it had come to an end.

‘Well’ says she…. that’s the end of the tennis for another day!’

Tennis? Something tells me there will be more of this tomorrow. I might have to get used to this tennis lark.

The song that somehow comes to mind today is ‘Patricia The Stripper’ by Chris de Burgh (…’Denis is a menace with his anyone for tennis and beseeching me’ … etc. etc) 🎶🐾

I am beside myself with excitement. I have made two new doggie pen-pals. They contacted me in the comments section of ibrufus.com. I think they live in Cork. That’s all I’ll say for the moment as I relish the thrill of it. Yippee!

Apologies for my lack of blog activity. It’s been a hectic & extended weekend here in dog-blog land. Hallie and I had an adventurous few days. She’s a great one for playing ‘chase’. Indoors or out, it makes no difference. We have some purple rugs on the floor that are brilliant for sliding on. The only way to fool her is when we are at the beach… I run into the water because I know she won’t follow me there (yet). I am getting so brave I now race in through the waves almost unknown to myself.

We had a few early starts (well, early for us I mean!). Seemingly it was to give us running freedom on an otherwise human-free beach. We even brought a breakfast picnic with us.

Now that the heatwave is in full fettle all the bays & strands are bog full of cars from mid morning. So inconvenient for us later in the day when the place is packed. 😂 Some people give off serious ‘not a dog-lover’ scents & vibes. I can sense them a mile off and if I wasn’t on the lead when they’re around I might be tempted to approach.

And Missy has returned to visit me as well. I feel so ‘wanted’ in my new home it’d almost bring a tear to the eye. Missy arrived a full day or more before Hallie left so it was doggie heaven here for over 24 hours.

As much as Hallie loves chasing, Missy equally adores stick fishing. We have the odd barney if I follow her too closely at stick-catching time but I mostly just leap around and splash. I’ve no interest in her oul clump of wood, truth be told.

I suppose I should mention that some humans visited also in the past few days. We had the one I call Sporty Spice who arrived with Hallie. Next arrived Bruce Springsteen (aka The Boss) who brought Missy. And thirdly we had Imelda May Not (the cousin who doesn’t help much about the place). She hadn’t even the decency to bring a dog for me to play with.

Next thing, well what do ye know…? Sporty & Imelda went off kayaking & left my exhausted human alone doing a big clean-up in the house. (She’s discovered that I shed a lot of my black, glossy, hairy coat …daily 🙀).

I realise it’s half a century old at this stage but I think ‘Hair’ the American Tribal Love Rock Musical would make appropriate listening today. G’wan…I dare ya!! Ah sure, have a beer in the sunshine while yer at it 🍻 🎼🐾

Ok. Ok! I get the gist. It isn’t an alien; it’s an electric fan. But bear with me… my belief was genuine. I am still only learning about things like this. Plus I’m relieved to know that I am her ‘only one’! Well until last night I was. And no…I am not hallucinating 😂

I’m almost afraid to relate today’s story in case people think it’s more fake news. Believe it or not, there are now four of us ‘living’ here (not counting the alien/fan). A new human and her dog arrived yesterday evening and stayed all night. They were here before so I’m presuming it’s not forever. Hallie is the dog’s name. She is gorgeous. Already I love her even more than the last time we met.

Oooh! We had such fun chasing around on the beach this morning. We were sooo speedy over the seaweed, sand, stones and rocks. Hallie thought she was chasing me…but I can categorically state that it was the other way around. (A bit like Andreia on the dogsitting day. Where do they get these notions I wonder.)

The farmer’s cows were making an odious racket up on the cliffs. I think they wanted to join in the fun but then their master called them away and off they lumbered on a well worn path in sweaty, single file, & mooing and looing all the way.

The stillness of the water meant it was not as scary as previous visits so I bravely surged forth and before I knew it I was swimming. Hallie was standing on a large boulder in the shallows … being careful and observing my technique. The two humans joined me in the deep, one swimming and one deep-paddling to hip level. (No prizes for guessing which was which.)

Yet still Hallie remained where she stood. The swimmer returned to shore and plucked her off the rock, tucked her beneath her arm and waded out to me. Gently placing her in the ocean beside me, the human released her so we could swim in together. (Sorry to reader Joan we have no photo of the manoeuvres!!)

It was blissful. We were set up for the day. And now after a light, late breakfast we are taking a well-earned break listening to ‘Oh! I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside’ by Juice Music on Spotify (u see… now I even know where the music comes from!).

It’s special having a doggie friend to play with. 🎼🐾

Where once we were two, now I think we are three. He/she (not sure which… so I will refer to him/her as it) seems to have appeared out of nowhere as if it was hiding somewhere in the house all this time.

To my eyes it actually resembles an alien. A huge head on a tiny body. One large flat foot with four toes, all painted in a different shade of nail varnish. It doesn’t move around much but boy does it make a stir. All day and all night! I can’t say it’s very demanding – just seems to sit there on a stool or table looking from side to side and blowing a lot of warm air. I’ve never seen it eat & can’t decide if it’s tube fed or not.

Actually I’m not sure it has even learned how to walk yet. I think my human lifts it from table to stool. Always somewhere close to her so she can keep an eye on it. Sometimes she gives a little tap to its foot. A gentle warning to quieten down I presume. But as soon as she turns away it’s neck speed increases.

I approach it gingerly, if at all, because on the odd occasion so far when I got anywhere near, it just blew rudely in my face.

I suppose I’m going to have to get used to it. Here! See what you think of it yourself!!

At this very moment I’m listening to the Kina Grannis version of Blowin’ in the Wind 🎼🐾

I delightedly leapt into the boot thinking we were heading for some water borne exercise. Shortly thereafter my sense of direction emitted a warning beacon and instantly my suspicions were aroused. This was no paddling outing. Before long the parking sensors on the 🚘 were beaming in sync with my anxiety levels. Beep/shriek, beep/shriek.

In contrast, there were soothing sounds from my human as she released me from my short traveling captivity. But, for once, her voice was not very reassuring for me. This, followed by the fact that I was being kept on a very short lead, had my internal alarm bells rapidly ascending in pitch.

We approached the small house. I had never been here before. Calm down, I thought…maybe this is just going to be another marvelous first-time experience in my new life. My initial instinct was to cock my leg at the front door but that was nipped in the bud by ‘yer wan’ (my human).

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so nervous, I decided. The tiny porch was a delightfully smelly place to me so I attempted to pause there momentarily. But I was quickly whisked through it on the tight rein, without so much as a chance to sniff properly.

Peering around my human’s leg I took in our surroundings. Scents of an exciting variety were relegated as a cacophony of sound assailed my ears. People talking, a phone ringing, machines beeping, dogs barking in a nearby room. What is going on here, I wondered? I observed a bowl of water sitting in a puddle on the tiled floor, some chairs, a few shelves, a desk, a couple of humans in uniform, a seated woman clutching something…… I pulled myself in her direction….. a cat in a cage!!!!

I tucked my tail between my legs and whined as my human spoke with one of the uniforms. I heard my name being mentioned, quickly followed by the words ‘surrender dog’ 🙀

I was now in a state of utter shock and couldn’t even listen to any more of their verbal interaction. 😾

My human was asked to ‘take a seat’ and to my surprise she just sat on a nearby chair. Thankfully, we were a fair distance diagonally from cat-lady and cage, albeit in quite a small space overall. I resolved to trust my human and go with the flow so I settled down at her feet.

Next thing all hell broke loose. A big man and two massively powerful looking dogs entered our domain. My eyes met the hugest one for an instant and he lunged in my direction, knocking over the bowl of water in the process. His companion then joined in but the floor was slippy so he skated around the place for a few moments-enough time for me to get behind my human’s legs and underneath her chair. I tell you it was scary. Luckily for me the big man was strong enough to hold onto the two of them.

The next arrival was a lovely, calm, gentle (female) Alsatian. Her scent was mind boggling. More importantly, she diverted the attention of the other two. Soon after that a small terrier became part of our little seated group. But why are we all here, I mulled?

Another new arrival at the desk (with a fussy little Pom) partially blocked my view of a man calling me by name. When we moved in his direction I saw that he was dressed in a similar bib & tucker to the uniform who had spoken with my human initially. This must be who she is going to surrender me too I decided sadly. We followed him down a short corridor (her quite eagerly, me very reluctantly) and into a strange looking room. After a chat between the pair of them the guy picked me up like a feather and plonked me unceremoniously on a high table. (Hold on there Bucko, I felt like saying …but I resisted. Maybe this is going to be my next new human. Will I ever find a forever home😿). He sure was taking a careful look at the merchandise. After feeling me all over, looking in my mouth, saying I have tartar on my teeth, gazing into my eyes with a light, putting cold drops on the skin at my neck, weighing me, he then did something unmentionable down at my tail.

I obviously didn’t pass the surrender-test because before I knew what was happening he was giving me back to my human and releasing both of us. Oh joy!!

Joy was short-lived. We were back in the place with the desk & chairs & dogs & cat-cage and queueing. I hoped it was merely to bid farewell to the uniforms but as we had to wait awhile I started to wonder if maybe she still had the intention of relinquishing me. Our turn came and I saw money changing hands. Not only is she abandoning me, she’s selling me! At that, the Bichon Frise being held in the arms of a young girl in the queue beside us vomited volumes of green bile down on top of me. As you can imagine I didn’t like that but the uniform behind the desk took one look down at me and must have decided not to purchase after all. She chose to set us free. Phew 😅

I didn’t delay in the porch on the way out. I bounded into the boot at speed when we reached the 🚘.

I sat with my back to my human for the whole evening to let her know what she had put me through. What kind of place was that? And it was only later when I realised the uniform had actually kept the money. The cheek! 👀

My music choice today just has to be ‘How much is that doggy in the window?’ The Lita Roza version🎼🐾

It started well. She’s beautiful. Such a lovely nature. Kind, calm, quiet, courteous and all mine for the day. Late teens, on the cusp of life, she has just finished her Leaving Cert. I thought she seemed quite forlorn to begin with, so I whined in doggy language to encourage her to come for a walk. Eventually she got the message. I thought it would do her good to get outdoors.

Honestly! She (Andreia is her name) actually thinks she is the one who’s minding me while my human is occupied elsewhere. So funny really 😁. On our return from strolling duties I kept her occupied with a bit of scratching & cuddling.

But she was extremely restless; fidgeting with her phone which wasn’t giving her any apparent joy. I wondered if having the WiFi code might calm her down a bit…. but how would I communicate that to her.

Telepathy!! I willed her to walk towards my human’s secret place where the code is stored …and voilá … she found it. That kept her hushed for a short time so I went for a snooze.

However, I awoke with a start- as her edginess suddenly returned and she just took off at speed!! It was almost as if she had received a message from on-high. Down the hallway she went, into the utility room, emerging with a long pole, & pulling at the ceiling-mounted attic door. Oh, I came to the immediate conclusion that she is worse than the ‘terrible twos’ that I have heard so much about. I hadn’t realised exactly what I was taking on when I agreed to take care of her. Truthfully, I couldn’t take my eyes off her for a minute.

Obviously I was unable to climb the attic ladder so I had to trust my two favourite senses to try & ascertain what she was getting up to. The musty, hot odour which swept down from above was uninformative, but turned into a sensory experience and a half (for me). Andreia sounded as if she was choking slowly. Then…. a long silence …. followed by the reassuring sounds of clunk and clank which echoed down in my direction as her skull hit the overhead beams above. Phew! She was alive.

A dripping, sweaty, dusty face peered down from the garret as she gasped for a lungful of fresh(er) air – in fairness it was very hot, even at floor level. I tried the telepathy trick again but the message wasn’t getting through to her. Off she went again into the depths and as I helplessly hoped she wouldn’t land down through the ceiling, I could hear stuff being shuffled around the place. Then, as suddenly as it had started the attic excursion was halted.

Into the wardrobe in the back room she headed next 🙈 rattling her way through boxes of documents & bags of old envelopes which had been kept ‘in case they ever came in handy!’ What could she be looking for? This dogsitting lark was turning into the most stressful day of my newfound life.

Wait! Was that the CTTIASUV I heard? Oh thank goodness my human had returned. She’d know what to do. Aw…Janey Mack!!! After a perfunctory greeting in my direction (thought she’d be more delighted to see me😢) both of them headed back up into the attic 💩

At least I could hear some chat between the pair of them this time. Turns out they were looking for an old sporting photograph for Uncle-Uncle…(whoever he is?) … and he’d be so thrilled if they found it ….and it had to be there somewhere… and did you look in this box 👀…and OUCH!! And then, shuffling paper & eventually like music to my ears ‘found it!’

A large drop of salty sweat 💦 was my first inkling that they were about to return to terra firma. Looking like two coal miners they staggered backwards down the ladder. My human clutched the treasured photo. (It didn’t look worth the bother to me…). Turns out it features on page 86 of my human’s book (Suitcase Number Seven-a rugby story with a difference) but Uncle-Uncle wants a copy of the original. A tennis photo? In a book about rugby? Don’t ask!

Honestly the two humans were both so sweaty/dirty when they descended from the loft, they had to have a shower & change clothes.

So Uncle-Uncle, whoever you are, if you are reading my blog, I hope you are very grateful to all three of us for our gargantuan efforts on your behalf. My human will post it to you in the coming days. Genuinely, I was soooo stressed today. Dogsitting is not all it’s cracked up to be.

The song ‘The Old Maid in the Garret’ from the album ‘Home Boys Home’ by the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem sounds like the perfect choice for today.

But then someone else might suggest ‘Misirlou’ from Pulp Fiction😂 as sung by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones 🎶🐾

Wow! In all my 5 years of life, I’ve never noticed tar melting on the roads before this weekend. It looks dark & sticky, is viscous & gloopy to the paw- but oooh the scent is amazing. Sniffing tar is my new hobby. Here follow my hints of the day though … take a paw bypass if u spot the mini quagmire on time & do not put your nose too near it.

The fact that I am already black all over was a help as I perfected my sniffing technique. The gummy adherence was not immediately noticeable by my human so I could attempt some covert camouflage (I didn’t succeed – she noticed).

Sand surfing & wave hopping were two of my favourite new sensory experiences last week. Not a patch on tar sniffing let me tell u. Looking forward to seeing what new excitements there are in store for me this coming week.

Cant delay…off out to enjoy the sunshine. But a song called ‘Tar and Cement’ by Mullingar’s favourite son (Joe Dolan) comes to mind…. 🎶🎼🐾