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Near & Far

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Hi Everyone, Elle here &  thinking it’s about time I updated you on how we are all doing !

As you can see I’m still here in Ireland along with my brother Tomasso who Dad decided  is staying, there will be mug shots of us coming soon !……….Bella is here with us for a couple more weeks & then her new mum Anita is flying over from France to take her home ~ hope they like snails over there  as Bella is pretty nifty when it comes to collecting them, leaving them on the doormat to get crunched underfoot &  stuck to the bottom of Mom’s new slippers which  don’t look  quite so new now as the pretty shade of pink has degenerated slightly into a sort of sludge brown as we three have taken them for a quick chew & several laps around the peat bog front  lawn !

Coleen  is happily living with Edna & Stephen Craske & her Grandma  Shaneco Annalisa in Norfolk UK ~ hopefully she will be doing to some of the shows this year in the UK .colleen

Also being shown will be Lucia pictured below, she was originally going to the UK to work but sadly her new owner couldn’t  be bothered to let us know he no longer wanted her so she has gone to live in Wales with the parents our good friends Rachel & Mike Greenhough where they adore her & although she can’t go to Crufts  Rachel  will be showing her at shows where legally docked dogs can be exhibited .

lucia 8

Porzia is happily living with Liz & her BraccoUncle Hendrix

Humphrey is having a wonderful time with his new family & goes everywhere with them ~ He is seen  below with best buddy Finlay practising for the Olympic two man Luge team, or to give it’s proper name ” Out of control tea trays hurtling downhill on sheet  ice “Humphrey

That just leaves Sonya & Max ~ a couple of weeks ago Dad, Sonya & Max boarded a large paraffin budgie & set off on a long & exciting trip………at the airport in Dublin everyone was wanting to see the pups & dad got preferential treatment at check in ! I personally think it was because  he wast holding up the queue as the airport staff were unable to do their jobs properlyfor laughing at his passport photo that resembles an escaped prisoner who been on the run for some considerable time !!!

After getting settled in their seats everyone watched in anticipation & abject fear as the plane doors were slammed shut after a bit of persuasion from a nervous looking chap with  not very designer stubble  an adjustable spanner & a hammer ~ dad relaxed & began to ponder the question of what he would choose for dinner when the inevitable question was asked  ” Chicken or Beef ????? ”  before he had changed his mind for the tenth time the stewardess  called out would Mr Michael Cooper make himself known ~ dad had visions of looking out of the window to see two Bracco pups had escaped from their moorings & were playing stalk the 747  down the middle of  runway 13……Thankfully she only wanted to let him know that they were both safe & sound & tucked up in their flight crates in the hold ready for take off Phew !!!!!!

At Chicago it was worse, all the customs dog handlers abandoned their Springer Spaniels to coo & gaze lovingly at these two cute Bracco pups, whilst this was happening several hundred kilos of illegal substances were being nonchalantly walked through the ” Nothing To Declare ” green channel while the discarded sniffer dogs were beside themselves trying to point out the culprits  !

Sonya below was picked up by Ed’s friend Tom & she went to stay with his familyfor a few days before she dons her woolie underwear & heads out for a very snowy Minnasota  ~ where hopefully she will become a star at hunting.

You can see her here at Tom’s a few hours after arriving !

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Last but not least is Max, Dad being dad decided that he fancied driving from Chicago over 1800 miles to Arizona, what he hadn’t bargained for was the worsed snow storms in 30 years crossing the whole of central America while he’s trying to negotiate Route 66 ( he thinks he’s Mick Jagger not Mick Cooper ) ~ after nearly being squashed by mammoth eighteen wheelers with fantastic murals painted down the sides ranging from The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 to Hooters Steak House  painted by someone with a very warped  idea of the female anatomy  enough in fact  to give Dolly Parton a total inferiority complex, he finally made it into Texas whilst giving an ear shattering rendering of ” Show me the way to Amerillo ” which we are all very grateful that only Mom could hear as he called her especially so that he could wail it down the phone……….

Eventually the snow petered out in Arizona  & Dad spent the last  300 miles checking out every giant cactii in case John Wayne or Geronimo were lurking behind them !

gardentoys

This is Max with his new toy box & taking in his new home with mom & dad Marilyn & John Vinson ~  What a  lucky boy ~ guess where we are all going for our hols  !

Back Soon

Elle x

Bah Humbug

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Bah HumbugBlimey do we have to go through this ritual  EVERY Christmas ????????

Yes  Mom we really  are  enjoying ourselves  ~ Bah Humbug !

Thanksgiving

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Today our American cousins celebrate Thanksgiving, now I’m not the smartest kid on the block but I’m pretty sure Thanksgiving has got something to do with a bunch of Brits who sailed the seven seas & found safe haven in America not like our mom who thinks it’s because the Americans built Walmart for which she is very thankful………

Anyway in honour of  the holiday mom & dad let us play with the Thanksgiving turkey & yes you guessed it, she bought it in Walmart ~ here’s us giving it a good feathering !

GirlA1This is my sis known as Ed’s girl, she is  today’s pin up as she’s going off to live in Minnesota in  the US

You hum it & I’ll play it !

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Hi everyone this is  Elle here,  it’s my solo  piccy as I’m the one that’s staying  & I’ve been unanimously  nominated to be the narrator for this motley crew !

Today mom & dad went toy shopping & I’m not sure who’s crackpot idea it was ( mom says it was dad as he’s bonkers  ! ) but they bought this weird green caterpillar thing that plays forty different tunes if you press the buttons, well Spot ( Duh ! named cuz he’s got a spot on his head ) reckons he’s a bit of a Rick Wakeman on the old keyboard & has mastered the art of playing the b*****y thing when the rest of us are trying to get a bit of shut-eye………..the pic is a few of us playing ” Name that tune ” !

ps. Sardines leave a lingering odour !tuneelle1

We are back !

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Just in case anybody missed us we have been off air for a few days as some kind soul sent Mom a nasty virus which almost wrecked her ‘puter, she was last heard muttering something about chopping off someones fingers & other assorted bits of their anatomy  !!!

As you can see we’ve grown quite a bit & are eating everything in sight, we hear words like piranhas  & gannets mentioned as the food bowls are whipped away before we eat them too & yes we are becoming a little more vocal, one of the boys is really good at yodelling, Mom has threatened to send him to the Swiss Alps to practise !

99Now that you can see us again we will be posing for a lot more photos as  some of us are just big fat showoffs Rich

Happy 4th Birthday Diva

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What a way to spend a Birthday ~  sitting in a sauna surrounded by the family…………

Mom brought me in a special Birthday tea with a jumbone stuck in the middle just like a big brown candle, Dad said looked like  ” a big brown ……….. ”   OK let’s not go there !

I had a really horrible moment when I thought she was going to sing Happy Birthday to me….last years rendition was so moving it brought  a tear to the eye & earache for a whole week !!

Rocco came to visit ~ I suppose it came as a bit of a shock discovering your the father of nine…..Still he did manage to hang around long enough for a family portrait to bad  I was to busy demolishing the Birthday candle to join in ! happybirthdayvisiting

Sardines

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Twelve days old & the gang are all starting to open their beady little eyes & are staggering round the whelping box like a bunch of bandy legged cowboys minus their horses,  Diva is doing a brilliant job as a first time mom keeping them all clean & tidy even though she’s fighting a losing battle, no sooner has she sorted out number nine than number one pops up for another good scrub !all9

Eye Eye !

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eyeeye

You know that feeling when you are sure somebody is watching you ? well I had that feeling while I was sitting with the pups on Friday……….I looked & looked & I just knew that there was something odd going on  in the whelping box when eventually it dawned on me,  one of the gremlins was looking back at me ~ Crikey what a sight for the poor little mite to see  !

7 Days Old

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Today the gang of nine are seven days old & growing like mad especially their ears, they remind me of those plants that Grandads get every Christmas, the amazing Amaryllis that grows about two inches a day, at the moment they look like a cross between Scooby Doo & Pluto ~ that’s the puppies not the plants…………….. they are so quiet & contented, apparently this is just to lull us into a false sense of security as supposedly at about three weeks all hell breaks loose & the racket will resemble a flock of squabbling seagulls picking over the local landfill site, or another description was a nest full of screaming Raptors, looks like Boots might be doing a good trade in industrial strength  earplugs !

Diva has returned to her sylph like self, that’s just as long as you look from the top down, from the side she does a fine impression of an overweight moose legging it round the garden ! She’s a fantastic mom, at the first clink of a dog bowl she abandons her brood faster than the guy who won the 100 metres at the Olympics but she soon gets back in the box to round up the stragglers.

The photo is of one of the girls taken today we have nicknamed her Donna……….

Prima Donnaseven days