Lapland visit to meet Father Christmas

My friend Abbie and her mum won a prize to visit Father Christmas in Lapland, and they invited me to come too! We had to get up very early to go to the airport, and it took three hours to fly to Lapland. When we stepped out of the plane the first thing we noticed was how incredibly cold it was! Abbie and her mum were given special red suits to keep them warm, but there wasn’t one small enough for me so I just had to rub my paws together and shiver a lot.

We travelled towards Father Christmas’ house on a sleigh pulled by one of his reindeer! It was dark because in the winter it’s always dark near the North Pole even in the day. But it was beautiful because there was bright white sparkly snow everywhere.

We found an igloo which we thought Father Christmas might live in, but when we crawled inside to have a look he wasn’t there. 

Then a fairy appeared and pointed to Father Christmas’ house just beyond the igloo! She was called Fairy Bowbells and she said that Father Christmas was expecting us! We followed her inside into the warm and I dried my fur for a bit in front of the fire.

An elf took us through to Father Christmas’ room, and there he was! His coat was bright red and his beard was long and white and curly, just like I’d always imagined. He was holding some pieces of paper and we realised they were the letters Abbie and I had written to him! We both went quite shy and didn’t know what to say for a bit, but Father Christmas was very kind and said we didn’t need to be shy.

He said he was so pleased that we had come to see him, as when he saw us again on Christmas Eve we’d be fast asleep and he wouldn’t want to wake us. He wanted to check what we’d written in the letters – Abbie had asked for a Lego set and I had asked for a big spotty bone. We both nodded that that was definitely what we wanted, and then Abbie whispered in his ear that we’d leave a special treat out for him and his reindeer, and he seemed very pleased!

It was soon time to fly home so we had to say goodbye to Father Christmas and go out into the freezing cold again. We found sleds and slid all the way back on them! When we were climbing into the plane I turned round and could see the lights of Father Christmas’ house twinkling in the distance. I fell asleep on the flight home thinking that it’s not long now till he’ll be piling all his presents up in his sleigh ready for Christmas Eve!

With sleighbells and spots

Dottie

Cactus Garden

I was just looking through photos of our holiday in Lanzarote and found some from a Cactus Garden we visited there. I’d never heard of cacti before but I discovered that they’re funny spiky plants that are good at surviving in very hot places.

The first one we saw was all wiggly. It had the most enormous prickles so I had to be very careful, though I still got spiked when I went too close – ouch!

I loved the big round cactus, it looked like an enormous spiky beach ball with a funny hairdo on top!

Another cactus had lots of long leaves, and when I got too close I fell in! Help! I wriggled around trying to get free but the leaves just seemed to hold me even more tightly and I thought it was out to get me! Thankfully Sarah pulled me out and said plants don’t try and get puppies, but I wasn’t so sure.

We found a really big one after that. It had so many different parts it was like a whole town of cacti. If it keeps growing like that it might end up taking over the whole garden. Apparently they grow very slowly though so perhaps the other plants don’t need to worry just yet.

Then we found a plant without any spikes at all! I jumped into the middle of it and felt like a flower fairy with all the big leaves spreading out around me.

Sarah said it wasn’t really a cactus and was called Aloe Vera, but I’m not sure that’s true as I said “Allo, Vera” to it several times and it didn’t answer.

The last cactus we saw had much tinier spikes so I think I liked that one the best. It still wasn’t a good idea to stroke it though as it was pricklier than it looked!

It’s made me feel all hot and sunny again looking through these photos – which is nice as it’s pouring with rain outside!

With spikes and spots

Dottie

Baby Stevie

I’ve been very busy today helping with my friend’s little baby Stevie. He’s the youngest person I’ve ever met though he’s still slightly bigger than me!

He has lots of lovely toys, including a train with his name on which our friend Alan gave him. I had great fun pushing it around going Choo! Choo!, but Stevie’s favourite game was chewing my ear. Luckily for me it didn’t hurt as he hasn’t got any teeth yet, so I just ended up with soggy fur.

After a while I took him for a little walk round the park in his pushchair. He didn’t seem too happy about it at first – I think he was a bit scared that I might crash him into something!

We got home safely though just in time for dinner. Much more of his dinner went over me than went into his mouth – I thought I was going to end up with broccoli-coloured spots!

A bit later I got a whiff of something very very smelly. I realised it was coming from Stevie’s nappy! I had the important job of passing his mummy the wet wipes, but I had to hold my nose until we were finished, which Stevie seemed to find very funny!

After that I helped Stevie’s daddy give him a bath. I added some bubbles and dipped my paw into the water to check it wasn’t too hot for him. Stevie loved splashing and soon I was standing in a puddle of water! I then helped to dry him and sprinkled him with baby powder to make him smell nice. I chose a spotty sleepsuit for him to wear to bed so that he looked just like me!

Stevie was looking quite tired after our busy day so I put him in his cot and started to read him a bedtime story. It wasn’t long before he was fast asleep, so I close the book very quietly and kissed him goodnight.

With cuddles and spots

Dottie

xxx

Litter Mate News

Thank you for all my lovely photos you’ve sent in showing what you’ve been up to with my litter mates. – I love seeing them.

Aaron and Mathew F and Ben dressed up to go on a canal boat and cycling in the woods.

William S went spotty just like Daniel.

Alan S went down the bouncy slide with Sooty.

Lewis J watched Domino have a go at flying.

Killian and Xander G went to Tenerife with Dougie.

Emma and Amber T celebrated our birthday with Rosie.

Phoebe M shared crisps with Lottie in hospital.

Aled G and Alex were in hospital together.

Daniel G and Jack went to a wildlife park.

Bottomley Potts celebrated our birthday with Eve, Samuel and Seraphina I.

Megan H and Rufus went on the London Eye.

Daniel celebrated our birthday with Robert, William and Stephen.

Keep sending them in!!

Dottie xxx

Bonfire night

I love Bonfire night, especially woofing at all the bangs. I have been very lucky this year as I got invited to a fireworks party. I had a brilliant time and even got to wave a sparkler.

Sparkle and Whizzers

Dottie

Holiday hats and pink camels

Well as you can see I couldn’t resist the pink camel and I even managed to find a matching pink sombrero. Do you think it suits me???

Well I must go, we’ve got a plane to catch.

I’ll update you soon

Sunshine and spots

Dottie

Hello again from Lanzarote

Hello again from Lanzarote! I’ve had lots of adventures since I last wrote. The biggest one was going for a ride on a camel – she was huge! I sat in a basket hooked over her hump which wobbled around a lot as she walked along. She wasn’t very friendly and kept turning round to spit at me! Most of the camels had someone sitting on each side of the basket to balance it, but because I’m so small and light I was allowed one all to myself. All the camels walked along in a procession, though I decided from the spitting that she’d rather have stayed lying down. Not that I could blame her in that heat!

The camels walked a long way up the side of a mountain, which turned out to be a volcano! I’ve seen lots of pictures of volcanoes but couldn’t believe I was actually on one. Sarah and I got off our camels and poked a big stick with twigs on the end down into the crater, and it was so hot down there that they caught fire!

The next morning we went to the market. It opened really early so we had to get up at 6am. I had to keep tickling Sarah until she woke! It was worth it though because we found this amazing red spotty dress – doesn’t it suit me!

We also found a stall selling cuddly camels, and I decided to buy one as a souvenir of my camel ride. I liked all the brown ones but there was just one pink one which I couldn’t resist!

I found this flower on the ground by the flower stall so I picked it up and put it in my fur. I’m sending you a big wave to say goodbye from Lanzarote as we’re going back home soon – though I should have time to write you a postcard before we go!

With humps and spots,

Dottie

In sunny Lanzarote

Peekaboo!

I hope I didn’t make you jump by peeking out from behind this palm tree! We arrived in Lanzarote yesterday – I’ve come on holiday with Sarah and all the family! Lanzarote is a tropical island and is really hot – and I mean really really hot!

It was so hot that after a wander around I needed a giant ice cream sundae to help me cool down. Yum!

After eating all the ice cream we thought we should have some exercise, so Sarah, Jane and I went for a ride on a pedal car. It was a bit like the Chuckle Brothers’ one! There wasn’t room for three people to pedal so Sarah and Jane pedalled while I sat at the front and shouted “to me, to you!” all the way!

After all that shouting I needed a rest, so when we got back to the hotel I put on my blue bikini and sunbathed on the sun bed for a long time. I got sleepier and sleepier in the hot sun till Sarah suddenly woke me up and said it was time to go swimming!

I put my goggles on and sat nervously at the edge of the pool. Sarah said I looked like a crazy frog but I thought that was rather rude of her.

She was impressed when I took a great big leap in though! I splashed around and jumped up and down sending water everywhere. Sarah pushed a lilo over towards me and I clambered up onto it. My fur was really wet and all stuck together so I stretched out on the lilo to dry off in the hot sun.

I’ll write to you again soon to tell you what else we get up to here!

With splashes and spots,

Dottie

Apple Crumble

After all my hard work in the garden I wanted to bake something really special with what I'd grown and Sarah suggested an apple crumble! I climbed right into our apple tree to pick some apples. 

It was a very long was up but I was careful not to look down!

Once I was back down I put my apron on and got to work in the kitchen. Chopping all the apples was hard work, but I chopped them all into small chunks as I wanted my crumble to be really good.

They we could start cooking the apples. Sarah helped me stir them on the stove. The appley smell was delicious and it was so difficult  not to eat any. I didn't though - I hope you are impressed!

Next was the really fun part - making the crumble. We mixed together flour, sugar and butter. Then I got to get my paws really dirty! I had to rub all the ingredients together so that they made a nice crumbly mixture. I rubbed and mixed and rubbed and mixed for ages. I got flour everywhere!....opps

We put the crumble mixture on top of the apples and put it in the oven for half an hour. It seemed a long wait but at least it gave me time to clean up a bit. When we took it out of the oven it was all golden brown! I scooped a really big helping into my doggy bowl and added some custard. I was so hungry after all that work that I woofed it down really quickly - It was scrummy!

With Love and Spots

Dottie