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

In the Garden

I’ve been working really hard helping in the garden this week. We’ve been growing lots of different fruits and vegetables and some of them are ripe now! I’m excited to see how big they have grown after starting off so tiny.

My first job today was to dig up the onions and beetroot. I put on my wellies and dug the roots up really carefully with my garden fork.

The next thing was to pick my rhubarb. I’ve been growing it in big pots and the large green leaves look lovely, but strangely they’re not the bit we’re going to use – we’ll just be eating the red stems. Sarah says if I cut them now they’ll regrow again this year, which is hard to believe but I’ll see if she’s right! I cut all the rhubarb stems off at the base and we’re going to eat it tonight stewed with lots of sugar.

Then I went to look at my other pots to see how my tomatoes were getting on. I could tell that they weren’t ripe yet because they were still green, so I didn’t pick them but watered them instead to help them grow. I’ll have to wait patiently for them to ripen and turn red, which could be difficult as I’m not very good at waiting patiently!

Fortunately I discovered that my late season strawberries were ready to pick! I think they’re my favourite fruit, so I’m looking forward to having a big bowlful soon.

Lastly I went to check on my marrow. It’s grown HUGE! I’ve decided not to eat this one, but instead to see how big I can grow it and whether I can win a prize in a vegetable competition for the Most Enormous Marrow.

I’m going to pat it and talk to it lots to encourage it to keep on growing!

With cuddles and spots,

Dottie

Happy 1st Birthday

Spotty Birthday to us

Spotty Birthday to us

Spotty Birthday to all my littermates

Spotty Birthday to us

News update

Here are some photos from my friends of the adventures they’ve been having with my brothers and sisters.

Amber H went on Holiday to the Isle of Wight with Spotty  

Ella C took Spotty Dogs blood pressure whilst she was in hospital.

Caitlyn M and Lucky went on the swings and played on the Xbox.

Lewis and Domino enjoyed my  fire station letter.

Phoebe and Libby M read stories to Lottie.

Several of my litter-mates met up at the Post Pals party.

Megan H and Rufus met Jessie M.

Lilia B and Indy helped out Pirate Scrumpy.

Megan, Joe and Rufus bounced in the bouncy castle.

As you all know I love hearing what you all get up to so keep those photos coming in. 

At the beach

We went to the seaside today! It was the first time I’ve seen the sea, and I couldn’t believe how big it is. It goes on forever until it reaches the sky! There was a really big beach and as soon as we got there I ran across the sand really fast woofing excitedly!

First of all we wrote our names in the sand to show we’d been there. I drew mine carefully with my paw as big as possible, and added a giant paw print to show it was really me!

Then we got stuck into the most important job of the day – building a sandcastle. I got out my buckets and spades and started digging round the moat, and filling up the bucket to make lots of turrets round the edge. I had to have a little rest in the middle because it was very hot work in the sun! I was so pleased with it when it was done, and decided it would stand up well to any sand Viking invaders. Next I decided to try to dig to Australia! I threw all the sand over my shoulder as I dug it out, and didn’t realise I was throwing it all over Sarah till I heard her spluttering! The hole got so deep that I had to get right down into it to carry on digging. I didn’t quite get to Australia but I think I can’t have been far off.

There were lots of yachts out on the sea so I wanted to go for a boat ride as well. I launched my little red boat and floated along, bobbing up and down on the waves and calling out “Land Ahoy!” every now and then.

I started to get quite sleepy so I brought my boat in and decided it was time to join everyone else in some sunbathing. I laid out my beach towel and tied four knots in my hanky to make it into a hat, and then lay down and basked in the hot sun. Sarah said I might get a sun tan but I’m not sure whether spotty dogs can go brown. I haven’t yet!

With sunshine and spots

Dottie

Chillaxin

Hello!

Hurrah – it’s summer! I’ve been out playing in the garden. First I went on the rope swing. I hung on tight and it swung from side to side and twizzled about!

Then I went on the trampoline and bounced a little bit at first, and then higher and higher until I could see into the next garden. I even did a star jump!

 After all that I decided I needed to chill out and relax with a cold drink. I hope the sun stays out for a long time!

With cuddles and spots,

Dottie