Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

Wednesday September 19th 2018

Today gale force winds are hitting north western areas of Britain and we have the tail end here in the West Midlands. Isis frisks around joyfully in her garden. She’s been out there for almost two hours.

I check on her again from the back window, then glance out of the front door.

The hazel and the overgrown buddleia look as though they’re frantically waving for help and an abandoned plastic food container is bowling along the main road.

Time to fetch her. She loves the wildness of the wind, but, as usual, unless something has upset her, she is very good about coming in, and, after the usual little taps, she trots towards the house in front of me and pops inside.

For weeks now I’ve noted that her bed needs a wash. Its lovely fleecy white lining is pale brown with muddy paw marks and it doesn’t smell very fragrant either.

O.K. today’s the day.

I remove the inner pillow. Noting that the memory foam chips it contains are crumbly and likely to spill out, I carefully place it on a chair high up on top of a pile of boxes, well out of Hairy One’s reach.

I stuff the bed into the washing machine.

It’s turning out to be a week of sorting dog affairs, I reflect with a deep sigh. All her dog towels are drying in the bathroom but there’s nowhere to put them as their container is bursting with plastic bags and old sheets (useful for protecting the rug when Isis is damp and muddy).

Must be the main reason for avoiding housework: whatever you do has a knock-on effect.

Rashly, I empty the container onto the kitchen floor. Oh horror!

At this point, Isis emerges from the back room. She looks different, somehow. She has little bits of foam in her hair  …….

Oh.

I shoot into the back room. The ‘out of her reach’ pillow, of course,  is no longer on the chair.

Silly me.

“Oh, Isis! Thanks a million for your help”, I murmur.

But she merely lies by the front door looking miffed.

What has Human done with her bed?

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk