What are you doing to feel Christmasy this year?

[Joan]

Goodness, Diane!  I'm exhausted just reading about it!  No wonder you were pooped.  Hope you've managed to have a good rest.

An update on Ben - he was on a low dose of steroids for his skin allergies before he got sick, but the vet increased it to one every second day to help with his joints, which has made him extremely hungry (even hungrier than he used to be, which I wouldn't have thought possible).

This morning, he was left alone in the kitchen/family room for a while - big mistake!  Some silly person had left the pantry door slightly open and Ben has become adept at opening doors with his nose and body if he can get just the tip in the gap.  Another silly person (me) had left half a kilo bag of Allens red frogs (a present for John, who doesn't like chocolate - don't know where that gene came from!) lying on the bottom shelf, just at Ben's nose level.  His treats were in containers on the floor, but the frogs were obviously easier to get at.  When I came back, Ben was doing a little dance and jumping up and down like a puppy dog - great to see you so full of life, boy.  More like full of sugar and colouring, says Trevor, waving the torn empty packet at me. 

A picture of some Allens red frogs:



Ben ate half a kilo of them - when he was younger he would have been in the doghouse for some time, but we couldn't help but laugh, more because we're so happy he's still here to get into mischief.  He's now sleeping it off.  Someone else can deal with it when it comes out the other end!

[The Peepmaster]

We've got red squirrels on one thread, red frogs on this one, whatever next?

[Diane CBPFC]

The red frogs must be an Austrailian thing - I have never seen them before.

We played my son's game of Risk 2210 with him seeing it is his birthday. It took 1 hour just to read the instructions and then about three to play the game - you can't imagine a more boring game in your life. My whole army just wanted to commit mass suicide so their general could go and take a nap - but that too is against the rules. 

I guess we should be happy that a 17 year old still wants to hang out with us. 

[Malc]

We've only ever had one dog, Kerry, and when she died it broke all our hearts so we never had another.

Kerry had two litters (my mum and dad didn't look after her) and subsequently went a little mad.

One of the funny stories we still talk about was when Kerry went surreptitiously into the kitchen and helped herself to cornflakes. Yes, she got the milk out of the fridge and...

No, seriously, she knocked the packet off the kitchen table and must have nudged it under, in and out of the chairs, until she could get her head wedged in far enough to get the corn flakes.
Having no opposable thumbs, she couldn't pull the box off, so ended up standing under the table, unable to turn her head or move backwards because every time she did so, she banged against the chairs.

We estimate she must have stood stock still like that for over an hour, effectively in "jail", with the cornflakes box jammed onto her head, until we went into the kitchen to make a cuppa and found her.

[Joan]

The red frogs are completely Australian, Diane, made by the same company that make Snakes, sweets in the shape of snakes, different colours, but full of sugar and colouring just like the frogs.  They now put 99.9% fat free on the packet - must think we're all dills.  99.8% sugar, no doubt.

That's really funny, Malc - any pictures?  Ben once got into a Christmas "gift" box I left in the dining room (out of bounds to him).  He nudged the lid off and managed to eat half a Christmas pudding before someone disturbed him.  He apparently ran back into the kitchen and was still chewing when they came across him.  It wasn't till later I discovered exactly what he'd been eating!

He doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from the frogs.  Innocence itself, but there just isn't any other explanation.

[Malc]

Kerry once chewed a single wine gum for an hour. Every time her jaw stopped moving, we thought that was it, then, after a pause of a few seconds, she'd start up again. She used to lunge and snap at my first wife. Kerry was great.