The adventures of Wizard & Lucy - No, not much really€¦

I've been sitting here for hours trying to recall what's happened in Wiz and Lucy's lives over the past two months and the answer is, as is almost always the case, a collection of small instances and occurrences that all combine to make life eventful, even if it doesn't look that way from the outside.

When I last wrote, back at the beginning of November, Lucy had just had her teeth cleaned and, on the advice of the vet, we were to start brushing her teeth on a daily basis. This has been going surprisingly well and I can report that as yet no toothbrushes have been stolen, hidden or devoured. This came as something of a surprise to us as we've always known that Lucy is the ringleader in any thefts (or, according to her, 'relocations') of items.

In fact, when Lucy first graced us with her presence there was a rash of blatant burglaries, from paperweights to shoes and boxes of tissues, all of which could be found cunningly concealed in (on) her bed. I recall coming home from work one day to find that she had stolen and eaten A through to C of the dictionary. The very next day I arrived home to find Stephen Fry's autobiography on her bed€¦more disturbingly, it was open and showing signs of being read. Luckily for us, the thievery stopped when Wiz moved in.

I dread to think what they might get up to while we're out but I do know that several things still change position, if only slightly.

We have noticed that now that both Wiz and Lucy have turned 8 there has been a noticeable "slowing down€ of their walking and activity though, and often Lucy will politely decline her evening walk in favour of spending time with Mrs. S. Generally Lucy does this by taking one look at her harness, turning and racing at breakneck speed through to the lounge where she immediately goes in to her prize winning impression of a black rug. To date, even when injured, Wiz has not turned down a walk€¦we live in a cat rich neighbourhood and he just loves to try and say hello.

Needless to say, the run up to Christmas and New Year was hectic for all of us, but Wiz and Lucy seem to have coped quite well€¦it was almost as if they had some inbuilt instinct that gave them early warning of impending food. Even so they managed to wait patiently and, at the most expensive time of the year, avoid any surplus trips to the vet (which is certainly a rarity in this house).

Christmas gatherings and the seemingly endless parade of catch-ups were attended more gracefully than before by both Wiz and Lucy and they even had the honour of meeting Mrs. S' new boss€¦she is now a baker at a local café, which involves excessively early starts. Initially this was source of confusion to both of the hounds as it's usually me that leaves the house first, but once they got in to the routine and figured out that they weren't in fact going to be walked and fed at 4.30 in the morning all was well.

Other changes that are about to happen include my parents moving in with us for 3 months€¦they are awaiting the completion of their new villa at one of the local retirement villages and will otherwise have no where to live (tempting€¦). This will involve a large caravan being put in to our back yard which I happen to know Wiz is looking forward to immensely as it will not only give him something new to run around at a great rate of knots but also something new to urinate on€¦and a change is as good as a holiday. It may also mean that we have to keep a close eye on their diet (the hounds, not my parents) as they are, quite frankly, buggers for giving Wiz and Lucy treats. Just last weekend we were away and left the hounds in the capable hands of my parents€¦on the first night away I received a text to say that Wiz and Lucy had been walked and eaten all of their meat and biscuits, as well as the fresh fried Gurnard and some chips€¦

I'm sure that it won't take too long for the hounds to settle in to a new routine, however temporary, and they will no doubt enjoy having 'full time' company during the days€¦I'm also looking forward to it as, in theory, all the housework will be done and the gardens kept in good shape for a change. And I'm also sure that as usual Wiz and Lucy will sleep through everything after the first few days.

Sleeping is of course still their forte - I've been off work since December 22nd and don't go back until January 12th, and although I've been at home almost every day they have slept and slept and slept. The only thing I've heard is the occasional growl, twitching nails on the walls and the subtle "fuff€ of breaking wind from the other room.

On the odd occasions when they are awake it usually involves walk time, a cat in the garden or, as was the case this morning, the great interest and noise of a bird in the kitchen. Despite it being two months since I last wrote, and having the Christmas period in the middle, it has been a suspiciously quiet period on the hound front€¦this does not bode well and I am almost positive that something has to give sooner or later. Maybe next month I'll have something interesting to write about€¦