Sunday April 26th 2026 "Do YOU have a good relationship with YOUR neighbourhood's dogs? Not easy is it!!!!"

Yes, Friends, do YOU have a good relationship with YOUR neighbourhood's dogs? It's a tricky one, isn't it!

And it depends a lot on the dogs you happen to live near too, doesn't it! Here's one neighbourhood dog that isn't going out of its way to be popular, at least according to this morning's Onion News foreign news pages, to put it mildly!!!

Poor Grimsson!!!!

And the reading Grimsson's story this morning here in semi-herbaceous Liphook, Hampshire, brings a slightly bemused smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois - no doubt about that!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

By complete coincidence, we spend a lot of today "dog-proofing" our tiny house here in Liphook, knowing that one boisterous dog - "Bjorn", together with one sleepy one (!) - "Sika", are going to be gracing our portals with their presence this afternoon, when our daughter Alison and husband Edward drop in for a "catch-up" (!), bringing the dogs with them, for the first time since Lois and I moved in here, back in January 2025.

And Lois and me, as inveterate former "cat-people" and mild "dog-o-phobes" (!), are understandably having a mild case of "the jitters" about the visit, that's for sure! We spend some time hiding away "eminently chewable" objects like my pair of "grandad-slippers", blocking potential escape routes in our tiny back garden, and shutting all the bedroom doors and all that kind of 'malarkey' (!!!). 

our daughter Alison and husband Edward visit us this afternoon,

together with their 2 dogs, the mischievious "Bjorn" and the sleepy "Sika"

In the event the visit passes off peacefully. The older of the two dogs, "Sika", is a bit of an "old man", who mostly sleeps a lot of the day, occasionally uttering a restless groan - a bit like Yours Truly, as I explain, to general laughter (!).

It helps that both dogs are simply exhausted, having spent the morning racing around Alison and Edward's 6.5 acre grounds, behind their crumbling Victorian mansion, originally built for one of Queen Victoria's vice-admirals, back in the 1870's or thereabouts. And Alison and Edward themselves are pretty 'pooped' having been shifting logs all afternoon, and generally trying to keep the garden in some sort of approximate order (!).

(left) the photo taken today with the old mansion covered in scaffolding and plastic sheeting,

and (right) the mansion seen here in happier times, showcased by Lois and one of the dogs

Lois and I have been looking forward to having a chat with them - Alison and Edward, not so much the dogs (!), and to hear about the latest exploits of their 3 teenage kids, Josie (19), a first year maths student at Durham, Rosalind (17), soon to be taking her A-Levels, and hoping to get a place at UCL, London, and Isaac (15) soon to be taking his GCSEs.

flashback to January: our daughter Alison with husband Edward,

and their 3 teenage kids, on their recent skiing trip to northern Sweden

Their youngest, Isaac, is very much into music and dramatic arts, and we hear today that he's just passed his audition for a part in a local performance of "9 to 5 - The Musical", to take place in nearby Guildford next year. 

Isaac will be playing the part of "Joe", the love-interest for Violet, one of the 3 rebellious women, played by Lily Tomlin in the 1980 film. And it's a treat for Lois and me today when Alison takes out her phone, and we hear a bit of Isaac's successful audition this last week, where he sings the song "Let Love Grow". He can certainly sing, that boy! And it's a bit of a change of pace to hear him sing a sensitive ballad, instead of "rocking out" with his boy-girl band, New Horizon. 

Kudos, Isaac!!!!!

flashback to December: our grandson Isaac "rocking out" on vocals

with his own boy-girl band at London's legendary "Dingwalls" music venue

Isaac is no stranger to local performances of famous musicals. Last summer he played the Tin Man in his school's production of "The Wizard of Oz", and he featured more recently in the local Music and Dramatic Arts production of "Legally Blonde", at Haslemere Hall, playing "the UPS guy".

(above) Isaac as the Tin Man, in his school's production of "The Wizard of Oz",

and below, Lois and me in the audience at Haslemere Hall, for Isaac's 

performance as "The UPS Guy" in "Legally Blonde - the Musical"

Awwww!!!! Go, Isaac !!!!!

16:00 Alison and Edward go home, taking the two dogs with them, luckily (!), leaving Lois and me to reflect on the chances that our own grandson will one day be a big "celebrity", possibly the type who buys his old "Granny and Poppa" a villa in the south of France, which will be nice!

And after a lovely tea, by coincidence, we settle down on the couch for some restful "celebrity" TV viewing, picking last night's "Saturday Night Live (UK)" as our focus. This satirical look-back at the week's events doesn't go out till 10pm, so for two fully-paid-up "old codgers" like Lois and me, it's certainly past our bedtime, so we just have to watch it "on demand", a day later, that's for sure!

And Lois and I are delighted tonight to see a clip from a special celebrity edition of "Who Wants To Remain A Millionaire", featuring presenter "Jeremy Clarkson", and celebrity guest "Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer", which is a bit of a minor "treat", to put it mildly!

Sir Keir's a busy man, as we know, so it's nice to see the show is limiting his 'ordeal' tonight by just giving him one question to answer, which is thoughtful! And Keir's question tonight is a tough one, that's for sure! 

Is it ever a good idea to give Peter Mandelson a job?

Yes, a "toughie" certainly! And no surprise that tonight Sir Keir makes full us of the programme's three lifelines, to get himself some hints, starting with "Ask the Audience".

Although the audience votes, like, a billion to one (more probably!!!), that the correct answer is 'C' - "Not In A Million Years" - Starmer is, understandably perhaps, still uncertain. And as he says, "It's so much easier to decide when you're watching at home", and we see what he means!!!

After trying the 50-50 option twice, Keir, in desperation, asks for the "Phone A Friend" option.

Phone a friend, if that friend is Peter Mandelson? Seems like a good choice to us !!!! And certainly Peter turns out to agree with the audience, which seems to be as good confirmation as Keir is likely to get tonight, at least!

Despite all the lifeline hints seemingly pointing one way, Sir Keir still gets the answer wrong, plumping eventually for Answer D - "Yes", which is disappointing!

Poor Keir !!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!