... and the Winner is ...

OK .....Here we go........
Bring out the tootyparpy-shinybones.......
DRRRRRRRR.........on the bangbangbowl

Are you ready?.........

The winner of the wonderful portrait is.......
Entry number 273 - Sue Toller

The winner of the framed photo of choice is........
Entry number 305 - Jill Powell

The winner of the cuddly doggy toy is........
Entry number 62 - Geoff Heslop

Congratulations to Sue, Jill and Geoff. Waggy-woofy-licks from me!

Fantastic total raised of £444. Thank you to everyone who made donations. Every penny goes to my fundraising total to sponsor a third puppy to be trained to be a lifechanging Guide Dog like me.

Super huge thanks to the lovely Sarah Le Vallois Pencil Art​ for the donation of the absolutely fabulous portrait for this draw. It really is stunning. We are hoping to follow Sarah's suggestion of getting a few small prints of the portrait made, so if anyone is miffed at not winning the original then do let us know.

Sue, Jill and Geoff - please message me with your address and we will get your prizes in the post in the next couple of days. Jill - we also need your choice of photo from my timeline so please include that in your message.

Once again - huge thanks to all who donated and congratulations to the winners.

Am I Tired or What????

Lots of very needed zzzzzzs today! I was pooped! Took Mum workywalkies into town this morning and led her back via the pawmenade. That was weird! The air was super fuzzy - we could hear the big sploshes down the beach but couldn't see them at all. The beach disappeared into the fuzziness. I did my duty and guided Mum and, when we climbed the zigzag to the CliffTop park, she took off my harness and lead so I could enjoy a freerun, but I didn't really have the oomf to run anywhere. I just enjoyed a gentle mooch and sniff. That was nice.

I was glad to get back though and to snuggle down to snooze away the rest of the day.

Tomorrow is the last day to enter the draw for my portrait.......

... And We're Back!

Phewwyyyy! We are back in Bournemouth. WHAT a weekend! NONSTOP YACKETY-YACKETY-YACK-YACK-BLIMMIN-YACK! What IS it all about? There were a couple of doggy pals there too - Bess the old-ladydog and Shadow the GSD. We just had a good sniff and mutual nose-lick each time we met up then just settled down to snooze through allllllllll the jabberjaw! Last night, I thought Mum would NEVER stop! Most of the rest of the humans (including Dad) had gone off to their various rooms to bed but Mum and a couple of other ladyhumans stayed in the lounge and the yipping just went on and on and on. Apparently, when they finally surrendered and I got to drag Mum along the corridor so we could go to bed, the tickydisk was saying numbers 1.45 - that's like never-never-time! Neither of us did very well at getting up this morning. Actually, I got to stay in bed for an extra snooze while Dad took Mum to the yacketyroom and then to the yummyery room for breakfast. I had already had mine and then got back into bed!

I enjoyed a bit of a romp around the very soggy meadow at that nice house before we left. It was very sploshy all the way around it. The sky never stopped leaking all day. This included the journey back in the car. I really don't like it when it is all soggy outside the car and we are on the whizzyroads. The loud sloshing noise makes me go all shaky and pantypuffy and panicky. I tried ever so hard to climb over onto the back seat to get onto Mum's lap but my lead was hooked onto something in the very back (by the carbumdoor) and it just wouldn't let me. I was not a happy boy.

We are safely back now though and I've destressed by taking Dad for a leisure walkies. Mum said she didn't want to ask me to work on harness for her when I was so hyped up and stressed. She loves me! A nice big new bone has helped too.

Now if you will excuse me, I have some serious zzzzzs to catch up on and the sofa seems to be vacant......

Just a quick reminder though - there is now just a couple of days to make donations on my Just Giving page to enter into the draw for the beautifully drawn portrait of me (generously donated by Sarah Le Vallois Pencil Art​). The First name drawn at random after 8pm on Tuesday will win the portrait. The second will win the smaller frame to which will be added a print of your choice from any photo on my FB page and the third will win the cuddly doggy toy. One entry for every £ donated at www.justgiving.com/guidedogoakley3

Holibobs!

Friday.

Long car ride. Lots of humanfriends that we haven't seen for ages. A couple of doggy pals too! 
We are staying in a place Mum says is called Shallowford House in Staffordshire. We've been here before a long time ago. I remember it all though. It has a meadow for playtime with ponds in it. They are all crunchy today! When we are inside, even though there is lots of human yacketying going on, I seem to be allowed to relax and snooze without being on harness or even on lead. I like it! It is really nice having other doggypals to relax with too.

Huff, Huff and Huff again!

I NEED MUD! This is serious! I have been poofed! I need green, stinky, slimy mud - or at least equivalently appropriate to any self-respecting dog.

Mum and Dad seemed super chuffed with themselves for what they have put me through. They say I am gleaming and I smell simply gorgeous. They even said the car smelled lovely inside after I got in! Hooooowwwwlllllll!

They took me to the nice (or so I thought) ladyhuman. I went in all waggy and happy. They left me! Abandoned me! Then she got me all frothed and sprayed and frothed again. After the frothy soggy assault, whe attacked me with a hufferfuffer! Well, how utterly uncool is that! I'm a big butch boydog - not a fluffy girlie pooch! Once all hufferfuffed, I then got the onslaught of the grooming weapons. She did get me in all the 'ooooooh' bits! She did give me a few yummies! I suppose she was OK afterall....maybe......sort of......I may be able to forgive her....I suppose......

Back at the flat - all went daft again this evening when the indoor rain started again. I kept out of the way again while Dad did all sorts of whizzing about up and down the stairs, and Mum went into overdrive with that squidgy floor-stroking-stick again. All seems to have calmed down again now thankfully.

Now there seems to be loads of bag-packing going on...... I guess tomorrow will explain.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some thinking to do ......how soon and where can I get myself properly de-poofed?

Leaky Sky - Indoors!

Pup did good methinks! Big workywalkies this morning - aaaaallll the way into town, via the Upper Gardens, then around the shops - 'Find Boots', 'Find Tescos' and 'Find Smiths' - in Smiths, it was 'Find upsteps and, after oodles of that 'browsing' thing (I just sat down and waited!), it was 'Find downsteps' and 'Find the door' - then back through Lower Gardens, along the pawmenade and up Middle Chine (a brief chance to freerun!). I had to work quite hard for Mum as it was quite crowded in town and along the pawmenade.

When we got back to Granny's flat, Dad had a mug of that hot black water ready for Mum. She was very glad of that after that 4 mile hike. Mum told me I had been a good boy so I did a good 'sit' right by the big white light-up cupboard. Mum got the hint - well, I appreciate replenishment after working too! She gave me the BIGGEST carrot she could find in there! Yummmmmmm....She tried to persuade me to hold it so she could point her talkybone at me to make it click, but I just couldn't manage that kind of level of patience! That was too good a carrot to not munch!

I then kept out of the way and enjoyed a good snooze while Mum was busy doing loads more of that sorty-outy stuff. More black bags have been filled and taken away.

This evening things went a bit weird; It started leaky-skying - but INSIDE! Lots of big drips were pouring through the ceiling in the lobby. Dad did some rushing around upstairs and then downstairs, while Mum was doing loads and loads of stroking the floor with a stick-with-a-blob-of-blue-tails on the end. She stroked it about in the puddle and then squished it in a giant bowl-with-a-holey-bowl on top. This went on for ages and I had to wait to go out to do my doggy download. I was ready to burst by the time I got out with Daddy. Phew! No extra puddles! I took Daddy out while Mummy went upstairs to do a whole load more floor stroking. Humans are so peculiar!

Photo of me with half of the giant carrot left.

Does my Bum Look Big in This?

We went home - to our floatyboatyhome! Very briefly - and I wasn't allowed aboard! Hufffff! Mum says it was all a bit of a building site inside and there was a load of polly's tyre een balls everywhere that would do me no good if I hoovered them. As if I would dream of doing such a thing......! So, I had to sit on white crunchy ground outside, while Mum and Dad went aboard briefly to yackety with Richard the boat-fixit manhuman. The next bit was great though: I simply had to take Mum along the towpath (well it would have been simply utterly wrong not to wouldn't it? As we were back in our canal environment!). This towpath just 'happens' to lead to the wonderful freerun meadow! Heehee! The sky seemed to be on fire so Mum pointed her talkybone at it and got a picture with my bum in it too!

All this came after a workywalkies into Bournemouth town this morning. I took Mum to Boots first, then to a pawcovers shop, then to Specsavers. I got to make some new humanfriends in all of them! Shopping is not a bad occupation really, it usually comes with ear tickles! In Specsavers, I had to guide Mum upstairs and into a little room with a nice ladyhuman. I had to lie down (Not a bad snoozy carpet!) while Mum sat in a big chair. She had some very odd eyewindowframes on her face and the ladyhuman put little round windows in and out of one side. (the other side stayed with a black one in it - that is Mum's useless eye). Next, we had to go back downstairs again, where Mum tried on lots of different eye windows. She chose (with Dad's help as he had joined us by this point) one pair and, it seems, the ladyhuman is going to sort them out so that they help Mum to see a bit better.

Next stop was a human yummyery before setting out on the drive to our floatyboatyhome. Now we are back at Granny's once again - the drive back was rather slow and it meant that I was wilting away by the time we arrived; my dinner was nearly two hours late! I don't know how I survived! I'm sure I must be wasting away now. I'm sure I should have had at least double rations to make up for the delay.......

Photo of the sunset across Aldermaston Meadow shows a glowing orange sky with a line of trees silhouetted on the horizon and a frosty field in the foreground. In the middle is me!