Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope the year 2016 finds you all in good form and ready to take on whatever this year brings. We can only wish that it is a good year, at least a bit better than the last one.

I asked Mr. Chip what he felt should be brought to light in this little text, the first of the year. I thought he would say that fireworks and loud bangs should be banned by law. Or that people should start thinking outside the box, just a smidgen....  just a few words of his hopes and dreams. But no, Mr. Chip wants to talk about something close to his heart (literally..); breakfast in bed.

For as long as 13 years, Mr. Chip thought that everyone ate their breakfast in the kitchen, at a table and so be it. This was the norm, boring but safe and he was fine with it. Then I introduced an alternative and after some small altering of how and whatnots, it's now the only way to have breakfast, according to Mr. Chip.

The first mornings, when I tried to eat a sandwich in bed were quite funny. Mr. Chip sat bolt upright, his back so straight he almost fell backwards, and his nose close to touching the bread. I never knew that a fox terrier could squint so badly, his eyes almost met in the middle of his nose. He probably held his breath all through that first sandwich but I'm ashamed to say, he calmed down once he realised that he always got some bread too.

Now our mornings are lovely. I eat and drink way too much coffee while a dog is lying, glancing at me from under a bundle of quilts. A sniffing nose and twinkling eyes are all I can see of him, until I offer him some of my food. Then a happy sigh and he is off to the land of nod again.

It must be the combination of knowing where the food is at all times and the warm bed and lazy feel, which makes our slightly elderly dog love this arrangement so much. No more climbing out of bed to sit on a hard floor when it's still dark outside, in order to watch people eat...

Credit: Dasha Dimitrova

So I think Mr. Chip would like everyone to start greeting winter mornings with their dogs, in the same fashion. Crumbs in the bed are a small price to pay, he tells me, for a happy, warm dog. The truth is, that I have to agree with him on this one. I also suspect that the next time I meet someone who knows a thing or two about training a dog, I will get an earful.... The thing is, that we have a dog that knows a thing or two about training people. He is hard at work and I learn new things all the time. The main thing is that everyone is happy and that there is a mutual kindness involved. And yes, my dear husband has left for work so he does not see me spoiling Mr. Chip even more than usually. So now we just have to hope dear husband does not read this....

We start the year as we mean to go on, I guess, spoiling our friendly animals and hoping that they will have a happy new year, too. Lina, the hen, already hopes for spring, as turning the compost is a challenge when the ground is frozen. We did have a talk about the winter months to come, but apparently hens are fine to skip the skiing season altogether. Molly can't wait for proper snow! A lot of rugby tackling is awaiting us... Oh joy!

Text by Nina

Next blog post on the 10th January.



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