The Adventures of Fripp

 So on Tuesday we were meant to go to the Cissbury Ring and then we didn’t. On Wednesday we were meant to go to Highdown Hill and then we didn’t. I think Nix must’ve been feeling guilty today because she suddenly said let’s go to Bramber Castle. I thought to myself well I’ll believe that when I see it. Before I get ahead of myself I should tell you that we went to visit Jenny in her new bungalow today and it was very very nice and seemed much bigger than last time we were there. She’s got lots of plans for it and it’s all very exciting. I think Nix wishes she was doing another doer upper because she enjoyed it so much. Anyway we had a cup of tea with Jenny, I dug the garden up when they weren’t looking and then we came home.  We hadn’t been home long before Nix decided we could go and look at Bramber Castle as we’d never been there before. It’s very old and was built just after the Norman Conquest thingy so that’s very old. She checked the opening times and if dogs were allo...

 It really rained a lot this morning and we got very wet. We turned round and came home a bit sooner than we would normally. Nix said to make it up to me she would take me up to Highdown Hill, another place we’ve never yet visited but keep meaning to. Guess where we ended up, Buckingham Park. I didn’t mind really, I like it there and there’s a café and lots of dogs to meet. It’s a bit like yesterday isn’t it, we were going to the Cissbury Ring but then Nix decided it was too far to drive and so we ended up down by the river. I don’t mind really as long as I have some grass to run on.  You know when you’re on Facebook and you comment on a post well Nix says that the comments are all over the place now and she’s very sorry if she misses any of them. She says Facebook wants to put the ‘most relevant’ comments first when actually they’re all about me so they’re all relevant aren’t they, I don’t know how they work it out. Nix keeps changing it to ‘most recent’ but it keeps going...

  So today we were going to go to the Cissbury Ring a place we’ve never been to yet. Then at the last minute Nix decided it was too far to go and too hot so we headed down to the river but on the other side this time. It actually did get quite hot so it was good to have the river to cool down in. We came back via the old tollbridge and it really is old. It was first built in 1781 which is a very long time ago. Before it was built people and animals used to have to go across the estuary on a raft. The bridge got very rickety but it was restored in 2008. Before that buses used to use it and it cost 6 old pennies to cross over 🙂 One of the buses actually crashed and fell in the river, no one was hurt though. Although it’s completely safe these days Nix still thinks it feels a bit rickety and is always waiting for it to collapse while we’re on it…🙄 My turkey mince arrived this morning so Nix has to get that cooked for me. She’s annoyed because everything I need for my meals arrived...

 I woke up really early this morning and nothing I could do would get Nix to wake up. The staring clearly doesn’t work when she’s asleep and I didn’t want to bark in case I gave her a heart attack so I just paced up and down the bedroom. Finally she woke up and then it was just a case of a low rumble and the stare and she was up because she didn’t want me to start barking. It was only when we got down the other end of the beach that she realised it wasn’t even 7 am, she thought it was a bit quiet, not amused. Anyway it’s a funny old day today, sunny one minute, raining the next. We had quite a long walk down the river at Cuckoo’s Corner and we saw lots of skylarks flying around. I don’t chase birds, no point, they can fly so they always get away. I don’t chase anything these days, can’t be bothered.  Billy my predecessor used to chase everything, he was very naughty. Apparently he had loads of cyclists off their bikes and he never got into trouble once. He used to overtake ...

 So today is Sunday, a day of rest for the humans. As you know we go to church and to be honest there’s not a lot of rest going on. Nix is up and down like a yo-yo, standing to sing, sitting for prayers, standing and sitting for the readings, it’s all very confusing. All I want to do is go to sleep but not much chance of that. Then at the end Nix goes forward for communion and someone holds my lead while she goes. Edgar held my lead today, I like him he’s very kind but he thought I was going to stay behind the pew when Nix went forward. No chance, I need to see her at all times so I like to wait at the back where I can’t lose sight of her. Revd Steve took the service this morning, I like him he’s very funny and he makes everyone laugh. We had coffee and biscuits after the service, I like this time because everyone stays sitting and I can have a good nap. Today we sat with two new friends, Liz who lives at one end of my road and Janet who lives a few bungalows away. They are both ne...

  You know I haven’t been on Nix‘s bed for quite a long time now. Bron my vet thinks it’s because I’ve got a little bit of arthritis but of course it’s simply because I don’t like Nix coughing or clearing her throat. It’s too much of an effort to jump up there for her to come in and start clearing her throat and then I have to jump off again.  I now have an assortment of beds around the place and I select which ever one takes my fancy. A couple of weeks ago however Nix put on a brand new duvet with a freshly washed duvet cover. I was a little wet and muddy and what’s a chap meant to do, there was the perfect drying opportunity and so yes, I did get up on the bed just the once.  I haven’t been back up there at all until yesterday. One of our neighbours was coming to collect a plant from our garden and you have to walk through the bedroom to get there. We had this very very expensive bed cover from when we used to do bed and breakfast so she put that on to make the room loo...

 Do you know that Nix has not taken one single photograph today, I’m seriously worried that there is something wrong with her. It might be something to do with the bang on her head which she is trying to blame on me of course. I was a bit desperate for a poo and so I did it right underneath the noticeboard at the entrance to the beach which tells you all about the flowers that grow there. She was on the phone chatting to a friend and she bent down to pick up the poo and when she stood up she banged her head on the corner of the noticeboard. It hurt apparently, quite a lot 🫢 This morning we had prayer and meditation at the church and then Nix realised she’d forgotten to go in to do the cleaning so we came home got the rubber gloves and went back to the church to do the cleaning. I could’ve been photographed next to the dustpan and brush an opportunity missed. After we came back Jackie came round for a cup of tea in the garden and that was very nice but another photo opportunity ...

 I was a very good boy last night when Nix went to her meeting. Jo came to look after me so I didn’t mind Nix going. Nix said she enjoyed it and it was another lovely church and it had a very smart screen that came down so you could watch videos. There better be another commandment I think, thou shall not covet thy neighbours’ screen 🤭  So platelet update…Bron called to say that even though my platelets had only gone up by 13 she wasn’t worried. Can someone please tell Nix that 🙄 They had a long discussion about the platelets clumping and how annoying it was even though that’s actually their job. Nix talked to Bron about the possibility of getting a result where they weren’t clumping so we had more of an idea of what was going on. It costs £100 every time I have it done and Nix thinks it’s a bit of a cheek when the result isn’t reliable. Next time will my sixth test and Nix would like it to be without any clumps. Bron is amazing and is going to look into using sodium citrate...

 Well we’ve done absolutely nothing today. Well I say we, what I should say is moi. I suppose we did go to the beach this morning and that was very nice but since then not much really because it’s been too hot. Nix has been down to have a dip in the sea and she rescued a bee that was trying to swim, not very successfully.  I stayed here on my own but soon she’s going to take me for another walk on the beach because she has her meeting this evening. Jo our neighbour is going to come and sit with me and I shall be very well behaved as usual until Nix comes home and then I shall be demanding another walk 🙂 Nix has entered me into a Petplan competition as ‘The Most Entertaining Dog’ 🙂 Don’t worry you won’t have to vote or anything, they decide who wins. Obviously I am the most entertaining dog but we’ll have to wait and see if they get my humour. 3 hours later… Yay I got another walk on the beach but it is very hot. It’s okay once I’m there but my road is boiling and I don’t mu...

  We’ve been to Brooklands Park this morning and I did three poos, all of them in the nettles…in front of lots of people 🤣 Also I almost swam, I really wanted the stick but it was just a bit too far away for me to reach. Nix said I may as well have stuck my head under the water because I shook too soon and made my head wetter than it needed to be. Afterwards two different people referred to me as a Beardie and not a Dulux dog…I liked that. Nix says it’s because my hair is so long but only for two more weeks because then I think I’m going to have it cut shorter as it’s very tiring/boring being groomed all the time and I’m a bit hot too, I am twelve and a half don’t forget. Did you know that when I was seven and my kidneys first started going wrong I was only given two to three years before I went to the Rainbow Bridge.  Well I wasn’t having any of that was I 🙂 We’re home now and I’m out in the garden drying off. You know someone paid £100 into Nix’s bank account last week. S...