In case you had not noticed, let me explain that we are quite style conscious in my pack. Not for us the plain and simple high street makes – oh, no!! My Dad would not be seen without a designer label somewhere over his body. And especially when it comes to the matter if wrist watches: nothing less than Skagen watches or the equivalent will do, even though it seems that young people no longer wear watches at all.

Now the weather is getting a little bit chilly, we are all thinking back longingly to the summer and our great holiday in the sun, down in Devon. There will be no really warm weather down there until nest May or June, so in the meantime if Mum and Dad want to feel the sun on their backs they have to consider hotels in Las Vegas where the sunshine really is around twelve months of the year.

My family are forever talking about their life expectancy – happy dogs, aren’t they? I suppose it is a good idea to be realistic about the future, and they should consider how long a dog or human is going to live and how much money they need to live on in a lifetime. But I thin k things are going a little too far when they start looking at life insurance for kids and suggesting that they insure the puppies as well as themselves!