Snow day on Sunday. Elsie (Springador pup) pulled a sled. A harness (rather than a collar) was attached to to the dog at one end and a sled at the other and hay presto. Sophie loved it. Eislie loved it. She had a job to do and she was very proud of herself for doing it. Good dog.

Tonight I took Elsie for her first lesson in a 6 week course called Puppy Life Skills at Tailwaggers in Harrogate. Good stuff. A reward based positive reinforcement, non coercive approach. Down to earth common sense practical stuff. Part of the time we were there, I felt like the dad of the school brat as she was barking a whole bunch – and at other times I felt like the proud dada who’s kid has just won a gold prize (when the had us up demonstrating how good she is at Sit and Lie Down.) All creatures great and small. Well, all dogs great and small. Well, all dogs, small. Poppy from the Puppy Party was there. This could be why she got so excited. Puppy Party was ALL about the good fun – this session had (by comparison, from a dogs perspective for this session) quite boring.

Angela who runs the class, comes across as someone who’s got stacks of knowledge and experience. Just what we need. It feels like it’s going to do both the dog and I some good. Elsie’s now wiped out and having a good ol’ sleep in her box now.

A weekend of contrasts – Eirene and I had been out to a Festival warm up party on the Friday evening (the festy in question is DragonGate 2012 – no doubt more on that to follow). Much fun was had at this till the wee hours on Saturday – when I remembered I had a forgetful friend staying at our house so ended up collecting the dog and going back into club-land to collect him. We called our mutual friend in California on the way home at about 5am our time +20 dec C there, -3 here. Winter has finally arrived.

Saturday – recovery day with a jaunt out to the paintball centre near Flaxby to collect Felix who was at a birthday party there. I took the opportunity, and the dog to walk the grounds (increasingly useful excuse tool for a nosey blogger like me to have) . A superb place – half of it is a huge quad bike track and the other half is a paintball, erm.. arena? zone? location?.. a paintball place. Completely wrapped in fine netting which I discovered the dog could not see in the slightest as she bounced off it at full pelt. As I got closer to the action – deep in the woods – I actually felt like I was a special ops scout. I spotted all the paintballers doing battle and they didn’t spot me. I was ready with the dramatic arms in the air whilst shouting “CIVILIAN – DON’T SHOOT, friendly, friendly..” or similar. Alas the potential war machines of tomorrow don’t notice some bloke with his dog 20 yards away only disguised by wall of black netting. I blame the video games. Kids don’t play army in the woods any more (apart from highly structured, albeit brilliant pseudo excercises like this). Mind you – army of the future doesn’t need the traditional organic skills of yesteryear. Probably. What do I care anyway? War sucks.

Sunday was lovely. After I’d parked a slow cooker of beef stew on low, we headed out to a bit of the OS 1:25000 that looked interesting. Near the Lido in Knaresborough (pictured above) – some paths by the river, some fields, some crags. We only saw two other people for the whole 2 miles or so round trip we ambled – yet we were at times really close to populated areas. I love winter for that.I’m glad winter has arrived properly.

Exactly 4 years ago I took a very similar photo…

It’s amazing how much and how little changes with the passing of time. Sophie has grown up so much yet she’s still got this adorable little quiet smile that make me melt a little bit. Christmas was lovely. Lovely food and drink, company and gifts, smiles and laughter. We had Eirene’s dad over (hello!) – it’s always lovely having him around (I’d better say that, as I know he’s a regular reader!) and we ate and walked and visited and talked and snoozed and opened and then far too quickly waved goodbye.

Santa was really good to us. I got a new jumper, a scarf and a Sargent Pepper Mill and a book called ‘Mess’ that look quite fun – an interactive book. Eirene got a watch and a 3G kindle, as well as a ticket to an event in Birmingham in Jan. Felix got a remote control helecopter – a G Bladez which.is.SUPERB. Jaygo got a claymation type rostrum studio with clay, software, backdrop and everything.  Sophie also got a watch and everyone got new pajamas.

..Amongst a whole bunch of other top stuff. Textbook lovely Christmas. We’re in that weird inbetweeny week and I’m working. Steady away though, steady away.

Here’s a link to a set of snaps from our Christmas.

Twas the night before Christmas, well the day at least. I’ve had the busiest period at work I’ve had in a long time – huge deadline – nailed. It’s held off the ‘Christmas feeling’ for me, but today – it’s upon us.

We’ve got Eirene’s dad over for Christmas (lovely). Went for a bit of a stroll with him down to the (surprisingly un-busy) sorting office this morning, wi’ dog.

Popped out for a few drinks last night with some old friends to The Muckles (a pub) and have so far had a lovely morning. I’m currently mid production of a pan of Chestnut and Bacon soup and looking forward to seeing RichP, who’s popping over for a hello in a bit.

Later this arvo, we’re off to the Christingle service at St. Peters, then I’ve got a whole bunch of wrapping to do. I may do some rapping as well. My old chum SimonB is bezzing over tonight, and we may imbibe an ale or two to keep us amused.

She seems to have got her head round ‘no’ fairly quick and already leaves stuff alone on command – like the very tempting catfood in the kitchen. She’s responding to a recall whistle (which the breeders cleverly instilled by whistling every time she was fed) and she is starting to know her own name.  She’s having little accidents around the place but is doing her business outside when we take her when she wakes up, after eating and after playing.

We are crate training her – she’s got a heartbreaking cry at night but the books say – don’t pander to it – hard work though. It’s very lovely having a pooch around the place. Yesterday we visited my Aunty who’s got a Cocker with a dog phobia (I kid you not). After an initial worried few moments Marnie Moo got very inquisitive (from the safe harbour of her human parents) and by the end of it was daring to run up for a quick sniff!

It really is like having a new baby in the house though – sleepless nights, accidents on the floor. Teething. I thought we had all that behind us!

The big highlight of the now is that we’ve got a teenager all of a sudden. Felix has turned 13. Lovely morning this morning of cards and prezzies. Xbox is the big un – clubbed together prezzy from several of us.  He’s having x2 sleep overs and we went out on Saturday for eats. A place called The Spice Quarter on Millennium Square in Leeds. Fantastic place – an all you can eat buffet that has Indian, Chinese, Thai and Italian cuisine on offer. Prior to that, we spent an enjoyable couple of hours in The Leeds City Museum (photos) – a superb free thing in the heart of Leeds. The natural history floor had some great things to see - defiantly worth a look!

Yesterday was also cool – we went to the Countryside Live show on the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Wasn’t quite sure what to expect – but discovered it was a less farmery and slightly smaller version of The Great Yorkshire Show. The highlight for me was a display of a sheepdog hearding first ducks, the geese. Only one of them got away. I spotted a flaw in this method of gaggle management. Things with wings generally have an omnidirectional choice – including up, over the dogs humble two dimentional options. Diggers and sheep, chickens and eggloos (of which Eirene now wants one of) and chat with some folks from a company called Oscar – suppliers of (what looks to be) high quality dog food.

It was one of those weekends that (for me at least – who’s not on half term) seemed to fly by far too quickly.

We had a choice of the last two girls from the litter. This little lady won my heart. Really tough thing to decide. One of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in a while!

Beautiful wee things all 8 of them and it was lovely to meet their mum and dad. Dad – the chocolate lab is an amazing dog. Mum was a bit shy and perhaps a bit “who are you all coming to see my babies?” but had a very graceful way about her.

I’ve come across a couple of sets on flickr from other larbradingers – who look quite a lot like Elsie – you can’t see it on this shot but she’s got a pretty white flash on her neck – have a look at these : Clyde | Ella

A heck of a treck – nearly 3 hours (in a car which had a broken stereo) then a puppy pit stop then back again to a slow cook coq o van type thing I’d had brewing all day.

Splendid weekend – this was the highlight as far as family life goes but we did have a lovely Saturday tea with friends where I cooked a super doop roast.

We researched dogs.  We looked at rescue dogs. A large part of me is panged with guilt for not going down this route – but eventually we decided on the idea of getting a puppy, and a puppy from a known lineage and stock chosen for perfect match suitability to our family and lifestyle. Hopefully. We’ve just put a deposit down for a chocolate Springador (aka Labradinger) – pictured above – this is a photo of the actual litter which we’ll choose our pup. These are a cross between Labradors and Springer Spaniels. All the research we’ve done seems to suggest that she will tick all the boxes of what we’re after in a dog.

It’s funny though – paying a fair chunk of cash for what is arguably a mongrel. Some of the KC pure breed circles scoff at and scorn the idea of hybrid dogs – or ‘designer dogs’ as they are often called. There’s the Labradoodle – part Labrador, part Poodle – the temperament of a labradore that doesn’t shed hair. That’s just one example…  This great article  presents the argument of a cross breed – mainly from a working dog perspective and has some top new dog breed names, like the Hoobledoodledo,  spoodles and toodles, cockerpoos and even cockerdoodledoos.

The advantages seem to be that best of both worlds.  We’ve got 6 weeks or so to wait until we can take her but we’re pretty excited about the prospect of a new family member coming our way.

We left off where we started the camping season – at bobbybees campsite in Burton Fleming. My birthday and the last camp of the year (probably.. although I won’t rule it out entirely)

The site itself has the feel of a part built sculpture. An installation of art – of sorts. Quite a fascinating mix of things to look at (a few snaps over here)  A small contingency of us – 18 in total –  ascended for the Saturday night (we got the place warmed up on the Friday by selecting a top spot up the top of the tent field).  Hanging out, drinking, talking, chucking the very last of the summer wood on the fire on a beautifully warm and calm evening. I got to try out my new toy – a telescope – and drink rum and beer and cider and Jaegemeister (not in the same glass).

A lovely birthday surrounded with a bunch of lovely people. Smile on face inducing memories. I feel very lucky to have such nice friends and family.

I’ll miss the summer, but the impact winter hasn’t kicked in yet largely due to an Indian Summer that we’re being blessed with at the moment. Looking down the barrel of winter and we’re battening down the hatches. We’ve just commissioned secondary glazing with K glass to keep our house a bit warmer in the winter. I’ve got the a romantic notion that I’ll be hibernation, reading and cyber whittling.

We’ve got a new system in our house. It’s been running for a few weeks and so far, so good.   First of all a glossary of the semantics that this article is about to employ. ‘Technology’ is the moniker of all the electronic gubbins that our 3 kids have collated over the years. The list includes Nintendo Wii and DS, Any form of screen based entertainment – DVD’s, iPlayer etc. (Games on) phones, the internet, consoles,  PSP’s etc.  The 2 boys especially are are huge technology’ fans and would, if left to their own volition use their technology every waking hour, forgoing all other biological and educational functions in favour of.

Our Token Award system provides them with an operational framework - the ability to earn half hour ‘tokens’ of technology in exchange for good deeds, tasks and chores. Tokens are from a pot of buttons and badges (pictured above)  that Eirene picked up at a jumble sale a few weeks ago. Washing up – one token. Making cups of tea? one token. You get the idea. If they do homework properly without being nagged, there’s another techno token.

So far it seems to be working – it’s a win win situation. We get child labour in exchange for the electricity it takes to charge their technical arsenal and the fuel (food) it takes to keep their whits about them and their thumbs primed for gaming. They get to buy technology time at weekends etc. (terms and conditions apply).

I’ve heard the argument that if you get your kids to do things and they always expect a reward they’ll never do anything for ‘free’ again. This troubles me a bit, but I’m quite liking the idea that as a bi product of this, they are getting the gist of how the real world works – you do a chore, you get paid for it. Either that or we’re accidentally turning them (or us) into capitalist megalomaniacs. Let’s hope not.

We’ve tried all sorts of other systems out – A star charts being one, a 5p +/- towards a trip to the sweet shop every Friday where they started off with x amount and it got added to or subtracted from depending on their actions and decisions. This system does not punish, it just rewards and it seems to have hit upon the cyrrency that really matters to 12 year old and 10 year old boys and increasingly a 5 year old girl – technology!

Saw a lot of people this weekend that we’ve not seen for yonks. The main adventure elements involved a trip to Leeds to celebrate a 40th Birthday and time with a dog called Toby who’s coming to live with us for a bit shortly. He’s a Springer Spaniel and his owners are downsizing and going traveling.

I’ve updated DragonDrop with an all new follow icon for my google+ stuff as well – the new links on the top right hand side (at the time of writing) allow you to shortcut to my social networking stuff, should that tickle your fancy.

It’s been quite a foody weekend as well. Beef in ale stew yesterday and today I went Portuguese for lunch with a Caldo Verde and Italian for tea with a lasagna.

Anyway – I’m intent on a few hours in the company of tea and reading Catch 22 now.

It’s could be considered a ‘bit of a risk’ going camping in September – but when isn’t it in these fair isles? I love the summer (it’s my favourite day of the year) but don’t shy away from camping ‘off season’. We’ve been in wind, rain and even snow.

The weather was kind to us this weekend though after a forecast of doom. We headed back toBudle Bay in Northumberland campsite – a campsite we have been to before about three and a half hours north of Harrogate. New ownership, new rules, no stickers (they used to give you van stickers. They don’t any more. I want sticker.). Around 20 of us piled up from theHarrogatearea and filled out boots with a triple birthday celebration bonanza.

We arrived on Friday night just after nightfall and drove Clover (our van) straight into the throng of people sitting and chatting and drinking. Not literally – but alongside. Fire torches and lanterns lit, we established one-ness with the group. A reasonably steady away Friday night followed by a reasonable amount of kip.

Saturday saw me and my clan go on a solo mission to find a geocache. More than that – it looked liked (and proved to be) a beautiful walk around Budle Bay. Not sure what it was – perhaps the full moon – but our boys we’re about as argumentative as it’s possible to be with each other. They we’re even arguing over things that don’t actually exist – along the lines of – if one of them has an Xbox 360, would he let the other one play on his save? Crazy hypothetical arguments that we desperately to tried to ignore enjoy the nature abound but unfortunately eventually had to intervene.  Quite glad we had the brunt of that storm away from other people. We hung out with a local family for an hour or so as they waited for the tide to reach their (maHoosive) jet ski. Got some local knowledge. Always good.

Late afternoon, we got a bus into Seahouses to go to the ‘tacky shop’ as it was described to us, and get some chips. Nice chips, timed to perfection as the heavens opened as we stood in the chippy eating them. 15 minutes later, it was blue sky again. 22dec C type temperatures as well. Oddness. With tacky shop filled bags, we headed back to camp.

The evening blessed us with an incredible sunset – pictured above – and was perfect for sitting around a fire bin (ahem, self contained, LNT, off the floor renewable fuel outdoor heat source – defiantly not a “campfire”). Drinking and laughing. Stories under a still and crystal clear sky.

A top time.

We came home via the Metro Centre to grab some Lamb (M&S) and some shin-pads for Felix (a sports shop). I played in the Apple store. The recession doesn’t seem to have hit that particular retail indicator – it was packed (Although I didn’t do anything nerdy like a ‘how many people are actually carrying bags’ type survey – just the gut feel.

Again… it all went by in the blink of an eye.

Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, originally uploaded by DragonDrop.

Here we are on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, en route to the Witches Cauldron – a fantastic swim through cave to a secret beach. More snaps»

We’ve been in Wales. Mainly camping at Poppit Sands (pictured above), exploring North Pembrokeshire, Cardigan and an involvement in King Lear at St. Dogmaels Abbey (the boys were in it). More to follow on those bits. In summary, great time, lovely people, was over far too quick.  After that Eirene and the kids stepped over the St. Georges to see her dad in Ireland whilst I went to watch England beat India in Edgbaston. Stepping out of the sleepy tranquil haunts of West Wales into the grime and crime of Birmingham was a bit of a culture shock to say the least.

Getting back home after living in a van for the best part of 3 weeks was quite nice. 240 volts, WiFi and running water. Full blown utilities. I’m now back at work – got a busy week going on. Time to crack on!