Happy Birthday, Tally

Humour me with this, but Tally is my mother's dog, and today is her birthday. She's two, and since she came into our lives (which will be two years ago in about eight weeks) she's been a godsend. D jokes (it's probably a joke) that I love the dog more than him, I don't, but when she launched herself onto me and my bed at 5 am this morning to lick me awake, before demanding to be let out, I thought it was endearing. If a D had done that I would have sworn at him.

The thing with dogs generally is their wholehearted enthusiasm for people they like, and for life in general, always makes me feel better. It doesn't matter how bad a time I've been having, Tally cheers me up, and when I was struggling with stress a while back spending time with her really helped.

Anyway the dog's birthday has been an excuse for a family outing to the seaside (a 200 mile round trip, so no small undertaking, and as my sister pointed out she's been asking for a birthday trip to the beach for years and never got one). Tally had never seen the sea before, and at first she wasn't at all convinced that it was a good thing, but then she met a much smaller dog who jumped right in so she decided to try it, then spent an age wallowing around like a porpoise whilst trying to catch kite surfers. (She didn't get close).

It's not always easy to find the time for days like today, or even remember how important it is to do so whilst we can, but it's been great, so thanks to the dog for giving us a reason to do it.

We went to Old Hunstanton in Norfolk, it came well recommend as a dog friendly beach, a recommendation I heartily endorse. All the many dogs there were well behaved, the beach was clean, and there's an equally dog friendly cafe by the car park.