Warmest good wishes to all our friends and website visitors  and apologies for the absence of any jolly festive Beardies-playing-in-snow pictures this year.

After almost two months of torrential rain, gales, floods and waterlogged woods and fields, there is nothing very festive about muddy and bedraggled Beardies.

So I thought you might enjoy the following pictures, taken earlier in the year, when I had finally let the Beardies take over the last of my kitchen units as alternative beds.......

The original idea came from Beatrice, when, as a baby nearly four years ago, she  was trying to find a really special place to sleep. Having tried all of the many and various dog beds in the house (I always make sure that there are more beds than Beardies so that everyone has a choice) she chose the boot and shoe cupboard under the kitchen work top and curled up happily on top of the assorted footwear. 

With hindsight I suppose that if I had not interfered that would have been the end of the story  but - thinking that Beatrice couldn't really be very comfortable on the boots - I removed them all and gave her a nice cosy fleece instead. Whereupon Nell decided that she would like a bed like that too, so I took the door off the next cupboard............ and so on.....and on....until.......