The New Arrival - 7th October 2007

Helen has wanted a dog for years, Steve likes dogs but didn't want to take on the responsibility of owning one. We haven't been able to have any more pets since 2004 when we found out we were being made redundant and planned to travel around the world.

Anna worked with someone on Hotel Babylon who had a Shih Tzu with puppies. We had to travel up to London to pick her up. She was called Emma (they named the puppies after characters on Hotel Babylon) but we renamed her Poppy.

She is black and white and was nine weeks old when we picked her up. She was really well behaved on the long drive home.

For the next few nights she was crying and whining all night long but now we just get woken up early!

She is quite well behaved and very cute and we've have had lots of people over to meet her. She is growing very quickly and will soon be all grown up.

Paignton Dance Weekend 28th-30th Sept 2007

Having secured the Friday off work (in Helen's case, anyway!) we managed to call into a National Trust property, Killerton House & Gardens, on the way to Paignton, and have some lunch.

We arrived in Paignton around 4pm and checked into The Redcliffe Hotel(http://www.redcliffehotel.co.uk/) which was very nice, although the dance floor was quite small. It did have a swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi and steam room and we made use of all of them over the weekend.

The best weather was on the Friday and we walked along the beach and sea front for a bit enjoying the sunshine. Food, both Friday evening and Saturday, was excellent, resulting in a certain post-dinner sluggishness on the dance floor. We got to learn a new dance, The St Bernard's Waltz (now since forgotten) and practice the newly learnt Saunter.

After checking out on Sunday morning, we called in at Babbicombe Beach for lunch, where, by coincidence, we bumped into some more dancers. On the way home we visited Steve's cousin, Jen and family, Rick, Robbie, Tess and Nick in Exeter.

Good to see you all again - thanks for the tea and biscuits!