Life of Ben

I went back to see my mum and dad this weekend just gone.

I don't see them enough because it's a bit of a trek to do the 180 miles and I'm not quite as spring chickeny as I used to be (case in point - my back hates me right now). But it is good to make the trip up there to see them. And Ben the Staffy.

Ben's a real character. He's a lovely little(ish) dog. He'll give a good bark when he gets excited but he's extremely quick to go to a state of "Hey, this person is ok. Let's give 'em a slurp."

Ben will very quickly take a cue from mum and dad. If they act ok to a person, Ben will check them out, give them a slurp (he doesn't actually slurp too much now) and see if they'll give him a bit of fuss. He does like people does Ben, although he does show a bit of a neurotic tendency. He's getting old though, so not too much fussing and bouncing before he'll flake out. We don't bring my sister's dogs to mum and dad's place either now, they're a bit too young and boisterous for the old fella waving his stick at them.

Except Ben wouldn't be waving his stick, he's way too nice an individual for that.

This is Ben at the door to the kitchen. Behind that door were bacon smells and Ben was attempting to use his telekinetic powers to get the door to magically open. (No whining, just an intent stare at the door). And ...

Mind powers ! They work ! Bacon appeared ! (Which I ate - and felt guilty all the time due to pooch telepathic powers)

Here he is again with the "you don't want that meat scrap". He's actually eyeing up my dad's lap there for a cheeky scout of the table. He'll jump up on a lap and then have a crafty 360 degree scan of the table. But he'll only do that once. This is what he is worshipping :

Poor pooch to be tortured by such lovely smells. He will supervise the cooking too :

We don't think Ben has that long left. Maybe another year or two. His paw is managed with pain pills but his heart is getting weak too.

We'll miss him, he's a lovely dog and adores his people. We've been very lucky to have three dogs like that, Scruff, Goldie and Ben are all amazing in their own individual ways. Ben has a few years left him in yet I hope.

They're not pets, they're part of the family.

PS The rest of the family is good too. I might be the worst off right now with a bad back and the outsides !
Back - I have a nasty feeling getting too fat and having trousers that are too small is putting pressure on my old lumbar area injury. So I've bought some bigger trousers today and will try and maintain a neutral posture to help it.
Outsides - are genuinely improving still. But it'll take maybe a month overall for all the damage to clear and I can do damage in seconds that undoes that. Discipline required.
But on the whole - improving.

Good weekend was had. How about your weekend ? A good week too with potentially Mr Holmes on Wednesday (think I'll give this a miss to be honest) and Jurassic World on Thursday. Looking forward to that hugely.