As H is being lovely and cooking, I thought I'd fill you in on my last walk with Noodle. Yesterday was a sad day but we certainly made the most of it. I spent four and a half hours with Noodle and she even came to my house for lunch. Now, why have I never thought of that before?

It was raining buckets, as I think it was pretty much everywhere in the country, so I kitted myself up in a raincoat, umbrella and sensible shoes, (not trainers like I usually wear in the rain and then immediately regret when I step in a puddle.) Noodle didn't seem to mind that it was raining and was galloping along at what seemed like a hundred miles per hour. Because it was our last walk, I decided we should go to the big park near my house which we haven't been to for ages. It was as if Noodle knew it was her last trip to that park as she was speeding around as if she was trying to sniff and take in every tree and plant. We managed to get away from a stray dog by hiding in a fenced off area. I'm not sure why it's fenced off but I think it's to create some kind of new garden. It probably means no dogs but as there were no signs we went in.

When the dog had left we carried on our walk which was quite fun even though it was raining loads. Then Noodle spotted a squirrel and did her funny cantering thing where she pulls on the lead and runs two-legs at a time to increase her speed. Obviously she couldn't catch the squirrel and I wouldn't let her but I did try and move a bit quicker so she could get some sense of running. However it was quite difficult with me trying not to slip over on the muddy ground and holding Noodle in one hand and my umbrella in the other.

I managed to persuade Noodle to leave the park with the promise that we'd go back later and we went to my house for lunch. Noodle's been around quite a few times before so it wasn't new or scary for her. I tried to give her some cucumber and carrot which are usually her favourite foods but she wanted what I was having and predictably, I gave in and she had some homemade flapjack and crisps.

We had lunch and she came on my sofa and snuggled up with me. I stroked her and tried to dry her fur although all I succeeded in doing was making it go the wrong way so it stuck up and looked funny. I took some photos of her too but I'm not sure what they look like yet as I took them on a video camera which I was holding at arm's length and aiming as best I could in Noodle's general direction. The results will be posted on here when I've downloaded them, as long as they're not just a blur of fur.

After lunch, the rain had eased off a bit and we went back to the park. The squirrels seemed to be enjoying eating acorns in the light rain and there were loads of them about. Noodle spotted three and tried to chase them at lightening speed. She was very confused indeed when she arrived at the tree near where the squirrels had been playing. She ran round and round the tree looking for them and just couldn't understand where they'd gone. After that, she spent the rest of the time scanning the park for them. When it was time to go, she wouldn't leave and I almost had to drag her along the pavement. She did her special Noodle thing of sitting down and refusing to move so as you pull on her lead she moves backwards which causes it to start pulling off.

I managed to get her to move when she remembered (very clever I thought as we hadn't been there for ages) that there was a little path on the side of the park that leads back to it. I obliged and we walked along it but I was having none of her running back to chase the squirrels. I didn't have the energy for a start.

It was a tough walk back as Noodle kept sitting on the pavement and refusing to move and then sniffing everything and gobbling down as much chewing gum as she could find. When we got back to her house, I stayed with her and listened to radio while she played around a bit, did her crazy licking-my-nose-and-ear-thing and then finally slowed down and curled up next to me and went to sleep.

Have a happy life Noodle, I'll miss you. Byeeeeee xx