Riddle answered

Hmm, so I am, indeed, alone in my Pudding Dog thing. I phoned my mother this morning to find out if, perhaps, I had just made that name up, but, no, it is something from my childhood, we always called them that. Dalmations - they look like they're covered in raisins, like Spotted Dick Pudding. Speaking of which, who on earth thought of naming a pudding with such an absurd name? Perhaps that's just my inner 10-year old boy speaking, though.

I googled it, to check, and we are not alone in this, although the reference seems to be to fruit pudding rather. Interestingly, on googling, my blog post on the Pudding Dog came up. I didn’t realise these blogs went into google searches…

Anyway, I’m back from a wonderful weekend involving champagne tasting, beautiful winelands, and the feeling of being a child pretending to be a grown-up in a very smart hotel. We brought all the mini bottles of bubble bath and tiny soaps back. I fear I will never be comfortable in those over-the-top five star-type places. Although, admittedly, the ENORMOUS bed that swallowed us for the night was extremely pleasant!

And then we breakfasted amongst the red-clad couples, the waiters with cardboard hearts pinned to their chests, sweet sentiment abounded. The whole Valentine's thing has never really held much esteem in my eyes. If it's real, it's everday. And, pleasingly, this is.