Hello to Tippi

Well, yesterday was a very special and exciting day for our household.  After several years of deliberation we finally succumbed to our desire to get a dog.  After a short trip to a breeder we are now the very happy owners of an adorable 10 week old Cairn Terrier pup we've called Tippi after Tippi Hedren in the Hitchcock film 'The Birds'.

She is gorgeous and seems to have a lovely sweet nature when she's not trying to chew our fingers off.  It's difficult to describe her without being able to post a photo (still not worked it out) but think of a very small Toto in the Wizard of Oz and you won't be far wrong.  At this very moment she is curled up asleep in her oversized Joules dog bed (she'll grow into it!).  It was a purchase I couldn't resist in the sales and a bargain at just £20, reduced from £47.  She's so tiny that even a very short walk down the street tires her out.  I'm sure she won't be so easily satisfied for long but we're looking forward to some nice long country walks when she's a bit older.  I'm not so much enjoying the toilet training though, but I'm sure it will come together soon enough.

Talking of the Wizard of Oz and The Birds, we had the pleasure of a visit to the V&A in Kensington just prior to New Year with some friends who were visiting.  We went to see an exhibition of Hollywood Costumes on until the end of this month.  In it was an outfit worn by Tippi Hedren along with interviews of her, Alfred Hitchcock and the costume designer as well as the costume worn by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and many others including costumes worn by Spiderman, Catwoman, Batman, Audrey and Katherine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and many others.  It's well worth a visit but we found it extremely busy when we went which did affect our enjoyment of it slightly.

I'm quite a recent convert to the charms of the V&A and have only scratched the surface of the exhibits in there.  We also visited a newly opened room devoted to furniture and it's production which was very interesting.  We had a lovely lunch in their beautiful restaurant.  I had a duck in plum sauce wrap with beetroot salad.  It was divine.  Their shop is stocked with wonderful things but I managed to resist the urge to spend any money in their on this occasion.