Routine .

Seven o'clock - the sun is over the yard arm. Time to open the champagne . The Texan visitors settled down at a shady table in the garden with a plate of croustillants d'andouilette aux lardons . Two minutes past seven . The mayor arrives . " Have I come at a bad time ? " he asks eyeing the champagne . Eight minutes past seven . The senior vet shows up . '' Just passing . Oh, well then, just one glass . I really must get back to the surgery " .

Angus has bought ten cases of English champagne . The same one that the Queen served to President Obama at the state dinner in Buckingham Palace. Another sign of global warming . West Sussex now having a better climate for wine growing than parts of northern France . ' The font 'and the Texans are delighted with the taste but our French guests, once they're told it's English , are less sure .

Seven thirty and Wilf appears by my side . There are many things one learns about living with dogs but their ability to keep time is perhaps the most amazing . Wilf knows to the second when his meals are due . It's as if he has a Swiss timepiece implanted in his brain . How do they do it ?

Yesterday was hot so the family fellow spent much of his day in the shade of the kitchen offering support for 'the fonts 'efforts with souffle beaufort and filet de merlot en papilotte de sarrasin . He's having good days and bad but a day in the kitchen is always good.

Before he goes the vet tells us that the blood is a side effect of the cortisone and Previcox. Just mile markers on the journey . Don't change the dose . He's definitely not in pain. Wilf enjoys a tickle on his head . The old fellow knows that " the most wasted of days is one without laughter ". He should know . He generates a lot of it .