Unbeknownst to me Craig has been checking the papers since we got back from Brisbane, and yesterday he said to me, 'Do you want a puppy?'. And he showed me an ad for pure bred beagle puppies for sale a couple of suburbs away.

Now the subject of getting a dog had come up in conversation occasionally over the past few months, but I hadn't really thought about it too much. And although we agreed that any dog with the right kind of personality would be great, it was a beagle that we both secretly wanted. Of course we had to have a look.

So we drove down to Spearwood yesterday afternoon and asked to see the male, who happened to be the only one from a litter of six. And here he is, the newest member of the family! He's a pure bred beagle, with Dumbo ears and the saddest eyes, and we're going to call him Albert. Or Bertie the beagle for short.