Archie, weight and restaurant eating

A surprise over the last couple of days has been to be told by two people – one in South London and the other in Paris – that they really wanted to hear more about Archie in this blog.  As an early entry (1 April) spoke fulsomely of Archie I am now wondering whether all subsequent subjects have been less than scintillating.

The absence of hard news of Archie in truth reflects rather fewer Thursday night gatherings in the pub than I would have wished.  For the indirect explanation of this see my other blog.

I have however been in touch with Archie as he occasionally drops by at the house after a walk in the local park.  I can say that Archie is in good form even if struggling a little with his diet and weight.  But then Archie is very old and such challenges are to be expected; he has earned the right to over-indulge and put his paws up.

I have high hopes of seeing Archie on Thursday of the coming week; that happens to be the day of our General Election in Britain.  I hope Archie makes it to the pub, to fortify himself for what could be a late night for him once back home, as all stay up to watch the results come through.

Here now is a carefully selected picture of Archie:

I am writing this after a couple of days in Paris.  It was here that many years ago during a business lunch in quite a smart restaurant I witnessed a dog being seated at the table (not my table) and fed from his own plate.  At this stage I probably need to make my position clear, lest the chattering classes that read blogs put it about that I am on the lunatic fringe of dog lovers. Absolutely not.  Dogs have a place that should be far from the food I am consuming.  Archie may benefit from something of an honourable exception to this; but he does not share plates with us at the pub and the crisps he enjoys so much are served on the floor; or rather, scattered on the floor.

Come to think of it, those crisps might have something to do with his weight issues.