Minus Two, Plus Three

You might wonder why the photo of Ruby, Pixie and Macy is at the head of this blog, and what it has got to do with the heading Minus Two Plus Three. Read on and you will discover more.....


Yesterday teatime I took Hannah and Ben to Manchester Airport. They are due to fly out to Jamaica for a belated honeymoon!

I have just checked on Live Flight Stats and can tell you that Hannah and Ben left Manchester Airport on flight BA2903 at 08.40, and have touched down at Gatwick at 09.22.

They then change flights and board flight BA2285 for Montego Bay (Sangster Airport) Jamaica, which is scheduled to depart at 11.15 and arrive at Sangster Airport at 16.18 (Jamaica Time). Their flight time is around 11 hours.

[That's the "Minus Two" bit of the title.]

Those of you who know Hannah and Ben will probably also know that they have a cat called "Dolly" and three dogs - Macy a Shih-Tzu, Pixie and Twig - two Miniature Pinschers. Despite the fact they are much loved pets, they are not taking pets with them!

I took Ben and Dolly to the Springs Kennels and Cattery yesterday afternoon (I should add that they didn't keep Ben!!) and circumstances dictated that the three dogs came to stay with us.

[That's the "Plus Three" of the title]

I was expecting a disturbed night last night, but after taking the dogs for their final walk [Dot took the Pixie and Twig, and I took Ruby and Macy] they settled down and nothing more was heard until around 07.30 this morning.

All the dogs have been fed and watered, ablutions have been performed, and as I type this there are four dogs dozing contentedly at the end of the hall!

All the latest from the Bentley Family

The matriach of the family (ie Nana) is due out of Airedale General Hospital sometime tomorrow. She has been working with the physio department learning how to descend stairs, and then how to climb them. She managed the descent OK but had a bit of difficuty with the ascent (there were eight stairs), so the hospital have decided to send her home in an ambulance with two crew to see how she manages the stairs at home.

Nana's godchild (Catherine) is taking duty as carer when Nana arrives home, but she already assists a lady in Bradley on Sundays and Mondays, so it will fall to us to be responsible for Nana on these days.

One of Hannah's friends from University has driven down from Barrow in Furness (Walney Island to be exact) to join the celebrations tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the "Hen Do", and the bride-to-be, her sisters, mum and various other friends are going to York Races for the day. Fascinators, feathers, buttons, beads, bows etc are in great profusion at the moment, as the ladies are busy preparing their headgear. I just hope that the ancient City of York can survive the onslaught as this motley crew descend on the city!

Hannah tells me that the last of the kittens (Lenny by name!) has gone to its new home, so now the houseshold is looking a little depleted. From four kittens, a cat and two dogs, they are now down to two dogs and a cat.


Replies are beginning to come through the letterbox from those who will be attending the "Wedding of the Year."

I suppose it's time I got round to thinking about preparing a Brides Fathers Speech now!