Do you know, I looked at our site the other day, and realised that I hadn’t written anything since 2001? The words ‘bone idle’ came to mind – but let’s not start talking about bones or I may start feeling hungry!

In fact, my life here is so marvellous it’s difficult for me to tear myself away from the fields, the nearby arboretum – and of course, my food bowl. But let me tell you something of what’s been happening over the last couple of years.

Well, first of all, my dad changed the van last year – we now have a much larger van because otherwise we just can’t cope with Christmas, because we now have to move about twelve tons of cheese in December. Although I shall be seven this year, which is well into middle age for a Cavalier, I have no trouble in springing into the cab (even though I’m not a springer spaniel). Once there, I tower over lowly pedestrians who walk past completely unaware of me until I let fly with a volley of barking. That’s when the van’s parked up … otherwise, I have discovered a very comfortable kind of ledge on the seat and it’s just at the right height for me to rest my chin on it and slumber away as we trundle round the Cotswolds dispensing good cheese.

Secondly, I now have some new friends from the United States. They are called Diane and Lorrie and come from Los Angeles, and have just been to the UK because Diane is going to rent a cottage in nearby Shipton Moyne. They are both dog lovers and have access to some great pet boutiques in the States – so I have asked Dad to put a photo of me on our site wearing my new Stetson hat – I managed to look extremely foxy when the photograph was being taken. At the same time, Mum took some photos of me running but we can’t use those on the site – the only thing you could see in each photo was my tail disappearing out of the frame!

I have the feeling that Mum and Dad are building up a collection of dog-sized hats and that more pictures will appear before too long; also, Diane and Lorrie have plans to fit me with four small boots to keep my paws warm when it snows in Tetbury …

Some things haven’t changed. For example, I still get shunted off to the breeders each January when Mum and Dad take their annual holiday. They are amazed when they return in February and see how much weight I’ve lost; could it be something to do with the fact that I get one biscuit a day there and a dozen here? On the other hand, I have been on some good holidays with Mum and Dad when they have taken a few days off; we have been to Cornwall and had some good runs on the beaches on the north coast. We spent Christmas there last year at a dog-friendly hotel which was fine apart from all the socialising with other dogs – more than a dozen of them. In the end I had to put my foot down – which I actually did by lifting my leg – and copiously irrigate one of the fire extinguishers, much to my parents’ mortification.

Well, that’s it for this time. I’ve just been told to get off the computer keyboard so Mum can type some articles about cheese for the website. Time for another sleep, I suppose!