'Splosh'.

Apart from eating the boyz favourite pastime is what I call the 'splosh' game. Wilf in particular is fascinated by the 'splosh' sound that is made when he drops a ball into the swimming pool. He can then stand totally spellbound for ages watching the ball bob around in the water. Within a minute of either of us clambering into the pool there he is, ball in mouth, waiting for the game to begin.'Splosh', throw, 'splosh' , throw until we get tired. I say we because Wilfs stamina and enthusiasm for the game always outlasts the amount of time the human component of the family can spend in the pool. Digby's rear quarters seem to be worsening but he does his best to get the ball and enter into the spirit of the game whenever we throw it directly to him.

In the UK a pool is an undoubted luxury. Here it is an expensive but life saving necessity. When it gets above 40 degrees it's the only place to be.

Afghanistan is proving to be yet another problem for the British government. The huge loss of life over the last two weeks caused by roadside bombs has attracted the medias attention to the fact that the UK deploys one helicopter for every 400 troops on the ground. The US marines fighting alongside them have one helicopter for every 33 soldiers. There are huge demands of the government for healthcare, education , unemployment benefits and so on but why send our 18 years olds into battle if we can't afford the equipment for them to do the job properly?