Camberdoodles episode 12
As DeDe and Lily-Poo were sunbathing after a particularly big lunch, DeDe complained she never has an occasion to wear her best clothes. Although she loves living near the beach and in the countryside, it does have its limitations, fashion wise.
“What’s the point in having all these lovely clothes if I’ve got nowhere to wear them?” she whispered to Lily-Poo “That’s why I like living in Chislehurst’ said Lily Poo, ‘I have the best of both worlds, I’m between the countryside and city life. I can go to the posh doodle parties in London as well as have beach time with you”.
DeDe became a little envious of Lily-Poo’s life and went quiet for a minute. Never one to stay low for too long, she decided it was time to do something about it. They would have a party, and it would be this Sunday! They would call it the “nothing to celebrate” party and everyone was invited. It would start on the beach, and then move on to the pub for roast beef.
DeDe got the others together and told them her idea. Everyone was excited except Phoebe, who didn’t fancy getting dressed up. DeDe explained there would be no dress code and that anyone could wear whatever they wanted. If Phoebe preferred to come in her orange onesie, she could. If the party was going to be a success, everyone should be encouraged to dress in whatever they wanted.
“There simply wasn’t any time for excuses”
DeDe felt they needed a party organising committee. She would be the chair-doodle because she had the vision. As chair-doodle she would allocate the responsibilities and she expected the others to carry them out to the letter. There were to be no ah buts, deep sighs or that might be difficult! There simply wasn’t any time for excuses.
They would all send positive thoughts to every doodle they knew, telling them to meet on the beach early next Sunday morning. Now she had the day and the time, she needed to think about what surprises she could dream up for the party. Obviously the doodles would want to do the normal things like doodle dash on the beach, go for a swim and rush up into the dunes. But there should be some other entertainment.
If, like her, doodles were going to dress up, then surely they would need someone to take photos? Not snaps, but proper glossy photos that they could share on their social media pages. She would need to line up a photographer at short notice, but couldn’t think who. Harley said he thought one of his furless two legs might be happy to take charge of the photos, as they were always asking him to pose!
They would need a few snacks on the beach, not too many as there would be a big lunch later, Winton’s liver cake and some other little biscuits would be perfect. She knew Winton’s always had plenty of stock, so there wouldn’t be a problem with a delivery at short notice. She would ask her friend Oti who always has a particular interest in food, what other snacks might be nice. There should also be tennis balls and frisbees for those who prefer chasing things, like Harley and Dante. In fact Harley and Dante should be the ones to share out the toys when the doodles arrived.
What do we need? We need a list!
Lunch would be at The Galleon Pub and it would be roast beef for everyone, and there should be live music. She knew their friend Jangles and his backing group, the Doodlettes, Lily, Bella and Nellie, would be happy to give them a few tunes.
Before going home that evening DeDe made a long list of all the things that needed to be organised before Sunday and gave everyone a job.
1. Dante would send Jangles a positive thought telling him to arrange singing practice with the Doodlettes. He should ask Jangles to make sure they sing all the old favourites and be ready for lots of encores.
2. Harley needed to find his biggest toy bag he had and bring all his beach toys for the others to share. He mush also remember to confirm the photographer.
3. Lily-Poo was charged with ordering the Winton’s liver cake and ensuring it was delivered to the beach in good time.
4. Phoebe would keep the list of who was coming, so that The Galleon Pub knew who was coming and had plenty of roast beef for everyone.
DeDe was pleased she’d managed to hand out all the jobs without giving herself one, and she felt this highlighted her excellent leadership skills. All she had to do now was decide what outfit to wear!
Dante woke up very early on Sunday morning and before getting out of bed sent Harley, Phoebe and Lily-Poo positive thoughts to make sure they were awake. Lily-Poo answered first saying she was just about to get in the car. Next Phoebe replied explaining she had been up for ages and was helping her furless two legs with some early morning gardening. Last of all Harley answered saying he’d already filled his extra large toy bag and was ready to leave.
By the time Dante got out of bed DeDe was gliding up and down the hallway in her best fuchsia fleece coat. She swooshed one way and then the other, admiring ‘her look’ with the broadest of smiles.
Chasing up Camber’s dunes
After breakfast they ran down the hill to catch Billy train. As always they only just caught him in time. This was not because they had left home late, it was simply because Dante had been distracted by every sniff along the way. Quickly Billy raced to Camber, and when the doors opened they jumped out together.
As they walked towards the beach they saw that some of their friends had already arrived. Esme and Nobby were making the final adjustments to their outfits, while Mickie, Spud, Snowy and Alfie were chasing up the dunes to see who could get to the top first.
When DeDe and Dante reached the top of the dunes they gazed down at the beach to see so many excited doodles ready to start dashing. Dante looked at DeDe and noticed her eyes were leaking. “What’s the matter?” he said. She didn’t answer for a while and then whispered “This is perfect Dante, this is simply perfect”. They hugged and ran down to join their friends.
When everyone had arrived, they started off down the beach towards the estuary where the boats sail in. It was a beautiful bright sunny day, a day when Camber makes everyone feel so special. A day of pure joy of being in the happiest of places with the bestest of friends.
When they were halfway along the beach DeDe decided it was time to start judging the best outfit competition. Although she felt she was the best dressed, she knew it wouldn’t be right for her to win a prize. So she was not disappointed when Miss Darcy Wong, the famous doodle from London, announced that Esme had won first prize for her fairy wings outfit. Bertie Burns came second in his very smart multi stripped jumper, while third prize went to Willow, the golden doodle for her very smart red fleece coat.
After the prizes had been handed out, they continued towards the estuary before lining up for the group photo. Once they were almost all paying attention and nearly in a neat row, the photo was taken at the very moment they called out “DOODLES”.
Soon they made their way back along the beach, Phoebe found a puddle to roll in, and Harley stopped to dig yet another hole. As Harley was halfway into his latest hole, Dante found one of his missing bestest ballies and sat down to give it a chew. DeDe and Lily-Poo watched their friends doing what they loved to do most and wished the day would never end.
After more splashing and dashing they left the beach and made their way to the Galleon Pub for the roast beef lunch. As they got closer they could hear Jangles and the Doodlettes singing one of their favourite numbers, a song called “That’s Amore”. Every doodle knows “Amore” means love, so it was the perfect song to get the party going.
When they opened the door there was Jangles looking dashing in his purple velvet bow-tie and the Doodlettes, Lily, Bella and Nellie looking glamorous in their matching Miss Darcy range ‘letter’ sweaters.
Once everyone had found a place to sit, DeDe sent Oti into the kitchen to tell the chef they were ready for their lunch. Immediately the roast beef dinners started to appear. A combination of the fresh air and dashing on the beach had made them all so hungry. It wasn’t long before all the bowls were clean. For desert they chose ice cream with biscuits, because the chef had run out of their favourite apple crumble and custard.
After they’d all finished they pushed back the tables to listen to more songs from Jangles and the Doodlettes. Jangles sang all their old favourites such as “I only have eyes for you” and “how much is that doodle in the window?”
Once Jangles knew he had the audience in the palm of his paw and most had finished dancing, it was time to start the sing along. He started with “Hey Dude!” as it’s always popular. Not everyone knew the words so Jangles made sure his diction was clear. The lyrics are all about letting doodles into your heart and then you can start to feel better.
DeDe, who does know a lot of the words to many songs was certain it should start with Hey Jude, but as everyone was having such a good time signing ‘Hey Dude” she didn’t feel it really mattered. Dante is the worst at remembering the words to songs, but he liked the “Na-na-na-na’s” in the chorus. Much to DeDe’s embarrassment he sang very loudly and very out of tune.
As the sun went down and the evening drew in, the doodles started to drift off home with lots of hugs and “see you soons”. Eventually it was just the five Camberdoodles left listening to Jangles and The Doodlettes. They were all lost in their thoughts as Jangles sang the slow ballad ‘love me tender, love me do’. What a special day it had been, How lovely it had been to see Poppy, Lacey, Dexter, Matilde, Hector, Harvey and Molly, and how happy they’d been together.
The day might not seem anything special to non-doodles, it was really only a walk on the beach with a spot of lunch, but to the doodles it was so very special. They were in their favourite place with their favourite doodle friends, not even the Queen of England could want more.
So, if you ever come to Camber and you find yourself on the beach, close your eyes tight and you might just see the doodles from these stories dashing and splashing…
© Copyright Camberdoodles
Image Credits: Vicki Batt .