WE in the Euesden household are proud to announce a new addition to the family – young Doris who is a three-month-old Bichon Frise and what a delightful creature she is! As regular readers of the Personally Speaking column know, my best four-legged friend Minnie Me passed away in tragic circumstances over the Christmas period and having never lost a pet before, I did not fully understand the pain and grief her untimely departure would cause.

Waves of sadness would descend over me on the most obscure and often inappropriate occasions. I would think I had seen her out of the corner of my eye or wake up forgetting that she was no longer part of my life, then the tears would descend.

I vowed that although I love Dennis and Sasha (the other two family dogs) no other little ball of fur would ever pull at my heartstrings as Minnie had; she was irreplaceable. Then, an advert came through from our Mallorca edition showing a tiny white mass of fur with great big soulful eyes and I was hooked. There she was, my new friend Doris, so named after a very special lady in my life who holds a big place in my heart.

So, once again, our family is complete and although Minnie can never be replaced I am sure that Doris will do a splendid job being my very own nbf (new best friend). What is more, I know Minnie would approve.

If you asked Mrs E, I am sure she would back me up when I say I am not a sexist, How could I be? She’s the MD, so all you feminists out there (if there are any left now) and all you lefties, listen up.
If Paul McCartney had beaten up Heather Mills every day for two years he should go to jail. But no way on this earth was she entitled to 2.43 pounds, never mind 24.3 million.

She has done jack to help him earn his fortune so where does two years add up to 24.3 million pounds? I have to keep repeating the number as I cannot believe it. She has reportedly wished three possible girlfriends of Sir Paul’s the best of luck. Best of luck? Sir Paul must be sh***ing himself. What’s it going to cost? 10 pounds for a glance? 100 pounds for a look? Dialogue: 1,000 pounds? Kiss: 10,000 pounds? Grope and a feel: 50,000 pounds? All the way: 500,000 pounds? Better pay than a professional footballer. At this rate he’s going to be skint in a year. I think you can keep your good luck, Heather. I should think you’re going to need it. As the saying goes “easy come, easy go”.

WELL, ladies, I am pleased to say that three months after joining the gym not only am I still going but I am loving it. I only wish I had joined years ago. It is funny, all through my school years I was always told I was no good at sport so I stuck to the academic side of the curriculum. In those days it was a choice between chess or cross country and, wise bird me, I chose chess.

However, my trainer now tells me otherwise. “You have good stamina, are agile and fiercely determined,” he says, “and these are the attributes needed for a good sports person.”
In fact, to tell you the truth, whenever he praises me I feel like a little girl back at school. I go running to Mr E to tell him of my latest achievements.

It just goes to show how true the old adage is, call someone a cabbage for long enough and a cabbage they become.
So, ladies, if you are like me and were not the best at PE in your schooldays, don’t let it put you off joining now. Not only is it good for whittling away the waistline, it is superb for boasting that flagging ego.
Go on, give it a go!!

Sickening – the thought of any child being taken, maybe even worse when by a family member or friend, as trust is destroyed. Obviously the Madeleine McCann case comes to mind and we all pray that hopefully one day she is found alive and well. Overshadowing this, recently and bizarrely, has been the saga of Shannon Matthews whom it seems has been the innocent victim of some complete and utter nutters. I believe that a child should not be taken away from its mother other than under exceptional circumstances and, for once, it seems Social Services have got their act together and agree with me that this is just such a case. Where Karen Matthews and Craig Meehan are coming from beggars belief – from infidelity to benefit fraud to child pornography. If two people were ever unfit to bring up a family, then they take the gold.

Let’s hope they all get what’s coming to them and Shannon in time can recover, because her return was the only high point in this sad farce.

THE purpose of this column is to air our views and let you, the valued reader, get to know who is behind your favourite local newspaper. Sometimes you write to me when you are hot under the collar in disagreement with one of our pieces; other times you applaud us with letters, emails and telephone calls. This time, we were bombarded with you agreeing with our viewpoint that the youth of today possess, or should I say do not possess, a work ethic of any value. You gave us examples of your own experiences and you said that the youngsters of today do not want to do a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. However, more than that, you mobbed us with your offers of what you, the Golden Oldies, could offer the EWN Media Group.

To say we were astounded by the numbers of CVs sent in is an understatement. In Torrevieja alone, we had 75 offers; in fact, in all of our seven territories the numbers ran into three figures.
On behalf of Steven, myself and everyone here at the EWN Media Group, we would just like to say a great big thank you to each and every one of you.

As this was totally unexpected, it is fair to say that we were just not prepared for this kind of response. Therefore, we have not been able to contact you all personally. But a database has been started solely for the Golden Oldies and everyone has been separated into areas and job suitability. Please rest assured that should something arise that suits your profile, we will be in touch, we promise.
Once again, many, many thanks to you all.

I am one very gutted Gooner, knocked out of the Champions League by clearly a very inferior Liverpool side. And then Manchester United who spent most of the game wandering around trying to get a sniff of the ball go and pull off a jammy win.

Not that I am biased against either of these teams, of course, but there is nothing more frustrating than sitting down, beer in one hand, remote in the other, only to watch your team outclass the opposition and get nothing out of the referee, not to mention the linesman. Not to worry, things could be worse, I could be a Derby fan. Newsflash! United and Chelsea teams come down with a mystery virus, the title is all Arsenal’s now.

ONE of the best inventions of recent times must be Sky Plus. It allows working people (and indeed any busy people) the facility of pre-recording their favourite programmes to watch as and when they want.

Hence why I am writing this column with tears streaming down my cheeks; the cause being the programme Britain’s Got Talent, where I have just finished watching the stunning performance given by 13-year-old Andrew Johnston. This young man has without doubt a remarkable voice that should take him far.

My tears, however, are not solely because of his singing talent; they are also attributable to his resounding determination to pursue his dream. This young chap (who is at the age where peer acceptance is paramount) is subjected to bullying because he dares to be different. He doesn’t want to hang around street corners, he wants a career. And, on behalf of the millions of viewers watching his awesome performance, I can confidently say, Andrew, Britain is behind you. Bullies are afraid of success because it highlights their deficiencies. Go forward, young man, achieve your goals and beat them by daring to be different. You know where you are going – straight to the top – and we all know where bullies go. Yes, that’s right, nowhere. Andrew Johnston, you have proved in the first programme that Britain has indeed got talent and, in your case, immense courage, CONGRATULATIONS.

‘Obscene wages’ is the cry as Ronaldo tops 150,000 pounds a week for just playing football. Matthews et al would turn in their graves, playing as they did in front of crowds on many occasions as big as today’s – sometimes bigger – but where did all the money go? Wages for professional footballers then were in parity with the fans.

These days, football is big business (why, oh why, still refereed in real time, about the only thing left over from the Matthews’ days, I do not understand). Now that Ronaldo has topped his fellow team-mates and players in the UK, you can only feel sorry for the poor relations, like Kanu who plays for Portsmouth and previously Arsenal. Imagine being under threat of losing your house and all your cars to the taxman. You must be imagining he is in parity with good old Stanley, living on a working wage, just like all the guys on the terraces. To be in such a mess now, you, like me, must be feeling sorry for him as he has only 45,000 pounds a week to get by on. Like I said, Matthews et al would turn in their graves.

FINALLY, dear readers, as you read this I will be getting ready to pack for the South of France for a couple of weeks. Regrettably, it is not pleasure alone on this trip but also a great deal of business.
One thing is for sure, though, I am booking a full day off whilst in Monte Carlo
When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!!!
Au revoir, mes amis!