The Amorous Double-Life of a Draft Excluder.
The consensus was that these were the best years of his life.
For the main part of his useful existence, the stuffed velour snake, that we came to affectionately know as Snaky, served his intended use as a draft excluder.
Snaky came into our lives after we moved into Number 10 The Links, our third and final family home in a small housing estate next to Blackmoor Golf Club in Hampshire, England. The double doors to our living room, thanks to some optimistic carpentry, had a huge gap under them which needed filling to keep us warm in the winter months.
Snaky duly entered service in the winter of 1985.
The early part of his life was unremarkable as he flopped around in the hall, often kicked into action on chilly nights, but otherwise ignored. His was a lonely existence.
It was only when Rhubarb, a hugely charismatic Spaniel/Labrador cross, arrived on the scene as a bounding twelve-week-old puppy that things got interesting for Snaky.
Rhubarb had joined our family as our beloved Border Collie, Timmy, was entering his twilight years. Timmy was not overly impressed by this new addition that insisted on snuggling up next to him, but over time he developed a grudging acceptance of Rhubarb’s presence. Whilst…
