Transcript

EXTRACT ONE [TARA]: How did Milo get on at the dog class? He looked very pleased with himself when you came back. [BEN]: Actually, he was pleased because the trainer had cheese. At home he'll sit immediately, but in the hall there were six dogs, a squeaky toy and people dropping treats. For the first ten minutes, he behaved as though he'd never heard his name. Everyone's dog was distracted, so the trainer asked us to move further apart and reward them for looking back at us. Once Milo had more space, he settled down. [TARA]: That sounds less embarrassing if they were all doing it. Are you practising every day now? [BEN]: Just for a couple of minutes at a time. If I do too much, he wanders off. We practise by the front door before a walk because that's when he's excited, and I use tiny bits of his normal food rather than endless cheese. Next week we're working outside, so I'm expecting him to forget everything again when a bicycle goes past. Well, I don't expect him to be perfect. If he'll look back at me when another dog walks in, I'll be happy. EXTRACT TWO [RUBY]: Did somebody finally buy that sofa? I was beginning to think it had become a permanent feature of your hallway. [CALLUM]: A couple collected it last night. The first buyer never appeared and then stopped replying, so I changed the advert. I added the exact measurements and a photo of the sofa beside the doorway. After that, people stopped asking whether it would fit through a narrow entrance. [RUBY]: How did the couple get it downstairs? [CALLUM]: Very slowly. They'd brought a small van but no straps, and the lift was too short. Luckily, the neighbour from upstairs came in while we were turning it on the landing. He held one end and suggested taking the legs off. That made a huge difference. [RUBY]: Were you sad to see it go? [CALLUM]: A little, because it was the first thing I bought for the flat. But the new one arrives tomorrow, and I can finally open the cupboard without climbing over furniture. I also got more money than I expected. Apparently that colour is popular again. I'd assumed nobody wanted a dark green sofa because every shop is full of grey ones. EXTRACT THREE [HELEN]: How did the birthday lunch go? You were feeding about twelve people, weren't you? [MARCUS]: Fourteen in the end. My cousin brought a friend and my aunt arrived with both children. I'd planned a big dish that had to go into the oven at the last minute, but there wasn't enough space once everyone started warming bread and putting plates in there. [HELEN]: So what did you do? [MARCUS]: I cooked the main part earlier and served it warm rather than very hot. Honestly, nobody noticed. The bigger problem was that I'd made the salad in a beautiful deep bowl and left the serving spoons underneath it in a drawer. We found them after everyone had used ordinary teaspoons. [HELEN]: At least they'll remember it. Did the cake survive? [MARCUS]: Well, Yeah, though the candles didn't. I'd bought the thin ones, and the children kept relighting them while we were taking photos. By the time my mum blew them out, they were half their original height. Next year I'm ordering food and buying one large candle. I liked having everyone there, but I spent most of the meal standing up and looking for things.