Chris was avidly consuming a “Reader’s Digest” and I was reading the paper in bed at around midnight when I came across this article with the glorious colour photograph (below) of Pandora the dog wearing dentures. (Maybe you’ve seen it in the press already.) I burst out laughing and so did Chris when I showed him. The story, too, is funny but I’m not so sure I believe that a full set of dentures was left buried in the garden by the previous residents; perhaps the present owner is shy to acknowledge his ownership. We all know it’s a delicate subject for most people. Pandora has no such reservations, indeed, she must like the reaction she gets when wearing her second-hand false teeth.

I must admit that we Porch children, too, loved to wear false teeth. We thought them so funny – they way they never fitted right, the teeth were too small and they made your lips bulge out, contorting our faces – so hilarious! Then, of course, we devoured the delicious sweet confections and tried another top set, if we had any more, to see if it fit any better.

Occasionally, on shopping expeditions to Tesco’s at Newton Abbot, I succumb to the temptation to buy modern sweet “Lips and Teeth”, which are even smaller than the ones we had in Australia in the sixties. No, they don’t fit at all well but John, the security guard, and I have fun trying them on regardless. John’s a good sport and very popular with the ladies. He’s not exactly handsome but… with his shaven head and the tiny confectionery teeth he looks like a big bonny baby.