Number 81 is very pleased to welcome another new member of our team – Jade. Jade is a cross between a Border Collie and a Springer Spaniel, not the sanest of breeding, but extremely loveable none the less. We have been told that a cross like this is generally known as a Spollie or a Caniel, but we’re not convinced someone wasn’t pulling our leg! What do you think? Answers to jade@postalgifts.com please.

Originally a rescue dog, Jade came to us from the Diana Brimblecombe Animal Rescue Centre in Wokingham and is officially Alison, John and Holly's dog, but Cathy gets a chance at surrogate dog ownership when she gets the urge, and since recovering from the initial shock of finding a dog in HIS house Smodge pretty much ignores her, unless she gets near his food!

Although frustrated at being denied the opportunity to regularly chase the 'in house' cat, Jade has settled into Number 81 fairly well, despite an overwhelming fear of loud noises which can be a bit of a problem when your business revolves around blowing up balloons and you live five minutes down the road from a huge RAF base that flies Chinook helicopters, has bird scarers - reminiscent of gunfire on every flight path and a penchant for celebrating everything with fireworks! But she's coping a little better now, and given time, affection and possibly therapy, we all hope she will have a long happy life with us in Odiham

Smodge joined the company as our new office junior in January 2004. As well as being eager to help out in our busy office he enjoys long walks in the country and often brings some of the local wildlife home with him for supper!

Having relocated from a high rise flat in Basingstoke he adapted very quickly to village life and has made lots of friends in Odiham, although his tendancy to bite them at every opportunity can be a little off putting. As a versatile and skilled young cat he can lend a paw to any task and his input into the style and arrangement of our window displays is always welcomed! We are all very confident that Smodge will continue to be a valued and much loved member of the Postal Gifts team, and Number 81 household for many years to come.

Dear Alison

Thank you for your e-mail and the information about the gift shop , even offering to write and post cards for me. Your service as mentioned previously is outstanding and I have no problems at all in you using my name as a testimonial for your website. Keep up the good work !!

Yours sincerely

Deborah Taylor

One of the best things about owning a gift shop (apart from 24/7 access to Belgian Chocolates) is that we get to play with the toys! All in the name of consumer research of course :) and our recent delivery of 'Shocking Guns' was no exception. Luckily no stock was destroyed in the process as one of our friends already had a set. So under the thinly veiled guise of market research we had a shoot out that started in the house then moved out into Odiham High Street.

The rules of engagement became a little blurred after a couple of bottles of Pinot Grigio and rapidly deteriorated from 'stand back to back, take ten paces, turn and fire' to 'run away, hide round the corner, jump out on your opponent and blast them into oblivion before they get a chance to take a shot'! If your opponent hits you first the gun in your hand becomes electrified, giving out quite a nasty shock, (especially when they're set to 'high').

Great fun! What's more after our little late night performance in the High Street we sold our entire stock within a week! We'll be restocking soon so be prepared for the rematch!

I couldn’t help but be impressed with Holly, Alison's daughter for her sheer determination to eat chocolate! I can understand the need for chocolate, but Holly went that extra mile to get it when we all moved into Number 81. At the tender age of two and half it didn't take her long to work out that if she woke up before any of the adults in the house were up and about (not a difficult task, being the morning people that we are), she had plenty of time to creep downstairs and sneak into the shop and tuck into as many Belgian Chocolates as she could manage. However, good manners eventually got the better of her and she gave the game away when she asked a very sleepy Mummy where she should put the empty wrappers - at 7am in the morning! A lock was fitted to the door to the shop very shortly after. (All we need to do now is find a way to stop the grown ups from eating them)!