Free! A House Elf no more!

This afternoon as I was sitting on the couch, Nelly came over and nudged me gently with her snout, and I realized she was offering me a pair of Enrico's socks. Nelly has given Dobbie socks!

We've never known Nelly to do this before. It's refreshing that she can still surprise us with novel behavior. When she was a puppy she used to bring us her empty water bowl for refilling, which we thought terribly clever and cute. Now when it's empty she just picks it up and slams it loudly on the floor, to let us know of her displeasure. She really became a curmudgeonly old lady well before her time, that dog.

And yet today, she gently, playfully and inexplicably presented me with a pair of my husband's dirty socks. The sparkle in her eye suggested perhaps she was doing it just for the fun of confusing me.