Slinky By Tuesday Podcast: Wimbledon, Viking Crushes, Naughty Puppies and Why Mum Nearly Got Thrown Out of Centre Court

This week on Slinky By Tuesday, Wimbledon was back, which can only mean one thing...

We started talking about our mum.

For two glorious weeks every summer, Wimbledon completely took over our house. Forget family meals or sensible conversations. If Steffi Graf was on court, that was the priority.

"Mum, what's for tea?"

"Shhh... Steffi's serving."

We genuinely don't remember eating much during Wimbledon fortnight.

Mum absolutely adored tennis. In fact, she loved it so much that she once ended up being told off at Wimbledon itself. Most spectators politely applaud both players.

Not our mum.

A British player was taking on an American, and every time the American made a mistake she celebrated rather enthusiastically. An official eventually wandered over to remind her that Wimbledon is supposed to be sporting.

She wasn't particularly interested.

Which was remarkable really because, for most of her life, she was incredibly proper. Think Penelope Keith... until you put her in front of a tennis match or a football match.

Then all bets were off.

This is the same woman who, on arriving at Derby County's football ground for a charity firewalk, announced she was "just going to go and have a poo on the pitch."

Sometimes we genuinely wonder how we survived our childhood.

Wimbledon has brought a new obsession...

We settled down to watch some tennis this week.

Last year's champion Jannik Sinner looked in good form (although, as always, this information is correct at the time of writing!).

But Lucy's attention quickly wandered elsewhere...

Enter Alexander Zverev.

Apparently, discovering that your ideal type is "slightly Viking-looking German tennis player" can happen completely unexpectedly.

Who knew?

Could Serena still have one more chapter?

Watching Serena Williams also reminded us of Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which is perfect timing because July is Taylor Jenkins Reid month in Katie & Lucy's Book Club.

At first we couldn't understand why Serena would return unless she genuinely believed she could win.

I have since developed a new theory.

Not that she'd win immediately.

But that this comeback is the beginning of something bigger.

Could next year be the real target?

We'll revisit this prediction in twelve months and see whether I was being insightful... or simply making things up with absolute confidence.

Dog of the Week

This week's competition was... eventful.

Poor Clarence found himself disqualified after quietly decorating the entire upstairs with shredded toilet roll while everyone thought he was being adorable.

Buddy appeared to wake up and choose violence.

He challenged Barney.

He challenged Dudley.

He seemed prepared to challenge absolutely anybody who made eye contact.

Which brings us to this week's deserving winner...

Dog of the Week: Dudley!

For possibly the first time in his life, Dudley demonstrated remarkable emotional maturity.

Rather than joining in with Buddy's attempts to start World War Three, he simply looked confused, decided this wasn't worth his energy and calmly walked away.

Personal growth.

We're incredibly proud.

Although, knowing Dudley, he'll probably undo all that good work before next week's podcast.

Back to Bad Lads Army

This week's Secret Diary of Dudley took us back to puppy training classes.

Or, as we affectionately renamed them...

Bad Lads Army.

Every week we'd arrive determined to produce a well-behaved dog.

Every week Dudley had completely different ideas.

The trainer would calmly explain each exercise while I somehow managed to get distracted arguing about whether "one alligator" counted as one word or two.

Everyone else's dogs behaved impeccably.

Dudley was affectionately nicknamed "the party dog."

We suspect there's an entire sitcom waiting to be written about puppy training classes.

Book Club adventures

We also enjoyed another brilliant author event at Waterstones Nottingham, where we saw the wonderful Hallie Rubenhold discussing her latest book about the lives affected by the notorious Crippen case.

One of our favourite things about these evenings is how accessible they are. A beautiful bookshop, fascinating authors and an opportunity to get your books signed afterwards.

If you've never been to one, we'd thoroughly recommend giving it a go.

Speaking of books...

Our next Book Club meeting is on 14th July, and because it's Taylor Jenkins Reid Month, you can choose any of her novels.

(Yes, I am still disappointed that "Mills & Boon Month" didn't make it 'conveniently' out of the suggestion jar.)

A date for history lovers

If historical true crime is more your thing, we'd absolutely love to see you at the first Matinees of Murders and Mysteries on 18th October at The Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

Our first guest is the brilliant Carol Ann Lee, who'll be discussing her fascinating book on the Pendle Witches, separating centuries of myth from historical fact.

Having just finished reading it, we're already planning a road trip to Pendle...

Possibly Lancaster too.

Weekly Weigh-In

After getting back on track last week, we faced the scales again.

Katie celebrated losing 3½lbs, complete with a small victory dance.

I......put on half a pound.

The injustice.

Although we are convinced Slimming World success partly depends on getting weighed in exactly the right order.

Some people have lucky football boots.

We apparently have lucky weighing positions.

Whatever works.

What we're up to next week

The week ahead includes:

• More Wimbledon.

• A bottomless brunch.

• A trip to London.

• The second anniversary of the Bereavement Café (with a Victoria sponge that Lucy will admire... but definitely not eat).

• A theatre trip to celebrate Katie's birthday.

As always, we'll report back next Tuesday.

Until then, if you'd like to nominate your own dog for Dog of the Week, join in with the Weekly Weigh-In, or simply tell us what you've been reading, watching or laughing at this week, we'd love to hear from you.

Have a brilliant week...and if you do end up at Wimbledon...

Please try not to get told off by the officials.