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Online Diary 2007 October |
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The online diary started life as a blog of my strange 'other life' with the dog. I wanted to record some of the experiences that I had as a first-time dog owner. To access the archive, click on the appropriate month. The most recent articles are listed separately. You are most welcome to send comments about any of the articles. Record your comments via the Contact Me page.
RAZOR BLADES?
YUMMY! Last week, Beattie was in one of her awkward moods. She wouldn't settle, even after a long walk, and she did not see why I should be allowed to work. She tried the usual strategies (see Communicating) without any success. I refused to be wound up by her antics. As I wanted peace and quiet I had even let her into the 'Holy of Holies' to sleep on the bed! Instead of enjoying the privilege, she decided to rummage in the shower and discovered a new chewing toy - A's razor!! It is one of those twin blade plastic razors and I was suddenly aware of its existence when there was a loud cracking noise coming from the hall. Imagine my horror when I realised that Beattie had been steadily chomping her way through the head of the razor, including the twin blades! Hurriedly, I retrieved the mangled remains of the razor and prised her jaws apart, convinced I was going to see a mouthful of blood! Amazingly, everything looked normal, so then I examined the razor to see if any slithers of the blade could be lodged on her mouth. Although it was well chewed, the blades still looked intact! I heaved a huge sigh of relief. It looked as if she had not done herself any lasting damage. No expensive trips to the vet were required today. Back To post a comment click here
Comment
from
sablonneuse
On our walk today, Beattie and I passed a horse chestnut tree still in full leaf. Nothing unusual in that, you might think, but this tree was still full of very ripe conkers just about bursting from their green, spiky cases. In past years, it would be very lucky if any horse chestnut tree was still hanging on to its fruit at this time of year. Nature's harvest is the prize waiting for myriad small boys brave enough to shin up into the topmost boughs to recover the coveted treasure. How many times does one see a small group of hopefuls standing under a horse chestnut waiting for conkers to fall when various missiles are thrown up into the canopy? More often than not, gravity brings the projectile down on to the heads of the watchers below! Why is this time-honoured custom not being enthusiastically re-enacted this autumn? Simply because the game of conkers has been banned in most British schools on health and safety grounds! We cannot have the poor children putting themselves in mortal danger from the flying remains of a defeated party! What's happened to our society when children cannot amuse themselves with the innocent pursuits of childhood? How many generations of youngsters have played and survived this dangerous sport? Wrap 'em up in cotton wool and allow no risk-taking. No child must be out of sight for longer than the blink of an eye of its over-weaning parent! My heart sinks when I hear of the suffocating, over-protective lives of the children of this country. They are like dogs on short leads. Never allowed to run free. What sort of childhood is that? Conkers should not still be on the trees! Back To post a comment click here
Comment
from sablonneuse Comment from Tracey Lilly
BEATTIE'S 214
CHALLENGE We were back from the Lakes this week. Unfortunately, we had to cut the trip short as A was having trouble with a tooth which had to be extracted, so Beattie and I came home early. We had five good days walking and climbed another twelve fells. Beattie has climbed 69 fells this year - her first fellwalking season. This is just about one third of the fells known as 'Wainwrights' after the 214 fells described by Alfred Wainwright in his seven Pictorial Guides. I have now climbed 175 of these fells, 41 this year. The highlight of the week was our walk to the summit of Low Fell in the western Lakes. For the most part, the ascent was along a grassy track which led gently up to the summit. When we arrived at the top we were rewarded by superlative views of Crummock Water and the surrounding fells. My photo does not really do justice to that wonderful view. On another day, I had planned a walk to climb four fells, one being Base Brown, which was a single fell in a group that I had not yet climbed. To make a day of it I planned a circular walk to take in three other fells that Beattie had not climbed. We started off in sunshine although I could see that there was cloud on the highest tops, but not those that we would be climbing. However, as can happen, the cloud dropped down as we ascended to the first top on the round. By the time we stood by the cairn on Grey Knotts, grey was a good description of our surroundings! We battled on to the summit of Brandreth, the mist getting thicker and conditions more unfriendly by the minute. When the summit cairn appeared out of the gloom, I decided to retreat and tackle Base Brown another day! We retraced our steps and descended to Honister Pass. We had dropped down out of the cloud by this time and it being past lunch time, I found a suitable rock to sit and munch my ham and pickle sandwiches, helped as always by Beattie, who is always up for the ham filling even laced with sweet pickle. She is not fussy! Considering the lateness of the year, we had some lovely autumn weather on the other days, often misty, but with enough warm sun to burn off the cloud by mid-morning. The conditions were just about perfect for walking and we made the most of our five days there. With another 39 fells to climb in my own 214 Challenge, I am hopeful that I might finish the task by the end of next year. By then, Beattie should be well on course for completing her own challenge! Back To post a comment click here
Comment
from sablonneuse Comment from Tracey Lilly
IN THE DOG HOUSE!
Beattie was very badly behaved today. It happened at lunchtime. I made A her lunch as she is still off work because of her tooth trouble. All she wanted to eat was some bread and Marmite as it is easy to chew! I carried the plate of bread and Marmite through to the lounge and set it down on the arm of the chair and called A through from the conservatory. My eyes had only left the plate for a few moments, but it was enough time for the dog! When I turned back and looked at her her nose was uncomfortably close to the plate! 'Get away from there!' I ordered. She turned to face me, rather startled at my tone of voice. When I looked at her all I noticed was the half slice of bread protruding, guiltily from her chops! In another second, the bread had disappeared completely, with no chewing! 'Beattie!' I yelled, even louder. A had just come through the door, and, sizing up the situation, grabbed Beattie before she could escape and dumped her in her crate for a 'time out'! Naughty girl! She was literally in the dog house today! BackTo post a comment click here
Comment
from sablonneuse Comment from Tracey Lilly Comment from
Gary Comment from
Joseph
Photographs taken with a Fuji MX-2900 Zoom
or a Canon EOS 20D |
ARTICLES ARCHIVE 2007 ARCHIVE YEARS
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