Sally had us in a flap!

Decided to meet up with hubby this morning to go on a dog walk before hitting town to find a new bath. The second part never happened!

We took Sally off lead as soon as we got by the river. Other dog owners were doing the same, their dogs running alongside them. Sally did the same ... for about 1 minute then she spotted pheasants at one end of the field and made a bee-line. Then she spotted an open gate leading to a wooded area full of birds - and made a run for that too. We called, bellowed and whistled to no avail. We tried the reverse psychology card shouting 'Bye then Sally, we're going.' and walked ahead hoping she would run back to us. We walked for about half an hour then returned, cutting our walk short to find Sally. Sure enough we saw her in the area we had left her but she would not come to us. She just carried on running after birds. Eventually we walked back to the car park and bought hot bacon and egg sandwiches from a stand there before heading back to the woods to get Sally back. By this time she had run into the next woodland area, we saw her plainly several times but she just kept running away from us. Eventually it dawned on us that we had no time to shop for a new bath; we would have to leave her and go to our jobs for the afternoon.

We explained our predicament to the sandwich seller who took our phone number and the dog lead then off we went - albeit very reluctantly with nerves jangling.
I work about 11 miles from this place and don't visit the area often so it was a huge coincidence that I had a one off work meeting with over 100 people in the very place later that afternoon. At 5ish a colleague nudged me to tell me she'd seen my husband outside the doorway. He had come to tell me our son had had a message to say someone in the village had found Sally and wanted us to collect her. That was a relief. The only porblem was that our son had taken down the wrong phone number. I had to wait for another call to tell me the number. Eventually all was well. I met up with an old friend in the meeting who lived in the village and who let me use her phone and took me to the right place in the village where the woman was waiting. This friend even had a bunch of roses in her car that she gave me to give this person. How cool a coincidence was all of that? The poor woman had been waiting in the pitch black in a pub car park for over an hour with our naughty dog! She was very relieved when we eventually appeared to take Sally off her hands! I managed to get lost walking back to the car and thought the car had been stolen before I got my bearings - it was pitch black with no street lights and I don't know this place very well!!

When I got to my car I found the heater and fan had stopped working so had to drive home with my window wound down and was shattered and frozen by the time I reached home. Oh Sally!!!!

Sally's Early Christmas Treat

I'm hopping mad, spitting feathers and steam must surely be coming out of my ears! Why? Well you might ask! Sally is the culprit!

About a month ago I went to the shops armed with a very special list. A list of ingredients for our family Christmas cake. I chose only the finest ingredients, you understand. Fruit soaked in rum, only the best butter and off I went home to put the thing together. I worked away with a glass of port at hand, dreaming of a white Christmas. All was well in my world. I slaved for about an hour, forsaking my food processor and chose hand mixing instead. I was a little alarmed to discover I would need to bake it for 5 and a half hours, meaning that I would have to stay up till gone 1am just to turn the oven off. But never mind this was a labour of love, a little sacrifice that would hopefully reap the reward of seeing friends and family enjoying a seasonal treat in a couple of month's time.

Of course that's not quite how things turned out! The cake has been sitting, double wrapped with foil and encased in silicone paper on our kitchen work surface since it came out of the oven... until tonight! Sally left my side and went downstairs while we were waiting for Tony to finish his conversation on the phone. I heard the rustle of something and really should have gone downstairs straight away but never would have guessed what she had gotten up to - literally!

The first I heard was when Tony got off the phone, walked into the kitchen and shouted: 'What are you doing? Get down, what have you got? You have eaten half of the Christmas cake!' I was down like a shot and reeled at the total decimation I saw and half marvelled at the fact that Sally had actually managed to scoff half of the huge cake.

It looks like I'll be back at the shops this weekend and this time I'll start baking a little earlier - oh yes and I'll store the next Christmas cake somewhere well out of reach!!

Sally's One Year Anniversary

Well there hasn't been much time for blogging recently but it feels right to mark Sally's first year of Bower life with a little message. Funny really, none of us had much faith that this day would actually come. There have been so many times when we have thought 'today is the day we go home without finding Sally.' Somehow, though, we have managed to find her every single time. Talk about cats and nine lives. Sally seems to have had many more than that already!

Take the other Sunday afternoon for example. I took her into our local woods and felt she needed letting off lead. (Usually my downfall). Sure enough she went AWOL again. I waited, I shouted, I whistled and time marched on. I had a phone call from someone wanting to know the size of a tool box, of all things mid Sally hunt and then I realised I needed to be in town to pick up my son and husband from a weekend's camp. What was I to do? In the end I had to dash home, get the car, pick up the guys and then we returned, fretful to the woods. The daylight was fading fast. We got to the area where I had lost her and shouted her name. Sure enough she appeared like a dot on the horizon, bounding towards us. Oh boy!!! Here's to Sally and to another chapter of adventures as we begin year 2 together.

Everything in tatters

Sally has been a little bit demanding today!

I just went downstairs to find Sally sitting on top of the couch looking a little manic. Then I looked around the lounge floor. What did I find? A cardboard box holding some of Tony's drama books in tatters, little pieces of cardboard scattered all around. I looked a little further, what did I see? I saw one of Joseph's old favourite videos - A Veggie Tale classic, bitten into and pulled apart. Maybe its time for walkies!

Dog Dayz

We've had no serious incidents recently, just the usual Sally moments.

We drove to Arnside for fish and chips last night with the idea of taking Sally for a walk along the coast afterwards. The fish and chips were great, as usual! Once we'd polished them off we got out of the car to discover that we'd forgotten Sally's lead. What were we to do? Drive home and deprive her of a walk or risk it and hope she stuck with us? We decided to risk it. Within minutes she was nowhere in sight. Then there she was again. It went like this the whole walk until we got back to the car. The only problem was that Sally had no intention of giving up freedom so lightly. She zoomed off - towards the railway line. I couldn't get to her because the area was sealed off (to people) by a high wall and a padlocked gate! We decided to play the car card again. Tony and Joseph got in the car and drove off leaving me to watch out for Sally. Sure enough she recognised the engine and bounded towards the gate as soon as Tony passed by. I managed to grab her collar from my side of the gate and the only way I could get her back was to lift her by the collar right over the gate. It nearly wrenched my shoulder from its socket but I did it and Sally made it safely back home once again.

Today I was sat outside Cafe Nero with Sally waiting for Tony to bring out our drinks when a butcher appeared, as if by magic (like the shop keeper in Mr Benn) in front of me. He said 'I know this is a bit random but I've got a bit of turkey in the shop and I wondered if your dog would like it?' Very random but very kind. Just for a second I hesitated remembering what my mother taught me about strangers. I soon snapped out of that train of thought and followed the butcher to his shop. Sally thought all her dreams had come true as she tucked into turkey breast while me and Tony enjoyed our drinks. We finished the afternoon by walking up to Kendal Castle. The view over the town and towards the fells was stunning today. We sat taking in all the glorious autumn colours while Sally leaped about chasing magpies. I'd kept a little of the turkey back to entice her back to us. It worked like a charm.

This is a little different from my usual rant about Sally.

Here's an excellent site that offers inspirational starting points for teachers to motivate young writers in exciting ways. I would have loved to have done something like this when I was at school so I'm putting it on my blog hoping that it might catch the eye of a few teachers who might go for it in their schools! Worth a try.

Everybody Writes - Exploring writing beyond the classroom

Everybody Writes - Exploring writing beyond the classroom

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Conquering the Darkness

We've had a eureka moment! We've conquered the darkness. Well kind of.

On Saturday afternoon we paid a call to an outdoor clothing store in town. The mission: to buy head torches. Out we came feeling rather happy with our purchases at a bargain (buy one get one free).

Yesterday evening we felt a little foolish as we set off in the light, without torches, but came unstook as darkness descended and Sally went AWOL. She dummied me at the edge of the woods, crossed the road, ran into more woodland then chased Tony down the road as he turned the car around. We ended up in a sticky situation and had to stop another car to get Sally into ours. Apologies all round. AHHH!!!

Tonight, however we were prepared. We headed off in the dark with head torches firmly in place and waterproofed up to our eye balls, looking like a couple of Mysterons from an episode of Captain Scarlet. A bit silly really. Within minutes we got into the woods and reaped the benefits of our bargain buys. Like intrepid explorers we boldly went where no other sane villager dared to go. Sally seemed to enjoy staying in the torch light too so stayed pretty close the whole walk. Its great to realise that the dark wet nights don't mean an end to our exercise. Maybe we won't turn to jelly over winter this year. That would make a refreshing change.

Arran - The Finale

We've had a great day today up on Scout Scar. The wind howled a gale, the rain blew in from the fell tops and a glorious double rainbow graced the Kendal skies. It reminded me of another windswept day earlier in the year, a day I remember well for other reasons than the weather; a day on Arran.

On our Easter holiday in Arran we decided to do a tootle around the island on the coastal road. In truth there are very few roads on Arran but the coastal road, as you may well have gathered takes you the whole way around this superb little gem of a Scottish island along the ... yes you've guessed it... coast!

We set off after lunch from Brodick, the main town and headed up coast anti-clock wise around the island; Sally peering out of the boot window all the way. We enjoyed the changing landscape as we travelled and spotted a couple of stag on the hill tops near Lochranza at the north of the island. We got to Catacol and the view fair took our breaths away. The wind was strong and we saw something we'd never seen before. We looked over to the sea and watched the waves crashing violently onto the shore then noticed water vapours lifting off the surface of the sea and wafting up into the air in beautiful dancing swirls. Truly awesome. Too good to pass by. We found the nearest lay-by on the narrow road and disembarked to take in the view and enjoy the forceful sensation of the wind beating at our bodies.

We all stood on the rocky coast line; took in the view and enjoyed watching in wonder as nature carried on around us. Sally seemed to be enjoying jumping around from rock to rock, finding little holes to dive into and explore. After about 10 minutes nature dictated to us once again. It had got us out of the car and now it was urging us back in. We were getting cold to the bone. That, as they say, is when it happened. Sally sensed the impending prospect of another half an hour in the car so decided to take the law into her own paws. She shot past the car and across the road and headed straight for a field... full of sheep and lambs!!!

We called, we cajoled, we shouted and we waved but she ignored. She decided she would herd instead. She ran towards a sheep and its lamb and before long they were all out of sight. Just as we thought we would never see her again she re-appeared and seemed to be running towards us. What made us laugh was that the sheep followed. She was chasing Sally. Good for her. We thought that was the end of that. Tony jumped into the field ready to grab Sally but as soon as Sally realised the cunning plan she dummied him. Off she ran and off Tony ran after her. What a sight for sore eyes. Me and the boys laughed our heads off as we watched Tony chase Sally all around the steeply sloped field for about 10 minutes. We could see he was getting more and more exasperated which made it more and more hilarious to watch. In the end he gave in, got back in the car and started the engine. 'What are you doing?' came my anxious cry. I needn't have worried. As he set off down the road Sally did a real double take, head swivelling around and eyes popping wide open, just like Grommit of 'Wallace and Grommit' fame. She could not believe what was happening. All of a sudden we had her complete attention. There was only one thing to do. We watched and laughed as she ran in parallel to the car along the length of 3 fields, like Red Rum in his hey day. Suddenly she really wanted to be in the car!!! It was quite easy to get her back once the car stopped. Tony might not have quite the same physical agility but when it comes to brains, he has the edge, all be it just!

Dog Collared!

Well, its been a hectic couple of weeks. I've been doing some extra hours at work and we were away last weekend so there's not been any time for adding new blogs. That's not to say that there hasn't been any new material. With Sally around there's always some adventure or other to report on.

I thought I should share a little adventure that we had on Sunday afternoon. When Sally went to church. However, she was in no mood for repentance!

This is how it happened. We were almost home on our journey back from the weekend away when we decided to park the car and take a walk by a local canal. Only fair to Sally who had spent more than her fair share of the weekend either in the car or on a short lead. This was a place we felt safe and happy about taking her off lead. When will we ever stop making that mistake????

We were having a lovely family time; Joseph had found a rope swing, over a little arched bridge, hanging from a beautiful old tree and was swinging over the canal while I was taking snap shots. Tony joined him first then Sally joined in running along side the canal, barking when she watched Joseph swing out towards the water. When I look back it was then that she was getting a little overexcited and ready to do her own thing. Next to the tree, which was dazzling in its Autumn splendour stood a tiny, well kept country Methodist chapel. I hadn't noticed but sure enough the door was open. Cue adventure!

As quickly as a flash Sally had sussed out her opportunity. She scrambled up the banking, in through the church door, spotted a worshipper (in the form of an old lady) and bounded up the central isle as fast as her wet and muddy paws could caper (she'd just been swimming in the canal!) and jumped up at the lady landing her one of her sloppiest kisses. By this time Tony was in hot pursuit and just as he was about to pull Sally back the lady looked Tony in the eye and said 'You should have more control than that!' Tony apologised profusely and grabbed Sally by her collar to frog march her out of the building. Just then the vicar caught Tony's eye. Tony does some lay preaching and is known in our area. The vicar jovially shouted 'I see you have her tightly by the collar Tony!' Tony quickly replied ' Yes vicar and I promise I'll leave your dog collar well alone.' before making his hasty retreat.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

As the Nights Draw In

Its happening, have you noticed too? Even though we've just experienced a mini miracle of a string of sunny days and clear evening skies the clock can not be stopped and the nights are starting to draw in.

Sally's walks have been getting a little earlier each evening and still I find myself stumbling through the dark on my return. Its not a bad experience, maybe a little freaky every now and then but mostly quite enjoyable. The other night Joseph came with me and he spotted a fox staring at us further down the path in the woods and 2 deer in one of the sweeping fields we walked through. Owls were hooting and bats were swooping around our heads. Sally stayed close and all was well. So good to return once again to our cosy little home, kick our wellies off and enjoy a bit of supper.

We are starting to think about getting organised for our winter walks. There is talk of safe routes, reflective clothing and even (maybe a little extreme) head torches! I quite fancy one as it means I'll still have both hands free. Its so dark around our village as street lamps stop half way down the road because half the community argued the case that street lights go against the character of the village and cause light pollution. Aye oh, that's just the way it is. I can live with it (or without them depending on the way you look at it)!

It won't be too long before the clocks go back and we're finding it a little harder to wake up in the mornings too. That's when the early dog walks start to feel like a chore. The cost of having a dog.

Anyway all this talk has reminded us of the time we got Sally and took her out on wintry strolls. Here is a poem that Tony wrote about that time:-

First Morning: 6am

Even the stars are still asleep

As Sally and I tread softly

Through the meadows.

I hear an owl hooting

Underneath the camouflage

Cover of the dark wood.

Somewhere down the far

Away lane headlights slice

Through the darkness,

Like an explorer hacking

Through the Amazon jungle.

An out of service bus trundles

Down the deserted road,

Sally is far more interested

In the state of a lamppost.

A cockerel startles the hills

With its shrill alarm clock cry.

The bank of dark clouds roll back

Retreating like the tide.

'I see you're taking your dog for a walk.'

The moon says with a cheesy grin.

'Looks like I'll be seeing plenty of you

From now on,'

The moon chuckles with its lopsided smile.

Sally looks up and sniffs.

Today, the meadows,

Tomorrow

The moon.

One Steep Hill, One Steep, Steep Learning Curve

The perfect day - or so it would have appeared!

Tony had been away all the previous week, having a whale of a time in the Lake District doing lots of outward bound activities. He had also been preaching on Sunday and out every evening this week. I needed a little of his attention!

So it was decided that after an early morning assembly in a nearby village primary school he would return home and we'd go out for a walk with Sally and then pop into our favourite coffee shop for a light lunch before we both had to get on with our working day. What made it even more idyllic was that after a couple of very dodgy rainy weeks the weather had finally turned, the sun was shining and birds were singing cheerfully in the tree tops. All was well. Not for long!!

We drove to a rural village about 5 minutes away and got our wellies on ready for a walk up a steep field and into some woods towards the 'Fairy Steps'. We've done this walk a few times so could judge that we would be back out in about half an hour in time to get some lunch at Beetham Nurseries. (The scones there are second to none.) We walked and chatted all the way up the field and into the wood. That is me and Tony chatted and got into the wood. Sally never quite made it, preferring to skirt the edge of the wood in the fields running parallel to us. Tony was not very pleased. Rightly so, Sally was not responding to our calls for her to join us. Time was against us. We had to get Sally so we came out of the woods and shouted for her. By now she was nowhere in sight. We thought we could get her to show herself by playing the reverse pshychology card. It usually does the trick. We both walked back to the bottom of the field as if we were leaving while shouting: 'Bye then Sally, we're going.' It had no effect. Tony was getting cross. I was getting worried, where on Earth could she be. By now we had run out of time for our lunch date.

I went to fetch the car while Tony returned to the woods. When I got back I imagined seeing him dragging her out of the wood but I was wrong. I couldn't see either of them, I could only hear Tony's distant calls. Eventually he returned without his dog. My heart sank. When he got down to me we looked at the time and decided that I would go one more time into the woods and he would shout me when it was time for us both to go to work. I was frantic. By this time I didn't care what my anxious calls sounded like or what I would look like to anybody walking through the woods. I just wanted Sally back safe and sound. I ran through the woods, first of all sticking to the paths then, when I thought I might have heard a dog bark I headed towards it off the beaten path. To no avail. Eventually I turned back and heard Tony, the only one of us with the time on us, calling for me to get out of the woods and head back home and to work. I realised I had lost my sense of direction and was in a private part of the woods. This was ridiculous. Then in my hast I slipped, got covered in mud and cut my hand. I was feeling pretty desperate and quite pathetic by then. How could this day have gone so wrong?

When I found my way out and back down the field to Tony we both decided we would knock on a few doors to let people know about our wandering dog incase anyone found her, then we would both return after work to search for her once again. Just as Tony knocked on the first door a Range Rover drove up to us and the passenger wound his window down.

'Have you lost a Border Collie?' 'Yes' came Tony's swift reply. This guy had got both our full attention. The conversation went like this:-

'Where have you been?'

'In the woods'

'Did you have your dog off the lead?'

'Yes'

'Why?'

'Why what?'

'What is in the woods?'

'Nothing, I thought there was nothing so it was OK to take her off the lead.'

'There's pheasants in the woods, our pheasants and they are worth a lot to us.'

'Oh, Sorry, I honestly didn't realise. I thought it was OK to have her off the lead in there.'

'Never take your dog off the lead in woods again, ever!'

At that the big burly driver got out his side of the vehicle, opened the boot and brought a very sheepish and familiar looking dog round to us by the scruff of its neck.

All I could say was a pathetic 'Thank you'.

Most of me was relieved and amazed at having Sally, almost given up for the afternoon, back with me. Part of me was dazed at finding myself, again at the end of someones wrath. I thought we had it covered after our escapade with the angry farmer after Sally rounded up his sheep. We won't be letting that happen again in a rush. Now its dawning on me that its not only sheep I have to consider, but most other living things too. I reckon its another lesson learned but I'm sure that I'm not at the end of this very steep learning curve.

I'll keep you posted!

Anything in White will Do!

Here's the next Arran instalment.

About the middle of our holiday and we were deciding what we would do for the afternoon. The last time we came we went on a beautiful walk known as 'The King's Cave Walk', aptly named as it is a circular walk down to King's Cave and back to the car park near Blackwaterfoot. The scenery all the way around is absolutely stunning. It starts in woodland, opens up to fields then drops down cliffs with open ocean views to the craggy caves before taking you back up through woodland to the car park and safely returned to your vehicle. Once this option was offered it was quickly snaffled up. It was reasoned that it would be a new experience to sample it in Spring rather than in Autumn and that as the sun was shining it was as good a day as any for a bracing walk along the coast.

It wasn't long before adults, children and dog were all positioned in the car, raring to go. Coats? check. Walking boots? check. Sally's lead? check. Drinks and snacks? check. Cash for coffee and cakes? check. Been to the loo? oh Joseph - go back and hurry up! Everybody ready now? Check. Finally we were off.

One of the great things about this walk is that there are no sheep in sight. That should mean that its an ideal walk to let Sally off her lead, which we did. Maybe we should have thought a little more carefully. You see, this is a very popular walk on Arran and attracts lots of holiday makers. People choose which way round to do this walk so although we didn't see anyone going in the same direction as us we did meet quite a few groups and couples heading towards us. Sally was still very young and bouncy and hadn't quite got it in her not to jump up at people. What we discovered on this walk is that she has a particular penchant for anybody in white. If she can't have a white fluffy sheep, anything in white is fair game. Although it seems to me to be an alien concept to want to dress from head to foot in white while on a muddy path we did meet a few holiday makers who did just that. These ladies took a particular pride in their appearance. The last thing they wanted was a big muddy dog jumping up at them!

I noticed one such white clad lady coming towards us, about half way around the walk, and tried my best to collar Sally but it was in vein. As soon as she clocked the whiteness approaching she headed off at a speed of knots. All I could do was hand Tony the lead and tell him to get Sally off the lady. Way too embarrassing for me! I hid behind the boys (My nephew Sam had joined us). The lady in question was very good about the muddy paw marks but I could tell it had not made her day!

We had a fab walk. We walked it anti clock wise this time so got different views which were equally stunning. The sky put on a spectacular light show as it displayed a magical rainbow over the fields. The boys laughed and played together the whole way and Sally bounded on ahead then bounded back to us looking the perfect picture amongst the heather and long grass. All had gone well. As we neared the car park I almost froze. Guess who had got back there about the same time as us?? Yes, you guessed it, the lady in white! The trouble was that Sally saw her first. She ran up much more excitedly than the first time and jumped up at the lady taking all 4 paws off the ground time and time again. The lady's smile disappeared. Tony, again, was shoved forward with the lead. Eventually he got Sally away. As the lady passed me she said in a menacing tone: 'You have a very bouncy dog!' With that we were away. Back in the car and driving away from Blackwaterfoot like highwaymen on the run. Naughty, naughty Sally!

Sally Went AWOL again!

Had a great time this morning. After talking about it for the past 6 months I finally got my act together, met up with a friend and took both our dogs out for a walk. Sally and Rosie were so excited to see each other we stood well back for the first couple of minutes and let them bound around like giddy kippers.

Up into the woods (and I mean up) then into some fields to be greeted by a magnificent view of the rising fells. It did the soul good just being up there. One thing I've become much more aware of since taking Sally out on walks is the changing of the seasons. Today I noticed some vibrant purple heathers, green leaves turning all shades of gold and plenty of ripening blackberries and elderberries. Such a rich season. I love it.

On the way back a very familiar thing happened. After chatting with my friend I looked up to see that Sally was ... nowhere. First of all I was a little worried, after all she'd never been here before, maybe she had got lost. I retraced my steps and did plenty of hollering. After around 5 minutes I spotted her milling around, completely ignoring my calls! She had done it again. Gone AWOL about 5 minutes before she would have to have the lead put on. She does this all the time around the walks in our village but I thought that was because she knows the routes like the back of her paw. I now realise that she must calculatedly take notice of every route and work out a place to go hide on her return. I really think that she is that clever. Once I realised she was playing a game with me and that I had no way of catching her I headed away from the woods with my friend and her beautiful and loyal Golden Retriever as if we were continuing home. Once Sally knows I'm not hanging around she comes running. We continued chatting and headed for the far end of the next field. When we looked around we noticed that Rosie had disappeared too! This was ridiculous. Where on Earth could she have gone? Then we heard a bark, it was unmistakeably a Sally bark. We turned to face the woods where the sound was coming from. The next thing that happened was a beautiful sight. First Sally came bounding out of the woods followed by Rosie bounding behind her. Well well, Rosie had gone back to retrieve Sally. What a good dog! Just like something from a Lassie film. Bless. Warms the cockles of your heart!

Not my new Fat Face bag!

As I write Sally has weedled her way onto the sofa with me and is flopped out resting her face on my foot. Looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. It's hard to believe what a little rascal she has been tonight!

To be fair she's had a pretty boring day. It was Joseph's first day back at school so I pampered him and drove him there through the wind and rain then went shopping before going to work. That meant that there was no time for any walkies til after tea. No good for Sally. Like a child with ADHD it was absolutely no good at all. In the end she lost the plot, ran downstairs, pulled all my stuff out of my new (and much loved) Fat Face bag and started chewing it up - just like the time she found my favourite old eiderdown (See picture).

I was none too pleased but that's all it took to shake me from my chair, get my coat and wellies on and reach for the lead. We had a walk together in the dark, and surprisingly it felt great. Its funny but without a dog you wouldn't catch me walking around in the dark and now I realise how much I have been missing.

It was a full moon (or near enough) tonight and the sky looked magical. The moonlight landed in the puddles that I purposely squelched through, like a kid, well no-one was looking and it felt fab, and the wind rustled through the hedgerow like some mysterious ancient musical instrument playing a tune just for us. I came back feeling more awake and alive than when I set off; wowed by the wonder of nature.

Good old Sally. She's sending out the zs now so I guess the walk did the trick for her. It certainly did for me.

The Bleeping thing!

Ever been to Arran? If you have you'll know what a beautiful little Scottish island it is. 'Scotland in miniature' is a phrase often used to describe it as it contains highlands and lowlands, forests, glens and glades as well as some delightful coastline too. If you're lucky it won't be long before you see a Highland coo! Notice the rhyming there? OK its terrible, I'll stop and leave the poetry to other more gifted types.

We first discovered the Isle of Arran a couple of years ago when we came in Autumn and stayed at Machrie on the mid west side of the Island. We loved it so much it didn't take us too long to get back. We were there again this Easter, staying in a little holiday cottage in Lamlash. Machrie, Lamlash, don't the names sound so cool!

This was only our second time away from home with Sally and we decided she would be happiest sleeping in her crate in the boot of my car as it is a space she knows and normally seems to enjoy. We said goodnight and went inside. We could now rest our weary heads and gain some energy for the week ahead. All was well. That was until about midnight when the car alarm went off. Yep, sure enough Sally was moving around, hoping to get our attention, and had set it off. We were surrounded by other properties and to say we were glad when the alarm went silent is an understatement. Off to sleep - for about an hour! For the rest of that first night the alarm went off around 6 times. What a nightmare. I reckon we let everybody know of our presence on the peaceful little island that night!

You may wonder why I didn't just turn off the alarm. If only it were that simple! If only life were that simple! I must have the only car on the planet that has a permanent alarm. I took the thing to our local garage where the mechanic tried his best to switch the thing off but drew a blank. It works whether the car is locked or not and can't be switched off without breaking the thing. Would you believe it? Very tempting at times.

Funny thing is Sally knows how to make it start to get our attention. When she is happy and settled she never sets it off. When she wants to get our attention off it goes time and again. Bless!!!! It didn't go off again the whole holiday. Thank goodness for that!

Why did I think I could trust Sally??

We've just come back from our annual summer holiday with my sister and her family. This year we decided we should stay close to home, avoid lots of congestion and miles of travel and go to our favourite place on the planet. We went to the English Lake District and it lived up to our expectations.

On Monday we decided to walk around the Coniston area and up to Tarn Howes. The sun was shining and all was well. Minutes after parking the car and walking around a little tarn I heard my son shouting and laughing. He had mis-judged a jump and landed right in up to his waist! This was going to be an interesting walk. The dogs ran ahead of us. Ten minutes up a boggy track we heard my nephew yell. This time the boys had stumbled upon an adder on the path. Not very big but enough to give the boys a scare.

Ten minutes more passed before we came to the designated watering hole in the form of Yew Tree Farm. It was once owned by Beatrix Potter and was used as her home in the recent film staring Renee Zelweger as Beatrix herself. We decided to sit in the sun outside and have drinks and cakes before making it up the fell to Tarn Howes. Jill carefully tied Sophie, her black Lab to the table leg. My family watched in unbelief as I let go of Sally for a couple of seconds to make it easier to tie her lead to the table. They said things like 'Don't let go of Sally' and 'Why have you let go of Sally?' This drew the attention of all the groups of people who were there enjoying refreshments in the garden. I was mildly annoyed at their undue panic and said 'Don't worry, I trust her'. I'm sure she twigged she was free at this point. She shot off out of the garden gate, up the path leading to the farm house, into the hallway and right to the back of the house. I was in hot pursuit, followed keenly by every eye in the garden! I've been to this place before and so I knew that Sally had just gone into a very quaint and plush living room with her very muddy paws! I had to shout to the people working in the kitchen, tell them about the dog and ask their permission to retrieve her. They said 'Please do!' As I led my very untrustworthy dog out of the house and back to our table in the garden I felt the disapproving eyes of every other person upon me. I held my head low and let my family have a good laugh at my stupid error of judgement.

When we made it to the top of Tarn Howes Sally once again showed her true colours. I was about to take a photo of my family tucking into their picnic when I noticed that Sally had crept up on Joseph and was about to snatch his sandwich from his hand. If you look closely at the top photo in this blog you will see the evidence for your-self.

Here we are, both dogs tied securely to the table, enjoying a refreshment break at Yew Tree Farm.

Nurture or Nature?

If you've read any of my previous posts you might have gathered that Sally is pretty nifty at rounding up sheep. After the first display, only minutes after getting her home, and then subsequent events it got me a wondering how she came to be so good at it. After all she was only 4 months old when we got her and we certainly hadn't given her any tips! Could it be that its all in the genes? Is the instinct so strong in the breed that it just kind of happens?

Well, I'm certainly no expert on the matter in general but I am a little wiser now.

I work with Sally's previous owner and once I'd explained to her that Sally had escaped and rounded up the sheep in the field next to our home she said: 'Oh well she would. She's been out every morning and every evening with her mother who's been rounding all the sheep up on our farm.' Her young son had by this time joined in the conversation. He added: 'Yes, and she can round cows up too, well one at a time.'

So maybe that is a clue as to how come Sally is such a pro. However I also learned that one of Sally's siblings, who was bought to work with sheep turned out not to be such a natural. He's since gone to pastures anew.

I'm therefore still left pondering the time old question - nurture or nature????? I haven't got the foggiest!

Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run...

I could have written this blog a while ago but its taken me until now to calm down! It all started out with an innocent evening stroll with... yes you've guessed it, our dog Sally.

Things were going so nicely. We had been working all day then decided to get back into holiday mode with a visit to a picture postcard pretty country pub for a meal polished off by a walk to melt away a few calories and give Sally some well deserved exercise. The back drop was the imposing and impressive Ingleborough fell and surrounding rural farming land.

After the meal we set off up the hill, not knowing where we would meander, but not too far, not too far. After a couple of minutes we saw a footpath sign heading towards the nearest little town, through a few fields, only 3/4 of a mile there then we could wind our way back to the cars, perfect - or so we thought.

We entered the farm drive then straight into the first field. No sheep just a few rabbits scurrying for cover. Sally was in her element, first time to stretch her legs all day. She bombed around after those bunnies, leaping like them right up into the air. She then circumnavigated the field looping us in big circles, instinct coming right to the fore. It seemed to us at this point wrong to tie her to the leash. She got to the next field before us - not good. It was crammed full of fluffy white moving objects! They took one look at Sally and for some reason bombed down to the next field. She noticed and decided to follow - see what all the fuss was about. We shouted, hollered but she had that concentrated look. She just sat away from them, looking at them in a way that said 'Go back into the field where you just escaped from - NOW.' Well when they saw that they bombed even faster back through the gate, one actually threw itself at the fence before bouncing back and running back through the gate! We carried on calling Sally. We know from experience that it is futile to chase her, she runs much faster than any of us. Our policy is to keep walking as we know she actually likes to be with us. Sure enough it worked. As soon as she noticed we were no longer in sight she raced over to us. By this time we were lost, off the beaten footpath, foxed by a wonky sign. Sally is so clever, she must have worked out where we were using her sense of hearing or something. She ran to greet us. Only one problem - another field of sheep between us! Yes the sheep fled when they saw Sally running up to us, and yes that got her attention. She rounded them up at the top of the field before coming back to us. We were so relieved to see a gate at the bottom of the field, I can tell you. Now we could get on with the walk and get home. That's when the adventure took off to another level altogether!

I saw it first, swooping over the horizon like a Star Wars battleship full of Storm Troopers! And it was heading at full speed right down to us! The very angry farmer jumped down from his Land Ranger and let us know in no uncertain terms that he would not tolerate people trespassing on his land, particularly when their dog was chasing his sheep! 'GET OFF MY LAND NOW!' 'I'm telling you I will shoot the dog!' I will not tolerate a dog chasing my sheep!' 'I don't know what you are finding so funny!' Were some of his words of greeting. Oh boy!!!! Were we in trouble!

The worst of it was we were in the wrong. We had been stupid. We did not find it funny! We could only apologise and get out as fast as we could. Only one problem there. We couldn't figure out how to get out. The gate was tight shut. We had to call to the farmer and ask how to get out. That didn't go down very well. 'Move the big stone, it was put there for a reason!' came his angry reply. 'Don't let me find you or that dog on my land again. I won't tolerate it!' No worries there.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

I'm not writing this blog because I find it funny, honest. Its more of a confession. I actually feel really sorry and do see it from the farmer's angle. I know a few farmers, have farmers for friends, and have great respect for the hard work and long hours they put in to keep our country going; our landscape would be impoverished without their care and I don't think we realise the difference they make or the dedication they put in. I will be far more diligent from now on about where to let Sally off lead. Lesson learnt.