Midge season

The flowers in our Torridon cottage garden are looking particularly pretty just now.

Such a fine backdrop for a WFT portrait. 

Gail wants me to point out that maintaining such a haven of beauty for me to enjoy does require some effort and sacrifice on her part. Especially during the height of the Highland midge season.... 

Gail prepares for a session of grass strimming

Happy Nature Friday. 

(Midges are 'nature' too!)

Training paying off?

As I have mentioned before, my owner Gail has been attending 'agility fitness' sessions on Monday nights for the past month. These involve jogging, sprinting, weights, cardio and flexibility exercises, and I am pleased to report a positive impact although, as ever, there is room for improvement.

Have a wee look at this video, filmed by our friend YAM-aunty at the Granite City Agility Show on Sunday morning, and note the following aspects of Gail's performance:

• Pretty smooth running style, apart from slightly wonky right leg action
• Manages to adjust speed where appropriate and keep up with dog
• Shows sufficient flexibility on the turn (although one fears this will never be her strong point)
• Improved 'proprioception', i.e. didn't fall over, trip up, or collide with any obstacles 
• Overall fitness pretty decent for a 65 year old - able to complete the circuit without getting out of breath

So now we can, I think, say that Gail is physically up to the task of dog agility handler, the question turns to the psychological aspects, and here some doubts remain.

Can you believe she seemed really quite stressed on Sunday when, as reported in Monday's post, I stole her handkerchief and raced around in circles playing a fun game of 'catch me if you can' rather than following the set course of jumps. 

Perhaps someone could recommend techniques for boosting mental resilience...?

"Inauspicious"

Sometimes I have to question my owner's use of adjectives. 

She has been describing my competition debut at the Granite City Dog Agility Show near Brechin on Sunday as "inauspicious". And not just because my right front paw wasn't feeling quite 100% at the start of the day.

What's "inauspicious" about running over to greet the spectators and then making a beeline for the seesaw before tackling obstacle no.1 (a jump - so boring, everyone knows I can jump) on my first agility run? 

What's "inauspicious" about giving Gail a thoroughly deserved nip on the finger when she tried to drag me off the course, just because I thought it more important to check out - at length - some interesting smells near the start of my second run?

And what's "inauspicious" about snatching the bloodied handkerchief out of Gail's pocket and refusing  to relinquish it - such an entertaining way of commencing my third run, I'm sure you'll agree (if you're not Gail).

Well, Gail and I might have different opinions about the merits of my performance in the competitive elements of the day, but we can at least both agree that it was great to meet friends old and new. 

Here are my new fox terrier chums, fellow competitors Flora and Findlay from Dalgety Bay. We'd never met them before, but apparently their owner has long been a fan of my blog, and before mine, Bertie's, so it's clear that Flora and Findlay come from an excellent home. 

Nobby and Flora

Findlay

And finally, best of all, dear YAM-aunty turned up in the Grey with her smiling pal Hilary, and we all got to spend some time together having lunch and enjoying a good chinwag. 

PS from Gail: it wasn't all a total disaster on the agility front - once Nobby got going on his final run, he did quite nicely, for a novice. We believe that YAM-aunty might have caught some of his better moments on video - watch this space. 

And here's a photo from Hilary, showing Nobby at least entering the line of weave poles the right way! 

No sunshine but lots of lilies

I must begin today with an apology. 

After last week's post full of roses for our LLB Gang friend Rosy, I had promised that today I'd find some sunshine for her sister Sunny. 

Sadly I have failed. July has brought nothing but cloud and yet more cloud to NE Scotland...

While the humans have all been grumbling about the cool wet summer here in Scotland, it seems the conditions have suited the water lilies on Loch Kinord just fine. 

On Wednesday afternoon Gail stood on the loch shore taking photos but I opted for a closer look.

Yes they really are that pretty! 

Happy Nature Friday! And once again thanks to our lovely LLB Gang friends for hosting this our favourite blog hop.

The wonders of a wiry coat

When your owner decides to take you on a walk along an overgrown path beside the cliffs, 

and down to a tranquil and rarely visited beauty spot, 

and she is only wearing a pair of lightweight summer trousers, and to reach your destination you both have to battle through bracken and brambles and stinging nettles and prickly gorse bushes and thistles and more,

then your owner might just end up envying your dense and wiry wire-haired fox terrier furs!