Train training

One rather damp and gloomy day last week, Gail announced that we were going to have a change from the usual afternoon walk, and it was time for a spot of "train training".

Long time readers will be aware that my predecessor Bouncing Bertie travelled many thousands of miles by rail during his twelve years, including two trips to continental Europe - one to Switzerland and one to Bavaria. 

However, Gail did tell me that "Rome wasn't built in a day" and although Bertie eventually became the perfectly behaved train passenger, there were, truth to tell, 'hiccups' along the way (most famously the Newcastle Station incident) and thus her assertion that I might need some "training" sessions.

My first ever experience experience on the railway actually took place back in July when I was in Nottingham, but as this was only a six minute journey Gail felt it didn't really count. 

So last week we upped the ante and went all the way down the coast from Aberdeen to Stonehaven, a twenty minute trip. For some reason Gail chose a time of day when she was confident that the train carriages would be fairly empty. 

I'll let the pictures below do the talking (I was quiet throughout).

Waiting at Aberdeen station

Checking things out on the train 

The North Sea from the train window

"Are we nearly there yet?" 

We arrived safely and walked down to the town centre

Then on to the seafront

And a quick glance at Stonehaven harbour

Finally back to the railway station to board the train home

What IS all this "mind the gap" business anyway? 

A challenge...

Apparently I've been signed up for dog agility training next spring. 

I think I'm going to be rather good at agility. See me tackle this obstacle, which forms part of a cross country circuit for horses on the Dunecht Estate.

Maybe I'm already too advanced for the dog stuff?

Although Black Beauty here didn't look so impressed when I challenged him to a jump off.

Fear of being outclassed perhaps?

A Sedimentological Fantasy

Today, a special and unique treat for readers, as the LLB Gang's Nature Friday morphs into YAM-aunty's Final Friday Fiction!  

So Thursday morning started as usual with a just after sunrise walk in Duthie Park.

Since it hadn't rained for a couple of days, Gail decided to take me across to the other side of the river, where it was all flooded last week.

I am pleased to report that the water has now drained away, although there was plenty of evidence of the recent inundation.

Here we see some of the vegetation swept downstream by the raging torrent and now caught up in the birch trees and hazels.

Even more interesting was a new patch of sand, deposited by the floods on the riverside footpath.

Can you see the ripples in the sand, formed by the river current? 

Gail pointed out that geological processes can result in such ripples from flood events being preserved in rocks for hundreds of million years (as for example in the Torridonian sandstone by the shore near our west coast cottage). She told me that geologists use features like this to build up a picture of what the landscape was like in past geological eras. From the shape of the ripples the scientists can tell whether they were formed by ocean waves, fast-flowing rivers or even by winds blowing on sand dunes in a desert. Traces left behind by animals can also be preserved and used to further enrich the picture of times past. 

It got me thinking.....

Imagine, a few million years from now, a geologist is chipping away with her hammer, and the rock cleaves open to reveal interesting wavy patterns. Below is a short segment from the paper she subsequently writes:

"The ripples in the coarse grained sandstone are here perfectly preserved and would appear to have been formed in a flood event in NE Scotland during the early Anthropocene. We note that during this period, a marked increase in frequency of storms correlates strongly with a rapid rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations which in turn led to the subsequent well-known mass extinction which the human species only just survived...

....Other fascinating features can be observed in these sediments from the same location. For example, we note footprints belonging to a human moving in an easterly direction in sturdy walking shoes, alongside the faint outlines of a dog's paw prints. The depth of the paw prints indicates that the dog weighed 7-8 kg, and the highly irregular pattern of the prints suggest that the dog was prone to running to and fro and was perhaps (if we are permitted a degree of speculation here) not the most well-disciplined of animals. That the dog could have been a young wire-haired fox terrier is at least consistent with the weight evidence and the inferred pattern of behaviour...."

Friendly, Forthcoming, Fearless

In the UK, the phrase "it does what it says on the tin", originally from an advertising campaign for a well known wood-sealing product, is now in common usage.

The other day, Gail was checking out the Kennel Club's breed standards webpage and found the WFT temperament described thus: 

Friendly, forthcoming and fearless. 

She also noted, among the characteristics required of my breed are: 

Alert, keen of movement, quick of expression, on tiptoe of expectation at the slightest provocation. Eyes dark, full of fire and intelligence.

And you know what she said after reading these descriptions?

"Well Nobby, this reminds me of that Ronseal ad."

Gail also said, perhaps less flatteringly, it called to mind the notion that certain phrases can require a degree of de-coding. Think, for example, of those commonly used in workplace appraisals:

Good social skills -  drinks a lot

Quick thinking - offers plausible excuses for errors

Character above reproach - still one step ahead of the law

etc.

Can you believe she suggested the following 'translations' would be appropriate in my case:

Friendly - never met a dog he didn't want to play with

Forthcoming - can spot another dog at a distance of half a mile and will rush off at speed, ignoring all calls, to greet him/her with boisterous enthusiasm

Fearless - never, ever backs away, even when the situation demands it  

Alert, on the tiptoe of expectation etc. - never fails to spot an opportunity for mischief when Gail's back is turned

Eyes full of fire and intelligence - smarter than his owner...

I'm wondering how accurately my canine readers meet their official breed standards?

All things are relative

Since I am a young and energetic pup, and Gail does not have to rush off to work these days, quite often we extend the morning walk round Duthie Park to take in green spaces on either side of the River Dee, next to the park. 

It's always good news if, when we reach the SW corner of the park, Gail clamps on my lead so we can cross the main road and the bridge over the river and I can expect a fine gallop along the broad grassy paths though the trees and across the recreation ground.

On Friday morning it was raining heavily with 25-30 mph winds thrown in, and I'll admit I wasn't sorry when, after a very quick peek at the swollen river, we returned home (although not before the wind had turned her exceptionally robust 35 year old golf umbrella, survivor of many previous storms, inside out). 

The stormy weather continued all day and night. By Saturday morning I was starting to get restless so I persuaded Gail that we should try the park extension walk again, the rain having eased off, if not the wind. 

Well this was the 'green space' on the south side of the river.

And here's the low lying recreation ground where dogs are permitted to roam when the football players are absent. 

So (sigh) it was all a bit of a washout again.

In the afternoon Gail drove me inland a few miles and promised me a walk along what should be a "relatively dry" forest track.

Hmm. I guess she did say "relatively".....

Checking out Aberdeen's new e-bikes

Just recently, clusters of brand new, gleaming white e-bikes have appeared at certain locations on the streets of Aberdeen.

I even spotted three of them in Duthie Park yesterday on my early morning walk. 

Several of my readers have in the past sympathised with my plight at being left at home alone while my owner Gail indulges her enthusiasm for (non-motor assisted) cycling with her Thursday morning ladies. 

I wondered if these new bicycles, available for hire through a scheme recently introduced in the city, might provide a solution.

I checked out the bicycles front and back. I might even have 'christened' one of the tyres, but please don't tell anyone. Each bike even has its own individual name. (I suggest that a certain big dog friend in Florida enlarges the photos below to see what the one I was inspecting is called!) 

Sadly I couldn't see any suitable equipment for facilitating dog transport other than the chihuahua-sized baskets attached to the front handlebars.

Hmm. It seems the e-bikes can be accessed via an app. I asked Gail to show me the website but, can you believe it, there appears to be no provision for carrying 7.5 kg wire-haired fox terriers on these bicycles! 

The good news is that yesterday it was so windy, with heavy rain imminent, that Gail's cycling ladies (most unusually) opted to stay at home and, in one case at least, to tend to the emotional needs of their beloved WFT. 

One has to question whether darkest November was the best time of year for Aberdeen City Council to start up a bike hire scheme....

Does this count as a Nature Friday post? Gail says that, with just the briefest of mentions of local weather conditions, I might be "stretching it a bit". But I do believe that our dear pals the LLB Gang will allow for some latitude in interpretation of their blog hop theme! 

A new mural

What do you think of  this new piece of wall art, which recently appeared under the bridge where Great Southern Road crosses the Deeside Way*? 

Gail and I rather like it. 

PS Following from Monday's post about my little parking permit 'misdemeanour' (so-called), I am pleased to report that Gail received this nice reply to her request  - accompanied by photographic evidence - for a replacement permit.

*Deeside Way - a disused railway line converted to a traffic free route out of Aberdeen. Used by cyclists, dog walkers,  runners etc. But not, as far as we know, by four-legged creatures riding bicycles!

Permission to shred?

Look, here I am, 'posing nicely' on my Sunday walk in the grounds of Castle Fraser. Butter wouldn't melt etc. 

So why am I apparently in Gail's bad books? Again.

It seems to be connected with an email Gail sent to the local council on Saturday, part of which is reproduced below. 

I just don't get it. As any friend of my owner will attest, she can be heard complaining frequently and at length about the fact that each year she is required by Aberdeen City Council to fork out a whole £60 for the privilege of parking in the street in front of her own home, in a residential area where there is no pressure on parking spaces.

But when, terrier-style, I express my solidarity with Gail's objections to the whole parking permit scam, I'm given a hard time. 

Life is so not fair.  

Remembering in Aboyne

I expect you've all been wondering if Gail and I have been out and about with our friends M and J recently.

Silly you if you imagined that our 'not as young as they used to be' walking companions might have retreated indoors for the darker months! 

Here we are, enjoying a  walk along the River Dee in Aboyne earlier this week.

While M was trying to photograph a noisy flock of geese,

Gail's phone camera did a rather poor job of zooming in on a group of roe deer grazing in the nearby stubble. 

After these (variably successful) efforts to find suitable images for the LLB Gang's Nature Friday blog hop, we walked through the village and were pleased to notice that Aboyne's knitters have not been forgetting those killed in wars past and present.

Gail says she can't quite believe that scenes which she thought belonged in the First World War and should have been consigned to history are currently being re-enacted in Ukraine... Today we remember all those who continue to suffer in this appalling and unjustifiable conflict.

Nimble Nobby

Morning friends! 

I am thinking of putting in a request for a rebranding of this blog. 

'Nice Nobby / Naughty Nobby' will not, I think, quite do. The 'Naughty Nobby' bit is frankly rather offensive, using an insulting word to encompass a range of behaviours including curiosity, independence of spirit, creativity, determination, courage, exuberance and more. As for 'Nice', well I put that in the category of damning with faint praise. 

I was thinking about this in Duthie Park yesterday morning, when Gail had been rewarding me for jumping up on the concrete blocks in front of the Winter Gardens. 

She says she once saw a collie running along and over the whole line of 17 blocks at speed, and tried to train my predecessor Bertie to do the same, but all to no avail. So much for 'Bouncing' Bertie!

Since I conquered this particular task at first attempt with no problem at all, I believe that, sticking with the alliterative theme, 'Nimble Nobby' would be a suitable tag for this blog. Please watch the following short (30 sec) video and tell me if you agree. 

Oh and one more thing. On Monday one of our very favourite blog friends, Cecilia, asked if we knew that there is an Aberdeen in her home state of North Carolina? Well in fact we did. The notice board behind me here gives information about the different Aberdeens all over the world. 

Including this one.

I wonder if any of my other friends live near an Aberdeen? 

Exploring an Aberdeen water feature

A change today from mountains, forests and lochs. We are venturing into the urban landscape of Aberdeen city centre.

On Friday, when Gail proposed we walk together across town to pick up the car from the garage two miles away*, I was, I admit, less than thrilled.

Just grey city streets, no off-lead time, no playing with other dogs.

But I'm pleased to report the outing was not wholly without interest. First Gail made me 'pose nicely' by the water feature in front of Marischal (pronounced Marshall) College.

Then she filmed me watching the fountains spouting for a few seconds.

Finally, as the street was quiet, Gail let me go and investigate. I suspect she was hoping that the water would erupt again while I was enjoying a wee paddle, so she could film my reaction, but no such luck Gail! 

The rest of the walk was rather boring, to be honest.

*Gail explains: A tyre pressure gauge was damaged in the Torridon burst tyres incident, and needed fixed.

Just some trees

Keeping it simple for today's Nature Friday blog hop (hosted as ever by our lovely LLB Gang friends).

Here is a witch hazel seen in all its Halloween splendour in the grounds of Inshriach House.

And now for some birch trees. Who can get enough of their golden autumn beauty? 

Sadly, a big storm blasted through Northern Scotland a couple of days ago and now we have almost no leaves left on the trees here. Do you still have autumn colours in your part of the world?