The Fairy Tale of Gight

Today, we are pleased to take part in YAM-aunty's Final Friday Feature, bringing you a true life story that belongs in the "you couldn't make it up" category...

Once upon a time, in darkest NE Scotland, there lived a Good Fairy disguised as a wire fox terrier called Nobby. Most unfairly, this particular pup had the reputation for being naughty, but as you will see if you read this to the end of this tale, the designation is inaccurate. 

One day in mid-April, 2023, Nobby and his human Gail went for a longish walk from Methlick to the Braes of Gight, a pretty area of rural Aberdeenshire, part pastureland, part forest. 

Readers should be aware that, in the aftermath of December 2021's destructive storms Arwen and Barra, many forest tracks in this region of Scotland are still an obstacle course due to wind toppled trees. Through one stretch of the forest, Gail had several times to duck under or clamber over tree trunks blocking the path, although Nobby of course could easily scramble his way through.

About half a mile beyond the fallen timber area, Nobby and Gail reached Gight Castle, now a picturesque ruin. Gail decided to take a photo and reached for her phone/camera, but to her horror she found it was not longer where it should be, in the back pocket of her backpack.

As we know, humans are very dependent on their phones these days and it has to be said that, for a moment, Gail (not in general a panicker) did come close to panicking. 

Then she engaged brain and concluded that the phone must have fallen out of the pocket, which was not properly closed, on one of the several occasions when she had been forced to crawl under a fallen tree. So Nobby and Gail went back into the woods. Gail tried to remember the exact route she had taken, but was starting to despair of ever finding her phone, regretting in particular that its cover was black. 

Suddenly, Nobby took off purposefully up the path, disappeared for a few seconds behind a tree and emerged with a thin, dark, oblong shaped object clamped between his jaws. Gail exclaimed "Nobby, that's my phone, LEAVE IT!"

As was his custom, Nobby danced around with the object in his mouth to tease Gail, but before long,  proving he truly is a Good Fairy deep down, and not really Naughty at all, he released the phone. Remarkably, it was undamaged.

Gail and Nobby resumed their walk, Nobby posed nicely in front of the castle ruin, was given a yummy treat, and they both lived happily ever after.  Or at least for the next few days.

New arrivals

So Gail drove me across to Torridon yesterday afternoon, and it turned out there were some new arrivals roaming around in the fields surrounding the cottage.

We went for a closer look (through the Nobby-proof fence of course).

 And you know what Gail said?

"Those lambs are only ten days old Nobby. Don't worry, they'll soon stop looking cuter than you".

CUTER THAN ME!!!

I think Gail failed to notice that at least one of the wee lambs had a dirty bottom...

Well anyway, I'd soon had enough of those supposedly cute baby sheep. 

Now Gail, let me into the cottage please, and light the fire, it's still chilly here at latitude 57.5ºN.

The terrier's not for sharing

Imagine! Can you believe this? Bobby the cockapoo, whom I met in the park on Saturday morning, apparently had the notion I might be prepared to share my stick.

And when I made it quite clear, or so I thought, that I was not for sharing, he had the cheek to try to take it off me. 

Have you ever been foolish enough to engage in tug-of-war with a terrier?

What chance would a soft-mouthed spaniel type with a gentle demeanour have against the jaws of a feisty and tenacious WFT?

We all know there will only ever be one winner. 

Magnolia malcontent

So you would think, in a week when I did Gail a VERY BIG FAVOUR* during a walk one afternoon, that my dear owner would have been prepared to spend lots of time helping me put together a particularly magnificent Nature Friday post.

But no, instead she prioritised going on a long and hilly bike ride with her friends on Thursday. 

After which I was hastily taken around the park, shoved in front of a magnolia bush and told to "pose nicely" beside the pretty blooms.

I was pretty reluctant to cooperate. 

I doubt very much that my friends will want to see Gail and her friends riding their bicycles around the Aberdeenshire countryside and picnicking beside the Dee in glorious Spring sunshine. I suppose the fact that Gail offered me these pictures to pad out the post is tantamount to an admission that the magnolia theme is in itself a bit thin.

Oh and I want you to know that I did in the end pose nicely.

Happy Nature Friday friends!

*Readers will have to wait another week for YAM-aunty's Final Friday Feature slot to find out more about this particular adventure.

Explorer down time

Even the most adventurous pup enjoys a comforting cuddle every now and then.

A question of stamina

Why would I be tired after a twelve mile* hike?

Gail seemed to think I might be, but between you and me, that probably says more about how her was sixty-four year old legs were feeling by the end of our walk on Saturday. 

I, of course, was still pretty sprightly after a glorious gallop around the hills near Ballater in stunning spring sunshine. 

We started in the woods at Milton of Tullich, where the birch trees have not quite come into leaf. 

A couple of miles on, we were out into open country.

There are just a few signs of human civilisation in this part of the world. 

Gail was awestruck by the magnificent panorama of snow-capped Aberdeenshire hills, whereas I focused on the near at paw. 

Then it was back down to the river valley and a patchwork of trees and sheep-grazed fields, with Lochnagar glimmering in the distance.

Finally, we returned to civilization, and Gail enjoyed a cup of tea and a scone on the terrace of a café in Ballater. We could have gone inside but three disputatious Lhasa Apsos had got there ahead of us and, disappointingly, Gail thought it would be "more relaxing" to stay away from the canine mayhem.

*Gail says: To be accurate, I walked twelve miles; Nobby, with his frequent side trips into the undergrowth, probably covered more than twenty. My friend Henry and I did a similar version of this walk with Bertie back in 2019, as reported here.

Gail and Nobby's hike, 15 April 2023

Hidden in the woods

 

Isn't it fun to explore?

Being a terrier of limitless curiosity, I rarely fail to find something of interest, even on a modest local walk like the one we took on nearby Kincorth Hill last week. 

The gorse on the hill is now fully in bloom, so of course I stopped to sample the powerful and pleasing (to both humans and WFTs) aroma of coconut.

Then, while following up another scent in the grass (possibly one less attractive to Gail) I heard the sound of children playing the the woods.

Of course I had to investigate. It turns out they were building a den, with its own very special driveway. Gail asked if she could take some photos. The three youngsters, aged about eleven or twelve, looked at her with some suspicion, hesitated then agreed.

Gail thinks it was nice to see kids playing creatively outdoors in their Easter holidays. I am thinking I am glad we have a computer and a blog so I can share my adventures!

Please note there are literally millions of daffodils in bloom in NE Scotland at the moment, so there is no harm done if a few of them are pulled up!

Happy Nature Friday friends and thank you once again to our LLB Gang friends for hosting this always wonderful blog hop. 

Early morning decisions

7 am in Duthie Park.

What mischief next?

Sprint across the park to play with other dogs? Jump up to greet their humans (preferably ones wearing light coloured trousers)? Go for a muddy paddle in the 'wetland area'? Grab an interesting piece of litter, run into the shrubbery with it, and defy Gail's calls to come out? Dive into the duck pond? Say an over-enthusiastic hi to the heavily muscled guy who uses the kids climbing frame as gym equipment? Steal another dog's ball and don't give it back? 

Let me just stand here looking adorable for a minute while I make up my mind. 

Embryonic agility champion?

Did you do anything special for Easter?

Or were you just made to pose for a photo wearing bunny ears? (If so, bad luck.)

I'm delighted to report that I had a wonderful treat on Easter Sunday morning, when Gail had signed me up for a 'taster session' at a local dog agility club.

Now I've always felt, having watched those collies performing at Crufts on TV, that I might be rather good at agility. After all, I am super confident, high energy and never fazed by a new challenge. I am also a quick learner, nimble and sprightly and I absolutely love jumping and climbing on things. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

For some reason, Gail seemed less certain of my status as embryonic agility champion. She claims my "disinclination to follow rules" and "extreme sociability (with other dogs)" might be impediments to success.

Talking of sociability, my training partner on Sunday was this fine fellow Cody, a five year old cockerpoo. 

To be honest I would happily have spent the hour racing around the field with Cody, but apparently that wasn't what we came for and pretty soon I grasped the idea that sausage treats a-plenty were on offer if I cleared jumps, ran through the tunnel, and over a structure called an 'A' frame*.

And apparently, according to Gail, I "exceeded expectations" and only twice was responsible for the shout "dog on the loose!" sounding across the field. All this means we might go back. I do hope so! 

*I'm told my predecessor Bouncing Bertie once distinguished himself on the 'A' frame, as described in this post:  https://bouncingbertie.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving.html

Eucalyptus?

There is a pretty cover on Gail's current journal (the notebook she scribbles in every morning over breakfast when she could be paying attention to me).

The PlantNet app of Gail's phone suggests the leaves depicted are some sort of Eucalyptus.

When Gail was out at the dental hygienist the other day, I noticed she'd left the book at the edge of the kitchen table, from where I was able to knock it off and have a closer look.

I regret to report that Gail was VERY CROSS when she returned home. I guess it was the session with the hygienist that put her in such a bad mood...

She is saying the photos of me checking out the moss and lichen on a rotting log in Pitfichie Forest on Wednesday would make for a more pleasing Nature Friday post.

ChatWFT

Gail, we keep hearing about this new artificial intelligence thingy, ChatGPT. Do you think maybe it could help me compose a blog post for days when I've nothing much to report? 

Well Nobby, that's an interesting idea. Why don't we give it a go?  

HALF AN HOUR LATER 

Gail, I am getting a bit tired of seeing the following text appearing on the screen every time we attempt to log in. 

I wonder if any of our friends have tried using this 'large language model', which some say is set to take over the world?

I don't know Nobby, perhaps they'll tell us. Meanwhile I think you'll need to revert to your usual blogging technique.

OK Gail, but I've just had a brilliant idea. We could just rebrand it as ChatWFT to make us sound all modern and clever! And today I'll happily chat about the episode in the park last week when I picked up an empty crisp packet and ran off with it into a dense shrubbery and ignored your calls and successfully evaded capture for about fifteen minutes (gosh that was fun) until I caught sight of one of my dog pals and emerged, furs full of twigs and soil.....

Nobby, oh Nobby, how I wish that episode was a so-called 'hallucination' dreamt up by a computer. I thought we'd agreed your 'resource guarding' behaviour was not big and not clever and you weren't going to post about it....

TO BE CONTINUED...