A Sunday walk with some favourite companions

Oh it's been ages since we met up with our dear friends M and J. 

Far too long.

In between horrid weather, winter viruses and them swanning off to Munich to visit family, I've been missing my favourite walking companions. And not only 'cos M can be relied on to carry biscuits big enough to satisfy a labrador's appetite in her coat pocket...

We met on Sunday in Maryculter Community Woodland and made our way to the lookout point for elevenses. It was almost warm! 

I helped M and J find a seat, but my offer of further assistance with organising the mid-morning refreshments did not seem to be appreciated.

After posing nicely, once the humans had finished their coffee I carefully checked that no scraps of food had been left behind.

On the way back to the car I jumped in some agreeably muddy puddles. Apparently this is the reason I was not then invited to join M, J and Gail for a post-walk lunch in a nearby restaurant. 

Instead, this was my reward...

I hope my friends all enjoyed nice walks this weekend too. Perhaps without the foot bath bit.

Hyperactive tail-wagging

There are some humans whose very proximity prompts one's tail to enter a state of involuntary hyperactive wagging, even before one realises quite why one feels so excited. 

Of course, it didn't take long on Sunday morning to remember that Gail's friend M carries very delicious and generously sized biscuits in her coat pocket, and she can be relied upon to offer these to a certain enthusiastic fox terrier when we meet at the start of a walk.

To be honest, the treat bit was the highlight of our Sunday excursion along the river with M and J. 

I think I've mentioned before that it has been raining quite a lot in Aberdeen just lately. The walk came to an abrupt end when the path disappeared into the still swollen river Dee. 

I really don't know why Gail and J were wasting time debating the issue. I could have told them right away we were going to have to turn back!

A lovely outing. For some.

It all looked so promising on Saturday morning when Gail loaded me into the car and drove the short distance down to the mouth of Aberdeen harbour. We parked in the usual place and I was keenly anticipating a lively romp on the city beach. 

But, I'm sorry to report, things went downhill from then on. (Metaphorically, that is. One can't actually go down hill when standing right beside the harbour.)

First, we walked a very short distance to our friends M and J's car. M is usually such a reliable source of treats designed for big dogs, but she had inexplicably failed to bring any on this occasion.

Then Gail walked me back to our car and put me in the boot. She moved the vehicle to a shady spot, opened the windows a little and topped up my water bowl.

You'll have guessed what this meant. 

In truth I don't mind being left a while in the car. It's a comfy environment - a good place for a snooze, or one can look out the window and watch the passers by. But gosh Gail was gone for a long time. 

I waited patiently, and just as I was beginning to wonder if she would ever return, I heard the click of the car door being opened remotely. Then there was Gail, smelling rather fishy. (Literally, not metaphorically, this time). 

So it seems she'd been with M, J and their friend K, enjoying a meal at the 'Silver Darling', a renowned Aberdeen restaurant overlooking the harbour and the beach. They were celebrating M's birthday and M and J's 56th wedding anniversary. Apparently the food had been splendid, especially the seafood platter, although one has to ask, can a restaurant that doesn't allow dogs inside really be all that great? 

Finally it was time for the beach, and more disappointment to come. 

Most times of year I get to race around on the sands to my little heart's content. But on Saturday Gail decreed I must be kept on my lead and we'd just walk along the promenade. How I would have loved to go down and share some of the picnic food being consumed by the beachgoers, and assist the young children digging sandcastles.

Later at home, Gail showed me some holiday photos from an old family album. It seems she and her brother enjoyed playing on the beach too, when they were children.

Gail with her father and brother, Isle of Wight, summer 1966

Not squatters after all...

For a brief moment I was most alarmed when we arrived at the Torridon cottage last week. It appeared that squatters had taken up residence.

While Gail hastily intervened as I was about to lift a half eaten bar of chocolate from a bag left on the floor, the front door opened and in walked the 'intruders'. 

Happily it turned out that it was our dear friends M and J, using the cottage for a short break away from Aberdeen. I greeted M with a level enthusiasm appropriate to a known bearer of dog treats, while J kept a safe distance. 

It is always possible, when guests are present, that they have not been told those tedious 'house rules' about not feeding the dog from the table. I waited patiently, but in vain, next morning as our friends enjoyed their breakfast. 

Later, after M and J had departed the sunshine appeared and it was time to inspect the garden. 

And then to help Gail dig holes and plant out the azaleas she'd purchased from Cottage Garden Nursery* near Poolewe.

*Gail says: This delightful place sells a huge range of plants, specialising in varieties resilient to weather conditions in the NW of Scotland. Whether the plants are also resilient to being pulled out of the soil after planting and dragged across the lawn by a very NAUGHTY fox terrier before being put back in place, remains to be seen...

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.

A hotel in the woods?

Yesterday was a lovely morning for an outing in Maryculter Community Woods with our friends M and J.

Gail explained to me that, in a tradition going back to my predecessor Bouncing Bertie, these walks normally feature a coffee break where the humans can relax, sitting on a conveniently situated log and enjoying the view, and afterwards I would be expected to 'pose nicely' for a photo.  

Apparently Bertie would sit at M and J's feet for the photo call, but I decided to ring the changes, at least in one respect, and assert my top dog status...

Further down the path I spotted an unusual wooden construction and overheard M telling Gail it was some sort of a new hotel.

Oh that's wonderful, I thought, just the place for my pals from across the Pond to come and stay - Americans will find the rates so cheap now that the dollar and pound are more or less the same value. 

I checked out the accommodation inside and out and raced back to Gail, eager to debate whom to invite first. Her response was really quite belittling.

"Oh you are ridiculous Nobby, it's an insect hotel. Surely you noticed it doesn't even have a roof and the 'windows' and stuffed with twigs and pine cones! Come next year when all the wood has started decomposing in earnest, all sorts of creepy crawlies will be making this their home and no amount of cheap currency will tempt your friends to stay there."

Gail did later point our that we have a perfectly good house in Aberdeen, and another in Torridon, and plenty of room in both, and our friends need only say the word and we'd love to welcome them.  (Although if they visit the Torridon cottage in July and August and leave the windows open they might well mistake it for a midge motel...)

Naughty Nobby meets Mischievous Monty

 

Gail and I had lovely outing with our friends M and J on Monday. We visited Stonehaven, along the coast 15 miles south of Aberdeen.

Can you guess what the highlight was? 

Perhaps it was the chance to admire the view over the quaint harbour?

(Photo kindly provided by M)

Or maybe it was a run on the beach and a paddle?

Or was it the blue sky and sea and the sight of Dunnotar Castle in the far distance?

All wrong!  The highlight of the outing, by a country mile, was a chance encounter with fox terrier Monty, who turns out to be one of my older brothers. Despite being 18 months old and from the same parents, he is quite tiny compared to me! 

At first he seemed a little shy.

But that soon wore off, and before you could say "Mischievous Monty" I had him laughing away at my favourite "Naughty Nobby" joke...

"Have you heard the one about the human who thought she could outsmart her WFT....?"

The path less travelled

Little did I know what was in store on Saturday morning when Gail and I set off into the woods near Finzean with our friends M and J.

This intrepid couple (and perfect team) might just have celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary, but their taste for adventure is undimmed.

I had assumed we would stick to the main forest tracks, but no, our friends were all for exploring uncharted territory.

With the path alternating between indistinct and non-existent, I heroically help scout a route through the dense undergrowth.

Crucial decisions were required on how best to navigate the many obstacles along the way. 

As we penetrated deeper into the forest, hunger set in and I kept a lookout for wolves* while M and J foraged for energy-boosting sustenance.. 

There was a pause to 'regroup' before making the difficult decision to turn around and  push back to the car park. 

It was touch and go, but we made it just in time!

(Just in time, that is, to reach the nearby Finzean Farm Shop where the humans had reserved a table for lunch at 1:30 pm.....)

*Gail would like to point out that wolves have actually been extinct in the wild in Scotland for several hundred years.

Cultural heritage: a whole new ball game!

At the end of our Sunday walk around the Castle Fraser estate in Aberdeenshire, Gail wanted me to 'pose nicely' with our friends M and J in front of the historic castle.

If you are thinking that I wasn't entirely cooperating here because I was admiring the fine architecture of this elaborate 'Z plan' structure which dates back to the 16th century and perhaps earlier, you would be mistaken. 

More interesting by far was the prospect of demonstrating my footballing skills and thus living up to my famous (OK, famous in England, among people aged over sixty) namesake Nobby Stiles.

'Lively mind' or 'attention span of a gnat'

Last week's lesson at the Awesome Paws Academy was all about 'focus'. Apparently. Or so Gail told me later. In truth I wasn't paying much attention at the time.

I did later overhear Gail discussing the whole puppy class thing when we were out walking with her friends M and J. She was bemoaning my lack of concentration and poor school performance in general. 

Phrases like "attention span of a gnat" were being bandied about. 

Well, what is the point of having your own blog if you can't use it to put the record straight? 

So throughout last Wednesday's hour long class I was in fact focussing intently on fellow students Pedro, Kelvin, Chewy, Ezra and their humans. Also on any stray treats scattered about the place. And noises coming from outside. And so forth. 

Gail's complaint seems to be that I was "all over the place" and not paying any attention to her. 

To which there is only one possible response. 

GAIL, IT'S TIME TO LEARN IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!

And while we're at it, what about some praise for my lively and and enquiring mind?

I'm pleased to report we did have a lovely outing to Ballogie Estate with M and J on Saturday and, apart from the small matter of me sprinting after two mountain bikers at the start of the walk, I put on a compelling show of being Perfect Puppy (aka Nice Nobby), staying fairly close to the humans even when not attached to my walking string.