Not barbecue weather...

Gosh I was disappointed.

How I was looking forward to Deeside Dog Agility Club's 'Fun Show BBQ' on Sunday. 

Can you imagine a better day out? Just imagine all those juicy sausages...

But the signs were ominous on Sunday's early morning walk...

And yes you've guessed it. The message came through shortly afterwards. "BBQ cancelled due to heavy rain".

Sigh. 

At least we had enjoyed a nice ramble around the Drum Castle estate with friends M,J and K the day before. 

The sun even shone for a short while. And best of all, after the walk through the woods I made a new friend in the castle courtyard café. She's called Diva. Isn't she splendid? 

A damp tramp around the 'Gramps'

The weather has not been what one might call 'Nature Friday friendly' these past few days.

Gail says if I post some photos of our wet Wednesday walk around Kincorth Hill, aka the 'Gramps', first, then she will permit me do a bit of boasting about my recent performance at agility training, even though that has absolutely nothing to do with 'nature' as is understood in the context of the LLB Gang's blog hop. 

Of course it is in my nature to be a future superstar in the dog agility world. Often I am held back by confusing directions from Gail. Also, my 'creative' approach to running the set course tends to go unappreciated.  But just this time, I am pleased to present you with a short video in which both dog and handler got it mostly right!

A suggestion for friends in the Pacific Northwest

I was shocked, yes SHOCKED, to learn that on one day, when Gail was staying in Tacoma with her friend Marse, the two dogs DB and Josh did not get a walk, JUST BECAUSE IT WAS RAINING A BIT!

Now I have checked up on the weather statistics for that particular date - it was Tuesday 2nd January - and found out, yes it did indeed rain all day in the Pacific Northwest region. However, I am also aware that we are not here talking about Florida-style thunderstorms, Oklahoma tornadoes, Gulf Coast hurricanes, monsoons in Mumbai or Shetland Island gales. Rather we are dealing with heavy drizzle and light winds.

What do we do in Scotland on such a day? 

Do we stay indoors all day? 

We do not. 

WE USE AN UMBRELLA! 

Gail has this pretty, flowery one (we hope the flowers, together with the weather theme, will help qualify this post for Nature Friday).

It is larger and more robust than one of those telescopic affairs that ladies can fit in their handbags, but not as heavy as the typical golfing umbrella. There is a handy handle which can be hooked over the arm when the human needs to use both hands, for example when holding a lead while picking up dog poop.

With such an umbrella, your human can take you out for a rainy walk and her coat will stay mostly dry and her shoes will not end up saturated. She will not even have to flatten her hair by wearing a hat.

I highly recommend such an item to Gail's friends in the rainy part of Washington State.  

Your dogs will thank you for it! 

 

We're delighted once again to join the LLB Gang's always wonderful Nature Friday blog hop.

Nature Friday strike

Perhaps my friends can tell me how I am supposed to come up with a Nature Friday posts when it has been raining heavily in Aberdeen almost every day for the past two weeks, the riverside paths are flooded, woodland walks deemed too muddy and down by the sea you get blown off your paws.

And then on the one day this week when it finally stopped raining, all I got was a pre-dawn walk skirting the puddles in the park, before Gail headed off to meet her friends for what looked like a fun bike ride. 

Oh, Gail has reminded me that she did take me for a sniff around Dunecht Estate and the sun put in a brief appearance. I guess this is the closest I'll get to a nature post this week...

I trust my friends will have more to show today than tussocks of soggy grass and trees bare of leaves...

Nobby's poetic response to Scotland's recent wet weather

IF (THE NOBBY VERSION)

If I were a frog,

And not a soggy dog,

I wouldn't mind the rain.

If I were a lobster

And not Sir Nobby Nobster

I'd really not complain.

If I were a walrus

And not remotely porous,

I'd frolic in the ocean.

And if I were a sealion

And not a whip-smart canine

I'd always choose a soaking. 

If I were a puffin,

For whom a flood means nothin',

I'd not be agitated

But I am a fox terrier,

And frankly I am merrier,

When my land's not inundated.

Some things I learned this weekend

 

When your owner says "Nobby, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes"...

...she is not necessarily correct.

And when she says "Nobby, but surely you don't want to stay inside all day lounging around on the sofa in front of the cosy warm fire,  just because of a few drops of rain"...

...she could be wrong about that too.

Oh and by the way, it was not "just a few drops of rain", it was an all weekend long deluge. And I would also like to point out I was not the only member of the Gail and Nobby household to be doing their fair share of lounging around on the sofa this past couple of days!

A wet summer walk in Scotland

On Saturday afternoon Gail decided we'd try out a new walk. 

I just love exploring different places. Don't you? 

We started in the village of Lumphanan and the track ascended gently northwards through pretty woodland and up to a look-out point. Apparently on a clear day one can sit on this bench and enjoy a magnificent view of the Aberdeenshire hills. 

This was not a clear day. In fact it was raining increasingly hard. And the seat didn't look at all comfortable anyway, so we hastened on down along some muddy farm tracks and back to the car.

To be honest, I ended up grateful Gail had not planned a longer walk and I was quite happy to be home and curled up on the sofa, practicing my Perfect Circle pose.

Summer? Really?

According to the weather experts here in the UK, today, 1st June, marks the start of 'meteorological summer'.

I am still a puppy, 4 months old plus a few days, and Gail says I am "just skin and bone" at the moment*. When at home, I always seek out the warmest spot available. So I am looking forward to some lovely summer weather in the months to come, although Gail has pointed out that since we live in Northern Scotland, I might  might need to "manage my expectations"...

And it's true, it was only 10ºC and raining when Gail took me for a walk along the river Dee at Banchory on Monday afternoon. The walk was fun (all walks are fun, right?) but I was feeling a bit shivery by the end. 

I gather that Gail knitted several sweaters for my predecessor 'Bouncing Bertie'. Between you and me, I am hoping that in time for next winter she knits me one of my very own, tailor made for my slender frame, rather than trying to fob me off with ill-fitting hand-me-downs...

*Gail says: Nobby has proved an erratic eater, and our experience at puppy class made it clear he is not primarily 'food motivated'.  So he's a skinny little chap at the moment, although I'm pleased to say that in the past couple of weeks he's been much better about consuming and keeping down his meals and is now gaining weight more rapidly.