Just a big kid...

It seems to me that my owner Gail is something of a hypocrite. 

One minute she is lecturing me on how I should be conducting myself like a proper grown up dog now that I am nearly two years old. 

And then I observe how, well into her seventh decade, she's been acting like a big kid all week just because we have a few inches of snow. 

Domestic chores have been neglected, paperwork has piled up, errands remained unrun, all just so Gail can go out and play in the Winter Wonderland that is NE Scotland right now. She says the snow probably won't last long and it's important to seize the moment.

OK. I admit. It has been fun. 

Especially when the sun came out for our walk around Dunecht Estate on Wednesday afternoon and the snow was all sparkling and powdery, the silver birch bark glistened and the skies were crystal blue.

Or even better on Thursday morning, when Gail's cycling group deemed the snowy roads not safe for two wheels (hooray!) and instead Gail and her friend Anne took me for a magical walk through the shifting dunes of Forvie Nature Reserve (momentarily stabilised by snow and ice), and onto the deserted beach where the only disappointment was the complete lack of other dogs to chase.

Happy Nature Friday! 

Nordic Nobby

Finally, Proper Snow! 

First thing Monday morning, Duthie Park had a covering of about two inches.

After persistent flurries throughout the day, a ski-able amount had accumulated, and Gail's friends posted this photo from nearby Kirkhill Forest.

What are we waiting for Gail?

I'm thrilled to report that I did not have to wait long, and on Tuesday morning I was invited to join Gail and her friend Anita for a cross country skiing outing on nearby Hazlehead Golf Course.

Gail is thrilled to report that Nobby passed his first proper try out as cross country skiing companion with flying colours. He behaved like a perfect gent throughout the two hours Anita and I were enjoyably swooshing around the golf course. He didn't bark at the skis, run off, chase after other dogs or get in the way, and he even endured the obligatory snowball removal process at the end of the outing with good grace! 

Faces of Spring in Scotland...

In the Nobby household we believe in natural beauty treatments. 

After a week of snow-based facials I'm now back to to the usual mud pack...

Happy Nature Friday to all my friends! 

P.S. I think you should know that Gail and I had a bit of a falling out this week. It was her fault (of course). After the heavy snow on Monday night she abandoned me on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning and met up with friends to go cross country skiing on a local golf course. The weather was glorious - blue skies, sunshine, no wind - but she claimed the snow would be too deep for my little legs to manage. So on Thursday morning, when the snow had melted a bit, I was invited to join her cycling group for a nice walk (the roads being too icy for the usual bike ride) and I took my revenge by stealing both the homemade muffins she'd brought along as a snack. I am pleased to report that courgette, halloumi and olive muffins are totally delicious and sustaining fare for a 7-8 mile romp around Scolty Hill and the adjacent Blackhall Forest. But gosh, Gail does get a bit grumpy when she's hungry...

An unexpected visitor from the Arctic

Well, so much for March coming 'in like a lion out like a lamb'.

No-one seems to have mentioned that a polar bear might drop by to visit in between...

I looked around  in vain for the normally ultra-reliable Duthie Park snow plough yesterday morning.

It turned up just as we were heading home. We think the driver, normally so diligent and up at the crack of dawn, had imagined winter was over and allowed himself a lie in! 

Setting the record straight

Well as you can see, I've been having fun out and about in the snow this week. So much so in fact that I fear I've left it rather late to get in touch with Santa Claus. But it has come to my notice how he might have been receiving 'mixed messages' about my behaviour these past eleven months, so I hope this wee poem will set the record straight...

Dear Father Christmas

Let me remind you how I'm Nice 

(It's possible you've got it wrong!)

But 'Naughty Nobby' cuts no ice,

So many good things I have done.

When Gail lost Bertie and was sad,

I came along and cheered her up,

With limitless exuberance, 

And being just the cutest pup.

I love to travel in a car,

I never bark, or whine or yap,

I love to meet dogs in the park.

I'm such an affable young chap.

In cafés I'm so well-behaved

You'd scarcely know I'm there at all,

And out on walks, when off the lead

I generally come when called.

At night I settle in my crate,

And sleep right through 'til break of day.

And then, with thanks, I meditate

On all the fun I'll have today.

And all my so-called 'Naughtiness',

(No need, I think, to catalogue),

Can, without doubt, be reassessed

As great material for my blog!

Arctic magnificence

Apparently we needed to make a quick visit to Torridon this week to 'winter-proof' the cottage now that Winter Proper has arrived.

It's a four hour drive across from Aberdeen to our special part of the West Coast, and the last hour is on roads which are remote, narrow and twisty. The final bit down to the cottage is a gradient of up to 20%...

A scene of Arctic magnificence greeted us in Torridon and I was secretly hoping we'd be stuck there for the week, especially when the neighbour farmer told us that the local snow plough was out of action, having skidded on the ice on a sharp bend and come off the road a few days previously.

But Gail insisted she had "stuff to do" back in Aberdeen and, after yet more snow had fallen, she was mighty relieved to see the snow plough finally arrive at our side gate.

And so we made it safely home to the city and, er, guess what, more snow! 

Happy Nature Friday friends! Have you been enjoying Winter Splendour in your part of the world?

Winter questions

Just a couple of things today.

First, a question about winter etiquette. 

I am right, aren't I, that one is not expected to obey the command "Come Nobby!" when there is a covering of snow on the ground?

And particularly so if one has found a new Golden Retriever playmate in the woods.

Then there's the issue of my crate. Gail is worried that it is now too small as when I am in the 'sit' position my head touches the roof, and I cannot stretch out my long legs fully. But I like to sleep in there, all curled up and snug, especially now that Gail has draped a blanket over the crate for added cosiness. I'm sure you'll agree there is no need for any changes to my night-time sleeping arrangements, just 'cos I'm a Big Boy now.

Nobby hails his first Nature Friday

I bet some of you looked at the photo above and thought: "Naughty Nobby, he's gone and de-stuffed a bean bag, and covered the place with those pesky polystyrene beads". 

But you would be wrong on two counts. 

First of all, I maintain that I am Nice Nobby and not Naughty Nobby. And no, that is not supposed to be an April Fool joke!

Secondly, the little white balls are not polystyrene beads at all, rather they are pea-sized* hail stones (or at least petit pois) which fell from the sky and landed on our back garden earlier in the week. 

All clear now? 

And not only did we have hail, but the next morning I woke up to a different type of cold white stuff.

My first ever opportunity to make yellow snow! Yippee! 

Sadly, it - my own personally manufactured yellow snow that is - disappeared before Gail had a chance to capture it on camera for posterity.

Oh, I'm being told it is customary also to post a photo of flowers on Nature Friday. 

The truth is, we only have a couple of unremarkable daffodils in the garden at present, but I hope you like this Mother's Day bouquet, which Gail babysat for a few days as the intended recipient, our neighbour Yvonne, was away, something her daughter in Paris had not realised.... 

 

*Gail tells me that some of my readers, who live in places like the American Midwest, will be less than impressed with pea-sized hail. But we can promise you it is quite unusual in these parts. 

P.S. Huge thanks to Ann from Zoolatry, who kindly designed the special new blog header for me. Isn't it grrrrreat! 

This is my first time joining in with the LLB Gang's Nature Friday blog hop. Did I do OK?