Getting into shape...

Friends, I am thrilled to announce that later this month I shall be participating in my first ever 'proper' agility competition, the Granite City Dog Agility Show, taking place in Brechin on 19-21 July.

I am even more thrilled to announce that, after all the time spent on my training, my 'handler' (i.e. Gail) has taken it upon herself to get into shape for the show too.

To this end, on Monday evening she joined one of the 'Agility Handler Fitness Sessions' currently being run by a fellow Deeside Dog Agility Club member.

 

Yet better news is that Gail returned from the 75 minute session in one piece. 

In fact not just in one piece but cock-a-hoop at how she surprised the other three participants with her sprinting ability. She also says she enjoyed the environment - outdoors in the evening sunshine, in a lush green field overlooking Stonehaven, with a soundtrack of cattle lowing contentedly in the adjacent meadow and a view of the North Sea in the distance. So much more agreeable than a gym.

So, Granite City Dog Agility Show, here we come! 

What could possibly go wrong...? 

PS from Gail: I am taking a summer break from my usual Monday Pilates session, where I am generally the dunce of the class. So I'll admit to a bit of an ego boost at being able to outpace one of our much younger (and rather competitively-minded) agility club members on Monday night! Oh and to respond to Nobby's question "what could possibly go wrong?" The honest answer is "quite a lot, actually".

Blog book update

A word about 'blog to book' business this morning. 

I know that I am not the only blogging pup whose human likes to convert my posts to a hard copy hardback book, and I am pleased to report that on Gail's bookshelves she now has twelve volumes of these so-called 'blog books' - the first (dark blue) from the Hamish the Westie blog, the next nine (lighter blue) covering the entirety of my predecessor Bouncing Bertie's distinguished life, and now we have, in red, two volumes recording my eventful first two and a half years. 

Hmmm. I expect you have, like me spotted, that 'Nice Nobby/Naughty Nobby: Volume 2' is a bit bigger than my Volume 1 and indeed all the earlier volumes. 

Now why would that be? 

Gail explains that all the earlier books were produced by an outfit called 'Blog2Print', but much to her horror, when she logged on to their site last last month she found a farewell message, announcing that they had 'closed their digital doors'. 

After a brief panic, she got googling and found an alternative called Pixxibook, and decided to give them a try. 

The Pixxibook product uses A4 sized paper and the text and pictures are formatted in a slightly different way than in the Blog2Print books, as you can see in the comparison below (biggify the images if you want a clearer look).

Blog2Print book format

Pixxibook format

Gail tells me Pixxibook offers fewer options for modifying the formatting. The photos vary in size but mostly come out larger that in the Blog2Print books, and she thinks the text is arranged more neatly on the page. Overall, we are both happy with the Pixxibook result. After all, who wouldn't want bigger pictures of me? 

It might be a tad more expensive, but of course I'm worth it! 

We are wondering if any of our readers have experimented with other 'blog to book' options? 

Home to vote

For the last day of our tour of England, we spent the night with Gail's friends Steve and Drusilla in their beautiful home in Cumbria.

Resident Jack Russell Dora has a reputation for being "terrier-torial", but after some initial hesitation (involving teeth baring) she accepted my presence in the kitchen with moderately good grace.

In the evening Gail and Steve, cycling enthusiasts both, settled down to watch the Tour de France highlights. Dora and I had been hoping that, in the extreme excitement of seeing Mark Cavendish achieve his record breaking 35th stage win, the humans might forget to guard the cheese plate, but sadly it was not to be...

It would have been nice to stay in this lovely part of the country and enjoy the hospitality of Gail's friends for a few days longer. I mean, I was starting to feel quite at home.

But Gail said no. Apparently it was important to head back to Aberdeen in time to vote in the General Election. 

Doppelgänger

Seen in a shop window in Pocklington...

A quick postcard from Nobby

Dear friends,

I've been having a lovely time down here in Nottingham, despite an unsettled tummy... Thankfully neither Janet nor Gail's sister-in-law Kathy got cross with me for vomiting on their carpets.

Surely it was not the yummy decomposing carcass I found in the undergrowth when walking beside the Cromford canal on Saturday that caused the problem?

We all know Gail enjoys exercise and please don't worry, she's been getting plenty what with all the running back and forth with buckets and mops and bottles of carpet stain removing solution...

I am now on a diet of small spoonfuls of rice and chicken and I'm looking forward to a gentle walk with Gail's relatives Sue and Martin later today.

Meanwhile, here are a few pictures of our trip so far. None involving regurgitated food.

Toodle-oo!

Nobby.

With cousin Coco and Gail's brother Max

On Janet's very satisfactory lap

Being a Good Boy on the Beeston to Whatstandwell train

Posing nicely by the Cromford canal

Passing traffic

Admiring the Derbyshire countryside

Election fever hits Nottingham??

Meeting Lyn,Ted and Keith at Calke Abbey

Handsome Ted, a recently rescued Patterdale terrier cross

Water-loving terriers?