Special Delivery

Dru-mum, why are you at the pooter again?
There are balls to throw, you know...

Yes, Nobby, but this is important. Don't you remember that we had a couple of things for Aunty Yamini in memory of Gail? They need to be sent to her, so I'm making this parcel and need to organise the courier. Is that okay with you?

Oh, yes, I remember. Thank you for helping with that.
As we are thinking of YAM-aunty, why don't we post the photo we took of that boat here? Aunty really, really, really likes boats!

If you are interested, you can read about what was in the parcel over at YAM-aunty's blog. 

In other 'administrative news', Dru and Stephen finally wrangled all the re-registration needed to become my true, proper, and permanent Peeps. They truly are my pawrents now!

See you next week, friends, for a Nature Friday post!

Toodle-pip...

Daily Doings

Just getting through the day can seem mundane, but it's also meaningful, don't you think? We all have the 'everyday' to deal with. 

For example, the other week, I asked Dru...

Whatchya doin' at that pooter when you 
could be throwing balls for me?

Well, Nobby, she said to me, apart from my own work and household needs, I have to tend to yours. First, there is the matter of making your next grooming appointment (and seeing my ears droop and eyes go wide, she distracted me by rushing on with...) and I have to order in a batch of your foodables. All the stuff that Gail left you is gone. 

Food is most important. I was glad to see, when it arrived, that it was substantial...

Dru discouraged me from emulating my good blogpals, Da Phenny and Da Nelly, by making mince of that box.

Anyway, there was that. Then there is the daily exercise obtained from throwing, chasing, hunting, and returning my balls. I demand a minimum of twenty minutes a day, but I'll take as much more as Dru or Stephen can provide. I have several balls of varying sizes...

...so I am not short of choice. However, whichever one I choose for the day has my total focus. That one and that one alone is my playmate for the session. I will follow it wherever it goes. Sometimes, that brings the risk of taking a leap... but Dru isn't too happy with that, so she gets down on her tummy to execute the extraction on my behalf. No photo of her doing that, but there is one of me making shapes enough to encourage her intervention!

Hehehehe, our peeps are so easy to train, aren't they?

Mind you, we do have to tolerate some nonsense in return, like the grooming malarkey. I endured it once more but put up a bit more of a protest about my whiskers being fiddled with. I'm going for the Steampunk Hipster look. (On a side note, did you know the term 'hipster' comes from the days of the British Empire's opium trade, when all the takers in the dens would lie on their side to smoke their pipes? That's your bit of trivia for the week.)

Anyway... all that debate with the groomer took up a bit of energy. I needed a nap when I got home! 

See you next week with more about events in the Lake District.

Popping Up

Just a wee postcard shot showing you one of my new fave spots... in the porch, sunpuddling! I have to say, the new accommodations are very... well... accommodating! Hope your spring is full of light.

Give Me A Reason

Hello again, furiends! 

As you saw in last week's repawt, I have been keeping quite busy around my new yard and local area, not without the occasional disagreement with the new humans. It's going to take a wee while to find our mutually acceptable boundaries. I mean, they can't have it all their own way... ...can they? 

Take Stephen, for example. Like my darling Gail, he is very active and tends to the athletic. However, he confounded me when he thought that I might take up running with him.

Now, don't be fooled by the stance of the fellow into thinking he was holding any form of enticement, the better to encourage enthusiasm for what, to me, seems an entirely pointless activity.

Yes, I run around the garden - but that is with some proper purpose behind it. Bunnies, or balls... or both. Perhaps a squirrel. Sticks, pull-toys, and other such things add purpose to movement beyond a standard trot. I even took to running somewhat when Gail took me to agility. In fact, that was about the only time that Gail herself would be found running. Walking, yes. Cycling, yes. Swimming, yes. Running? Not her thing either. Not without good reason. (Long timers here may recall Gail's reaction when I did think it might be worth attempting to beat Uncle Max's record at a Peak District Parkrun.)

So I looked at Stephen...

Give me a reason! Even if you did have liver bits in those cupped hands of yours, you'd need to be leaving them like the trail to the gingerbread house for me to consider following. 

You could try the ball on the stick a la donkey and carrot, but I guess that would cramp your running style. 

Tell me, furiends, do your peeps do activities with no apparent productive end to them? Do you go with them?? Why???

Of Bunnies, Balls And Baths

Hello there, furiends, far and near! Nobby here... Hope you haven't forgotten me. My new humum, Dru, has been a bit busy to play correspondent with YAM-aunty, but on Easter Monday, she found time to pass on my report.

It's fair to say, I admit, that I have been stretching the envelope a bit on the behaviour front. What's a WFT to do when his genetic makeup is raging? Bunnies making holes in my new territory was really annoying, so it was only right that I go digging up their burrows, don't you think? Turns out that Dru and Stephen were less convinced. They took to filling the excavations with immovable rocks...

Really? Do they want bunnies bundling all over their yard? Well, that aside, they also took umbrage at the results of my efforts, it seems, and even took CCTV evidence...

Did they not see all those posts from Gail about my ditching and diving indulgences?! Of course, Gail always managed to find at least a puddle, if not a burn, or better, a river, to dunk me in before returning to the house.

Here, though, actual baths are rather more prevalent. My adopted husibs, A&E turned up for Easter. I really like brofur E, and I thought I liked sisfur A, until she took to shampooing me! Not just a thimbleful, mind you. A full-on, total lathering. Dru let out a "goodness gracious" response to my whitey-white appearance after it! She managed to get some photos of that pristine wool as I rolled in the garden after to try and dull the odour... and the brightness...

Oh well... at least the sun was shining and the grass smelled sweet. Nothing quite like air-drying au naturel, wouldn't you agree?

Still and all, it was rather fun having A&E visit. We went for some very decent walks around the Lake District, had lots of play in the garden, cuddles, nibbles...

Oh, mentioning plays in the garden (other than bunny bating), there was a good deal of ball activity. You all may recall my obsession with my ball. Or, indeed, other dogs' balls... anyway, I have a lot of balls here now and one of the ways I got A to make amends for the shampooing fiasco was to throw that ball, and throw it again...and again... and at least 87, maybe more, times!

As you can see, my wool is also growing back apace. Spring works on the follicles, too!

Anyway, I'm having fun. Mostly. There was more to report, but Aunty tells me it's worth making another post, so I'll see you again next week! 

Toodle-pip!