Mum had the camera out today. She gets excited about flowers and wanted close-ups 
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I had a very special visitor today It was cousin Gyp’s dad 
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I greeted him politely and posed for a formal photograph – - -
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But I couldn’t contain myself for long – I was SO excited to meet him and wanted close-ups
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.Oh, and he doesn’t call me Amos, he calls me the Tinker
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On a car ride to see Grandma yesterday, it was my job to look after the cake
To make sure Dad was going the right way,
To keep an eye on the cake,
To guard the cake,
And to look after the cake a bit more.
Mum has a reputation (according to Dad) for planting wonky trees.
Today I supervised the old boys, who were making sure she’d got this one straight.
There’s a biting cold wind and the sky looks like snow,
So she’s snuggled in front of the fire.
I see no fun in sitting,
Or reading,
Or knitting,
Or listening to songs from a choir 
With a tap on the door I ask to go out.
She slowly gets up and obliges,
Goes back to her seat,
Her book,
And the heat,
Which to me no surprise is (tricky rhyme, that 
)
I tap straight away, as though to come in,
With a sigh, she rises once more,
Opens the door,
Says, “Come in!”
I run off a smidgen and then – - -
She closes the door, goes back to her book and I
Repeat – the – whole – process again
Looking as keen as I can, with purpose and vim,
I stare at a toy, then the distance.
She’s weakening, I know – it’s beginning to show,
It’s working, you know – my persistence
She’s now by my side, though it’s taken a while,
To drag her away from the fire.
The garden’s more fun,
Come rain, snow or sun,
We play till the pair of us tire
We play and we train and we train and we play,
It’s all much the same – interaction!
I’m a demanding young hound,
But all that I ask,
Is to be with my people and ACTION!
I understand a lot of the English language and I’m quite good at body language, so I can work out if my favourite words are being used in the context I like.
For example,
“Have we run out of tea?”
isn’t as exciting as,
“Would you and Spike like your tea?”
and
“Did you drive into town or walk?”
doesn’t require me to run to the coats and leads, but
“Shall we go for a walk?” does
I don’t pretend to understand some of the more subtle nuances of language and metaphor is often lost on me, but when I tell you that I’m having to use Dad’s computer, it’s because Mum’s laptop has crashed – literally! (Her body language said it all!)
There was a family-get-together at our house last week, which promised to be an excellent opportunity for performing party tricks, retrieving repeatedly thrown toys (always happy to keep visitors entertained!) and generally getting lots of attention and fuss
But there were babies at the party and Spike and I were confined to the kitchen for most of the evening
We were invited out briefly (on ours leads, I ask you!) to do a quick turn, but on the whole the evening was a bit of a disappointment.
One of the rabbits was out loose in the garden overnight a few weeks ago and Dad says she must have had a bit of a party too!
It was Mum’s first coat-free walk of the year today and she wanted to enjoy it without the camera dangling round her neck. (I was pleased, because when she bends down to put me on my lead, it sometimes bumps me on the head!)
Spike and I tried to walk nicely up the road, but it’s always difficult for us when we know where we’re going – - we just can’t wait to get to the “Off you go!” bit
Once we’re free to run and play and leave our mark and sniff and leave our mark and pick up sticks and splosh in ditches and leave our mark and race each other and leave our mark, I have a big smile on my face
Sometimes I like to walk at Mum’s heel and look up at her and smile and sometimes I just love to run as fast as I can and as far away as I can before I hear the “Amos, here!” call, then I turn and run back as fast as I can, always with a big smile on my face.
We don’t often see other dogs out on their walks but when Mum does spot one, she puts us on our leads
I don’t think she trusts us to play nicely
So, when I shot off up the lane and was over the brow of the hill before she called, I was delighted to see a young golden dog enjoying a good run off her lead too
I said, “Hello!” very nicely then ran back to Mum to tell her about my new friend and was very pleased when Maisie ran with me
We came into view as we hurtled over the top of the hill, me first, with Maisie just a pace behind, both wearing big grins
It was a big surprise for Mum and it made her grin too
We were allowed to play for a few minutes, but it was all a bit too exciting for Spike and he had to go on his lead. When it was “Amos, here!” time, Maisie came with me and Mum suddenly had three dogs sitting at her feet! That made her smile again!
Maisie’s people and Mum had a nice chat before we continued on our walks in opposite directions.
Mum wishes she’d taken her camera!
Uncle Andy is coming to collect his sheep.
After all the sheepdog training sessions I’ve had, I’m sure I could have rounded them up and put them in the trailer; after all, I’m always rounding up the ducks and bringing them to the back door for Mum.
But what did they do? – - – - – use an old pallet, a twelve foot gate, some baler twine and a tub of food and the silly sheep just went into the pen of their own accord. How boring is that!
I kept an eye on them, though, just in case they made a break for it.
Thought you might like to read about the adventures of my cousin Gyp.
He’s a very erudite dog AND has his very own shop!
http://www.mountainfeet.co.uk/gyp_blog.htm
I’m always cautiously optimistic when they start piling boxes of things near the front door.
I like to work out whose things they are, where they might be going, who’s going to take them and whether Spike and I will be invited.
The pile of things went into the car, as did Spike as soon as he saw the opportunity of the open front door, the side gate and the car door – he’s no fool!
There wasn’t much room for me when it came to “Amos, in the car!” time, but I snuggled in and politely asked Spike to budge up a bit and off we went
Robert was at the other end of our long journey. He was pleased to see his things and us too. Once the car had been emptied into Robert’s new house, he showed us around where he lives.
He has too many cars near his house, but after only a very short walk, he has a snowy park with hills, paths, trees, a fast-flowing river, bridges, fields, children’s playgrounds and a place with interesting animals in enclosures (Spike and I weren’t allowed in the last two places.)
Mum was complaining about the light (her camera skills), but wanted to show you these:
There were a few “Awwww”s when Mum was looking at these:
but Spike and I were eager to get on – there were so many new things to see and smell
An exciting day was topped off by tea (I’m always glad they remember to pack our tea!) and meeting a new friend
I reminded her of her collie back home and she really, really liked my cuddles
Thank you for showing us your new home, Robert
Giving the ducks water for washing and drinking
Feeding the sheep
Feeding the wild birds
Wintry walks
Playing in the snow
And warming your feet up when you come in
I’m old enough/well-brought-up enough/sensible enough to know that you don’t steal food from other dogs or humans (not if they’re watching, anyway )
- – - and it’s very bad manners to put your front paws up onto tables and work-surfaces, even just to have a better look – - -
But last week, when they’d carelessly left out a bowl of baked beans on the kitchen table and two slices of bread on the breadboard – - – - and there was no one about – - – - the beans and bread disappeared! (Shame I couldn’t reach the toaster )
I got the blame because Spike’s even older/better-brought-up/more sensible/(and besides, he has “poor old legs” ) than I am.
Then yesterday, Mum had left a big pan of vegetable casserole on the cooker top, (though the grill pan in front of it which Dad had made his bacon sandwiches in was much more enticing!)
In my effort to reach the grill pan to see if he’d wasted any bacon fat (I abhor waste, don’t you?), I must have leant on the knob which turned on the heat under the casserole – - – -
- – - – - so I got the credit for putting the dinner on
Yesterday’s outing was to one of our favourite beaches
We went for a good run, to chase balls, to paddle and to have a swim if we should fancy it.
I don’t swim unless I have to, but Spike usually enjoys a dip.
On this occasion Spike didn’t fancy it either. The sea was rolling and crashing harder and higher up onto the sandy slope than I’d ever seen before, so we stayed out of the water.
There were a few other people on the beach, but they hadn’t gone for a good run, to chase balls, or to padde or swim. Instead, they stood at the water’s edge, looking out to sea, with long poles resting on tripods. Mum kept us away from them
- – - until – - -
she noticed something interesting next to one particular group of people with their tripod and rod.
She put us on our leads and went for a closer look – - -
The something interesting was quite happy in the company of the young men, and not at all bothered by our approach. It lolled on the sand next to the tripod and stretched out its whiskered nose, rolled onto its side and extended a webbed hand.
One of the young men came over to talk to Mum about their interesting companion. They’d first seen it swimming in the sea, but it had come out to join them on the beach and had stayed with them all day!
Mum was really cross with herself for not having a camera or mobile phone with her, but the young man was kind enough to send her a couple of the photographs he’d taken with his phone
Do you remember Mum’s plan to walk all of the footpaths in The Wolds with Spike and me?
She keeps special paper maps at home so that she can trace our walks with a pink highlighter pen. (She takes rainproof maps with us.)
Well, we did a few more miles of Walking The Wolds today
There was plenty for me and Spike to enjoy with our noses
As usual, I did lots of running back and forth at top speed (Spike likes to trot along at Mum and Dad’s pace), but there wasn’t much for Mum to see or take photographs of.
She says we’ll go back and do this one again – - – on a clear day!
Today’s outing was for a rather wet walk, though not at the beach.
There were a few sploshy ditches, a deep, disused canal, a stream, an extremely flooded field and a very fast-flowing river.
It was a trip down Memory Lane for Mum, who used to come here when she was younger (though she doesn’t remember it ever being quite so wet!)
She would sit on the river bank on Summer days and watch water voles, climb the old willow trees which stretched out and lay thick, rough branches from one side of the river to the other, walk along the old canal tow-paths and one Winter, she remembers, skate on the frozen, flooded field.
Her old dog, Jess, learned to enjoy water here and the canal tow-path was a part of one of their favourite walks after school.
Spike and I had a great time, but I was too fast for Mum’s little camera in the poor light
and the river was too fast for Spike and his poor old legs!
I was ready to go in and rescue him, but you’ll be pleased to know that he managed to struggle his way to dry land and is safe and well
- – - and a good start to another year of living life to the full
This time last year, I resolved to:
1.“Find out where the hosepipe’s gone – it surely can’t be easier for them to use buckets to fill the ducks’ ponds!”
I think it might have been a hosepipe ban which made them put it away – - – they cut off a short, perforated length for me to play with, but I’ve not seen the rest since :/
2. ”Accumulate more toys – I need to show everyone how many names of objects I can learn, and make my party piece even more impressive “
Yep! No problem with that one, (though I’ve also lost one or two during the year – at the beach, down the ditch pipe and inside Spike!)
3. ”Persuade Mum to feed the cat in the kitchen so he can share his food with me “
Failed with this one – Tesla is now fed outside.
4. ”Continue to train Mum – she’s not doing badly, but there’s room for improvement.”
This one’s ongoing. There is still room for improvement
5. ”Perfect the silent climbing-up-onto-the-comfy-chairs-when-no-one’s-looking technique.”
Definitely succeeded with this one – a combination of perfecting the butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth look and encouraging the let-sleeping-dogs-lie philosophy. They even cover the seats with especially comfortable blankets for me
6. ”Eat less coal and cat litter.”
Yep – another one ticked off, though neither is so readily available, I notice.
7. ”Live life to the full!! “
Done that! Doing that and that’s 2013′s resolution sorted too!
(Photograph by Rachel Scrimgeour)
For those of you who like to keep up with what Tesla’s been doing – - – - – -
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