Comings and Goings

All the comings and goings are unsettling Lilly the Collie. She cannot get used to the fact that several of her pack are absent at anyone time. She was beside herself with excitement last Friday when the Wiz came back briefly from Leeds Met, only to find the next day that the Wiz was off again. And then on Tuesday Mrs BW left for a trip down to Wales, leaving the house quiet and empty apart from the Munch and I. Several wet and muddy walks in the Goyt have not improved her mood. The pheasants don't want to play and the Grouse sulk in the long grass and taunt her with their grating call. There are other dogs of course but these are usually the small yapping kind, that bark and growl at her and refuse to be herded into any sort of order. All this is distressing for an intelligent collie. I feel guilty. She should be out on the hillside rounding up sheep. If I had the land and the money I would buy her a flock. And then there is the rain. Apart from the indignity of having to be towelled off after a walk, there is also the vexed issue of muddy feet on the stairs. After a marathon cleaning spree Mrs BW announced that from now on it was not necessary to wear shoes up stairs or indeed on the stairs. There was now no excuse for muddy footprints beyond the hall. Perhaps she should have included paw prints, as I can see us having to resort to a legal technicality on her return. Of course I could just clean the stairs. No I think the technicality is the better bet.

Muddy Dog

The Dale is very wet and very muddy. Lilly the Collie has managed to get quite a lot of the Dale on her paws and tail and other furry bits. Its getting dark as we trudge through the puddles, sneaking past the cows that gang up against the gate and the way out and back to the car. Lilly keeps a low profile hugging close to my legs. She isn't that fond of cows. Back at the car I make a man sized attempt to clean her up. Most of the mud stays put. Still we have had a good walk, and Lilly has chased the ball up and down dale and sniffed out a few pheasants and generally had a good old time. I am looking forward to a cup of tea and an early night. A bath, a book and clean sheets beckon. When we get back to Birdwatcher Towers I make another cursory attempt at getting Lilly clean, but give up and trudge off upstairs for my bath. Nice and relaxing, and hot with plenty of bubbles. As I dry myself someone nudges open the bathroom door and Lilly pads across the floor. She seems pleased with herself. And she has clean paws. I give her a tickle and go to the bedroom. Now I see why she is clean. Most of the Dale is on my now not so fresh and clean bedding. There is a large dog shaped patch of mud and dirt in the middle of the bed. Of well, its only dirt.

Update

After a few weeks struggling with bloggers block and having too much to do at work, I thought I better post a bit of an update.

All is well in the Goyt. The curlews have settled in and are nesting, though there appear to be less this year. The short eared owls have been displaying and hunting, and the ducks are back on the pond, so soon there should be duckings.

Lilly is growing. Having chewed and eaten the kitchen and half my wardrobe she is now casting longing and hungry eyes on our collection of books. She is teething at the moment and finds temporary relief sucking and biting on ice cubes. I felt a bit sorry for her this evening though. I gave a nice big chunk of ice which she carried out to the garden and carefully buried. Of course a few minutes later when she went to dig it up it was gone. This confused her for a bit, but undaunted she dug several test pits just top make sure that she had got the right place. I wonder if Mrs BW will notice?

We miss Moonshine. It seems strange not to hear him on his wheel. The Munch is thinking of getting another hamster but I am not sure its a good idea.

The Weasel is hard at work not revising for her GCSE's. "I'll start tomorrow" is her constant refrain. Best not to say anything and hope that she is secretly revising in between episodes of Holyoaks or whatever she watches.

I still have not been for my medical. I know it makes sense but.............

More later.

Meet Lilly Rose

Master of all she surveys? Hopefully not.



Out in Grinlow woods yesterday.



Not long after we got her.