The Dog's Blog

Me!

My favourite friend is back at our peak district cottages. Well to be absolutely truthful it is more his owner that I am happy to see than Mozart himself. Don’t get me wrong Mozart is great to play with but its his owners that I like bestest. Just my kind of owners. Every time they see me I get a treat, I just wag my tail and I get another. I have taken to  sitting outside their door for hours  – just in case! When they go out I just sit and wait in the courtyard. Why can’t master and mistress be so generous. I would be a fine healthy dog if they were as generous. Instead I am a half starved dog.   Even better still idiot brother hasn’t been around much as mistress has kept him in because of his bad leg. So most of the treats have come my way. I think his leg is getting better but mistress won’t let him out on his own – just in case.

Me at a stile in Deep dale

The swallows are back which is always great fun but even better fun this year as idiot brother isn’t allowed to chase them. When he gets taken out, he is on a lead (ha), so he  just has to watch me run around after them. I can see him getting very frustrated and pulling at his lead but mistress is very firm with him (quite rightly so).  He is sometimes allowed to sit in the front garden watching the cows but as usual he starts running up and down getting excited so he gets brought in. What an idiot. If he would just chill out a bit he would be allowed out more.

Its mistresses birthday tomorrow so we are looking forward to being taken out somewhere nice. I am sure she won’t go without taking us along. It will mean going in the CAR but hopefully it will be worth it.

Hi

OK so I am limping a bit. That doesn’t mean to say I am an invalid. I can still chase swallows, rabbits, or that damn wagtail in our  courtyard. OK so maybe  I  ‘over do it’ a bit on occasions but that is not an excuse to keep me on a lead all the time and not let me out to explore on my own. I have not had a good week. Every time I go out I have to go out on a lead. On the few occasions I have convinced master or mistress that I will be good and they have let me off its all ‘Blue do this’, ‘Blue come here’, ‘Blue …..’ . Its just not fair. Smudge is allowed out unsupervised why not me. OK I may have put on the limping a bit too much but I am a lot better now.

OK Its a Orchid - who cares.

Anyway we went on a long awaited walk on Sunday. As usual on May Bank Holiday Sunday we walked up Deep Dale (near Sheldon a couple of miles from our peak district cottages) to see the Orchids. We had been looking forward to a nice long walk for ages. The sandwiches were prepared, the walking books readied and off we went. All started as normal. We were on our leads in the car park as usual but then things went horribly wrong. We expected to be let off our leads as soon as we reached open ground. But oh no we were on our leads ALL day. Now there has to be some law against that. How can you go for a decent walk on a lead. I even had the indignity of being HELPED over styles. Come on I am a collie I can jump over styles in my sleep. Mistress explained that it was for my own benefit so I didn’t hurt my leg. I think Smudge would have killed me if he had had the chance. He was not very happy especially as he was with mistress.

Lunch Time

At least I was with master and we could walk at a bit of a pace. Poor old Smudge had to plod along with mistress stopping every now and then to admire views, Orchids etc. We had a pleasant lunch overlooking Deep Dale and then over the fields and back home. As we had left the car in the car park at the bottom of the dale we had to go back to pick it up. For some reason this had to be via Sheldon where we had to stop at the village hall where they were doing ‘Afternoon teas’. Surprise surprise!

I think my leg is getting better. I haven’t limped for a while now so hopefully it is better. I hope so. Much more of this lead thing and I am going to go mad.

My best side

He has done it again! What is it with him? One minute he was fine the next he is hopping around on 3 legs and getting all the sympathy from mistress. It was probably his own fault. As usual he has been tearing around like an idiot. Then a few nights ago mistress noticed he was holding one of his back legs in the air. I hadn’t noticed. I have a feeling he does it more when mistress is around. He seems to walk OK when no one is noticing. Anyway what is the problem, he has another three legs so he has plenty of spares. Of course mistress is very concerned and to stop him hurting himself even more,  he has been taken out on a LEAD for our morning and evening constitutions. Serves him right. I did notice this afternoon when no one was watching he did help me chase some swallows. I didn’t see him limp then. Oh by the way the Swallows are back which I think means spring is here. Well if it is I haven’t seen it. The one good thing with all this rain is that I have been able to get in some serious duvet time.

Action Dog

One of master’s friends came to stay last week. She doesn’t like dogs so it is always fun annoying her by leaving our hairs on her skirt etc. I am sure she likes us really!

I have just been helping master put up the electric fence in our front field (to keep the cows away from mistresses plants) so idiot brother is very shortly going to be confined to the front garden. Ha. That should slow him down a bit and give me some peace.

Heaven

All I have to do is walk through the cows and I will have left him behind. There is no way he is going to be brave enough to risk following me. It is great fun to just get out of sight and then start barking. He goes frantic thinking I have found something and he just dare not come and find out. I am looking forward to that again.

Me and Mistress

Ok I am getting a bit fed up with the rain here at our Peak district cottages. Its April and it is suppose to be ‘sunshine and showers’ (or that is what master keeps saying). What happened to the sunshine bit. Although I personally don’t mind the rain, it is a bit inconvenient as every time I am allowed out (which is rare) I get the indignity of  being towelled down when I come back and, what is worse I have to spend a few hours in the kitchen rather than being able to dry off on a nice bit of warm carpet. The other problem with rain is that Smudge hates it and won’t come out to play.  The only way to get him out is by master pushing him out (he is currently looking into whether this is infringing his dog rights and is thinking of e-mailing the RSPCA). Even when we get him out he just sulks about waiting to go back inside. So he is no fun at all.

Cows!

The other bad bad bad news is that the COWS are back in our side fields. This means that about half of our land is now out of bounds to me. I am not going in any field that has those great big things in. Smudge of course, being totally stupid, just doesn’t worry and wanders amongst them without a care in the world. Rather him than me. They seem to pick on me more than they do him. It can only be days now before I am going to be trapped in our front garden with cows all around. I am not looking forward to that at all. Maybe they won’t come this year. Unlikely as mistress likes them in our front field so I suppose I will just have to suffer in silence (as usual).

In all, what with the weather and everything, it has been a bit of boring week. I did get some excitement on Monday when master took the car round the garage. I was allowed to stay in the car when it went up on on the lift thing. A Garage looks entirely different from up there. I was also able to make sure they did their job properly. Other than that bit of excitement nothing much has happened except it raining.

Me at the train thing

As a treat to master we were all taken to the Chesterfield Barrow Hill Steam Gala which is about 40 minutes from our Peak district cottages. As soon as I heard were were going I eagerly volunteered to stay at home and keep the duvet warm. Idiot brother of course was all for going. Well I thought it might be worth a trip just see his face when he realised what is there. On past performance  (cable cars etc. ) he has been a major wimp and had away partly shell shocked. Anyway I didn’t get any choice in the matter, as I was escorted to the car and off we went.

Now why we  had to go to see steam trains I have no idea. As far as I am aware master isn’t a major train nut and mistress prefers aeroplanes. From my point of view I couldn’t see the point at all. You can’t eat them so why bother.  Actually it wasn’t too bad. There were lots of people there and that meant  we  got lots of attention and fussed and stroked a lot.

The engine Shed or Round House

Idiot brother didn’t seem phased with the hissing, tooting and general mayhem associated with such places. Even mistress seemed to enjoy it. As per normal we got dragged round every exhibit and into every nook and cranny of the place. We even had to go up some steps to a fusty old carriage that had certainly seen better days. I wasn’t keen on the steps as I could see down through them but that didn’t seem to deter master. Mistress especially enjoyed it when they moved the big steam engines around. Master has made a slide show video of our trip which you can see on Youtube at http://youtu.be/6Sg84BWbkAI .

Hurry Up!

Better still was Sunday when we got taken for a walk in Monsal Dale. It was decided that as the trail now tends to be busy at weekends we would use the old footpath which mistress likes because of its spectacular views. Its not a long walk but with mistress it does seem to take a long time (all the stopping). Lunch was better than normal as master had over done the sandwiches (again) so we had a few crusts and bits. The view from our lunch spot was spectacular. Well mistress says it was. It just looked like a field on a slope to me with a long drop down to the river below. It did make sitting waiting to be fed a bit tricky but I mastered it in the end. One strange thing. we didn’t stop for afternoon tea. I am not sure why.

Me looking into the Dale

Me helping

What is it with people (especially master)? Whenever I try and help I get into trouble. Smudge just lounges about getting in the way rather than trying to help but he doesn’t get yelled at. Me I am always trying to help and all I get in return is “Blue Go Away”. Master has been resurfacing the car park, courtyard and outside of our peak district cottages with fresh stone. He seems to do this every 3 years or so. I am not sure why as everything looked fine to me but I must admit it is now great fun skidding on the new stone. The stone goes flying everywhere and masters face is a picture. We had 20 tons of stone delivered just before it snowed so we needed to get that spread out before the bad weather.

Spreading Gravel on the car park

The farmer came up to help with his big digging thing so it didn’t take long. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to help. We were kept inside. ‘Out of the way’ – Mistress said. Cheek! I could have been useful. If nothing else it would have been fun watching master rake all that stone. The next step was to re-stone the footpaths etc around the cottages. This has taken a bit more time as we, well master, has had to use a wheel barrow to move the stone about. We are getting there slowly  but master, being a bit of a wimp, stops every time it rains  (which seems quite often at the moment). I am usually happy to carry on but he has something against getting a bit wet.

A bleak landscape

The snow last week was fun. I helped master to get cars unstuck and generally try and clear the drive etc. Well actually we gave up in the end as it was too cold and windy even for me let alone master. Once the blizzard had finished and things had calmed down a bit I found it great fun playing in the snow. Its just such a pity I don’t have a more energetic brother. Although Smudge will play a bit he soon gets bored and wanders off to see if he can cadge some food of someone. We don’t often get snow s0 I think we should make the most of it. Anyhow all the snow has gone and we are back to mistress getting her plants ready for summer and master (with my help) finishing his outside jobs.

Me in the Snow

Blizzard conditions at Bolehill Cottages

Just when I was thinking about getting rid of my winter coat it snows. What happened to the hot weather we had a few days ago?

Today started off very badly. Early in the morning we had a power cut. Which didn’t matter that much except that things start beeping (I think it is master’s computers and things). This set idiot brother off. He is a bit of a wimp as far as beeping is concerned. I am not sure why but then he is an idiot. He started pawing at the door and making a lot of noise. This was worrying because if master came down we would be in serious trouble.

Snow Dog

Luckily it was mistress that was woken up and she came down to see what the noise was all about. She is a lot more understanding than master and gave us a bit of sympathy. Unfortunately while she was with us the power went off again and idiot brother went loopy again. Somehow in the commotion of him being an idiot and mistress trying to find the torch I managed to get locked in the office. Luckily after mistress had calmed down idiot brother she spotted I was missing and came looking for me. In the end the lights came back on and idiot brother calmed down enough to let me get back to sleep.

In the morning when master came down and let us out we found that there had been about 6 inch of snow. Where did that come from? Anyway we had a brief walk around our peak district cottages and down to the road. The wind was terrible. Just not suitable for a dog to be out in it. At the bottom of the drive we found that we were snowed in. This is only the 3rd time this has happened. Even worse the road looked treacherous which is the first time we have ever seen it that bad. Things went from bad to worse as the snow drifted onto the road. By about 10:00 the road was effectively closed which has never happened before.  Master spent most of the day either helping people or clearing snow. At about 3:30PM Andrew (the farmer) came up to dig us out with his big machine so we all went down to help. I am not sure what I did wrong but master kept yelling at me to get out of the way. I was trying to help!

Where a dog should be

By 4:30PM the problems on the road had eased and cars were coming and going again and by about 5:00PM our guests, who where were supposed to leave this morning, managed to get away. What a terrible day. Master thinks it is the worst winter day we have had. But it was in Spring! I am going to keep my winter coat on just in case.

Me in a Cable Car!

Thursday was a glorious day at our peak district cottages so after we had been out for our morning constitution with mistress it was decided (well mistress decided) we would go to ‘The Heights Of Abraham’ in Matlock Bath. It didn’t sound that very exciting to us but when mistress mentioned there was a Cable CAR Smudge slunk off to our cage and I became more interested. It can’t be too bad if we were going in a car. I like cars so it could be fun. Anyway we parked up at the railway station in Matlock Bath and walked over to the Cable Car. As soon as I got there I knew there was something wrong.

Smudge enjoying the view

I couldn’t see any cars and there was a lot of whirring and clanking. Then when these funny looking glass cabins arrived and I was unceremoniously dragged into one I was not happy at all. What happened to the Car bit. It got worse.  The thing took off and the ground disappeared until it was 100′s feet below us. Smudge seemed to enjoy it but I was sure at all. What happens if it stops (I am not jumping that distance)? What happens if whatever was holding us up broke? It was a long way down. Mistress loved it. She claimed it reminded her of Austria. Well if Austria has loads of those things I don’t want to go. I decided the best place was under the seat where I couldn’t see what was going on. At last it came to a stop and I could get off. I suppose the good thing is that when we got off we were at the top of the hill. Very clever and we didn’t have to spend ages waiting for mistress to catch up with us.

Lunch at Heights of Abraham

Although dogs are allowed into the park they are not allowed into the buildings or the caves. However, we were allowed to go through the cafe and sit on the outside balcony with master and mistress while they had their morning coffee, over looking the town. Mistress enjoyed the view over Matlock Bath and again talked about how it reminded her of Austria. I think she was trying to convince master that he should take her on holiday there (I will stay at home). After coffee master disappeared down a cave for half an hour. So we were left to wander around with mistress. We met up with master at the top of the hill where he popped out of another cave entrance. We were then let of our leads for a run and mistress admired the view towards Matlock before we all descending back into the park. Master and mistress climbed a tower to see the views (it looked a bit steep so luckily we were allowed to stay at the bottom) and mistress went down a second cave. So there was lots to do.

After a pleasant lunch on the cafe balcony and a bit more walking round (and an ice cream for mistress) we had to get back on that cable thing. I had assumed we would be walking down but oh no we had to go in the cable thing. It was a bit less worrying on the way down and mistress was very sympathetic. Again Smudge seemed to enjoy it as did mistress. Anyway at last we got back down safely. I am not going to be fooled by cable cars again. They are not cars. They are things that float in the air and are very worrying.

Me looking towards Matlock

As it was still so warm we were taken for a walk around Matlock Bath before returning to the car (a proper car) before going home.

A well deserved bone

For once we were off bright and early. Well when I say early, it was early for mistress. It was all a bit unexpected as well.  We hadn’t been told we were going for a walk. We went off with mistress for our morning constitution around our peak district cottage fields and when we got back the rucksacks were out and  master was packing sandwiches. I was a bit late back as I needed to check if any breakfast was being offered at any of the cottages. No such luck but master making sandwiches held out some hope for food. But no luck there either. Never mind if we are going for a walk there is bound to be something interesting along the way. We parked up at Alstonefield and set off across country towards Dove Dale. After only a few minutes we were let of our leads so we could go off and explore. We were under strict instructions to come back if we came across any sheep or lambs, so I kept a careful eye on idiot brother as I know what he is like. Although he is scared stiff of sheep (some collie) he was likely to scare them if he went bolting into a field which might scatter them. Luckily we didn’t encounter any sheep all day.

Where to next

Once we dropped into Dove Dale it was decided that we would take the left hand bank rather than usual right hand bank that everyone else seemed to be on. On the one hand this was a good move as we didn’t have to worry about meeting anyone on the path, on the other hand it was a far more tricky route for mistress and at times she had to drop down steep slopes on her bum. I am not sure why, as we were fine and Master didn’t seem to have a problem. We stopped for lunch in a beautiful sunny spot overlooking Dove Dale where we could sit and watch all the other walkers on the other side of the river. Or at least mistress did. I sat and watched the sandwiches slowly disappearing without any coming my way.   We got a few tit bits but nothing to sustain an active dog.

There must be a bit for me!

The ‘climb’ (a gentle slope) out of Milldale took some time as both master and mistress are not very fit and needed to keep stopping for breath every few minutes. We just sat at the top and watched. Quite a spectator sport really. Of course when we got back to the car mistress needed an afternoon tea. So we had to stop off at Hartington where she visited her usual Cheese shop and then went for afternoon tea at one of the little tea shops. We of course we were left  in the car which let me catch up on my afternoon nap (see picture).

Dog Nap!

Me being good!

OK – I am still a bit in the ‘dog house’ for wandering off last week but I am trying to be good. I am not sure what came over me. There I was wandering around with mistress in our peak district cottage fields and the next thing I know I am over at the Magpie mine. I was just getting a bit concerned when thankfully master turned up in the car to pick me up. He was not very happy so I kept a very low profile for the rest of the day and have been on my best behaviour since. I am hoping he will forget about it shortly.

We had an exciting day on Monday. I was taken up and down the fields in the  4×4 lots of times as master went to see how they were progressing with the tarmacking at the bottom of the drive. I think he is happy with what they have done. It looks OK to me. Of course the drive had to be closed for a number of hours, so master had to show people how to get to the road via the fields and we had to take the laundry to our neighbours for it to be collected.

Taking in the rays!

Master has started work clearing  the remaining twigs and leaves etc from the lawns and courtyard left over from winter so I have been helping where I can. He cut the lawn for the first time on Friday. I always enjoy the lawn being cut as I can chase the mower and catch the grass blowing out the back. Unfortunately this year master has stopped me doing that as he reckons I am getting too old for it and might hurt myself. Ha – He is a one to talk. OK! I am starting to feel a bit stiff after a long walk but there is still life in ‘the old dog’ yet.

We have had loads and loads of friends staying with us this week. Smudge is in heaven. Every morning he does a number of rounds of the cottages to see what has been left by other dogs. Master tries to get people to shoo him out but he is far too cunning to be noticed. He just slips in to cottages while people aren’t looking. Every now and then he gets caught but it doesn’t seen to deter him. Me. I am still on my best behaviour so stay well clear.

I keep hearing that dreaded word ‘COW’ being bandied about. I assume it isn’t going to be long before the damn things are back in our fields. Until then I am free to roam our fields in peace. I suppose once THEY are back I will have to hide in the courtyard and garden again. It is just not fair.

The new drive entrance

The new drive entrance