Adventure is out there!

So Missy got some very exciting news at the end of last week:

She's officially an Explorer for DogFuriendly.com! What does that mean? She gets to share her adventures on a bigger platform and we can spread the word of all the awesome dog friendly places we have been to and think you should go to too. I was really impressed with the selection process that had us fill in an online application form and then, after being shortlisted, write a listing for the site. For once the dogs are being chosen because they will do well in the role, not because of Pedigree. 

So, with that in mind, I'm hoping it will refocus the blog which has become a bit of a place for my meandering thoughts and commentary on life.

This weekend was a flying visit up north to visit the in-laws. I'm not sure if it's a man thing, or if my close proximity to my mother somewhat negates the desire, but sometimes all my hubby wants to do is go back home to his old nest and be pampered a little. I certainly agree it's nice to relax and not be guilt tripped by laundry needing washed or paperwork needing filing, so we happily packed the car and made the journey. 

My in-laws certainly enjoy us visiting and they take being grand-paw-rents seriously having already organised the weekend dog walk intinery. It wasn't just for Missys benefit, Ruby, now 8 months old, is at the terrible twos stage, and will steal shoes and hats out of sheer petulance if she doesn't feel she's getting enough attention. I think they appreciated a bit of a break as we played with the puppy and Missy snuggled with them on the sofa! 

We started our new role as Explorers with a revisit to Crathes Castle. It's a National Trust site and, whilst dogs are not permitted into the buildings, they are more than rewarded with a beautiful woodland walk. The worst of the boggy areas have boardwalks, but it's not the easiest terrain underfoot - which is exactly what Missy likes best! Both she and Ruby tore around, noses to ground, looking for rabbits and mice and thoroughly exhausted themselves. 

For the humans, they have just erected wooden carvings of native animals; we found an otter, a squirrel, a kingfisher and a beautiful heron dotted about the route. 

We finished with hot chocolate and cakes from the cafe which we discovered was dog friendly. We stayed out in the courtyard though, both In-laws didn't feel Ruby could be trusted yet in a nice indoor space. Perhaps next time. 

We celebrated Burns that evening with a truly Scottish dish: fish suppers and mushy peas! Forget haggis, we went for the real deal, at least by 21st Century standards. 

My MIL loves crafts so we managed to fit some time in to get on with that. I haven't quite finished the piece I started, but will hopefully have the embellishments finished soon. I did however get the chance to show her what I had done with an Xmas present she had gotten me:

An art form in progress for sure, but I was pleased with how these turned out - they are a mix of soy and Beeswax, hence the creamy colour. 

Well, I will leave things there for now, Missy is snoring away and those jobs I put aside for the weekend won't wait any longer. No rest for the wicked! 

A Ruby in the Castle

As its the birthday run, the hubby and I took some time off work to go up and visit his parents in Aberdeenshire. We had originally planned on a sneaky trip to the borders, or maybe Oban, but with the stress of the bathroom and that going over budget, we decided that sneaking away to the countryside and being fed cake sounded like a very good plan.

We also got to meet Ruby properly, their now 16 week old puppy Visla. And she is gorgeous, and she knows it!

The weather was too kind. It was bright and sunny the whole visit. We started our trip with us all going to Crathes Castle where Ruby showed off her recall and we got her into the water for the first time. I had to take my socks and shoes off and wade in the river to encourage her to do so, and we had good results. Missy joined in for a paddle too, clearly taking the opportunity to cool off.

We stopped in at the cafe which was very busy and bought drinks and cake and dog-friendly ice cream for the dogs. Missy loves ice cream and, not being allowed dairy, it is a huge treat for her to get anything akin to it. Then we finished the walk and it was good to see them both interacting with one another - Ruby has mostly grown out of the typical bad puppy habits; she isn't jumping on other dogs faces and understands a growl means that the other dog wants space, so the visit in general was much easier than I expected!

The next day we decided to let the puppy rest and the hubby and I took Missy to Dunnattor Castle which has been on the to-do list for a while. Its a half hour drive to Stonehaven where the castle is situated and its impressive from the onset. You have quite a walk to get to the actual castle from the car park, but it does give plenty of opportunity to get some really nice photos!

It was a fairly intact ruin with some fun tid-bits of history. It held off Cromwell and had its fair share of scandals - including the "Whigs Vault" where 167 Covenanters were imprisoned for three months in a tiny vault. Some died whilst others attempted escape or where tortured. Its last Earl was also convicted of treason for supporting the Jacobite rising and the castle was subsequently seized by government. 

It was another glorious day and, whilst at first it was very pleasant, after a few hours it was unfortunately getting too hot. Missy does not do well in the heat despite her short coat and she started to hobble a little so we decided to see if she wanted to cool down by the sea. She dipped a paw in but wasn't interested so we called it quits and headed back so that she could cool down properly and have some sleep.

We finished the evening with a puppy walk at Castle Fraser and, as it had cooled considerably, it was much more enjoyable for everyone! Missy chased rabbits and Ruby delighted us all with some sprinting, although she really does need to grow into her ears! Shes at that really funny stage where she's starting to look like a dog, but isn't quite there. Her legs are too long and gangly and her ears are hysterically too large on her. She takes it all in her stride though and clearly doesn't care what we think.

On our way home, we all stopped at Stonehaven. The hubbys parents had decided to try Ruby in the motorhome (latest update is that she hasn't chewed it to bits yet, but has figured out that its tremendous fun to jump between the seats) and they decided to go with Stonehaven as, if it was a disaster, they could easily get home. We joined them for a walk on the beach and some ice cream before deciding to head home ourselves. Lovely as the visit was, its always nice to go home and sleep in your own bed.

This weekend has been a busy one and I'm aware this post has rambled on long enough, I'll update you all on this weekends adventures later!

Crathes Castle

It was a last minute change of plans this weekend! The hubby managed to wrangle a long weekend at the last minute and so we decided to go see his mother for her birthday in Aberdeenshire and to get a well deserved break from the rat race (you know you are getting old when you look forward to bad phone reception!)

I had the dentist first thing Saturday, so we had brunch and headed straight up in the car. The weather has turned and, due to an overnight frost (the neighbouring towns had had snow the day previously) it was cold and we decided to warm up in front of the fire. 

For those following my garden exploits, yes. The frost wiped out a third of the pumpkins. Thankfully I have spare in the cold frame I was saving for a seedling sale at work, so those will be staying with me! 

We had a nice walk about the fields and Missy was happy to watch and not chase the deer we saw. The bunnies were free game, but it was certainly rodents 5 and Missy nil by the end of the walk.

Sunday we offered to help next door who, on top of just having a baby, has ended up looking after her brothers dog in addition to her own. Missy has a Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship with Duke, the dog next door, and was unimpressed that his equally hairy cousin dog had come to visit. Duke is a who-knows-what that looks like a hairy carpet on legs and Pickles is a wire haired German pointer. They make a great pair running wild and boisterously playing, but Missy dislikes being outnumbered and waited till the end of the walk when they had calmed down somewhat to play.

The afternoon dog walk was a drive down to Crathes Castle, a National Trust site that, whilst dogs are not permitted in the castle or main garden, are allowed in the surrounding woodland. The sun had come out and the wind dropped and we enjoyed something close to pleasant as we followed the trail and admired the many dogs we met. We were lucky enough to come across a flyball competition and decided to watch a few races. Missy was unhappy with the set up, which is unusual as she's watched agility shows and competitions with us before. We think the frantic barking was too similar to the shelter for her. There was a small marquee selling treats and she cheered right up at the freebies and a new Kong toy!

Flyball - looks like good fun if your dog is ball-driven

It was a year ago last Friday that my in-laws lost Flash, and you can tell they are wanting another dog now. They have decided on getting their very first puppy together (having always adopted rescues) and are waiting on a little girl Hungarian Vizsla as their next companion. We'd all hoped she'd be born on my MILs birthday, but in true stubborn Vizsla style that never happened.

Duke

Today was a get up and go kind of day. We invited the rugs next door on the morning walk and were all pleased that Duke and Pickles were a bit calmer. Missy and Pickles were flushing rabbits from the gorse whilst Duke excitedly ran about with them - I'm fairly certain he had no idea what the game at hand was, but certainly made up for that with his enthusiasm. They all failed to spot a young roe deer with his antlers, and I wasn't quick enough on the mark to get a photo, but c'est la vie. 

Pickles

Once we were all well walked we headed back in for some brunch and were dismayed as it started to snow. As you can see from the photos, though cold it was actually quite a pleasant morning - so we certainly timed that well. Once the weather broke we got in the car and headed home. Missy has been playing with her new Kong toy as we unpacked everything again and it looks like another walk and then a quiet evening. Well deserved, I think!

Kildrummy, Glenbuchat and Corgarff Castles

We were visiting the out-laws this week as a continuation of the birthdays (the hubby and I have our birthdays 6 days apart). It was just a quick visit up and down again due to other commitments, but it's always nice to go away where you don't feel obliged to get on with jobs. With storms hitting Northern Ireland, we had a nice lazy day where it really just rained and rained. Poor Missy fell into a puddle up to her neck and, after that, she was rather indignant about the whole being-out-in-the-rain malarkey and was quite happy roasting herself by the wood burning stove.

A very old Flash

Missy and her Uncle Flash get along very well, although it was quite upsetting to realise that, now 12, Flash is really starting to get quite old and isn't able to keep up anymore with her. Whilst he's been slowing down for some time, this is the first visit we've had were he's decided that he won't even try to follow her through the woods.

We had already decided that we may as well take advantage of the more northerly location and get a few of the castles in the Aberdeen area ticked off the list. Bearing in mind that Flash was struggling a bit now, we decided to keep the day simple and avoid anything with too much in the way of spiral staircases.

 

The first castle we managed was Kildrummy. Despite the rain of the previous day, the weather was glorious, and I suspect one of the last true days of summer we'll have this year. The sun and the warm weather appealed to both dogs as they explored the ruins quite happily. Described as the 'noblest of northern castles', I must confess, I would have loved to have seen this castle standing. As it is, it's a complete ruin - parts of the towers remain, but there's no stairs remaining and it offers only hints of its once grand past. My favourite part of the castle was the tower remains, although watching both dogs peer down the towers latrine was a good comedy moment!

 

Next on the hit-list was Corgarff Castle which is a bit of a misnomer! This one was a pleasant surprise for us as it is a completely intact medieval tower house and was used by both Jacobites and redcoats. Most of the central belt revolves around Mary Queen of Scots, so it was really refreshing to see a different bit of Scottish history and warfare. We stopped for a terribly British picnic of tea and sandwiches before going inside to explore. Dogs weren't allowed inside this bizarre little building that stood bleakly on its own on the hillside, so we took turns walking them around the star shaped outer wall whilst the others went inside and explored the twisting allegiances this building held. One of the particuarly nice things about this building is that some of the rooms have been recreated, including the guards quarters and you can also choose your allegiance by means of dress up!

 

As a small hat trick, we managed to bag one last castle on the way back. Glenbuchat is currently closed because of renovation work, but we managed a small walk around the building. By this time both the dogs were tired and the weather had begun to turn, so we called it quits and went back for a well deserved cup of tea with both dogs snoring soundly away.

Just a short post today!