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!

Puppies and Poltergeists

Well, despite best efforts, we did not find a poltergeist on our puppy play date around Bangor Village Hospital. Both Missy and Maisie put in a good effort in their hunt for one but returned empty pawed. At almost 7 months old, Maisie is past the worst of puppy hood and Missy is much more inclined to the notion of spending a day together.

It was a trip out to Dechmont to enjoy the spring sunshine. The site was also chosen as it's not too bad mud wise (unless a certain someone wants to chase bunnies under the rhododendrons) and my brother didn't want to waste the time and money spent the previous day on Maisies trip to the groomers.

They certainly did something right, Maisie was so brilliant white she was almost glowing! We spotted a sign saying that the site was officially bought and set to be developed, so I don't know how much longer we'll be able to hunt for ghosts amongst the abandoned buildings. I'm glad to see it being developed, but think it a pity it's becoming housing - the local community will really miss not just the dog walking spot but the place were all the kids seem to learn to ride their bikes and enjoy the rarity of a large open space.

We all had lunch together at mine and then the hubby and I were gearing up for our second shot at Nerf battle at Icombat Glasgow. The place has had a big upgrade and everyone got lost trying to find the new entrance, but once we got there we had an absolute scream. I prefer the new layout and felt that I managed to hold my own this time, so must be improving! And only one huge bruise this time and (touch wood) my legs don't hurt from all the sprinting about - very pleased!

The weather today has gone back to a miserable wintery wind with showers, although when the sun graces us it's rather enjoyable. Missy has enjoyed a relatively quiet day being snuggled on the sofa with me or sunbathing in front of the French windows in the kitchen whilst I've been sewing. My current project is coming along swiftly, but isn't ready to show off, so I'll share a different project I finished this week instead.

A dancing skirt! Long story short, for national dancing I wear an Aboyne outfit and, when practising, we pretend to hold the skirt whilst doing the arm movements to the dance. At our last set of exams (I just did Highland this time) a lot of the feedback was that no one was actually touching their skirts. They were standing pretending to hold one whilst their actual dress sat limp. So the dance teacher has suggested a practice skirt, but why buy one when I have so much fabric stashed away? And so here we are, a monster high themed circle skirt - not bad for a self drafted pattern eyeballed off my official Aboyne skirt!

Just a short post today, it's set to be a busy week and I've barely begun getting it organised! Hopefully I should have some craft projects to show off next post!

An Official Puppy Play Date

But first of all, I encourage everyone to go to my sisters blog were Missy has been immortalised in wool - no spoilers, but its pretty awesome.

Missy got the all clear from the vets and, with Maisie finally good to go out and play having had all her jabs, we finally got that puppy play date. Keeping it simple, I organised for my brother to come to mine and we took them both around the local park. Pouty-Lip, as I have dubbed Maisie, hasn't quite got the idea of the point of a walk, and simply enjoyed meeting other dogs and being fawned over by the other dog walkers. Saturday was Missys first day of freedom from both cone and lead, so was far too preoccupied seeking out squirrels and weeing in all the off road patches to care.

Where are the squirrels?!

My brother is hoping the idea that the toilet is done outside will rub off on Maisie by seeing Missy doing so, and we had one successful outdoor wee, so fingers crossed. She is very much a puppy, chewing everyone and everything, and has yet to learn her manners around other dogs - one thing I know for certain Missy will teach her! It was a good day, and my brother is keen for more play dates, so I'm sure you'll all be seeing much more of the fuzzy ball of fluff!

I've been busy crafting away and, whilst most of it I will save for a more seasonally appropriate post, I will share this Slytherin scarf. My hubbys cousin (who has not read the Harry Potter books) is somewhat surrounded by family who are all a bit Potter daft (other cousins have produced small wizard-daft children, and both his mother and aunt (my MIL) are completely daft on the books). He has finally caved in and decided to get a matching scarf like the rest of us, and declared that he wanted to be in the "Naughty House", and thus:

The importance of the date has not escaped me. With it being a 100 years from the end of the war that was to end all wars, there has been a lot of events and articles about what happened then and since. There's also been a big push from Poppy Scotland and the Poppy Appeal and I've seen, for the first time, a lot of products being sold for dogs. Missy is too large for the bandannas that I found, and I wasn't keen on a dangly charm she would likely lose, but I was rather enamoured by the collar poppy. 

I'm sure there's an argument about projecting our political opinions on our pets, but Missy has received nothing but compliments on hers. And to make things fair, I put together a purple poppy for her to wear alongside the red. For those who aren't aware, and I only came to realise what it meant this year myself, the purple poppy represents the animals that have lost their lives to protect us in war, so I felt it fitting. I tried to find her an official purple poppy, but failed, so perhaps next year we will see some more animals remembering their kin.

So, for all who have served to protect this country, whether they have given their lives in battle or have taken those wounds home with them, we remember you.

Meet Maisie

So, Missy has a new cousin (courtesy of my brother) - a shitzu cross called Maisie. He didnt think about how phonetically similar Maisie was to Missy, but its too late now and we're all having a good laugh about muddling the two up.
And she sure is a sweetie!

We decided to risk it for a biscuit and get the trio together (Missy, Maisy and Wee Ben). Poor Ben wasn't very sure about a puppy in the house and Missy very sensibly watched the chaos from the sofa, she being the only dog who could get onto it! After a while Missy gave into the cuteness and played with the puppy for a little while, but Ben was very much unimpressed and hid in his crate. Maisy is a feisty wee thing and I think she's just about crazy enough to fit in!

Trust me, just look at the weird black thing and once it goes click, you'll get a biscuit...

I was also dog-sitting Ben today so, before losing the light, took him round one of my favourite local walks. Naturally I bumped into every single one of Missys pals, and had to laugh as it was commented yet again that Missy must have shrunk in the wash. I wasn't going to risk letting Ben off the lead, but he did his best to keep up with Missy and has thoroughly exhausted himself.

I trust Missy well enough that she was off the lead on her usual hunt for squirrels and Ben panicked every time we lost sight of her. Despite knowing one another all his life, Ben hasn't had many adventures with Missy, so isn't used to her phantom act. Although Missy did humour him for some of the walk and walked alongside him.

Well, that's all this week, I've been busy with crafts but nothing fitting to the season, so will share later. However, there's some fun plans in store for next week, so expect some fun Halloween photos in my next post!