business as usual

just the normal stuff going on - gizzy caught a mouse the other morning - in the bathroom as I was about to get down and do my situps. Of course I couldn't see anything without my lenses in but there was no mistaking the sudden pounce and the way she purposefully sat by the door waiting for me to open it - when I got my glasses on, right enough she had a mouse in her mouth. It was too early for me to create so I just ordered her downstairs and haven't seen the mouse since...

Meanwhile I went back on the rope swing and regretted it - Murphy did exactly the same thing only this time I overbalanced and he got his paw up to my neck in his effort to sit on me while In was on the swing - now I've got a row of red marks down my neck, great...

we got a new trampoline and he's very keen to get up and play with anyone who's on it - for some reason he'll play with Emily but keeps jumping up on me when I'm on it! which is pretty good when you think about it as we're bouncing at the time!

the highs and the lows

of a dog's life - I took him for a walk this afternoon and came across a rope swing in the woods (obviously fixed up by/for the local kids). Being me, I had a go, and as I hopped on Murphy appeared. He went mental!!! there I was, hanging about a foot off the forest floor and he launched himself at me, jumping up and whining and barking - of course that set the swing moving and that sent him even more frantic! I had to wrap my legs round him to stop him scrabbling at my thighs for a better grip (he was jumping up and trying to hold onto me), we were dancing together, him on his back legs, walking back and forward to keep up with me. I haven't laughed so much since Dara O'Briain! Once or twice he got hold of the piece of wood that served as a seat and tried to bite it.

Eventually I had to come off - he was pulling me off anyway - in case the rope broke, don't think it was meant to carry adult and dog weight! Then he attacked the swing itself. It was just too high for him to be able to hold it in his mouth with his paws on the ground but he kept trying - whining and growling; then he worked out that if he got the end in his mouth he could get his paws down - so there he was, the end of the seat in his mouth, trying to tug at it and bark at the same time.. I finally remembered I had my phone on me so got a quick video before he gave up and came bounding towards me, very pleased with himself! What a racket, with his noises and my shrieks of laughter, and in such a nice neighbourhood too!

And now the low - he's looking forward to a walk now (11.30pm) as Richard has got into the habit of taking him out last thing to try to stop him barking overnight... but Richard's now watching Match of the Day and enjoying his wine, so poor Murphy is going to be disappointed....

finally

it seems she just needed time to get used to it. Now she's happily ensconced on a part of it half the time - we left this morning and she was curled up on the second top bit (her favourite spot) in the sun (yes, we had sun!) with her chin on the lowest rung of the ladder up. We've tied ribbon onto the ladder bits and hung Richard's holey golfballs on them, she loves playing with them! Murphy is still unkeen to see her enjoying herself though - he came and watched her and growled at her when it looked like she might start playing with them again... what a dog in the manger!

mu-u-u-u-rphy!!!!!!!

well what can I say he's been quietly creating havoc in the way he knows best.... he nabbed Nick & Elle's carrot cake last weekend despite them stashing it at the back of the kitchen counter.. then I was sitting on Wednesday night watching TV and suddenly realised there was a tub in the middle of the floor.. - this turned out to be the remains of Gizzy's new tub of treats which I'd left on the top of the Gizzy tree (remember the contraption we bought for her?). Turns out although she didn't like them he did!!

This morning he disappeared half way through the morning walk (Archie's only doing half a walk at the moment as the crop guns are scaring him - Murphy on the other hand has nerves of lead, he doesn't even hear them!) and after much shouting at hometime he finally turned up - MANKY!! He was a totally different colour - dark brown! Think he'd visited the sinkhole in the woods. The forecast is rain for the next five days so I foresee lots of towel washing....

o - m - g - !!!

MURPHY GOT A SQUIRREL!

That was the text we got as we rested our weary limbs in a pub in Dublin last night, enjoying the atmosphere and singing along with the local musicians (American folk songs)

Now don't get me wrong, Nick doesn't know if it was dead when our bold hero found it, or if his years of barking up trees finally paid off. Anyway, he proudly brought it back and was probably not impressed with Nick's reaction...suffice to say he only got part of it to eat...

We had to buy Guinness Tshirts all round to make up for it..

adventures without murphy

we're venturing further afield this time - Dublin in sunny Ireland! At least you would think so looking at what some of the girls here are wearing round the bars.. Really it's quite cold.. and as we're doing a 10k run in Pheonix Park tomorrow and it's been forecast sleet we're really looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch we hear Murphy is digging up the grass... well it's about time, he's been very forebearing all winter which has been at least 6 months. Now spring has sprung he can get down to his gardening (pity I can't persuade him to dig up the borders instead...)

never work with animals or children

or mostly animals in my case - I had to shut Murphy inside last night as he was bouncing around the back garden at midnight, announcing his presence to the world. (He woke us at 3am on Monday night by deciding Nick arriving home was a fierce intruder and needed to be scared off), then took his revenge at 12.30 by taking issue with something or other and giving it laldy in the living room (under our bedroom), finally subsiding to quieter and quieter growls and the odd strangled bark when nothing further happened. From my experience of these matters he probably didn't even get off the floor to produce this commotion!

Gizzy meantime was outside our bedroom door announcing that she wanted in and surely it was time for some more food?!

On Wednesday evening we went in past the stables (I say that - it's actually a 20 minute detour) to get Emily and Otis took a shine to one of the buttons on my new (first day on!) raincoat and I had a struggle to get him to give it back. It'll never be the same again...

gratitude

that cat doesn't know the meaning of the word! Look at this great contraption we bought for her entertainment, and she's not interested at all!

maybe she'll get more used to it...