the funniest thing...

Sitting in the living room, Murphy on the sofa next to Richard. He's been eating crap, as usual (Murphy, not Richard and literally crap - of dogs). Of course his digestive system is not what it once was and we all suffer the consequences - although not Murphy - noticeably. Until tonight!

It was hilarious - his nether regions let out a prolonged fart - quite high-pitched, if you want the details. He was snoozing and raised his head, ears pricked, looking at Richard in surprise. You could just hear him - 'What did you do that for, Daddy?"

Then he did it again and our hero turns his head and looks at his own nether regions in even greater surprise!

Priceless!

Good visitors?

We went to visit Fiona and Robert today for a dog walk and lunch - a very pleasant day altogether! No sheep in the vicinity, it's pretty much all Forestry Commission so we could let the dogs off.

However, as well as Baxter, the bearded collie, they also have Eric, the cat. From a distance he looks like a lovely, soft cat with a white face and grey colouring. I say from a distance, as he was 30 feet up in a tree when we saw him and he didn't look like he was coming down any time soon! Unfortunately Maddie had spotted him earlier and while I don't think she chased him up the tree, she was certainly doing her best to make sure he stayed there!

Oops. Sorry Eric!

Puppy pilates

We were talking about this at Pilates yesterday - I've been going for almost 10 years. I know this because I have vivid memories of trying to do pilates exercises on a Saturday morning when Murphy was a puppy. He didn't like being excluded from anything so, since he barked to be let into the living room as soon as he saw me (and I didn't want to wake the whole house), I had to let him in.

We also had Eddie the cat at that point (the whole reason Murphy is called Murphy - geddit? - it was Andy's idea, pretty cool I thought). So there I was, lying on the floor doing leg-lifts - or trying to. Pilates is hard enough without having to do it with a roly-poly puppy sitting on your chest and a cat hanging off one ankle as you try to lift it in a controlled manner!!

Memories of a roly poly Murphy!

The day we got Murphy, aged 8 weeks. Can't believe it was ten years ago.

a special day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURPHY!

ten today - and looking good on it, babes. He had steak for dinner, I've never seen anything disappear so fast, he practically inhaled it! Lucky I took the candle out first.

Of course, Maddie had to have some too but she was fractionally more ladylike in her consumption - practising for her own birthday in a few years time?

And Murphy got lots of birthday wishes from his pals on FB, he's a lucky boy - couldn't happen to a nicer dog!

Sunday walk

It was such a beautiful day on Sunday - sun shining, blue skies, warm weather (not just mild, actually warm!) that we took the dogs down by the river. There's a spot right at the beginning of the walk where we usually throw sticks into the river for them. Of course they know this, so as we walked down towards the river, our keen water hounds tore on ahead, straight through a (very surprised) wee family group and down to the water's edge. There they stood expectantly, awaiting the sticks. I'm surprised Maddie didn't start barking impatiently!

Would have been OK, except that the family was clearly trying to take some nice photos of the toddler with them, with the river in the background. I'm not sure they really wanted a large, wet, hairy, orange beast in the background - thank you Murphy! At least I managed to entice him further along the path before he shook himself!

Settling in again

Murphy is still a bit hoarse and still thin, but getting there. Maddie is her usual ebullient self and Gizzy continues to be very friendly - particularly when we're eating fish! Maddie decided she was a cat this morning on our walk and climbed a tree to get at a bird - or to try to, anyway. I'll post a photo shortly.

We're all getting back into a routine, and I for one am deeply grateful - I like getting back into our routine, into the swing of things and getting organised. Still haven't downloaded all the photos from New Zealand but fully intend to do so!

It's Murphy's birthday tomorrow. He's going to be ten. TEN! Can't believe it! He's slowing down a bit and likes his snoozes, but still likes his exercise and runs around with Maddie. Bless him!