Shock! Horror!

Fact is, folks, I'm just not getting paws on this machine much at all these days. There's always some damn human here, hogging it.
I have decided that L is just going to have to share her blog with me from now on, and that's that.

So I'll leave all 116 posts up here but I'll be posting over at Tart's Tales now, whenever she's not looking. Thanks for sharing the journey so far with me, and do come over and see me at her place soon....

Ash

Dearie me, how time flies...

Can't believe it's so long since I last posted here...and we've STILL got snow!

OK, bit of an exaggeration but it's been snowing on and off since last year and we only ever get a few days' respite from it, and it's chilly chilly chilly. This means snuggling up to a lukewarm stove or charging about an empty field with Midge, growling and snarling the while, in order to get some heat in my nearly-middle-aged bones!

But, other STUFF has been happening and Hugh's new business is ready to launch.

It's called...

You can learn more about it HERE and it's full of this sort of thing... It's the place to go to learn how to drive off-road safely and confidently, with due care for the environment and your self. If I had a driving licence (which is a little unlikely, I know), I'd be first in the queue to learn and then show off as the only chocolate labrador in the whole world with four-wheel drive and four-paw drive.
The whole Workhouse website has been re-launched to promote the cottage as well as Far x 4 and the arty stuff that happens round here - nip over and have a look - see, there are two ways to get there!

Snow Business ll

Well, you might not have seen ENOUGH snow yet..., so here we have the road home from Jedburgh,
The little utility room that Hugh built in the autumn (nice timing, Mr Roberts)
Arty shot by Mrs Roberts...
And the path across the garden to that wee gate, beyond which lies the woodshed....

That's all folks! I'll spare you the saddest picture which would be the polytunnel that collapsed under the weight of snow and ice, as we are not up to addressing that wee calamity yet.
The snow is disappearing fast now and the fields are full of glaur (good Scots word meaning mud).

xx Ash

Snow Business

Midge takes snowball-catching very seriously, as you can see! She still misses 'em, of course, but she gives it her best shot every time. I'm just there to give helpful advice and score for any reward biscuits which may be on offer.

Basically we are having a ball this Christmastime, what with good walks and games in the snow, and a toasty warm stove to retreat to. There have been visitors to make a fuss of and more promised for a few days' time, and I think we may be having a Grand Day Out tomorrow, though whether that's north, south, east or west, I don't know. Hugh's enjoying the challenge of driving in snow and ice - not that he can afford to get stuck now that he's a qualified off-road instructor.....!

Hope y'all have a good New Year!

Festive Good Wishes

Hello folks! Are you all suffering in this seasonably chilly weather? We've had big fat snowflakes here this afternoon, to top up yesterday's meagre efforts. As you can see from Hugh's stylish portraits of us, Midge likes to eat as much snow as possible and leave it dribbling from her chops. She's not the most refined of eaters at the best of times.....

We're pretty festive here now, what with the tree in the living room, the cards on strings in the corridor, the supply of home made sweeties tucked away, and the lovely big pack of tripe flavoured chews in 'our' tin. Roll on the big day, say I. We've been promised a good walk and a well packed stove in the living room. Hopefully there may be the vestiges of turkey lurking about too. These will help to make up for the lack of attention over the next few days as the lord and lady dart hither and yon, socialising if you please.

I cannot tarry here as the computer lurks too far from the stove and my paws are chilling rapidly. I'd like to wish you all very happy holidays and as many bones and chews as you can eat without disgracing yourself on the carpet . And remember, take a seasonal lesson from Midge - eating tree decorations can result in savage indigestion.

Winter Draw(er)s On

Blimey - six weeks since I last graced you with my presence. So little has happened that I hardly know where to start...

OK, I jest, but the minutiae of life by the stove is not going to make entrancing reading.

Hugh has cut a mountain of firewood so we'll be warm for the next month or two, and he's been painting more pictures. He and Lindsay took more of his pigs and belties and ducks over to Conundrum Farm at Berwick to hang on the walls in the restaurant there, to be snapped up by discerning animal lovers (we hope).

Her Ladyship had a fine time selling her handmade 'stuff' at the Wool Festival at St Abbs earlier this month and her next outing is on Saturday 21st at the Village Hall for the Christmas Fayre.

To that end she is causing a sugar shortage in the district - there's to be a whole lot of cooking going on next week in the cottage kitchen, away from us hounds, as she creates irresistible edibles for the Fayre (if we are to believe her hype).

Midge and me - we are specialising in snuffling out where the neighbouring cat has been in wandering in OUR garden when we've been indoors. And there are a few fallen apples to be quietly disposed of, and piles of leaves to explore for mouses and those sort of late autumn duties. We are presently quietly content.

BAD STUFF BAD STUFF BAD

Dressing up is for humans - dogs are fine as they are. If anyone attempts this sort of torture on me I will bite them, and I say that as a lady of breeding.

http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/archives/Animal-science-blog/Nov-15-2007.html

http://coloradoright.wordpress.com/category/dogs/

http://coloradoright.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/why-dogs-bite-people/

Cool Day

Yup, I finally had a whole day out with Hugh. You see he'd organised this off-road driving day in the forests for 4 x 4 folks, experienced and otherwise, and it went off pretty smoothly really, considering the number of men involved in the marshalling and winching out of the occasional stuck vehicle and all that stuff.So the next weekend the trusty helpers were able to go back into the forests to do a tidy up and check it was all left unlittered.It inevitably involved driving along tricky tracks, across open moorland, down steep slippy slopes and so on and I WAS THERE! All Day. In the FRONT SEAT. Enjoying every minute, even when I needed to put my front paws on the dashboard to keep my balance. I must stress for those of a nervous disposition that extreme caution was taken by Hugh at all times and that speeds were very slow and careful.
And there were meal breaks and snacks stops and I WAS THERE, and Midge was not......