March 2017

Saturday 18 Mar 2017

OMG! Woke up this morning and it was raining cats and dogs. Well, this dog was not amused. Grumpy Grey appeared at around nine o’clock and offered me the chance to nip out for a quickie. I took one look outside on the porch and politely declined the opportunity. I felt that I could hang on until the rain had stopped.

But in fact, it never did stop. The codgers kindly lit the fire so that I could sleep in front of it all day. Eventually, in mid-afternoon and with old grey watching the rugby, Blue Rinse put on her ocean sailing gear and took me for a walk. I was busting by this time and quickly added to the local environment in all respects. She tried to get me interested in chasing a stick, but frankly, after my necessary evacuations, I was ready for getting back into the warm and drying out. And so it was that we got back, had dinner, and I went to sleep for another twelve hours or so!

Have just woken up, and the sun is out. Lucky old grey, it is his turn to do the walk today and the weather is fine. Don’t the humans have some saying about the sun and “shining on the righteous”. Grey must fit the bill well.
Friday 17 Mar 2017

Roger looked in briefly this morning as he wants Grey to do some clever stuff with his computer. He was saying that the rocks and stuff have started falling down on their access road again, and he can only get in and out for a brief time each morning and evening. It is a bit like that for me here at the kennel. I used to be allowed out in the morning to roam freely for as long as I wished. And the same was permitted at night. I don’t know what has caused this but I now only get a couple of minutes on the lead around the back of the kennel. I hardly have time to sniff out and bark at the bad boys, and do a pee before I get dragged back in. I think the codgers have been chastised by the Agalouts for being too lenient with me, and now the old crinklies are taking it out on me. A dog’s life to be sure.

It was very warm today and the codgers decided to go shopping at Taninges. First stop, Mr Bricolage. I am sure it was very interesting inside as Grey was all excited with his list of bits and pieces, but naturally, I was condemned to staying outside with Blue Rinse so we had a walk around the neighbouring graveyard. He emerged with a bit of wood and a pot of paint. After that, it was an age at Super U. This time, Blue went in with the purse while Grey and I watched the French people trying to park their cars properly in the car park!! One out of ten was the final score.

In between times, we went for a walk in the woods and I had a little swim in the lake. I saw some nice tasty ducks which I am sure I could have brought home for dinner, but I was shouted at by Blue Rinse and had to give up the chase.

Finally got back to the kennel around four and I had to whine and whinge for a full hour before “she” would allocate me the daily ration.
Thursday 16 Mar 2017

I have been farmed out for a day or so with the young mob down at the Magestan. It was good to have some other dogs to play with, and it made a change from the endless prattle of the codgers.

However, the big dog (see top picture) insisted that I wear this silly pink headgear. I am not sure why but apparently it helps him to see where I am. I was happy to go along with it and they did at least let me leave it at home when we went for a blindingly long walk yesterday afternoon. It was very hot and these people are serious walkers with proper boots, poles and refreshments (for them). As usual, I was denied any comfort and had to wait for the codgers to dish up some chunks when they got me back to the kennel. Still it was good fun to have a change of scene, and I think I had started to establish myself as “Top Dog”. We will see how it goes next time.
Tuesday 14 Mar 2017

Bernie dropped in for a cup of tea this morning. He seemed very chipper and stayed a while until it was time to go off for a ski. Our plan, apparently to please me, was to walk up to Lasarre and then on to the Belvedere.

This we did in the blazing sunshine and I have to say I was a bit tired after the strenuous efforts yesterday in the deep, heavy snow. Nevertheless, I made it to the cable car before the old people. We then had a nice ride down where I was able to try on the new fashion kit for dogs (see featured picture). They then had a jolly lunch at the creperie at the bottom of Mont Chery while I had to lie under the table and listen to their senseless prattle about how many kilometers they had covered and how many metres of climb. Then it took them nearly 10 minutes to decide that when they got back up to the chalet, they would “have a nice cup of tea”! We paid the bill and climbed up to the kennel.

Tonight AFC Wimbledon are playing MK Dons. This is a bit of a needle match and Grey has taken a tranquilizer in case his fibrillation gets too much. I will let you all know if he survives the evening.

Tomorrow, I am going down to the Majestic Stan to stay with some young people for a couple of days. I hope this is good news but I am a little anxious in case we have to repeat the Ratty experience. Again, I will let you know.

Bon nuit
Monday 13 Mar 2017

Woke up this morning to bright sunshine and with the codgers being reasonably cheerful. They decided to go skiing and off they went at around 10am leaving me in peace to bask in the sunshine.

I must have slept well as the next thing I remember was the key in the door and the codgers coming back at around 2:30. They had their lunch but offered me nothing except a vague promise to take me for a walk as I had, apparently, been a “good girl”. They managed to stay awake after their meal – a notable achievement in itself – and at about four o’clock, we went up the mountain for a bit of a play. They found a big stick for me to chase through the snow but it was so heavy and deep, I had to struggle a bit with the steeper slopes. Blue Rinse took some film so to cheer her up, I have reproduced the highlights in the clip below.

When we got back, I finally got some crumbs and then they slid off for a snifter with their chums at the Chinfrey. Naturally, Earl Grey got back in time to watch the football before bedtime
Sunday 12 Mar 2017

Sunday is a day of rest in most places but not in the codger’s kennel. As it was a nice day, they decided to walk up to La Sarre on their snow shoes, and then climb over the pass towards the Belvedere and back through their woods in time for lunch (again, theirs not mine worse luck). Bless them, they kept going for three hours and we finally made it back. Blue was a bit grumpy at times with her blistered feet, but Grey was quite cheerful. I think he has got over the 1-0 loss by AFC Wimbledon.

The good thing about the walk was that it knackered both of them and there were many winks taken during the afternoon. Oddly, Grey watched a football match where one of the players was called “Winks”. Every time his name was mentioned in commentary, Blue Rinse fell asleep!

I managed to negotiate a slightly early mealtime with a cacophony of whimpering and whining. And then the codgers had theirs. Apparently today is an AFD. I asked what this meant and it stands for “alcohol free day”. Great I thought. I won”t have to pay the usual price for the gin they add to my water in the evening. No such luck. It means that they are keeping themselves free of booze for the day, and downright miserable they are tonight as a consequence. Roll out the barrel tomorrow mehopes. It could be worse, Lord B has AFMs when M stands for Month!!
Saturday 11 Mar 2017

If yesterday was quiet once we got away from the telly catastrophe at the Fairy Doll, today was a ruddy nightmare.

At what seemed like dawn, E and L (the ski instructor ones, not the junior codgers) turned up and took me for what I thought would be a nice walk in the morning sun. No such luck. We burned round to the other side of Mont Chery whereupon they put skis on and marched uphill to the Col de Ratty. Two things wrong with that. One is that it is a ruddy steep walk on paws in the soft, melting snow, and second, when you finally arrive, there are no frigging rats to chase. In fact, not even a mole or field mouse was available for a bit of gratuitous slaughter. Col de Ratless if you ask me.

After a brief look around for the non-existent rats and mice, I had to follow the humans down the hill at breakneck speed. Not for them the gentle pace of snow shoes favoured by the codgers. Oh no! The ski instructors used special dog destroying skis and hardly stopped all the way down. How a dog is supposed to pee in these circumstances, I do not know. Thankfully, that was it and they dropped me back with the codgers around lunchtime, theirs not mine worse luck.

After that, the afternoon was relatively sedate. Blue rinse was playing with her computer while old Grey watched football and rugby. His telly seemed to work OK, so I imagine his box was not a problem. The rest of the day was only disturbed when Grey starts swearing because AFC Wimbledon made the mistake of losing 1-0 to Northampton, but later he cheered up because England won the rugby.

And so to bed.
Friday 10 Mar 2017

Here we go again! The Agalouts are “off to sunny Spain” as they used to sing years ago, and I am being outsourced again to the Odd Couple. Imagine the scene this morning. There is plenty of packing to do and other preparations for the early afternoon flight to Barcelona. Naturally Lady B is well organinsed and is getting on with the real work which needs doing this morning. However Lord B is having none of that, he is playing with his gargantuan telly which he claims is not working. It could wait until next week when they get back, but that is far too simple. Old Lord B has the screen off the wall and is now surrounded with wires. He panics and summons Grey from his kennel and commands him to bring another telly to check “whether the box works”. Have you ever heard of a box that does not work? Only happens when Lord B forgets to add the Sellotape!

But I digress. Grey arrived with armfulls of kit. He takes one look at the mess in the lounge, suggests that Lord B turns it all on with his remote control and guess what. It works! Panic over, I jump into Grey’s car and we both get out while the going is good.

In no time at all, I am installed with Grey and Blue in their kennel, and before you could say “would I like a treat” me and her are fast asleep in front of the fire (see picture). Apart from a nice walk up the road in the late afternoon, all was quiet and uneventful for the rest of the day as the odd couple had to go out to dinner with their friends, the odder couple. I was left to guard the warm fire which I happily did until they got back.