Skywatch with seagulls

I'm not sure where gulls spend their nights but it looks like these are getting ready for bed.



To see what's happening with skies around the world, click here.

I've been busy and am playing catch up again. For some reason I didn't take many photos when the visitors were here last week but what I did take will have to wait for a few more days because I am heading off for a weekend of back to back dog shows.

Edinburgh is the venue on Saturday and the weather forecast is not good. I may take some convincing that dog-showing is a fun hobby when I am huddled in a wind-buffeted marquee with the rain lashing down.

There will be mud. There's always mud.

What not to wear

Jana, the accident-prone vizsla, (see here and here) broke her remarkably long run of wound-free months by getting a gash above her elbow last Thursday. (Don't enlarge the photo if you're a bit squeamish).



We are not sure exactly how she did it but it required stitching, which means two weeks restricted exercise and, worst of all, having to sport the dreaded collar!

"This is SO not me.
Do you have anything a little more understated..........in pink?"

Monochrome Weekly

It's been a while since I took part in Monochrome Weekly but I was playing around with some black and white dog portrait shots and quite liked this one of Gypsy.



I might not be around much because we have visitors at the moment but they may well provide me with some blogger fodder.

It's a jungle out there!

Well........maybe not quite a jungle but the warm weather we've been enjoying, mixed with the odd shower here and there, has allowed everything to flourish. Garden weeds especially!

The paths on one of the dogs' favourite walks have almost disappeared in places and the grasses are at my head height (5'2" in case you were wondering). I can push through it but imagine what it must be like from papillon level! Sadly, although the grasses are not impenetrable, the same can not be said for the nasty, sharp gorse, which is slowly but surely closing up many of the trails that we used to walk through. The keener rabbit hunters of my pack may be prepared to brave it but I'm certainly not! I can see a time when we won't be able to walk there at all.

Where did the path go?

Leaping skills come in handy here

Definitely a jungle for Louis




All that wildness makes for insect heaven

A Six-spot Burnet moth

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

This Bumblebee was covered in pollen



Lots of seed production happening too

Doesn't the seed head make a lovely pattern?


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We've been to a few shows over the last two weekends and father and son, Louis and Desmond, kept up their run of success. At Turriff just over a week ago, Des won his class and Louis was Best Toy Veteran. Last Saturday was Tayside and Lochee Open show at Carnoustie where both boys got the same result and at Keith on Sunday Louis took Best Veteran in Show.

The boys with their winning rosettes

Goose fat not required

Well, we did it. We swam in the sea and survived to tell the tale. It may not have been like the Mediterranean but it really wasn't that bad.

Jana came in for a swim a few times, I think she was worried that we were heading off out to sea, but she wasn't that keen on all the pebbles and rocks. We'll have to take her back to our sandy beach next time.

Louis was also with us and obviously thought we'd lost the plot, after all, who in their right minds would want to get wet?! From the water's edge he loudly encouraged us back out and, when this failed, he took it upon himself to go and guard our belongings. At least they were high and dry.

"Come on in, the water's lovely!"

Just splashing about (not in distress, even if it looks it!)

Louis
"Swimming is for fools"

Jana takes the plunge

Jana has never been keen on water, paddling in the shallows was the most she could bring herself to do. Obviously nobody had told her that vizslas are supposed to love splashing about in water, she clearly regarded the wet stuff in much the same way as the papillons and they'll do their utmost to walk around a puddle.

That all changed today when she actually swam to retrieve a tennis ball and the fact that she kept going back in makes me think that she must have enjoyed the experience. We've had a spell of quite hot weather and the sea temperature must be higher than normal, this I can vouch for because, when I ventured in for a paddle, my feet didn't go numb within the expected two seconds! I even braved it as far as thigh level. The forecast is for much the same tomorrow so I'm actually thinking of having a swim myself! For those of you living in warmer climes, where blue skies and hot summer days can be relied upon, this may not seem a big deal, but believe me, swimming in the sea in Scotland is not for the faint hearted!

A natural at the doggy paddle

A snorkel might have come in handy here

A real water dog at last

A whole lot of shaking going on........

The sky is falling

Our weather has been generally good of late with lots of blue skies but the odd heavy shower has also made an appearance. Here's one that was making its way towards Covesea Lighthouse and Lossiemouth West Beach.

Go over to Skywatch Friday, where you'll see amazing skies from all around the world.

Happiness is.........

.............a sunbathing Jana.

Remember the dogs?

The dogs have taken a back seat on the blog during the holiday posts but now they're back.

While we were away the dogs were split between my mum, Chris and Jenny. Jana didn't seem to miss us very much, she was too busy having fun with Keira, Brint, Sadie and Jasper pug.

Jana dangling a toy in front of Jasper

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News of a successful show two weeks ago. For various reasons, I haven't been able to get to many shows in the last few months so it was great to be out at Bon Accord KA's open show in Aberdeen. The weather defied the forecast and stayed warm and dry, which is just as well, seeing as there is no wet weather provision at this venue.

It was a lovely day out and the dogs did very well. Pansy and Louis had to make do with third places but both Rosa and Desmond won their classes and then Des went on to take Best of Breed. It was pretty hot during the group judging, he was starting to get a bit fed up and, seeing as there were eleven dogs there, I wasn't expecting too much. However, I was very pleased when he made the shortlisted six and then chuffed to bits when he actually won the group!

The photo below was taken after he'd won the group and my friend Anne Macgregor (Pyatshaw) had to work quite hard to get it because he was his usual uncooperative self!

Desmond with his Bon Accord rosettes


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Last weekend I was at a local charity show with Pansy and Jana. It was a nice afternoon out, the dogs were placed well enough but, for them, the best bit came afterwards when they went for a run at Duffus Castle with Jenny and Morag's dogs.

Cue lots of running dogs.

Mad-face Jana

Logie, Pansy and Sadie

Gigha

Sadie had a great time in the moat, then shook half of it over us

Speedy Pug! Not sure what he's doing with his tongue

Group pose
Logie, Sadie, Jasper, Gigha, Jana and Pansy


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More show news. Yesterday I was at Dingwall for Highland CA's open show and it turned out to be Desmond's day again. He took Best of Breed and then second in the group, Jasper pug won it! Pansy took Best Opposite Sex and Louis won the Toy veteran class. Rosa was entered but she is in season and so had to stay at home (and complained bitterly about it all day, according to LSH).

It was another nice day out, not only did we do well but plenty of friends did the same and it was nice to sit in the sun and watch proceedings. Next week we do it all over again at Turriff, fingers crossed for the weather.

Des with his prizes

Pansy and her Best Opposite Sex trophy

Louis with another Best Veteran award

The winners with trophies and rosettes from Bon Accord and Highland

Jasper and Desmond - 1st and 2nd in the Toy group

Return to Edinburgh

The last of our holiday photos. I'm gradually catching up!

We left Sunderland and headed north to Edinburgh on what was probably the hottest day of the year so far. Even on the move there was little cool air, unzipping my jacket a bit and opening up my cuffs were about the only things I could do to avoid overheating. Whenever we stopped it was a case of strip off as much as was decently possible! No complaints though, it could so easily have been raining.

We took country roads where possible and quite often we had these roads to ourselves. It made for great biking.

The open road

Alnwick Castle was the first on our route and it is surely the epitome of an English castle. You can easily imagine knights and battles here! The earliest parts of the castle date back to 1096.

A closer view of Alnwick Castle

We stopped at Seahouses for lunch and could see our next castle, Bamburgh, further up the coast.

Bamburgh Castle

I love how Bamburgh Castle looms over the little village.

The beach at Bamburgh with Lindisfarne in the distance

Back in Scotland and time for a rest in a shady spot


Arthur's Seat

One of our 'things to do' whilst in Edinburgh was climb Arthur's Seat and we arrived back in the city with enough time to tackle the peak. The fact that Edinburgh was baking in 30C heat did not exactly make for perfect conditions but I was willing to give it a go. LSH was not so willing, he thought it was a mad idea and was determined to have a heart attack on the way up just to prove it! He survived, of course, but both our hearts did get a good work out as it was a steep climb. The view from the top was well worth the effort, though.

Looking up to the summit before the climb. Heart in chilled mode.

LSH at the summit. Heart in racing mode!

The view south

Looking back down to the loch where we had parked and to the east.

Looking over Salisbury Crags and the city.
Into the sun, unfortunately, but it couldn't be helped

Zooming in on Edinburgh Castle

This is the loch where we parked. It's about half way up Arthur's Seat and it's so quiet and peaceful there that you'd never believe you were in the middle of a city. It was quite busy with people of course but there were no city noises. I was amazed at how many people were running and cycling around and up (!!) the hill, we were huffing and puffing just walking it!

I really enjoyed my time there, the people of Edinburgh are lucky to have such a lovely, green and fairly wild place right in the middle of the city.


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Our last day in Edinburgh and we met up with Ian, Lynne and Euan for a trip to the zoo. The last time I was there I was about two years old, not much older than Euan is now.

I have mixed feelings about zoos and definitely don't like to see large animals cooped up but it's perhaps not so bad for some of the smaller exhibits. A lot of effort is made to try and provide as natural an environment as possible and most of the endangered animals are part of a breeding programme. It's also a way of seeing just how big, or small, they are in the flesh. Something that doesn't always come across on TV.

Euan makes an entrance.
I've forgotten what the animal was behind the screens but it obviously wasn't as much fun as this peek-a-boo game.

This baby Pygmy Hippopotamus was the newest addition to the zoo, she was about 4 weeeks old...........

.............and really rather cute.

Afternoon nap required (for Euan, not Ian!)

This wild beastie seemed to have escaped from its cage

What fantastic eyebrows!

How can it possibly sleep in this position?

You can watch the penguins as they 'fly' underwater. So much more at home there than on land......

........as could be seen during the 'Penguin Parade'

Every afternoon the penguins come out (if they feel like it) for a walk round the green beside their enclosure. It's very popular, certainly with visitors, and apparently with the penguins too.

I have no idea!

This Red River Hog has to be the ugliest animal in the zoo, although I expect the female in with him really goes for that look.

Euan follows in his dad's footsteps (hand holds?) and does a spot of climbing

Heading for the monkey house.......looks like three inmates have escaped

Ian and Euan in the jungle

Adam gets looked in the eye

These Rainbow Lorikeets come to feed on nectar in little pots

Euan wasn't convinced of their appeal

Beautiful colours

Aren't rhinos just the strangest looking creatures?

The End