Jig: in ice-lolly heaven (Day 4)

What a great day we have had. Desperate for a change of scenery, we decided to chance the motorway and attempt one of our favourite short walks near Livingston. It's only a couple of miles around, but definitely pushed my sore hips to the limit wading through 12 - 18 inches of snow. I must admit that I had expected hardier souls than me to have already tackled this walk thus easing the way; it soon became clear that not too many people had been out enjoying the country air! Flyn obviously knew better than us and within minutes of leaving the car, lay down in front of Frank and refused to go any further...feather-bed collies!!! Frank, muttering expletives, not fit to be mentioned here, duly returned said collie to the comfort of the car while Jig, Ghillie, and myself waited enjoying the sunshine and the fairy-tale scenery. Jig was in seventh heaven consuming copious quantities of pristine snow which must have been incredibly soothing to his raw and painful throat. Ghillie seemed to have consumed copious quantities of snow via the ears and developed one of the worst cases of deafness that has afflicted him for a while. The scent of deer and other widlife, of which there was ample evidence in the snow, was obviously just too much for him. Fortunately, there was little chance that he would vanish without trace as the depth of some of the drifts prevented any rapid disappearances into the distance. The route we normally followed petered out and we were forced out onto the open fields in the footsteps of the previous trail-blazers. The surface of the snow was covered in an intricate pattern of  tiny animal tracks obviously made by more than one species, and we stood and deliberated as to the identities while Ghillie and Jig happily obliterated the nearest signs with somewhat heavier prints.

 

It took us a couple of hours to complete a walk that generally takes only about 45 minutes, but it will be one to remember. We had no choice but to take the scissors to poor Ghillie when we got back to the car as his feathers had vanished in a mass of huge ice balls. It's a good job he has no breed shows coming up...handsome he definitely isn't now. We bundled Jig up in a pile of fleecey blankets and I think he has slept solidly since we got home. For the first time in several days, I have actually found some peace of mind today.