Discourses, Dogs and Diaries: MIXED FORTUNES

Spring blossom

Well it's not often I manage to get two blogs written so close together. I would really much rather have been out enjoying the sunshine but I am stuck indoors waiting for important phone calls that haven't materialised..
grrrrr.
2011 is proving to be just as bad as 2010. I don't know what we have done for things to still be going so wrong. First Frank's broken leg, then Ghillie's new bouts of illness, followed by totally unexpected family problems which have turned our lives upside down and now after a fantastic day out on Sunday, we got home in the early evening to find we had had a visit from the fire brigade. The garage had gone up in smoke literally minutes after we went out on Sunday morning. The mess was indescribable. We think that it must have started with a short from the tumble drier although it wasn't left on when we went out. All the circuit breakers had tripped but obviously not soon enough to prevent the fire. There was old oil in the garage from when Frank changed it in the car and everything is black from where it went up in flames. We are going to need a new roof, doors etc and to add insult to injury although we have contents insurance, we have only just found out that we have no building insurance which stopped after the mortgage was paid off last summer. Hey...Ho...and it's only April!!!
Having had my moan, the sun is shining, the dogs are great and we have a lot more to be thankful for than a lot of people- not least those in Japan.
Pepper had her first big day out on Sunday. A quick visit to the Knightswood championship show to introduce her to the obedience fraternity followed by a day in Dumfries and Galloway. We always take our pups to some out of the way place for an early intro to the big wide world and although it is little more than a change of scenary, I think it is good experience for a pup to travel in the car and see and hear new sights and sounds as soon as possible.

My...but that's a lot of water!!!


It's a big world out here!!

We actually ended up driving along a forest track that gradually became more suitable for a 4x4 than a Touran. It developed the look of somewhere that hadn't seen civilisation for a considerable time, but proved to be an absolutely idyllic spot obviously only ever used by fishermen. We stopped to let the dogs out and have a picnic and Frank went exploring only to return to tell me to follow the little trail by the river to a small memorial.

Unattributed memorial.

This lovely little spot had a poem inscribed in a piece of slate and placed into this tiny section of wall. A large stone with regular holes in it lay in front. There was nothing to say who it was for, why it was there or who wrote the poem but it was beautiful.

As it is probably difficult to read from the photograph, I will put the poem below:
                                    Quick Water
                      Palfern springs between alder trees
                      turns back to the wind at Tonderghie
                      down Grey Mare's Tail and Clugie Linh
                      falls pierce the mountains with their din
                      Through a strip for cattle, Carseveige Burn
                      Then the chattering one, the little Louran
                      along Barhoise with its field of thistles
                      The yellow clearing where Blairbuls rustles

                       In paradise, Bargaly hazelwood
                       grow nut and leafy branch and root
                       Under Bardroch wood, field at the bridge
                       round Kirroughtie's brindle ridge
                       between Muirfad Flow's long marsh
                       and the rich loop of Meilde Carse
                       Clear Palnure, stream of the yew tree
                       winds to the fish-trap Guives o Cree
I did wonder whether this was written by Burns and will do a little more research to see if I can find out any more about the place and the poem.... watch this space.

Ghillie and Pepper are doing a fine job of wrecking the house. I hold my breath when Pepper's head disappears in his mouth, but she seems to be holding her oen so far. All I can do, is get out with Ghillie so we can run off a little of his exhuberance. Fortunately the weather has been beautiful and the walk yesterday in Drumpellier Country Park was lovely. I swear there was a chiffchaff or a willow warbler in every tree and I could hear the distinctive drumming of a great spotted woodpecker in the nearby woodland.


Lots of running space for Ghillie

As usual, Ghillie and Flyn headed straight for the water. Fortunately there were no deer in evidence this time as last time he was swimming out to retrieve when he caught the scent of deer high up on the ridge so he just kept going to the other side and took off at a rate of knots and was missing for ten minutes. This time, it was the ducks who took his attention but fortunately, he left them alone.