Coming soon. . . a new addition

Over the years I have welcomed rescue dogs into my home.  Some were not a good fit.  Some were fantastic!

We had Barney the basset hound who was with us for two years.  He was so handsome and mostly good natured. He had the best ears and the deepest bark of all the dogs.  He developed bloat or GVD and did not survive.  I was heartbroken and cried for ages when he left us.

I researched the next breed carefully and decided that a Staffordshire Bull Terrier would be a good match for us.  I had to wait a bit before the right dog came along.  We got Polly as a small pup.

She was a terrific dog.  We had her for many years.  She died at the age of eleven.

I've tried another rescue dog almost immediately after Polly died.  It was too odd to not have a dog in the house.  We had Xena for a while another very good natured Staffordshire Bull Terrier.  She was older (about seven) when we got her.   I really tried with her but when she jumped over the fence to start chasing sheep, her number was up.  With that breed, I really need to start with a pup that can be trained and don't come with bad habits  She couldn't stay.  I am not put off that breed at all.  They make wonderful, loyal pets.

Last week I was up in the highlands, on the banks of the Tay in a very nice house.  When the ghillie showed up with his dog Scout, I was smitten!  Scout was a well behaved black Labrador.  He had a glossy coat that was almost blue and so affectionate!

The day I got home, I started looking into getting a dog just like Scout! Here's what I knew about Scout.  He was a working dog and had a formidable pedigree.  You just don't find dogs like him in rescue situations.  One quick look on the Kennel Club website for reputable breeders told me that there is a breeder near me!  I mean not far at all!!

Not only was this breeder close, she had a two week old litter with a few pups available.   The breeder had been expecting a litter of four pups.  Those pups had been spoken for.  When Saffron, her bitch whelped, she produced 10 puppies!  There were three black lab dog pups available and one yellow dog pup available.   I dashed across to see them and put a deposit down on one.

They have good hips and elbows and have been tested (and passed) for other painful diseases associated with pure breed labs.  Bred for temperament and obedience, this will be a brilliant match for us.

SO. . . .in the beginning of September our new piddling, chewing lab pup will be here.

Feeling Better - Let's Walk the Dog

We are turning the corner with the flu bug.  I'm working at about 78% capacity and thought the long suffering hound could really do with a nice long walk.

I bundled up and took her up the road to our favourite walk.  It snowed about an inch last night and I could see we were the first and only visitors to the pond today.  Well, the only domestic visitors . . .

There were some deer tracks.

By this little hill, I could see where some pheasants had been dragging their sleds around in the snow.

Then there was evidence of a fox.

 I got this shot of the fox's path through the snow before Polly could go and bounce all over the tracks and spoil it.

The fox had zig zagged all up and down the snowy lane looking for something, anything to eat.

This tree looked lacey with the snow still clinging to its branches.

I don't know if you can tell from this photo how quiet it was . . . . but I could only hear my footsteps and own breath.

Here's our pond.  It looks different all silent and frozen.  In a few months - this bit of water will be heaving with the activity of spring but for now, it is still.

This surprised me - the moles - blast their furry hides - are still active.  This mole hill at the side of the road was made fresh this morning.

New Gravel!

We've had a LOT of rain. It is official. This is the wettest year since records began. There has been flooding in the area as well. Our house is on a hill so we are in no danger of rising water but that doesn't mean that the ground hasn't been completely saturated!

The Man of the Place and I were sick to the back teeth of rain and mud. We can't stop the rain, but perhaps we can manage the mud a bit better. The drive and yard are getting new gravel.

First the ancient and crumbling concrete was scraped up and hauled away. Bits of the old cobbled yard, from the days when Whitelees Cottage used to be the location of a lumber mill (between the wars) Then a new sub-base of scrapings from our local quarry was dumped and leveled. Later on we will get nice finished gravel to make it all look lovelier.

Meanwhile in the house, the pets compete for the best spot in front of the fire.Polly has won this round.

I love having friends that own heavy machinery. Stuart has a JCB, Innes has a heavy duty trailer. Gamekeeper Mike doesn't own any heavy machinery that I know of, but he did bring me a couple brace of pheasants that were shot yesterday. I couldn't take Polly out for a walk yesterday as there was a pheasant shoot on. This little gift makes up for it!!

As I write this, our cat Julio is out in the tunnel, yowling at the pheasants. I think he wants to eat them . . . . sorry Julio.

Tracking the Wildlife

Now that days are getting a little bit longer, it is no longer too dark to walk the dog after work. Both Polly and I really need the exercise and I was pleased to get up the road this evening and to our favourite walk by the duck ponds. Snowdrops are poking through last year's fallen leaves and one can almost feel the sap rising. I know there is always the threat of late snow at this time of year and we will certainly have more frost, but it feels that the teeth have been knocked out of winter.
The light on the hills behind the house was particularly lovely.

There is a lot of sticky red mud this time of year and the old pink wellies get called into service.

I saw loads of signs of British mammals on this walk. First there is this well used path. I can't tell if this path belongs to badgers or a foxes. Both these animals like to follow the same path when going about their daily business. This particular path comes out of the trees, across the grass, under the fence, across the road and into the next field.

After the path, the first mammal tracks I saw were the deer tracks. There look to be about four does and one big buck. I have taken photos of both doe and buck tracks so you can see for yourself how easy it is to distinguish between the doe and buck tracks. doe tracks
doe tracksa buck hoof print

I took the photos of hoof and paw prints next to my hand so that you could get a sense of scale. You can see that the hoof print of a buck is much deeper in the soft mud and has the two distinct heel marks behind the hoof.
I found badger tracks tonight. I've not seen badger tracks up there before. This is a poor specimen of a badger track, but you can see the claw marks plainly.
This is a fox print in the mud. Very similar to a dog but smaller and more delicate and quite different to the badger.
Compare it with Polly's big muddy paw print
Then there are my welly tracks.

I saw our barn owl again just as I was almost home. Even though I had the camera, I still wasn't fast enough to get footage. It's such a beautiful bird,

It was a lovely walk and I look forward to many more of them this spring.