Saturday 23 July 2011

Doggy Post


As requested by Mike and Mildred,
here is Paddy peering through the flowers.
Anyway,
how could I not resist posting these today
when I couldn't include them in yesterday's post?


I think I would like to take more photos of Paddy amongst the white flowers.
White on white is rather nice.
I'm not sure he would stay still long enough though.

So following on from those photos,
I thought I would make todays post a doggy one.
Especially as Mike is missing his pups!

This morning after our walk,
I went to a small piece of land that we rent
amongst the vineyards.
We got it specially for the hounds!
Being greyhounds, they love to run,
but we can't trust them off the lead.
Well,
we have sometimes
let Rufus and Paddy off for a run along the river.
And if we have treats in our pocket,
Paddy is very well behaved
and comes back first time when called.
But there is no way
that we can let Arthur and Jewel off for a run.
Although we have on an odd occasion tried it.
Arthur tends to get himself lost in the undergrowth chasing interesting smells
and doesn't hear us when we call.
But Jewel.
She is willfull.
She stands and looks at us,
then looks at the open spaces,
and runs off,
into the distance!
The last time this happened was earlier this year.
She ran around to begin with,
then spotted some interesting looking trees and bushes,
and ran into them.
I can tell you it was a thicket,
well near to impenetrable.
She was lost for the next two hours!
Mike and I searched,
and searched.
calling her,
but to no avail.
I even scared
a wild boar
from it's hiding place
in the undergrowth
shouting for her!

Eventually,
Mike came across our friend
with her dog,
(Brenda),
with Jewel!
Brenda and Jewel are good friends.

Apparently,
Jewel had wandered to the next village.
Completely away from our village,
and not somewhere we take her.
Where,
someone had spotted her
looking through his window at him and his family eating.
So he invited her in.
And gave her a drink!
Can you imagine it?

So he phoned our friends
and asked if they knew anyone with greyhounds!
And of course they did.
So we were reunited,
eventually!
And we said,
we would never,
ever,
let Jewel off again.

So we asked around to see if there was any land going spare
that we could use for the hounds to have a run round.
Some other friends heard about this piece of land,
in fact it's next to some they own.

So we fenced it in,
and made it Jewel proof.
It was during some of the hottest weather we've had this year,
that we put in fence posts,
and attached the wire fence.
Something neither of us had done before.
It was so hot,
my shoulders got burnt,
and I rarely burn.
It was quite exhausting work.

And do the hounds appreciate it?
Well yes, I think they do.

Do they run around a lot?
Well,
no,
not really....

Rufus doing acrobatics,


Or is it gentle stretching exercises?



Jewel will often make her way to the far end,
away from all the lads.
Except that this morning,
Paddy joined her.



Arthur sometimes likes to stay close
and whine in my ear if I don't stroke him.



Looks like Jewel has moved away from Paddy.


She looks happy enough,
relaxing in the sunshine.


Who would think she was such a little minx?




7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Lynne for posting these adorable photos! Paddy with the white flowers could easily win a contest - that's so nice. It looks like all your hard work and sun burned shoulders paid off. They each look like they are having a grand time on the land you fenced in.
One time, John and I took Harriet to a big fenced in field thinking that she would run like crazy. She just stood there!!!!!
Our pets keep us busy, don't they?
Thanks again for sharing your day and all my best to you and Mike.

Annie said...

Oh what a great post ... your little pack are all gorgeous. Watch for a whippety post at knitsofacto later :)

Connie said...

HA! It's amusing that once given the chance to run, they instead choose to have a nap, but I'm sure they like being outside in the sun at least. Paddy looks quite nice peeking out from the flowers. :)

Sarah said...

Great photos of the hounds Lynne! I love Paddy with the white flowers and Jewel relaxing. Our dog used to take himself off to the village and visit a family with a lady dog and sausages. THey would ring us up and tell us he was there!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Faffy - you make me smile, then cry with joy.

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Good morning Lynne!

Thank you for visiting my post last night and YOUR HOUNDS ARE SO LOVELY!!!! They are gentle dogs; a friend of mine had one and what a lovely and friendly animal...you have your hands full with four!!

Enjoy your weekend! Anita

Minerva said...

I like the first two pictures of Queen Anne's Lace and the dogs. Pretty portraits.
And the other pictures were great too. Especially the toothy smile of contentment! Oh, how I wish my yard was fenced in so that the Knucklhead Sisters could run around. They are always on leads. as well.