Bertie in problem solving mode on Morven

So Gail was up early on Sunday, all bright eyed and bushy tailed (er, or was that me?)

"Rise and shine Bertie, we're going for a hill walk today, time to get in training for Switzerland*".

An hour's drive, and I recognised where we were no soon as I'd bounced out the car. Yippee (I said to myself), we're going to climb Morven, my favourite Aberdeenshire hill.

I have to tell you that the first bit of this walk is steep, and Gail was quite red of face when we stopped for a rest on the way up. Of course I was not content with the gravy bone she offered me, and let it be known that I would appreciate a piece of her flapjack too.

To Gail's objection that said treat contained chocolate and thus was unsuitable for dogs, I countered that the chocolate was restricted to a single layer so she could easily nibble it off, problem solved, and also this would be good practice for all those bars of Lindt she will doubtless be consuming in Switzerland...

I'm pleased to report that Gail acted on my helpful suggestion, the chocolate flapjack was duly de-toxified and I found it most delicious.

Before continuing upwards, Gail noticed a dragonfly in a little pond nearby. Can you spot it too?


It was a bit boring watching her try to catch this  flighty insect on camera, and the green pond water looked so inviting.

So I jumped in, thinking perhaps I might reprise the 'First Class Traveller' look I had modelled so successfully once before in Edinburgh.

And then I got stuck!

A lesser dog might at this stage have panicked. But I knew what to do. I emitted a little yelp, just enough to attract Gail's attention, and sure enough, she came over and gently extracted me from the bog. Although not before - somewhat insensitively I thought - taking a photo of my predicament...


Well, we finally reached the summit without further incident...


....and while Gail admired the view over to Lochnagar...


...I ensured no crumbs were left behind from her picnic lunch...

And then I pointed out we'd better hurry on down before the rain arrived.

*Yes, I really am going to join Gail on a big trip to Switzerland in October. More on this in due course...