Blogville's Director of Scientific Affairs at work!

Greetings from Bouncing Bertie Boffin, Blogville's Director of Scientific Affairs!

As part of the Blogville City Hall's Open House/Coffee Morning, I am delighted to welcome you to my 'office'!



Feel free to snoop around my workplace. As you can see, I am in the midst of an important and very scientific experiment, so I shall leave you to explore by yourselves (what could possibly go wrong...?)

I regret to have to point out that modern day health and safety standards have caught up with us*, and so you are not allowed to consume coffee in the laboratory.

In fact, now that I have set up my distillation equipment, let us all adjourn to the Princess Leah's office for our Puppicinos, and I shall explain my mission to educate Blogville about all matters scientific and to ensure that all our policies are rational and firmly evidence-based...

*Human Grandad had a favourite story about his early days as a researcher for Boots the Chemists in the 1950s, when they used to make morning tea and coffee in glass beakers in the lab. One day the boss brought round some Very Important Foreign Visitors and one of them asked HGD to tell him about the experiment with the different hot brown fluids lined up on the bench....

PS From Gail: it was quite heroic of Bertie hobble in to work today, as his paws are still sore (although slightly better than a couple of days ago). We see the vet again on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I would like to say thank you again to all our dear blogging friends for your helpful advice and support.

Bertie has been thinking about his friends...

An Ode to Blogging Friendships

I read about you almost every day.
From countless photographs I recognise
The angle of your tail when you feel joy;
The precise set of your anxious ears;
Your food-expectant head tilt.

Although you live a world away,
I’m confident that I could navigate
From your front door
Directly to your well-worn comfy bed, or better yet
Your kitchen where the treat jar sits.

Your daily routines, though different from mine,
Are quite familiar now to me.
There is more sunshine where you live (most probably).
But then my park, I think, has fewer rules than yours,
For dogs, that is.

For all the fun we share when life is sweet,
There are those other times
When you are injured, ill, or nameless terrors strike.
And then I yearn to help you, but
Feel at a loss.

We’re old friends, are we not (though never met)?
Our lives are now entangled, in
A precious world wide web of friendship,
An unanticipated bond.

PS Thank you to all who have expressed concern about my paws. They are feeling much better and I do believe I set a record for the circuit around Loch Kinord on Sunday morning.

Pawlympics Munro Bagging event reminder

Gosh I am thrilled to have received so many tip top entries to my Blogville Pawlympics 'Munro Bagging' event. The following adventurous friends have already Bagged their Munros:

Madi; Casey; Arty; Dougie Dog; Easy; Frankie and Ernie; Jessie; Hailey and Zaphod; Macdui, Roxy and Bella; Princess Leah; Sarge; Murphy and Stanley; Wyatt and Tegan; Millie and Walter; Charlie.

But there are still plenty of Munros (Scottish mountains) to be bagged (climbed).

Remember, all you have to do is chose a mountain from the list:

http://www.climbthemunros.co.uk/munro_list.htm

Then send an email to me at bouncing(dot)bertie(at)outlook(dot)com, saying which Munro you want to climb, and attaching a photo of yourself to the email.

For full details, see my previous post: PAWLYMPICS: Munro Bagging explained

THE DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS SUNDAY 31ST JULY

Park Day: a poem celebrating Duthie Park

I couldn't quite decide what to do to for Finn and Gizmo's Blogville 'Park Day'. 

You see, for me, every day is Park Day! So to celebrate my daily walk round the local park, Gail suggested that I compose a poem. 

Here goes (with some help from Gail):

Snapshots of Duthie Park

Winter mornings. Dark, sharp, cold,

Dogs are sporting flashy disco lights,

Their ghostly owners wrapped in Marks and Spencers' shrouds,

The wind that's crossed the river gathers bite.

A weekend afternoon in Spring,

Much optimistic pallid flesh exposed,

Goose pimples notwithstanding, those from Aberdeen

Think, if the sun is out, they need few clothes.

Light evenings, masochists enrolled 

In British Military Fitness race

Around in circles, yelled at by

Instructors thick of neck and red of face.

Summer Sundays: barbecues, picnics,

Ice-cream cones lightly held by dog-height hands,

Those kids with flappy arms and high pitched shrieks,

Will tempt a chap to disobey commands.

And by the pond exquisite model boats,

Are all controlled by older men, sad,

One suspects, because their sons 

Prefer to lurk indoors, tending their (i)Pads.

A coach from Elgin parked beside the gate.

A line of grey-topped green enthusiasts

Make for the Winter Gardens' warmth, 

But pause en route to give cute pups a pat.

The cricket pitch brings out a different crowd.

Brown skins exotic still, in Scotland's chilly north.

When game's in progress I am not allowed

To dash across the grass and chase the ball.

But mostly we are lucky in our Park

Few rules constrain us pups, we're free to run

No lead required, we socialise,

Explore and play, and have enormous fun.