One year on

 Gail here.

It's now been a year since Bertie was diagnosed with a malignant tumour (transitional cell carcinoma or TCC) near the neck of his bladder, and I was told that such tumours tend to be aggressive and treatment options limited. I won't pretend the past twelve months have been easy. There have been many ups and downs. 

Bertie still has his good moments, as captured on video last Saturday during a sunny and idyllic walk along the banks of the beautiful river Dee.

https://youtu.be/44OT1itLq7Y

But then there are the times at home when he stands bewildered, looking uncomfortable. 

I am trying to come to terms with the fact that the last year has in effect been a 'bonus year', and be grateful for that. 

Was she fibbing?

I saw this photo on Gail's phone a few days ago and I thought she was fibbing when she claimed she'd been out on another bike ride with her friends in NE Scotland.

Surely she had taken a quick flight to a beach somewhere warm and sunny. Portugal perhaps? 

But then I saw a second photo and concluded perhaps she hadn't been fibbing after all. 

Gail says the photos were taken on the coast at Whitehills, near Banff. And now it's perhaps the turn of my Canadian readers to be confused! They will be wondering what has happened to the Rocky Mountains. Very rapid erosion perhaps? Swallowed by a subduction zone?

Just to clarify - Banff in Scotland (the original Banff, incidentally) really is by the sea, and has lovely beaches nearby. Or so I'm told, although I'm still waiting to be taken there...

Meanwhile here's a picture of me bouncing along the bonnie banks of the River Dee yesterday afternoon, when Aberdeen was a chilly and haar enshrouded 12ºC but ten miles inland at Drumoak we entered a different and delightful climate zone.

To be honest, I don't so often feel bouncy these days. But I still have my moments! 

Flower Friday and a Bouncing Beach!

Gosh I had a bright idea this week.

Did you know that Gail has volunteered to do some wildflower monitoring work for a conservation organisation called Plantlife? 

I confess I was a bit surprised 'cos Gail's flower identification skills are er, frankly, er, shall we say 'basic'?

Well apparently she is persuaded you can teach an old dog new tricks, as it were, and so, being a cooperative wee chap, I have decided to help her by posting every week on Flower Friday about a wildflower I have sniffed during that week.

I'm just going to do one flower at a time, so Gail's poor brain doesn't get overloaded. 

Today I'm showing you the sea rocket, which I came across a few days ago, while roaming around beach at the St Cyrus National Nature Reserve, thirty miles down the coast from Aberdeen.

It must be quite a hardy wee thing, this sea rocket plant, 'cos believe me it's never warm right by the North Sea, even in June, and not every flower wants to be sprayed with salt all the time either. 

Pretty though, don't you think?

I'm told that the thick and fleshy leaves are edible and rich in vitamin C, although I must say I was not tempted.

Oh and finally, I do want to tell you something else about the St Cyrus Nature Reserve, even though it has nothing to do with plants.

Apparently the area just back from the current shoreline is a raised beach. It used to be the actual beach, when the land was weighed down by ice in the last glaciation, but now the ice has melted, the land has rebounded to a higher level. A display in the Visitor Centre tells you all about it.

I do like the idea of a Bouncing Beach.

Bed-loving Bertie's Blog?

Shall I let you into a wee secret?

Nothing to excite MI5 admittedly. It's just that the whole 'Bouncing Bertie' thing is not, these days, an accurate description of my usual demeanour at the break of day in the middle of winter here in Scotland.

In fact Gail has suggested perhaps I should consider renaming this blog 'Bed-loving Bertie'.

In my view, when a chap reaches middle age, he is entitled to a lie in every once in a while.

That said, once I am up and about, and especially when staying at our cottage in Torridon, there is something a bit special about our early morning rambles.

Or perhaps I should say early-ish morning. Here I am yesterday beside the footpath to Wester Alligin sign at a quarter to nine a.m., and it is just light enough for Gail's smartphone camera to capture my handsome figure posing against the loch in the stillness of dawn.

 

Bertie back at full bounce

Gosh I 'm delighted to report that, after various tummy and paw problems in May and June, this month sees me restored to my bouncing best.

Wheee! 

But I really am super busy over the next few days, what with a trip to Nottingham for Human Granny's birthday (I might, cross paws, even be allowed to her birthday lunch) and all the Pawlympic goings on.

Just time for a reminder then, to stop by the blog on Tuesday, 16th August, for my Munro Bagging event.

It's going to be awesome!

Update: Olympics Bouncing and Other Stuff

Friends,

First, the Olympics! Just a reminder to keep the entries for the Bouncing (narrative style) event coming in. I am already bouncing off the walls with delight at the ones I've seen so far, they are all brilliant! Remember that it's your WORDS about Bouncing - not photos - that I'm looking for here. Entries to be emailed to soi718(AT)abdn(DOT)ac(DOT)uk. For full details of the event, click here.

Secondly, on the Boffin* front, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my promised Science of Human Behaviour post! Thank you so much for your fascinating contributions. It is taking longer than I anticipated to synthesise all the data, but I shall have answers for you, er, in due course....

Thirdly, my assistant Gail will be away for the next few days. Most inconvenient from an Olympics perspective I must say. So if you have sent in a 'Bouncing' entry but have not yet received a polite acknowledgement, well that is 'cos a certain person has gone swanning off to visit friends in Switzerland and is ignoring her computer. (Don't worry about me though, I am staying at home and being cared for by Gail's friend Marie-Thérèse, and am hoping to be spoilt rotten...)

Toodle pip!
Bertie.

*Wasn't it just SO EXCITING about the Higgs Boson!

Relaxing at the cottage before the Big Olympic Event