Bertie clears the beach

Now look here you oystercatchers....

Go catch some oysters. (How hard can it be?)

This is my beach!

That's more like it.

Whale watching is rubbish (+ keep voting!)

First, I want to thank you all so much for your amazing response to my readers' poll (see previous post). The vote closes on Sunday, so if you haven't yet selected Addy's Valentine vehicle, don't forget to do so in the next couple of days. I really appreciate your help with this tough decision!

Well what else have I been up to?

There was great excitement in this household at the weekend when one of Gail's friends called to say that humpback whales had been sighted off the village of Collieston several times in the last few days. A most unusual occurrence, and apparently of great interest to humans....

Well, we drove the 15 miles north up the coast from Aberdeen to Collieston and this is what we saw:

And this is what we hoped to see but didn't.


So I have decided that whale watching is a greatly overrated pastime anyway.

From the canine perspective it's all "no Bertie no, don't jump all over the little children you'll frighten them, no Bertie you can't run off down the cliff path and explore the village all on your own, Bertie you must stay here where I can see you're not getting into any trouble, no I don't want to go down to the beach just so you can roll in some decomposing fish, OH BERTIE NO, sigh, I'm going to have to put you back on the lead, Bertie please stop barking no-one wants to listen to a noisy dog, no Bertie we are not going anywhere just yet, those whales might show up any minute now..."

Tedious or what?

Oh, I have been instructed to tell you that we did also have a very pleasant walk in the nearby Sands of Forvie nature reserve the same afternoon, and also told that I would do well to display more gratitude once in a while...