A Wet Wiry Walk in the Woods

I shouldn't need to prove to readers of this blog that us wire-haired fox terriers are a hardy, all-weather breed. As, for the most part, are our humans.

But just in case there are lingering doubters, let me show you some pictures from yesterday's walk in the woods with the local WFT group at Crathes Castle .

You might imagine that the weather forecast for the afternoon would deter some,...

...but of course you would be wrong!

A grand total of eleven foxies assembled in the car park for a meet and greet before setting off into the woods in the rain.

Heading onto the boardwalk, an oncoming sheltie caused a bit of a traffic hiatus, but he soon realised he was well outnumbered and gave way.

There were of course multiple pauses for communal sniffing sessions.

For some reason we WFTs were kept away from the immediate vicinity of the castle where most of the tourists congregate, and instead proceeded through the woods and past a small lake. By this stage in the walk, the humans were looking even more bedraggled than the pups.

Despite the continuing downpour, a group photo was attempted - the level of cooperation among the subjects varied but eventually some semblance of order was achieved.

Back at the car park, Jimbob and Vikki were more than ready to head for home. As, truth to tell, were Gail and I!

But where were their kilts?

In the failing mid-afternoon light, Gail took me for a walk yesterday in the grounds of Crathes Castle.

As I did my "pose nicely Bertie" bit in front of the 16th century tower house, I could hear sounds of high spirited humanity echoing in my flappy little ears.

I wanted to run across and make friends with the group behind me, who all seemed to be having such a fun time taking each other's pictures and generally larking about. But Gail told me I had to keep my distance, 'cos the bride and bridesmaids wouldn't want muddy paws on their dresses.

Well you could have knocked me down with a feather. A wedding party? Surely not! I mean, look at all those men in suits. Where were their kilts??

I had always assumed kilts were compulsory male attire at these occasions, especially if your wedding venue happens to be a genuine Scottish Castle.

But Gail insisted that it is, in this country, permitted for the groom and best man etc. to wear suits with trousers, or in fact any other outfit of their choosing, and the near ubiquity of kilt-wearing is through choice and is in no way obligatory.

Well my oh my, you learn something new every day.

In a panic over Christmas? Bertie advises...

What to do..

Grab a beer.

Help with the decorations.

Remove any irritating and questionably 'seasonal' neckwear.

Go for a walk somewhere nice*.

Then chill...

*Crathes Castle

King of the Castle (an Autumn Fantasy)

Sunday afternoon. Finally, it stopped raining.

But the weather still looked 'uncertain'. (Round these parts, that's code for 'could start pee-ing down again any minute'). So we decided against an exposed hill walk and instead went exploring the woods and gardens surrounding Crathes Castle.

We almost had the place to ourselves. I felt quite at home.

The Castle and adjacent land belongs to the National Trust for Scotland. Apparently the NTS are short of a bob or two. I have an idea!  Gail could buy it from them. I feel I deserve a country estate. Don't you think this would do nicely?

PS: You still have until Friday to apply for the field trip - see last but one post. BBB.