Bertie is mystified...

You know, out and about in Aberdeen this week, I have been seeing this flag a lot.

Does anyone have any idea why?

PS from Gail: some of you have been wondering about Bertie's health, and if has recovered from his gastroenteritis. Well the short answer is yes his tummy troubles are better thank goodness, but the longer answer is that he has in general been very up and down these last few weeks, with low energy levels and also intermittent lameness. This is not the Bouncing Bertie I know. On Monday night this week he was very uncomfortable and developed a tremor, so on Tuesday I took him back to the vet. She examined his legs and feet, and did some blood tests but she couldn't detect anything amiss other than slightly elevated white blood cell levels which she attributed to residual infection or inflammation. She prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication and he seemed a bit better next day. Then on Friday I spotted an interdigital cyst on his front left foot (something he has had before) which would explain the lameness, except that it was a different leg, the rear left one, that was lame towards the end of last weekend's Balmoral walk, and I still can't spot a cyst or any other problem there, and neither did the vet. At least the tremor has not returned. For the moment he is getting short walks, frequent gentle paw washing in Hibiscrub antimicrobial skin cleanser, and wearing a sock to try to stop him licking the paw when I'm not around. His energy levels are still well below normal.  (After an unwise 3 a.m. symptom googling session on Monday night I began to wonder about Lyme disease as, despite Frontline treatment, Bertie does occasionally pick up ticks over in Torridon and they are hard to spot through his fuzzy furs. However, the vet thought it "not the first thing we would investigate" which I took as a polite reprimand for my attempt at diagnosis via early hours internet search!)  Anyway, he still has a week's worth of medication and we'll see how things go. 

Bertie enjoying a gentle late evening (9:30pm) stroll and sniff

Not the real Stade de France?

So when Gail told me she was a bit worried 'cos her brother Max is going to a football game at the Stade de France in a couple of week's time, I was, frankly, puzzled.

But Gail, I said, we pass by the Stade de France every Friday on our extended 'day off' morning walk. Surely there is nothing to be concerned about, except possibly your brother's sanity in wanting to come to Aberdeen to watch a bunch of overweight amateurs play five-a-side football on an artificial pitch?

Imagine how put out I was to learn that the ground pictured above is not the real Stade de France.

It seems that Max will be going to Paris in early July to see a Euro 2016 quarter final, and there are fears about terrorism at the tournament.

I think it would be nice if Max (and his wife Kathy, and their poodles Percy and Coco) came to visit Aberdeen instead and joined Gail and me on our Friday walk.

PS: Thank you to those who took part in the poll to decide whether or not my furs should remain in place. In the end the Outs shaded it by a single vote (a foretaste of the 23 June result, one fears?) No-one will be at all surprised to learn that Gail was attacking me with the stripping implement even before the final vote was cast…

Bertie post strip/trim

PPS: Hi to all our friends who attended the Blogville Awesome Retreat. Oh how we wish we could have been there too.