Remembering Madi

It's red and a box.
I followed the rules,
Which Madi would not have done.


Thank you so much Raz for setting up this special 'Remembering Madi' blog hop. She was dear to us all.

Road Trip time with Mad Madi!

Today Blogville is celebrating our dear friend (and esteemed former Mayoress) Madi's 16th birthday with posts about road trips.

One of Gail and my favourite road trips is along the shores of Loch Torridon, eastwards from our cottage on the northern shore then around the head of the loch to the village of Shieldaig on the south side, a distance of thirteen miles by road (although less than two if you have a boat).

For those of you who aren't familiar with the area, Loch Torridon is a sea inlet/fjord in NW Scotland.

The photos below were taken yesterday. As you will see, Spring has yet to arrive in this part of the world.

Oh and this, er, 'tail-end' photo is especially for my most favourite Diva!

Happy Birthday Madi!

PS from Gail: A word about driving safety! The roads around Loch Torridon are almost deserted at this time of year so, just this once, I allowed Bertie the freedom of the passenger seat. There are many places where one can pull off the road and stop, and all the photos were taken from such spots.

Waggly Wednesday

Here's one especially for esteemed Mayoress Madi (and her Mom).
And all other fans of super-waggly tails of course.

Interview with Madi - the initial draft ...

Gail, come and look at this, I have prepared my answers to Mayoress Madi's interview questions. Oh don't you just love this interview business, being asked to talk about oneself, to give one's opinions and generally to be taken seriously. It's such good fun isn't it?

Well Bertie that is certainly an interesting and positive approach to a process many humans find stressful. Can I please see what you have pawed? So, er, how many pages is that? Crikey! You most surely have a lot to say. Now let me read....

(Half an hour later, and Gail is still reading)

Gail, you are looking a wee bit worried? Frowning is not good for those wrinkles, you know. Is there something I need to explain?

Dearest Bertie, where to begin? I should I suppose congratulate you on the fullness of your answers. Both to the questions that were asked and those that weren't. If you were being paid by the word, then this effort would for sure earn you a lot of treats. However I think you should bear in mind that the attention span of the average blog reader, yes, even your readers, who are naturally of the highest intellectual calibre, does not normally extend to a post long enough to submit as a PhD thesis.

Gosh but Gail, what can I cut out? I mean it's all so very important...

Well now let me see (Gail flicks through the pile of papers). Your answer to the question 'who would you most like to meet?'  Perhaps the five page rant about wanting to be introduced to Donald Trump, simply so you could let him know what you feel about him ruining your favourite bit of coastline with his hideous golf resort is a bit OTT. The details about how you would bite his ankles and then work upwards are gruesome, overly graphic and almost as tasteless as his hotels and his hairdo. What else? Oh yes the lengthy section about your interest in the notion of gene therapy and whether there are genes that can be inserted into humans to make them better at buying dog treats and toys is not strictly speaking relevant to any of the questions posed by Madi, is it now Bertie?

Well Gail, if you say so...

I do say so. Oh Bertie, there's no need to look so disappointed. I'm sure you can deploy some of this material in future posts. But for this particular task, I'll tell you what, let's settle down in front of the laptop and together we'll try to write some responses that are true, entertaining, somewhat relevant and, well, a wee bit briefer...

For the final version of Bertie's interview see Madi and Mom's blog on Monday 10th June.