The impatience of youth

Hey Gail! I so want to bag a Munro. Please please please. Why not next weekend? Let's go up Beinn Alligin. I know I can do it!

Why Bertie, what ever put that idea into your cute little noddle? Munro bagging indeed. You know you're still far too young to be climbing up our highest Scottish mountains. 

Cute little noddle? Oh puh-lease. Don't be so patronising, I'm not a baby any more. I'm getting quite the big and strong young laddie. You said so yourself, only a few days ago. I've got loads and loads of energy. I wasn't even tired after that five mile hike last Sunday.

But Bertie, you're only just over six months old. And that outing on Sunday was on the level, on nice smooth tracks and soft grass. It's a whole different proposition, climbing a Munro. 

But, but, but...I've already been up Scolty. And Millstone Hill. And Hamish climbed lots of the biggest hills. And my legs are longer now than his ever were.

Yes Bertie, but on a Munro there'll be lots of rough ground and boulders to clamber over, and steep slopes and ledges where you need to be very careful to keep your footing. Remember how you jumped right onto that cattle grid last weekend and fell in between the metal bars, and then got into a tizzy and I had to rescue you? You must learn to look before you leap. Hamish now, he was always careful to assess how safe it was before proceeding. But with you, it's all a bit 'fools rush in' at the moment isn't it Bertie?

Hamish Hamish Hamish. I'm so fed up of hearing about him. I'm ME! And anyway, why is my 'posh' name Beinn Alligin if I'm never going to be allowed to climb it?

Bertie! Don't be a silly billy! I didn't say never just not yet. And it's only because I love you so much, you're so precious to me and I don't want you to come to any harm. Your half-year old bones still aren't so strong, you see, and you haven't yet learned to judge things very well. Then there's the weather. I couldn't help but notice that when we turned around that headland on our boggy walk last weekend, and we were suddenly hit by a 30 mph wind, you were just a little bit frightened. As you indicated by all that nipping at my ankles.....

Oh that. Well OK, yes, I was sort of scared. I didn't think you'd noticed. Will it be very windy on the top of a Munro then?

Almost certainly, Bertie, almost certainly. Now listen, we'll do some more practice hills this winter, and then next year, when the snows have gone and you're past your first birthday, I promise you, we'll go over to Torridon and climb Beinn Alligin, all the way to the top. 

Promise? Really?

I absolutely promise Bertie. 

Up with Skool!

[I have been told to warn you that this post will be comprehensible only to readers familiar with a certain important British literary personage called Nigel Molesworth. As any fule kno.]

Hello clouds, hello sky!

Basil Bertie Fotherington-Thomas here.

Today I am  bouncing skipping around so galie coz the new skool term has begun!

All my super puppy pals are back agane too. Including my grate frend Daisy Dachshund.

Unforchoonately I have to wate anuther week before I see them agen chiz moan drone.

And no it is not all uterly wet and weedy to like skool is it?

Oh it is?

Grrrrr!

(Gail here - don't panic readers, normal service will be resumed shortly when whatever Bertie was given at puppy class last night has worn off)

Whisky, bogs, mountains, lochs and a nice cup of tea

Yes I am going for some Scottish stereotypes today.....

Just had a wonderful weekend over at the cottage in Torridon. We drove a different way from usual, and stopped at Dufftown en route.

Apparently I'm not old enough for whisky, which is a shame, 'cos there are lots of famous distilleries nearby. Hamish would have loved it.

Meanwhile the west coast of Scotland was enjoying its usual summer weather.

Of course, that never deters us from going out. I do hope Uncle Eric reads this as I think he would be impressed by the state of my coat...

Only one hour after this walk on Saturday, we went to visit our German neighbours Renate and Michael for afternoon tea. Don't you think I scrub up nicely?

I snuggled up on Renate's super-comfy lap, happily daydreaming about bogs as she and Michael and Gail chattered on and on (I think the subject of the FIFA World Cup came up).

We went for another walk this morning, but it wasn't as good as yesterday's. No bogs.

I was well-behaved and obeyed the rules.

But it was quite a long hike, and I can tell you I was mightily miffed to be woken up on the drive home, ejected from my cosy spot in the rear of the car and made to pose for yet another picture.

One tries to influence one's human's reading habits..

I suspect I'm not the only blogging dog to live in a house full of books.

But I do wonder how many of you have to put up with a human whose summer reading has included titles like "The State of the Universe - A Primer in Modern Cosmology" or "Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality".

Yes really! I'm beginning to understand how Hamish the Westie turned out the way he did. (Remember his Parallel Universe Theory?)

OK I will admit that we have lots of fiction and travel books too, and a smattering of biographies, as well as all the sciencey stuff.

Now you might imagine that I, and Hamish before me, would be sufficient inspiration also for a whole shelf full of canine-related literature. But no, not at all, our house is woefully deficient in this particular category. 'Call of the Wild' sits alone in its own barren wasteland in the bookcase.

Well a couple of weeks ago I decided to take matters in hand and use my fast developing computer skills (us six month olds are such quick learners) to order a new book for Gail.

I hope I do not sound too self-congratulatory if I say that this book was cleverly and subtly chosen. You see, I have come to realise that Gail likes her dogs to be fluffy, but not her reading material. So didn't I do well to unearth a story about a fox terrier set in communist Hungary*? Gail could kid herself that she was reading something 'worthwhile' and 'serious' about the human condition, but really we know that she was enjoying a nice tale about a cute little pup!

Now that I have got her started, I wonder if any of my friends have other recommendations for books about dogs, preferably one that aren't too blatantly sentimental?


*'Niki: The Story of a Dog' by Tibor Dery.