Taking a short break from training

In common with many of my fellow blogging pups, I am now in intensive training for the forthcoming Blogville ISO-lympics, organised by our wonderful Down Under friends Bella, Roxy and Dui and scheduled for Thursday 16th April.

But of course even the most dedicated athlete needs to take a break every once in a while, and remember to stay positive and thankful. 

Happy Easter! Do join me for a walk

Happy Easter to all my friends!

Many of us will not be able to spend the day in the way we might wish. For those of you who, like Gail and me, are a bit cut off from friends and family just now, we hope you will be able to join us for an Easter Sunday morning expedition.  

We start, of course, from our home in Aberdeen, and through the familiar territory of Duthie Park.

Then it's on to the riverside path, where massed ranks of daffodils are still out in force.

Across the Bridge of Dee, we pause to read the board telling you all about the history of this structure, which dates back to medieval times. As Gail's eyes are drawn to the sentence 'Burgesses were posted on the bridge to prevent the spread of plague into the burgh', I observe the third police car of the morning driving past. There is little other traffic on the road.

Further along the riverside path, another sign warns us off going for a swim. Neither Gail nor I find this instruction hard to obey.

A short climb away from the river takes us up into Tolohill Wood, where the spring flowers are, finally, tentatively, beginning to appear.

In the distance, we can look across to the church spires and more recent high rise buildings of Aberdeen's city centre.

Back down the hill, a farm track leads us into a squeaky clean new housing estate,

Then this time we go under the bridge, where I enjoy a welcome sip of nice cool river water. 

Continuing homewards, we note that the playing fields are all but deserted, the footballers presumably practicing keepie uppie in their back yards.

And into the home straight, where the waters of the Duthie Park pond are for once undisturbed by the usual Sunday morning flotilla of noisy model boats.

Well done to those of you who managed to make it all the way round with us. That was a whole five and a half miles! For sure, we all deserve a nice juicy chunk of roast lamb and, for the humans, an extra bite of Easter egg.

On yer bike!

Tell me, are there any other pups out there who are beginning to find this business of having one's human at home all the time rather onerous?

I mean, we all know it's important to keep an eye on what they're up to, but so much snoopervising does mean fewer opportunities for rest and relaxation.

(And, between you and me, it's just a teeny weeny little bit embarrassing to have one's person know quite how many hours a day a senior dog likes to nap....)

So when Gail suggested another long walk to gather material for the LLB Gang's Nature Friday this week, I subtly nudged her in the direction of her bicycle, and thankfully she took the hint.

Last time Gail went out for a bike ride her hands were so cold when she returned that she couldn't turn the key in the front door, so for this outing I insisted she take a flask of hot coffee. As I reminded her, the cafés are all closed just now.

I did also suggest to Gail that she take a selfie of herself with bicycle, but to be honest, the result was so scary I felt I couldn't include it in this post, for fear of being banned by Blogger. Is her nose really that big? And perhaps one of my dear readers could tell us where you find the special software which eliminates from photos all wrinkles and skin blemishes....

Fortunately the pictures of the spring lambs turned out more acceptable.

I wonder, did Gail call out "mint sauce" as she was cycling by?

The landscape looked quite flat to me, but when I commented that she had clearly chosen an easy route, Gail sighed and patiently explained how when on a bicycle the hills are always much bigger and steeper than they appear in photographs.

I also queried why we would want a photo of Aberdeen's new(ish) bypass in a Nature Friday post. The justification, apparently, is that the lack of traffic on the roads at the moment means less air pollution - great news all round for the natural environment.

Finally, I had been hoping that Gail would come back with some shots of Highland cattle, especially 'cos I know our dear friend YAM-Aunty would enjoy these greatly. But it seems there were none to be seen on Gail's route, so we'll have to make do instead with these Belted Galloways. Don't they look peaceful and contented? You might imagine they'd never heard of coronavirus...

Happy Nature Friday friends! Did you get an opportunity to rest this week?

Comfort in armchair travelling...

While Gail takes a literary tour in lieu of the holiday that should have been, I relax contentedly beside her, finding the sofa in our living room more comfortable than the austere environment of the 'Fairways Pet Haven'...

We did venture out yesterday for a walk to a favourite shop, MacBeans, to pick up essential supplies (for humans). Gail had earlier ordered the coffee - 500g of Espresso Classico, ground fine - online, to be picked up at the store. On  arrival, she texted them a code. We waited patiently outside for a minute or two then the assistant came out and placed Gail's order just in front of the door.  When she'd gone back inside, Gail stepped forward to pick up the coffee. The city centre was ghostly quiet. I like it that I'm now often allowed to walk down the middle of the road. 

At least Gail has no excuse for dozing off while tackling her reading material.