Welshie Walk

Unfortunately quite a few dogs couldn't meet us for a walk at Clumber Park yesterday because their humans were busy doing other stuff, or like Dougal they had a training session to attend.
Having said that, we had a lovely time with Jennifer and Google - a leisurely walk through the woods (nice and cool) followed by a picnic lunch before heading home to do some gardening.  It's been very warm here over the last few days so every evening I've been busy helping Mum water the plants, although I seem  to be as wet as they are by the end of it!

Home again and congratulations

After a second morning having breakfast outside, we packed up and headed home.  It was a lovely, warm and very relaxing weekend.

A very big CONGRATULATIONS goes to my human cousin Victoria who found out on Friday that she has won a teaching job that starts in September.  Not bad for one who hasn't finished her training yet!
Murphy and I are really pleased because this means she won't have to look for a job through the summer and will be able to come and stay with us for a few days.

Well done Toria!

Weekend Away

Here we are having an al fresco breakfast in a very sunny Slingsby. We arrived yesterday afternoon and currently have a field to ourselves and a resident bunny. Add to that loads of bats last night and it's all very exciting.

After a quiet morning making the most of our empty field, we headed off to visit Castle Howard which is just a couple of miles away from the site. 

Me on the front lawn!

It was very warm, but the nice people at the castle allow us dogs everywhere in the gardens (except the playground area which Murphy and me didn't want to visit anyway) so we had a great walk around before retiring to some shade for a well earned drink and a biscuit.

Before and After

Ok, so I told you that Aunty Debbie gave me a grooming session the other day.  Well, today Mum has had another go at me - she said my ears were a real mess. Unluckily for me her new coat brush that she ordered (it's just like the one Aunty Debbie used) arrived as we were mid-groom, so of course she had to have a go with that too.

Anyway, I thought you might like to see a before and after shot of me, because I do have to admit I'm half the dog I used to be and but so much smarter.

Before ... taken a couple of months ago at Clumber ....

You have to admit I am looking rather woolly here ... so to my After shot ......

HOW SMART DO I LOOK???

Mum says I am still a 'work in progress'.   Can I just add - she had a go with the new brush thing on Murphy and got loads of old hair off him too!

A Day Out

Yesterday we went to see Aunty Debbie for the day because Mum had a man at the house cleaning all our windows and doors and didn't want us barking at him all day.  That's not to say that we need an excuse to visit Aunty Debbie because we all love to, it just explains why we went yesterday.

I am pleased to report that Fergus is feeling quite well, although he wasn't allowed to play with Dougal and me in case he hurt his neck.  Aunty Debbie said she was glad when I arrived because Dougal was desperate to play with someone .. so we were very good and charged around the garden for quite a while before retiring to the house for a drink and a rest.
A bit later I had a surprise grooming session with Aunty Debbie.  She showed Mum how to get all of the extra hair I have out of my coat to make me look loads smarter (and a bit cooler I should add).  They were both really pleased with the result and I felt quite proud of my smart new look when we went for a walk later in the day.

As usual, food came into the plan for the day and after my grooming session, we all went off to a lovely hotel nearby for Mum and Aunty Debbie to have lunch. 

Dougal got to go too and sit out on the terrace with them, but later we joined them and had a walk around the lovely gardens.  We boys went for a rest when Mum said they were going to take some photos in the gardens.  I think that was just an excuse for more food, because when they had finished they needed tea and cake!

We had a lovely (and what Mum would call civilised) day and can't wait to go back for another visit.

A busy week

Actually, the busy week all started with a weekend spent helping Mum and Dad in the garden.  Murphy supervised from his favourite sunny spot on the patio whilst I helped move a few plant pots and weeds around the place.  Everyone seemed very happy with the end result.

Yesterday we were up early to drop Dad off at the train station to go to work and then to go on a road trip to Birmingham with Mum, Aunty Debbie and Dougal to take our Fergus to see a special lady vet because he has had a very poorly neck recently.  Luckily for Fergus he didn't have to have any major treatment yesterday so he got to share in the sausages Mum had brought for the rest of us boys to have for our lunch AND he got to go shopping in Pets at Home for some new stuff he needed.

This morning Murphy woke Mum and I up really early again - it was 6am and I really have no idea where he thought we might be going off to today.  As we were out of bed Mum took us to Clumber for a lovely long walk and even got this picture of me in the bluebells because, she said, they looked so pretty.  Not sure what she means by that!

Tomorrow our Nana is coming to stay for a few days (didn't she only go home last week?).  We will have to look after her on Thursday morning because Mum has to go somewhere that we can't go. That's fine with us as we usually get a couple of extra biscuits when we are alone with Nana.

Today's outing

Off we went to Clumber this morning for a walk and what an interesting time both Murphy and I had.  Firstly Murphy did what us Springer Spaniels are meant to do when we work and flushed out a pheasant.  As usual, our Murphy did the job in his own way and trod on the bird.  Mum says she doesn't know who was more surprised the pheasant or Murphy - he certainly seemed a bit stunned to me as he watched the bird fly away across the field.

I had my own bit of fun later when I decided to investigate the ground underneath one of the big trees on Limetree Avenue.  Now I always think to investigate properly you need to have a good dig ...

... but it's quite a tiring occupation and sadly this time I didn't find anything interesting.

Oh well, back to the car for a well earned drink.

Burghley Game Fair

Today we have come to the game fair at Burghley. We watched a really good Cocker Spaniel called Monty do some gundog stuff and also some ponies racing against a car. A surprise for me was to see Charlotte here competing in a Working Test with Rose who is one of her Labradors. After a big walk around, Murphy and I retired to the car with a Bonio each whilst the humans had their lunch, then we had a walk in the park before heading home.