MAY 2020

The Mrs thinks I am going deaf….. she was wondering if there were hearing aids for dogs when the Boss offered his. I hastily backed away and said no thanks....it’s bad enough when she wants me to do something and I don’t quite catch the drift, it could be deadly for him! Mind you sometimes an enticing smell that just needs to be sniffed can produce complete encompassing deafness on my part no matter who is calling. I have noticed occasionally when the Mrs calls a request to the Boss that he too has this same affliction. We are not so unalike!

Just to check my faculties completely she persuaded me to try her glasses which I can say produced a completely different picture of the world. I don't know how she can wear them, the underwater effect of everything going swimmy made me wander off and check out the nearest plant to see if it needed watering…. This produced another hearing check when her request to “stop that” reached me fairly loudly. I returned to her side instantly being the obedient dog that I am. Luckily my training was complimented with hand signals so even if I don’t always catch what she is saying I can usually understand her ….something she insists the Boss needs to work on.

Disconcertingly the world has suddenly turned quieter and I seem to be getting their undivided attention whereas before I had to share it with all and sundry. We are now alone together and receive no visitors. I am told we are experiencing difficult times and there is a dangerous virus about. We still go for walks but precautions are being taken. I keep my eyes alert for any danger but the Boss and Mrs have assured me that this quiet is worldwide and nothing to do with my ears. I hope you are keeping safe too.

APRIL 2020

Rain, rain and more rain.  An oversea trip to stay in my chic chien shack has not improved the weather, the rain continues to fall.   Luckily my luxurious fur coat is fairly shower proof as it has been severely tested recently.  The Mrs is almost unrecognisable in her wet weather gear with only a ghostly face visible inside her hood.  Her hibernation instinct has come to the fore and the Boss has a devil of a job extricating her from the house.  I have more success persuading her to come for walkies to the lake where she can fossick about clearing debris from the spillways and streams and ensuring water flows in the direction it should.  When she gets too enthusiastic it usually ends in disaster.... wet knees, wet feet or falling flat on her back hauling branches out of the water.  Once out in the wet weather nothing seems to deter her from getting wetter or muddier and for once she and I see eye to eye, especially when she has fallen over and I can give her face a good cleaning off while she is laying there recovering!  However she is not as enamoured with my cleaning method as I am and usually belts out a loud "get offfff" when I try to help.  I also give invaluable help with removing the broken branches from the water but my stacking system is not up to scratch yet.  When the branches are log size the Boss gets busy with his noisy cutting machine and I have to stand well back until they are reduced to bite size, even then I sometimes have trouble hauling them into place.  The Mrs helps and eventually we load it all on the trailer and take it back to the barn for stacking in the dry.  By this time we are all dog tired, my coat is usually quite wet and I seem to be covered in sawdust and mud in equal measures.  The Boss and the Mrs usually fair a bit better and can shed their wet gear before entering their domain but bath time for me looms in the future...... I can feel it in the air and in the eyes of the Mrs as she regards me with that look which bodes ill for dirty dogs.  It's out with the perfumed shampoo and hairdryer......I can feel a woofter moment coming on.  This constant rain brings out my natural perfume but the Mrs feels she can improve on that with her bottles and potions so I comply just to keep the peace......roll on summer!