Puddles in Parks and Puddles on Carpets

Dave had to drive his bus all weekend so me and Louise went out a few times together.  I like walks with Louise because she lets me off my lead and just play.  We went to the park today.  There were lots of children playing on the swings but Louise said that swings were not a good idea for dogs, which is probably for the best because I don't know how I'd hold on.  Instead I looked for some puddles to play in.  There was only one in the whole field but I found it.  I was a bit worried about getting muddy so thought about it for a bit but there was no way I wasn't going in that puddle!  Louise was a bit cross when she saw the mud so I got out and did some running instead.  I'm a very fast dog but I'm not as young as I used to be so I had a lay down after a bit.

Thinking about going in the puddle...

...Yup, definitely going in the puddle ....

....Oops, Louise looks a bit cross, so getting out the puddle....

....And rest

Harvey with his newspaper

 One dog who is a young dog is Hilda's dog who's called Harvey.  He's only a puppy and we were giving her newspapers for his toilet training.  Toilet training is when you learn that tinkling on the carpet means no treats and no fuss.  It is not fun, so I hope Harvey learns soon.  He is very bouncy and barked at me a lot.  I know he just hasn't learnt how important I am in Disley yet, so I let it slide.  Hilda took some nice photos of him with our newspaper and put them on Facebook, so she must like that newspaper a lot!

My Online Friends

Louise has been showing me all of the different countries where people have been reading about me from.  There are a lot in a place called America, which is a country across an ocean from us; that's a long swim.  There are a some a bit closer in lots of countries called Europe, which Dave says you can drive to but it would be a very long drive.  The furthest away are people in New Zealand, which is where Louise's sister Julia lives.  It's so far that you can't swim it even if you want to.  Julia lives with her husband Tom and her two kids called Isabella and Jack, and my new online friend Lucy.

Lucy from New Zealand

Lucy is a clever dog because she uses a webcam all the time to talk to Louise's Mum and Dad; Hazel and Peter.  A webcam is where you can see each other on computers even though they live a long way away, and Louise's Mum and Dad talk to Lucy nearly every week.  When we visited Peter and Hazel, Lucy said hello to me too, although I had to sit on Hazel's lap to see the screen which I think she enjoyed.  Lucy said it's great being a dog in New Zealand because it is warm at Christmas and she has her own stream.  I said I like Disley very much because there is snow to play in at Christmas and I have my own stream too, I just choose to share it with other dogs in Disley!

My stream in Disley - which I share like a good boy

One of my readers from America is friends with Helen and Stephen, and they say he might visit some time.  He's from a place in America called Florida, where a mouse called Micky lives.  I'm not sure how I feel about mice, I hope they're not as mean as cats.

New Friends and Big Parks in Disley

It's been a happy and sad week.  John, who usually looks after me when Louise and Dave go out all day has to start going somewhere new every day called Job.  I think it's the same place that Dave and Louise go, and it means he can't play with me during the week, and I'm going to miss him and Sox.  I'm going to go somewhere new now though; to Tammy's house.  She has a garden with grass where the sun shines and I can sit in the warm and always has food which is good, and she lives nice and close in Disley too.

Sun bathing at Tammy's house

She took me to the biggest park in Cheshire which is Lyme Park.  I thought she might be worried that I didn't like her as much as John so I made sure I ran around and rolled in the mud a lot so she knew I was having fun.  Louise wasn't quite as pleased because when I got home my collar was very muddy but I know she's just happy that me and Tammy get on so well. 

Exploring at Lyme Park

Having a break from running and rolling

Me and Tammy even go drinking together now.  She took me to a different pub to Dave and Louise do called The Albert.  They have put tables out front just for me because they know I like to sit in the sun and then I can see people walking past and find out what's going on in Disley.  Louise says I'm being nosy which is silly because I don't smell people, just watch them.  Well, sometimes I smell them but only if I think they have food.  Maybe I'll cut down on sniffing people.

Disley Dog travels around England

Last weekend was very busy, I think we drove all around the whole of England, which is a very long way from a little dog from Disley.  First we drove to see Dave's mum and dad in somewhere called Corby.  They had made their garden look nice just for me with grass to roll in and flower beds to sniff.  They didn't have to go to so much effort but it was very nice of them.

In the car driving to Corby

The next day we drove to Louise's mum and dad in somewhere called Lychpit which is near and old village called Basing.  They took me to a carnival.  I was the only dog allowed to go so that I could look after Louise so I felt very special even in the rain.  It rained quite a lot and we had to stop in a pub on the way home because it got so very wet.  We all still sat under a big big umbrella and had a drink.  In my opinion it wasn't really beer garden weather but I think Louise's dad likes the rain because we had a BBQ later.  I ate a lot of sausages and felt very full so I slept very well.

I am one wet dog in Old Basing with Louise's family (her Dad likes the rain so much he has a whole rain outfit)

The next day we drove even more to a place called LONDON, which is all in capital letters because someone once decided it is the capital letter city of England.  I was kind of tired of the car by then but they had a BBQ too so more sausages for me.  I helped tidy up the hall after the BBQ because there were a lot of children there that had dropped lots of food.  I like to be helpful.  Then it was back in the car and all the way back to Disley.  I admit I was moaning by the end of it and when we got home I was very happy.

Oh my God, back in the car driving to LONDON, the capital letter city of England

I like traveling and seeing all of Dave and Louise's family.  I liked Corby and Lychpit, and even LONDON, but I am definitely glad to live in Disley, I think it is best to be a dog in Cheshire.  

The best BBQ in Cheshire except for trampolines - they are not for dogs

I was very excited to go round Samuel and Lois's last night (Stephen and Helen live there too, kids can't live alone just like dogs can't.)  Stephen cooked a barbie queue for us, although because the shop gave it to him in a box he had to build it first.  He took some time so while I was waiting for my sausages to be ready I watched Samuel jump up and down on something called a trampoline.  It is something that helps you jump higher, I'm not sure why but Samuel loved it.  He let me go on it too but the floor didn't feel right under my paws so I got off again, they are definitely not for dogs.

Trampolines - not for dogs

Samuel and Lois are two of my best friends in Disley and so I thought Louise should take a photo of us all on her clever phone, but it didn't go very well.  The sun was in Samuel's eyes which he didn't like and Lois, because she's only a baby, didn't really understand that she had to sit still, even though I explained it quite clearly; maybe she doesn't speak dog.  She was more interested in drinking her drink.  To be fair I think Louise and Helen were too.  A bird kept distracting me as well, so I gave up in the end. That bird was plotting something and needed monitoring.  Birds in Cheshire are sneaky, you should see the ducks on Disley canal.  They are mean mean mean. 

I see a bird, it's looking at me, why is it looking at me?

The sun in everyone's eyes, where is that bird going, what is it plotting?

The bird has completely ruined the moment; Samuel celebrates as I give up and Lois continues with her drink.

Overall, it was a great night; I ate burger, sausage, chicken (but not the bones as they make dogs poorly) Pringles, cheese and bread that Helen calls muffins that are really buns.  Louise says Helen calls them muffins because she is a monkey from 'The North'.  Cheshire is in 'The North' which is where we live because you get gravy with everything and pubs serve dog biscuits.

Loons called Morris dancing In Disley - a stressful night in Cheshire

I have had a very stressful evening last night.  I was perfectly happy when I heard bells and banging so I looked out the window and there were some absolute loons out there dancing.  They were loons for several reasons.  For starters, they were all wearing matching clothes and even though I'm colour blind I could tell they were not nice colours.  They all had bits of bird stuck in their hats and their faces were all painted black.  They must have birds as friends instead of dogs, but you'd never see Dave with my dog hair in a hat, even if it is lovely soft ginger coloured hair.  They had sticks that they weren't even throwing to be fetched and they were loud.  I asked Louise what was going on and she said they all danced because they were called Morris.  Not liking your name is no excuse for making such a racket. 

Loons called Morris

I stood and watched them for a bit, hoping my steely glare would stop them in their madness or at least get them to throw one of their sticks for me to fetch but it was no good.  I tried my really grumpy glare, the one that makes Louise walk me when she has a bad head on Sundays but no.

Steely glare turning to grumpy glare

I began to get quite upset in the end and stood on the arm of the sofa, which I am absolutely not allowed to do, to get a better view of the crazy people.  I can understand why they were in the White Lion car park, if I ran a pub I wouldn't let that go on I'd kick them out too.  In the end they stopped and I tried to settle down a bit but all night I kept getting up to check they were definitely gone.  I no longer like anyone called Morris.

So upset that my eyes glazed over.  Bad boy, off the sofa.

Barking mad this summer in Disley

It is very warm outside which is exciting, because it means that Dave can try out his new massive barbie queue soon, hopefully that means lots of sausages for me!  It's warmer because it's summer, which is a group of months when it's hot and there's no snow.   I like it a lot except it's harder to relax in the evening because the heat makes everything louder and I don't know why.

People walking past talk louder and cars drive louder, even dogs bark louder.  It's very annoying when I'm trying to watch my favourite shows.  Dave says it's because the windows are open but I don't see how the windows being open tells people it's OK to be noisier.  I'm extra loud back and glare out of the window to show I'm not happy.

Noisy people, interrupting my evening

I thought I would have to bark out of the front window all of the time anyway when Louise said she was going to put some bark down in the front garden so she doesn't have dig it up again when the weeds come back (not sure how they're going to get out the wheelie bin).  I was pleased to find out that it's little bits of trees.  It's nice to see that trees are good for more than just weeing against, although I know they're mainly there for me.