With so much done yesterday I decided to relax my job seeking and take advantage of a break in the blustery winds and showers. It's been a while since I took a hike out into the country and believe me, I was stunned by how unfit I've become. By the time I'd trudged up the hill where I live I was sweating and breathing deeply. Not good. Not good at all.

As I crossed the polo ground, the grass wet with dew, I encounterd the morning dog walking shift. My suspicions about how long I'd been avoiding this spare time activity was that I didn't recognise any of the dogs, or their masters, which on the plus side meant I had an excuse for a bit of sopcialising with the young pretty female owners. Nice dog you have there. We had one like that once.

Putty in my hands.... Well, I like to think so. The owner was a nice lady too.

Dogs Here And There

This is of course the windy season in the southwest of England. As a result, you should have seen the library foyer the other day. Leaves everywhere, right into the interior of the building. It looked pretty cool as it happens.

Oddly enough though the trees in the countryside appear to be made of sterner stuff. Not many leaves lying around, and few others are turning a subdued shade of yellow or brown. Not enough to leaves to interest the local dogs yet, so they made do with me.

After an amicable encounter with a playful dalmation, I was ambushed by a black labrador that darted out of the bushes right in front of me. I hope the owner has fed this one. It made a truncated growl as it came to a stop, then turned into a family pet again.

Further done the path I encountered a dog I did recognise. A large black shag-pile lurcher, az mean tempered canine that never has really like me at all. It still doesn't. As the owner giggled at her aggressive dogs successful attempt to scare me witless, I backed off the path and... Oh.... The dog stopped snarling and looked at me as if to say "That's better. This path is mine, smellypants" before bounding off happy as larry.

Is he gone? Yes? I stepped back on the path. to continue my hike and heard the owner call the dogs name in a desperate and generally pointless attempt to stop her dog from returning. I'm sorry, I'll step off the path again. Is that okay now?

Squeezing Them In

In a report in todays news headlines new houses are getting smaller and smaller. The latest are averaging less than the desirable minimum living space. Sort of like a dog kennel with running water laid on I guess. At least our pets get their garden homes for free, or maybe the odd spot of security work, or perhaps lifting the odd paw to amuse the owners. I'll bet the people who buy these new dog kennels will be paying a bit more than that.

Going To The Dogs

In the news I see the country is set for widespread strikes later this year. Not sure why everyone is unhappy. Plenty of food, clothing, gas, electricity, petrol, and dogfood. Plenty of shops left to buy them in. They've just opened a new shopping mall in London and everyone rushed in like nutters, determined to spend every last penny on the first thing they can grab hold of.

But that's the problem. We're down to our last pennies. So naturally we members of the public blame our democratically elected glorious leaders. On the other hand, maybe the lack of pennies means we can't afford to anything else?