Look at me!

We've had quite a lot of hits on the blog in recent weeks so we thought we might put a fresh blog on and see what happens. Don't forget that I have my own Facebook page which you are welcome to view - 'Madge Marsden' and Mum always puts my posts on there. Alternatively you can ask the blog to e mail you when a new post goes on . No need to miss out!

Today has been very exciting. My very good friends from SARDA have come to train in The Dale and I have been able to say hello and have my picture taken with them.

I have a bit more time at the moment because I have been restricted to short walks on my lead. I cut my leg and had to have 5 stitches and I'm finding it very hard. The parents are driving me round the bend! Never mind, mum reckons they will be coming out towards the end of this week and I will be able to go out and play with my sheep again - thank goodness.

So what has been happening since last we spoke. We've all been a bit lost since we returned from bonny Scotland. We had spent 3 months that had been fully planned and really didn't have to think about anything other than getting from A to B on a prescribed route. Waking up in the morning and thinking "what shall I do today" has been really weird.

We've done a little walking, obviously not as much as we would like. Mum has a new career in public speaking as a result of which we continue to grow the charity funds. Dad is currently trying to keep the leaves under control, but they are coming down quicker than he can pick them up and I continue to get my paws on an as much Burns as I can find.

Last week, mum thought she would put the caravan to bed for the winter, and decided to shampoo the carpets. She had a can of carpet foam in the cleaning cupboard that she'd had for so long that it was rusty on the bottom and needless to say the aerosol spray head would not perform. Whilst she got busy on hands and knees with a less dated version, dad decided to fix the original (the one from the ark) and trotted off to his shed. I helped mum.

A short time later there was a loud bang and dad was heard to say "Oh deary me, the cans exploded" (or words to that effect). Mum and I ran to see what had happened. He'd decided to attack the top of the can with his electric drill. Not surprisingly, this perforated the tin, covering him and the entire interior of his precious shed with carpet cleaning foam. It's never been so clean - nor him come to think of it.

And so life goes on. 

Hey ho

M xx

Back to real life

Yet another stroke of luck. This week is Melrose' week. All the border towns do it, a bit like Wakes week in our part of the world. And although we missed the horses on the 'Ride Out' last night, we were privileged to see (and hear) the procession, led by the pipes and drums (in fancy dress). Well, it was actually led by two policemen on bicycles!

Yesterday morning saw them roaring to go (all things are relative). We got off to an early start, managed to miss the Queens Baton (just) and made good progress through the Borders and down the M6 with only 2 short breaks. Returned the hire car to Buxton for them to drive us home ( fantastic service Enterprise - cant fault you on either leg).

Well........there were balloons (60th and congratulations) bunting, banners and cake. Yes, mum's birthday cake (which never did show up) has been reincarnated as congrats. cake, and very nice it was too. Sally had really gone to town and our luck held with the weather for us all to enjoy a wonderful BBQ. Milly and I played lots, and she seems to have realized that barking at me doesn't work and has stopped it. In turn, I have accepted that she doesn't want to play ball and have stopped throwing it at her.

Mum got up at the normal time to take me for my walk and told dad to stay in bed and have a lie in. When we got back there he was - fully dressed and upright. Turned out that the shearers had rung to say they were coming to shear the sheep this morning, so off we had to go to round them up. Naturally, they were as far away as they could be! Anyway, job done.

One thing about it, when you only have 2 sets of clothes (a wear and a spare) there isn't a lot of washing to do when you get back from a 3 month holiday. There is, however, a mountain of post, and a heap of parcels that have arrived from Lands End to John O Groats, as they gradually reduced the load on the way up.

Uh oh - mum wants a word!

"I just want you all to know about this little soldier of ours. Shortly before we left on the walk, Madge was diagnosed with epilepsy. We had discussions with the vet (and got a second opinion) and they both agreed, that so long as she wasn't having them frequently, and was given plenty of time to recover post-fit, she would be alright. They also agreed that the fits were probably worse for us to witness, than for Madge, to whom it would probably seem like a bad dream. She had 2 fits whilst we were away, each time in the early hours, giving her loads of time and, as luck would have it the following days walk was shorter than the norm. She hasn't put a paw wrong throughout the entire walk and we are both very proud of her achievement. She is a true star."

Good lord, we only went for a walk!

M
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THE END

Not the last one!

Hi everybody

Well, we got back this afternoon, and there was the most amazing welcome which is still going on. The consensus is, that I should carry on for a few days to let you all down gently, so I'm going back to the party and will tell you all about it tomorrow. Now there's a cliffhanger for you!

Make sure you log in .

M
x

Life after LEJOG

Eventually, we left Inverness at 11.00, an hour late for one reason or another - largely delays with the car.

Bearing in mind that neither of them have driven for more than 3 months it was a claw biting moment and I must admit to covering my eyes with my paws. However, dad negotiated Inverness very well, it being a much larger city than we had anticipated.

After 28 miles, and in the absence of a flask, the elders decided to stop at the Continental ski town of Aviemore for coffee. They knew where they were making for - it's a walking shop (that took some negotiating because they both still think that they have to look for gear for the walk - it's going to take time!) with a cafe on top. The cafe has a balcony, which on a lovely day like today (should have gone for a walk!) is a very nice place to sit. So, there they are, they've ordered their coffee and cake and enjoying the sunshine looking at the mountains that still have a fair amount of snow on them, when a car alarm sounds. I don't know why, but when a mobile phone goes (regardless of the tone) or a car alarm, dad always assumes it's his. This time he was right....I only got up for a drink of water for goodness sake.

Dad returned to the car and couldn't figure out how to turn off the internal scanner. After 10 minutes, mum rang to see if he'd absconded, and when he said he was reading the instruction book, she decided to eat her cake and drink her coffee which was now tepid. After another 10 minutes she rang again and suggested he come and have his, and she would sit with me, or else move the car to within sight of the cafe. In the end he decided to leave me to it (thanks dad), but somehow, and it's taken them a while to work out how, he had fixed it.

They then managed 50 miles down to Pitlochry and House of Brura before making excuses to wander round. We've never seen it before, but H of B has a special area in the car park for dogs. It is covered with a green net to reflect the sun and there are several taps to fill up dog bowls - what a great idea - shame people can't read and it was almost full of cars with no dogs!

To give him credit, dad tried every which way to get mum to buy something nice to wear, but she said she wasn't ready to be a normal human yet (well after 60 years it's not like to happen now!) and didn't want anything. I think the visit to Inverness M&S yesterday freaked her out. He went wild and bought a belt!

Onward towards Melrose then. Just outside Edinburgh, we began to see matrix signs decreeing 'Queens Baton EastLothian hold ups'. Mum, who was driving at the time (sometimes my paws are just not big enough) asked if this would effect us. Dad got the map book out that he had purchased at a service station (dad and maps are nothing parted!) and busied himself looking for the town of .....Queens Baton!!!!!!!!!!!

We've evetually made it to Melrose. I think they might be better at planning a days walking than driving, but it'll come to them.

Home tomorrow and my footballs - Yay!!!!!!

I'd just like to thank everybody who has contributed to the charities, we are so grateful. If you have enjoyed my blog and you haven't donated, could I be really cheeky and ask you to consider doing so. We think it's not bad value for almost daily entertainment for 3 months! And they are, all three, great causes.

M
x

PS Mum saw an otter today.............thank goodness!

More later?

Hi everyone

I'm sure you will appreciate, that today has been quite a day. None of us slept that well with all the excitement. Then there WAS the excitement. We had a 4 hour train journey down to Inverness, and although I went to sleep, the elders couldn't settle to sitting in one position for such a long time in a very very hot train carriage.

We are now in our hotel, and the poor old dears are a bit tired. So if you don't mind, I will give you a full update sometime tomorrow. I have been asked to keep going until we get home on Wednesday.

Thank you so much everybody for all your wonderful messages. It means such a lot to us and we shall really miss all the banter that has been flying around for the last 3 months.

Night night- I'm off for me Burns.

M
x

Job done

More later

Penultimate day

Well tomorrow is the big one, certainly not in length, but in context.

We had a wonderful B&B last night. A consumate professional. The room was airy, light, spacious, well decorated with the en suite to match. It was ground floor, with a good decking area outside, perfect for a dog who needed to go out with her parents. Mum said the bed was as near to home as they have come across and with a good breakfast to boot, we have decided to give it the best B&B of the walk award.

Today was another day of long straight road, and although dad says not, mum is convinced the Romans must have been here. It's probably just like the Somerset levels, it's the only way to traverse the bog. That said the scenery has been pleasant with a sumptuous variety of wild flowers, including; wild orchids, bacon and egg, lily and meadowsweet, the latter even overpowering the gorse with its strong perfume.

During the journey, we came across another auction mart, which dad is certain must be the furthest north in the UK. I looked at mum, mum looked at me, and we agreed. We crossed the last cattle grid (thank goodness) and I spotted quite a few deer, obtaining loads more brownie points in the process.

I've been told that tomorrow I will be off deer and on to whales and porpoise (in her dreams), but I'll give it my best shot.

Once more we had some difficulty in finding somewhere to take luncheon, but eventually they founda couple of fire hydrants to perch on. I don't think they were very comfortable because I was aroused from my midday slumber far too soon.

Tonight's accommodation was booked by dad. When he rang our destination of choice, it was fully booked, but the lady very kindly rang a friend to see if she would take us and dad duly took down the details. As you know, postcodes can cover a number of properties, particularly in this part of the world, so having found the right road, off we went in search of the right house. Of course it always helps if you have the name right, and about a mile into this process, mum thought it would be a good idea to ring for directions only to find that we had gone about half a mile too far. No matter, and I think this is maybe the time to say that dad's navigation has been exemplary, we have never been more than 200 yards off track on the entire journey, and mum and I think he's done a brilliant job. Until tonight!

As we were walking along this last stretch, a car stopped in front of us and 2 people and a Westie jumped out. It was Paul, and his wife Chris, who we last met at the Sutherland/Caithness border. They have been following the blog and figured out where we would be and came out to meet us. It was so kind of them, and they made sure that we found the B&B before leaving us.

The situation is stunning, and we have wonderful views of the Pentalnd Firth, And Stroma Island.

We are hoping to reach JOG late morning tomorrow and as soon as we can find wifi or a strong enough mobile signal, we will send you a brief blog to let you know we have arrived. From there we will go on to Thurso to catch the train to Inverness where we will overnight.

Keep logging in and sending your wonderful messages, we just love to hear from you all.

M
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