Family Walk at Ennerdale

Hurro! Ludo here!

Last weekend some of Mum’s sisters visited and so we had a big family walk at Lake Ennerdale. Auntie Toni couldn’t come but Mum’s nieces and nephew brought Poppy along. Poppy is the other sheltie who looks a bit like Arran.

Grandpawents dog Rusty comed too and we met Auntie Tracey’s dog Wilbur who be a shitzu x yorkshire terrier and Auntie Tricia had Lily who a staffie x jack russel. It be a typical Cumbrian day. Not quite raining but just about to. Although it did get a bit sunnier at the end.

Here we is!

Hurrah, toys!! (Crisp mas day)

Hurro! Hope everyone had a very nice Crisp mas day! We did, it be very busy.

We went to Grandpawents house for presents and lunch, then we went to TND’s Dad’s for more dinner and more presents. We slept all day on boxing day.

As usual on Crisp mas, Santa Paws had left us a present each to open in bed. We got a dried sausage each and a toy each. Arran tooked mine and of course once Arran has touched my toy I casnot play with it anymore on account of the baby brother cooties. But I did not do mindings acoss I helped TND open his present. I mostly just like opening the presents anyway. Sometimes I does not even look at what inside. I especially like helping open the people presents cos they usually really big. Actually, on Crisp mas eve I opened a present under the tree and Mum had to wrap it up again, it beed a wubba for Arran.

A post of reminding.

Hurro! It me, Ludo! I is back. We did not really mean to take a break. My Mum has beed having ‘typist’s block’ lately. You see, my family lost someone very dear and important to us around the time of Crufts and since I is such a happy boy and we was not going to say anything Mum has beed having trouble putting her own mind out of the way to channel me. Wordsworth described it in a poem.

“I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sat reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind. ”  -Wordsworth, Lines written in early spring.

My Dad (TND) he has a most wonderful Mum of his own, called Elizabeth and she had beed battling that horrible cancer. It came time that she could not go on any longer and she had to leave us.

With baby Ava.

Me and Arran has beed doing our best to keep our peoples spirits up and giving extra cuddles to TND, even though it sometimes annoy him. We know what best for him after all. Elizabeth be a wonderful lady, she had a nice voice, just the kind us doggies like and lets us know here be a good person, who we can trust and wont be mean. She knew just where to give the best scratches. She thought I be a handsome lovely boy and always interested in what I doing and she even let me sit on her nice furnitures and let me lick the plates. I looked for her in her house when we went round and wagged my tail waiting but she not there anymore.

She be a super clever kind of Mum too. The kind like in books that makes super delicious foods and can make clothes and grow plants and look after her children and have a career all at the same time! On Mum’s birthday this year, even though she beed very ill she gived Mum a present.

 

It a water colour painting of me with a smile on my face, we will treasure it. I bet she taught TND some of the things I like best about him. His kindness and caring and his love of good food and nature and his good sense to help him look after us.

At her funeral there be a poem read, “You can cry; close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Or you can do what she would want, smile, open your eyes and arms. Love and go on.” I will help remind my peoples to do that.

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It my birthday on Sunday, I will be 6! How growed up and big!! I is not hasing a party, but I is sure Mum will make sure I has a nice day.

On the topic of enjoying things, here me and Arran checking out some of the goodies Mum brought back from Crufts with her.

Mum’s ‘freebies’

What’s in there?

Our stuff and some presents for Grandpawents and Rusty

Arran likes the toys

We both liked these treats!

Yum!

I’ll take that!

~Lickies, Ludo!

Wastwater lake

A while ago Mum had a day off work, and it be a nice day, but not too hot like now, so Mum tooked us (Grandpaw, Grandma and Rusty and me) all in her car to Wastwater.

Here the piccures. Rusty had a grand old time! He getting better at his recall and not reacting to things, but it do me near a little road and lots of sheep so he only got to go on his long line.

I teached him to swim for sticks. (Yes, we know, sticks be bad and we doesn’t recommend playing with them really. I never played with one before I met TNP, but TNP has never had a dog before and he started playing with sticks with me and now I LOVE getting them from the water. Mum makes us be really careful and only get them out of the water and no chewing them up or catching them in the air. It still can be dangerous… but then, we has heard of dogs injuring them selves in all sorts of ways)

Wastwater Mum’s favourite lake. It won ‘Britain’s favourite view’, in Mum’s job making holiday makers happy she always tell them… It is the deepest lake, and has the highest mountain, and it has the biggest liar. They laugh, but it does, the village near by hosts the world’s biggest Liar contest each year.

More photos here.

Mum always says I a lot smaller when I all wet. I guess Rusty just stays the same size though. But I will always be bigger than him, no matter how wet I get!

And getting dry!

The sheep’s a type of sheep called Herdwick and they is special to the Lake District and very tasty.

They start out black and then go grey.

They likes to get in the way.

 We stopped off at a cafe in Irton on the way back.

Rusty did very well, his first time ‘being out in public’ and eating and hasing to be a really good boy. He did want to bark at some labradors sitting a few tables over but he managed to refrain.

 The ‘T’ fell off.

A Sunny Saturday!

Can you believe it? An actual sunny day! I tooked Mum for a walk to our beach and I allowed Grandpaw and Rusty to come. Rusty did pretty well with not barking too much at the other dogs he seed. Although he did steal my toy!

I won sometimes though… Acoss

• Ha! Rusty cas not swim!

•  And he stuck on his string

• And I might be a bit faster than him on open ground. 

I a good sport though

He really likes toys!

Here a not very interesting video of Rusty featuring narrative (barking) by me!

I had a really good weekend. Wait till you see what I did on Sunday! Some of you has already seed on Facebook. But you can see again.
~lickies, Ludo

Grandpaw’s 70th Birthday pt. 1

Actually, part 3! 

We had quite a lot of visitors during my Blogcation all coming down to see grandpaw and celebrate his 70th birthday. This visitors be Mum’s best friend Matt and his wife Tanya and his little son Noah, who be Mum’s nephew only not really, just like she my Mum but not really. They is the only ones who actually made it for the day of Grandpaw’s birthday and so that why we blogging about this one first. 

Matt and Mum met in school when they beed childrens and soon became bestest friends, doing everything together, when Grandpawents and Mum moved north they stopped being able to see each other a lot but now Matt and his family come visiting us on hol-ee-day and they likes it here.

We went to a nice restaurant place called the Pheasant for a very English thing called Afternoon tea.

Matt and Tanya also has two dogs. Lulu, a Schnauzer x border terrorist and Wilma a Schnauzer. 

Here I doing a stressy yawn cos I did not want to pose with Lulu. Mum says since she a nice polite dog, unlike me, she kindly moved away a bit.

 Here I look happy cos I got my own way.

Lulu and Wilma did not come inside because they not used to being in restaurants and stuff like that. They stayed in their car. Even though it look a bit sunny in my piccures, it did not be sunny or hot at all, and in fact, just the week afore, we had snow (really) !

Mum telled me ‘get down!’ But TNP and Matt had encouraged me. Mum said you casnot take men anywhere.

 Grandma!

 Mum

 Grandpaw!

 We had little sandwiches with Cucumber and cream cheese, salmon, and egg. Then scones with jam, rum butter and cream and cakes and biscuits. Oh and tea and coffee, but I not interested in that part. I got lots of little bits of sandwich and cake. I chose a good place to sit, right away from Mum. hehe!

 The lady very kindly brought out a special piece of bakewell tart for Grandpaw with a candle and a ’70’ on it. 

 Mum tooked the left over cakes home with her. We tried to get the recipe for the Rum butter too, but no luck.

Watch out… a sideways pic!

 Not our car sadly.

 The Pheasant be just beside lake Bassenthwaite. so we went for a little walk down to it and a swim. Grandpaw got to practice taking photos with his ‘new’ camera. Mum gived him hers for his birthday.

I is that little dog way our in the lake. Ok, so I is still standing.

 Noah really liked the lake. He liked picking up stones and throwing them in and saying ‘THWACK!’. Mum and TNP joined in. I went a bit cracker dog trying to find every stone, but I never pick stones up. It a bit confusing for me.

Wilma decided not to go in the water. hehe!

Grandpaw very much enjoyed his birthday afternoon tea. A pretty place and we almost had it all to ourselves. Grandpaw doesn’t like going places with lots of people or where he has to eat a lot of food so it just pawfect for him.

More from Grandpaw’s birthday week later!

Sorry we has not beed around much again. Something very strange going on here. I thought we be going on hol-ee-day again, but nope. I will keep you posted when I know more.

~lickies, Ludo