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Four paws x 2 ears x one tail =8
My dad noticed the other day that my mum and dads next wedding anniversary is on the 8-8-08 all the ‘8s’ and it is their 16th so another multiple of 8 which must be unusual.
After great discussion we noticed that the number eight is special for many many people around the world.
For the Chineese and other Asian countries because it sounds like the word prosper or wealth. It is considered lucky in Japan because the numeral character represents a mountain specifically, Fujisan.Looking around the web the number 8 also is the used in the name for the magic 8 ball as a fortune telling device or all the elements of an LED screen lit and many more.
Eight would also be the total number of paws we both have.
The web search also pointed out that the 8 August is the start of the next of Olympics in China. Good luck to all those taking part.
Gadgets
It was only a matter of time before we managed to get our paws on our own flash memory stick. I have seen my dad use one of these to transfer files between computers but now we have our own paw friendly version.
The Top Tag Pet ID protects us more than any other pet tag by providing complete care information to friends, vets, kennels, pet sitters and rescuers who may be responsible for our welfare and special needs.
With the tag, your mum or dad can easily write, organize, store and retrieve ALL of your pet’s important care information easily.
As far as we are aware they are only available in the USA -unless you know otherwise.
Our second gadget just made us want one to try.
The one downside about wooden fences is that you can only see straight through the gaps in the fence. Buster and I love to watch things going on and this invention would make our lives a lot more interesting.
The PetPeek is the ideal solution
The website says that it is a durable, clear, hard acrylic dome 9.5 inches in diameter, with a black trim-ring and all necessary hardware for easy do-it-yourself installation into your wooden fence.
If you have a doggy gadget or great gizmo then just drop us an email with the details to admin at ablogfrommydog.com
Thats all for now
Charlie and Buster
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Small but beautifully formed
Yesterday Buster mentioned about bath time and that the chew monster had come out from his lair under the stairs and he was not sure as to why.
Well, all wall was revealed when, after a good few hours, they returned with those humans we go to visit after the long car ride.It seems that they all met up at an unusual garden centre in the North of England, just near Scotland, I think they said.
My mum went on and on about this place and it seems as well as the plants, rocks, trees and shrubs, they have a secret bunker like room, below the main shopping area, devoted to a miniature world.
It would seem that many people visit the garden centre but just don’t visit this part of the centre, which is a shame because my mum just went on and on about it. If I hear ‘ and it’ or ‘it was tiny’ or and did you see?’ one more time I think I will just need to go to the garden, sit on the seat and watch the world by myself.
The miniature world has to be seen to be believed she says, as it is like stepping in to an Alice in Wonderland world of tiny things.
Most of the displays are what are called 12th scale -so things that would normally be one foot in height are made, right down to the very last detail at 1 inch in height. This includes bottles, books, chairs and even curtains and wallpaper.
The detail is fantastic and you have to use the magnifying glass provided to really see into the tiny world.
As you step into the museum you are greeted by some hand stitched needlework to your left and the start of the many miniature rooms to your right. The needlework is at times 19,000 stitches per square inch
This level of detail starts to prepare you for the main attractions which are the set piece room layouts. You can see music rooms with the intricate crafting of instruments and businesses such as a butchers shop displaying all sorts of cut meat and pies.
After about ten minutes your brain seems to shrink the world and you seem to step into this small world. You look around and can see the small typeface blocks waiting to be used in the print room or the small spider and web in the corner of the downstairs kitchen.
Some of the key designers are also respected. You can see rooms with a Rene Mackintosh influence and grand state rooms with copies, in miniature, of the Art Masters.
The favourite exhibit of all was the library. With it’s leather bound books, ship in a bottle and writing desk. The detail and attention to scale are breathtaking so mum says…. again and again… and again.
Further information can be found on their website A World in Miniature Museum
Thats all for now until the next time
Charlie and Buster
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Busters blog stardate 28-6-2008
I always wanted to do that…
Charlie has been doing all of the web posting this week on account of my dodgy knee. Have you ever tried typing with a sore paw? It is not that easy. So I hope he has been entertaining you with loads of stories.
I am feeling much better now and went for my first short walk in the park this morning. My knee is still not 100% but is slowly feeling better.
The chew detector was out this morning searching for our hidden stashes. Operated by mum it suck up fluff and chews alike so we had to have a quick run around moving biscuits and munchies before they were gobbled up by it’s flexible snout.
Such vigorous cleaning often results in us having a bath and today was no exception. Payback time for the walk no doubt!
Did someone say summer
At last, after nearly two weeks of cooler temperatures mum finally turned on the heating in the house. Well actually she said it was for me to easy my injured leg but secretly she was cold.
What has happened to the sunshine? My tummy was turning a nice dark colour and all my aches and pains were going away and then the rain and cold came.
This is summer and no heat. So much for global warming:-)
The weather people say this is how it is to be for the next few weeks. I really do hope the outdoor concerts and country shows end soon and we can get back to some warm weather. Out come the tents and down comes the rain.
Today my mum has been working on British Cut Flowers .com a site to promote the use and purchase of our own UK flowers. She tells me that by reducing the distances flowers have to travel reduces the nasty stuff that makes my garden cold and wet.
So given the bad weather and my mums website … All hail the humble dandelion.
Looking around the web
Every so often you get sent a link that just makes you smile. Press your back button to get back to this page.
We were sent a lovely link today for a screencleaner
Other web links from this week
Scoppy Poo is Turning a Dirty Job into a Glamorous Profession
Dog survives two weeks on fells
Bed time now so until next time
Buster and my pal Charlie.
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Furry, buzzy and yellow…
With the return of a little sunshine today, after the recent rain, the flowers are smelling very strong for our delicate noses.
With the better weather also come the birds and insects who have been hiding away to avoid getting wet. They are venturing out for food and some exercise, taking full advantage of a little sunshine to dry out.
We have a pair of blackbirds that visit us in the garden everyday for a little apple put out by Mum. They make for good chasing and can often be found flitting between the fence posts as we play chase me around the garden.
A new visitor to the garden today was a small fluffy insecty thing with a very big buzz. For it’s size the noise coming from this beasty was out of proportion and it could be heard the other side of the garden.
The black and yellow fluff ball seemed to visit many of my sniffy flowers as I watched it from my chair in the garden. Some flowers like these carnations it just strolled across the surface of the flower
Whilst some of the bigger flowers
It went right inside and hid from me like magic.
Now I like to know what is going on in my garden and any slight of hand or trickery gets me a little vexed so after a few woofs I saw the buzzy thing move on to a place where I could look closely at it.
As it arrived on the heather bush and started to walk around I could finally take a good look at the thing my mum called a bee. It came up really close and I could see it had a fluffy yellow and black body, stalky things on it’s head and great big flappy things like my ears.
This got me thinking. I am two coloured, fluffy and have big ears – so maybe I am a bee?
Now to learn how to fly….
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Buster feeling better
Buster is feeling a lot better today after a good nights sleep and a bit of TLC from mum.
He is still a bit shaky on his feet but has his waggy tail back again.
As one or two of you will have noticed it is Wimbledon time again and that means strawberries and tennis.
Now tennis I like well going to get the ball anyway. Tennis balls are just the right size for me to carry and they are not too heavy.
Strawberries on the other hand are very bad for woofers. They have things in them that make us very sick. They do have one benefit and that is the birds love them and I love chasing the birds. With the strawberries starting to go red it means it is almost that time for jam making. The annual ritual of mum sitting with big containers of fruit and whilst ignoring buster and I she sorts and grades the fruit before boiling them up in big pans. Over the next few weeks you will be able to follow her jam and pickle making on our other site foodonabudget.com
A quick blog entry tonight so that Buster can get another big nights sleep. I will end with a picture my dad took of me recently…. I love my picture being taken..
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A wobbly leg
Buster has had to visit the vets this morning with a sore leg.
It seems after his examination by the animal doctor that he has sprained a ligament or something in his knee which makes for some twitching whenever he tries to climb the stairs or jump up.
He has been feeling a little sore for a few days however last night he became too uncomfortable and mum had to take a look at it.
So warm water bottles and no jumping up for my pal.
Other news.
Are these guys ugly or just misunderstood….
My dad spotted this story over the weekend on the BBC website.
With the days now getting shorter and the dark nights only a few months away it is an ideal time to start to desensitise your best friend to the expected load bangs and pops of fireworks.
In the UK firework use peaks for bonfire night in November whilst in the USA, the peak may well be Thanksgiving or the 4th July. Please spare a thought for us pooches who do get a bit scared.
One of the ways to help your pets to cope is to play to them the sound of fireworks with increasing volume of a period of some weeks.
Random jottings
Buster and I both love turnip or swede after our meals. Does anyone know why? We go bonkers for the hard fleshed vegetable.
Cumbria is now getting ready for digital tv switchover and my dad tells me that in the USA, unlike here, they are doing the switch in one day. Best of luck guys. hope you have enough set top boxes to go around.
Why is it that?
I am going to start an occasional feature here with the hope that it will prompt some debate. Nothing too taxing but just an observation from our end of the lead of you humans.
So todays observation is… Why is it that you humans seem to think we don’t like any other dog foods except meat flavoured?
Bring on a curry, a fish pie or some lasagne…. I love them and so does Buster. Meat from a can is ok but how I long for a new taste. So why don’t dog food manufacturers think of new flavours.
I agree some human tastes are bad for us but fish! Why is it only ok for cats? And come to think of it why is fish only good for them.
So fellow muts what flavours do you like? I can see the recipe book now, the appearances of chat programmes and the cookery programmes.
Do you know of any dog recipe websites or books then spread the word via the comments below.
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To the Woods…
June 14, 2008 by admin
Filed under Expeditions
It has been a long time since Buster and I have updated our blog and I bet you were wondering where we had got to.
Well my mum and dad have been working hard on a project called Berkeleygrange.
This is a virtual Estate bringing together all of our sites under one roof.
The result of all this work has been that we have had only short walks and quite a load of down time. But the site is now live and, bar a few tweaks, should allow us to go and enjoy some summer walks and paddles. Our walk was to somewhere new, as a reward for putting up with the hassle of the new website.
We parked the car in the small railway station carpark at a place called Wetheral and all got out eager to investigate and get some new sniffs.
Right by the car park is a public footpath sign to the 99 steps… we just had to investigate..and sure enough were faced with many steep steps.
With only having 4 paws I had to use Busters and my mums hands to count them all and it would seem that indeed there are 99 or is it 101 or maybe 66? Well, never mind, it was a lot. A few of them were a bit worn, so I am glad it was not wet as they may have been a bit slippery.
At the bottom of the steps you could look up and see the underneath of a massive bridge. It is called the Wetherall viaduct. From the carpark you don’t really know it is there but from here it towers above you.
My dad, always with a camera, took this picture
I spotted people crossing on the walkway and got all excited because I too wanted to be ‘king of the castle’… more on this later. We have done a bit of websniffing and come across an old picture of a similar view in the Science Museum from1835.
We continue along the riverbank heading towards Warwick Bridge and after about 1/2 mile come across a sign to St Cuthberts Well. Now my dad says that a ‘well’ usually means water, and water means drinks, so we follow the sign along a narrow country lane
Passing past a private tennis court and onto a road we realise that no well is to be found.. oh well.. as they say.
We head back towards the railway station and my dad spots the entrance onto the viaduct where we saw those people earlier. 
With bright white railings on one side and the railway tracks to your right we ventured out into the valley. Don’t look down, it is a very long way.
We venture all the way across and back again… just for fun.
Up and over the railway tracks using a very old footbridge and back to where we parked the car. 
That round trip didn’t take long so more adventuring was needed. We headed up the hill and past the Post office onto The Green.
Time for a quick run around and my Mum spots a brown sign to The Priory Gatehouse.
.. our adventures continue….
Wetherall Priory Gatehouse
Around 500m along a quiet single track road, past some bulls in a field and a farm we come across the gatehouse. An imposing single column tower structure with an entrance wide enough just to get a car through.
You often think of a gatehouse across a road but this is off to the left at right angles to the modern road and led to the outer areas of the now demolished monastery.
The gatehouse has a number of rooms reached by a narrow curved staircase. You can see from the first floor where the now removed floor above would have been. More about the monastery can be read here
It was good to cool down in the stone building whilst we went investigating.
To the woods
We continued along the road away from the tower and making sure we kept into the roadside we came upon another public footpath sign. This time to the woods.
Passing alongside a field with some sheep in it
and through a kissing gate we came onto a well trodden path and what looked like some really old woodlands. Oak trees seemed to dominate the landscape with the usual mix of ferns and wild garlic below. For information wild garlic stinks and is not recommended to be sniffed.
The path had the occasional steep edges so I would suggest you stay on your lead just in case. The river Eden down to our left was so tempting as by now we really could do with a paddle and a drink.
After about 15 minutes we emerged onto the edge of the river and, after scaring a duck, we ventured into the quite deep water for that cooling of the paws.
Now it is said that large amounts of stone was quarried from around here for Hadrians wall and that nearby are fishtraps used by the monks in the nearby Monastery. But my dad didn’t get any pictures of these… so I think we will have to come back again.
Why is it that after a walk you find out about all the things you should have seen… and that a few leaflets are available.
Eden Countryside – Wetherall and Cotehill
Hadrians Wall Mini Guide
We returned back to the railway station via the same route and waiting for us was a friend sitting in the sun and keeping an eye on the car.
Our walk took about three hours and was great fun….
we got a bit messy, actually a lot messy so it was straight to the bath when we got home.
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