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All of a Twitter with Birdsong

Yipee the weather service says it is going to be fine weather for the weekend, our hopes are raised for a good walk and another adventure.

Oh dear, it is a bank holiday in the UK and this can only mean one thing, and sure enough, as today grows old, the symbols on the weather charts turn to rain.

All those soggy doggies staying with their humans under canvas in campsites throughout the land may not get dry this weekend.

Add the holiday makers to those visiting shows and concerts and yet again you have a miserable Britain.

The only gold around it seems at the moment, is that from our athletes at the Olympics in China, it certainly is not from the sun.

Soggy music lovers

McFly and Boyzone are due to play in a concert near to us over the weekend. Won’t that be exciting?

 

The park where we go for our walk some nights was being turned into a concert venue with trucks, a stage and lots of clanging of scaffolding earlier this week.

Scattered around, waiting for the installation of the fence sections, were the fence barrier bases. You know the sort of heavy plastic black bases into which fence panels are inserted. Well, shall we say Buster tried to ‘water’ every one. This was funny because there must have been hundreds of them which he had to stop and inspect.

 

 

The Stobart empire, of haulage fame, is heavily involved in the show with many branded vehicles and tents already in place, days before the event.

A quick word of warning to those living near to the site that a firework display is scheduled.

On Saturday they are to to be making loud bangs around 10.45pm and on the Sunday just before 10pm

So best to go early for that night time walk,  so you don’t get frightened.  Lets hope that there is a good film on for your humans so they can stay up and care for you when the bang pops start.

More details can be found on the local BBC website.

The outside comes inside

Buster, being the elder statesman that he is, likes to sit on the step leading into the garden during the early evening or first thing on a morning considering a dogs life.

He watches the flowers grow, the clouds fly past, the various animals and he also listens.

Human activity, vehicles moving, the distant alarm sounding and the birdsong can all be heard by just sitting for a moment on the step.

So imagine his confusion when we found on the web a whole site devoted to outside sounds.  He suddenly heard birdsong inside.  He looked up and down trying to work out where the sounds were coming from and, after about 20 minutes and an explanation from dad he just settled and listened.

 Buster no longer needs to get wet or cold on his step as dad can play the birdsong inside.  Mum likes the sounds also it seems. She was caught the other day listening to the birdies and falling asleep, in the middle of the day.

Here is the link to try it for yourselves.

 Birdsong Radio – A peaceful Dawn Chorus broadcast live over the internet.

Until next time, and don’t forget you can share us via Twitter using the share button below

Charlie and Buster.

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Roman Walls

 

On Sunday we went to an old Roman fort at Birdoswald. This fort is part of a long wall built in the North of England by a gentleman called Emperor Hadrian about 2000 years ago.  Our pedigree certificates don’t go back that far, but my mum says that the dogs who lived here would probably not look much like us and would be more like our wolf ancestors.

With probably the best-preserved defences of any Wall fort, this was an important base for about 1,000 Roman soldiers and their canine friends.

People called Archaeologists have discovered many old things over the past 150 years which belonged to the Romans who lived here. Three of the four main gateways of the fort have been unearthed, as have the outside walls, two granary buildings, workshops and a unique drill hall.

People still lived at Birdoswald after the Romans left. In the 5th century a large timber hall was built over the collapsed Roman granaries, perhaps for a local British chieftain. Later, a medieval tower house was raised here, replaced in the 16th century by a fortified ‘bastle’ farmhouse designed to protect its inhabitants from the notorious ‘Border Reivers‘. Later still in more peaceful times, a farmhouse stood here.

 

On the day that we went some humans were dressed as Roman soldiers and with their horses Badger and Steel showed us how the Romans would have defended the fort. They wore vests made from links of chain and strange metal helmets, one also had a metal face.

They showed us how the Roman weapons were used…a strange way to chop cabbage, mum’s way is much less messy!

One of them had a long stick with a dragons head on and a long red tail, the man said it was called a Draco. When the horse charged around the wind made a terrible deep whistling noise through this which Buster did not like at all.

The lady from English heritage said that dogs are very welcome to bring their humans. We are well catered for, with water bowls in the courtyard for us to quench our thirst and places for us to be safely tied up if needed. We were even allowed around the museum, although mum said we had got too wet and dirty on our walk so we missed this bit out.

It was a little strange that my mum had to go through the cafe to put out doggy dirt bags in the courtyard bin, maybe we could have another bin by the gate at the site entrance or near the car park please, there were plenty of people having picnics in the car park so this could be useful for the humans too.

We have put a gallery of our pictures below for you to see.

Bye for now

Buster & Charlie

 

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Warning – Parasite moving north

Two posts in one day, but we thought this was important.

According to BBC News a parasite which can cause fatal illness in dogs has been found in Scotland for the first time, scientists have confirmed.

Experts said that the parasite Angiostrongylus vasorum, also known as the ‘French heartworm’, could be moving north because of climate change.

It is carried by slugs and snails which have increased in number in Scotland because of recent warm temperatures.

Vets in Glasgow recently treated a Weimaraner which had the parasite.

Signs that a dog is infected by the parasite include coughing, breathing difficulties and unexplained bleeding problems, including spontaneous bruising and bleeding into the eye.

Read more…

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Don’t forget the humans…

It is holiday time again when the rain pours and inconsiderate people keep us awake.

Charlie and I were on sentry duty overnight when we heard the approach of the screamers.

These selfish humans are a nocturnal evolution of the daytime human and are seen walking in a wobbly, snake-like way down the pavements and alleyways in the early morning.

Evolution seems to have played a cruel trick on these souls as they do seem slightly deaf. You can often hear them shouting ‘I love you’ or singing along to bad music on their mobile phones.

Often barefoot, these sad individuals seem to revel in their self importance and don’t seem to care about bumping into road signs or scratching cars.

The sun is just coming up and like yesterday we may have the first dry days in weeks. We managed to get out for a walk last night .

The flood defence work is gathering pace in Victoria Park.  Oh well, it is another way of spending money and the humans employed.  

 

This area is near to the Civic Centre and the main roundabout in the town.  

 

You can see more pictures of this walk using our new gallery page. You can also see it using the link to the right of this page.

Can we come too.

The Times Online has published a number of articles with us in mind.  As it is holiday season their journalists have been looking at places we can stay or where we can go for a run.

Here are a few of the articles and links to them

Britain’s 10 best dog-friendly beaches
Stuart Kirby, author of Britain’s top 100 beaches, picks his favourite beaches for dog walking.

The 20 best holidays with your dog
From pooch spas to Alpine walking with dogs, Ginny McGrath finds the best holidays for people who don’t want to leave Rover at home

Pembrokeshire perfect for the family – and dog
Tania Alexander and family didn’t want to leave Noddy behind when they went to a holiday village near Tenby

Nice doggies quaff champagne in holiday heaven
A DOG’S life just got better. A study has found British dog owners are demanding the ultimate in canine luxury when they go on holiday and leave their pets in kennels, writes Jon Ungoed-Thomas.

Let us know if you spot any articles or stories about doggie adventures by using our contact us page.

 

Thats about all for now 

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

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Wordsearch – Dog breeds

Another day and yet more showers.  So, like every schoolboy knows the crayons come out and you do drawings and wordsearches.

This may have happened when my Dad was a lad but now we have computers and they are great fun in the wet.

Here is our wordsearch to help you when it is wet.  Mum says it is a bit cryptic so we have agreed to allow a few hints along the way.

Let us know how you get along with it?

That is all for today and looking forward to a bit more dry weather this week so we can go out to play.

Buster and Charlie

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Picking them out for weeks…

Many titles could have been used for the title of this post. These may have included

• Why does it stop raining … after you are soaked?
• If it has been dry for hours, why does it rain the moment you go for a walk?
• If Charlie can stand in it he will.
• and our favourite. ‘It just does….’