Saturday, September 14, 2013

Life is to be enjoyed, not endured.




Three nights away. In my absence the little angels have been busy.

Sophie has been digging. 10 large holes in the driveway and every pot and trough within reach cleared of soil for the winter. She re-excavates the outflow pipe from the septic tank. After this she has a bath.

Bob has managed to burrow under the fence around the compost heap. He brings a dead thrush into the kitchen. He is extremely reluctant to give this trophy up. When the thrush is taken away from him he returns with a mouthful of silage. This routine is repeated several times. Sophie joins in. ' The font ' wonders why Sophie was given a bath.

At night Bob refuses to sleep . He does his best to explain to ' the font ' that one of his sheep is missing. '' He''ll have settled down by tomorrow " I say over the phone. Bob has different ideas. He cries until midnight three nights in a row.

In the arrivals hall Bob and Sophie see Angus before he sees them . Bob fills his lungs, throws his head back and lets out a reverbarating howl of delight. Every head turns towards him. That form of embarrassment only dog owners know. Travellers of a nervous disposition sidle away.   '' That's the last time I'm bringing your dogs to the airport ! " says ' the font '. 

Last night Bob and his sister are asleep by nine . They wake at seven. Angus wonders if he should point out this difference in behaviour in ' his dogs ' but thinks better of it.

14 comments:

VirginiaC said...

Oh I'm so happy to hear that you're back home safe and sound and that the herd is complete again.
It's 2.35am here and I've just laughed out so very hard at your description of Bob's welcome back home "howl of delight."
I'll glad that all is well again in your world.
I'm off today for a couple of days myself, but I will still be checking in with you and your crew every day.

WFT Nobby said...

Now come on Bob, you need to man up a bit. I would be happy to bounce over to the ROF and give you lessons in terrier-style independence.
Toodle pip!
Bertie.

WFT Nobby said...

PS Gail says perhaps Bob could make a trip to Aberdeen and give Bertie some lessons on how to guard his flock.

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

The bad traits will always be your fault.

XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

Fat Dormouse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fat Dormouse said...

Let's try again...I didn't word the last commernt very well.

What a wonderful description!! I'm sure the Font must be rather frustrated by the change in behaviour as soon as Angus returns. But it was very unfair to take "his" thrush away.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

Nothing beats coming home and knowing you were missed!

tammy j said...

i don't howl. but i'm always so glad when matt comes back to dodge.
i don't like men in dark suits. except you in a dark suit.
but then i know that's not the real you.
the real you lives in an enchanting rof in the deepest of the france profonde. welcome home!

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

What joy the must have felt when seeing you return! Kudos to 'the font' for the bath, the midnight howls, the patience! :)

Julie said...

What a lovely way to be welcomed home, a howl of pure pleasure but I think you might have to do an Angus to PON chat about not leading 'The Font' a dogs life while you are away

Whispering Walls said...

I'm glad you remember the Bishop of Winchester

Emm said...

'The Font' gets the gold star for the week, for patience and endurance as well as dog-bathing above and beyond the call of duty. And that's a very funny account of Bob's PONtificating.

Kari said...

Bless 'the font'.

Louise said...

Is that the same flower box Sophie used to fit inside, with room to spare? Goodness, that was just a couple of weeks ago, surely.

Poor Bob, he doesn't look like he is quite so enamoured with the digging. He is certainly enamoured with Angus though. I think a big head thrown back howl at the airport sounds delightful. Nothing to be embarrassed about at all! It really is touching how much you obviously mean to him. Although after three nights of crying I can quite see how the font might have wanted to howl herself.