Wednesday, February 17, 2021

The grey haired spaniel.

The weather improving by leaps and bounds. Everything warming up nicely after the burst of cold we've just been through. Sophie is booked into the Vets for her annual checkup on March 5th. By then she will 1) have had a trim and 2) a thorough bath. Neither of these will be 'relaxing' family activities.

Goodness only knows what's been pottering around the stream overnight but whatever it is gets Sophie's  undivided attention. She considers walking through the stream in pursuit of these intriguing scents but thinks better of it.


After breakfast we head of to the river for our second walk of the day. The council workmen are up early digging out the field banks . The heavy rain earlier in the month has caused them to collapse. The truck driver and the man who's operating the mechanical digger , parallel park and have a long chat. They block the road while doing so. Should I beep the horn ? A bit passive aggressive for deepest,deepest France profonde. The truck driver finally moves and waves.

Sophie makes the acquaintance of Mozart the floppy eared Spaniel. If the grey tinge to his coat is anything to go by Mozart is advancing in years. This does nothing to prevent him trying to make conversation with Sophie. Sophie is having none of it. She emits a gentle but unmistakable 'rumble' from somewhere deep inside. Mozart gets the message. He saunters off but gives Sophie a look that says ' You can't blame a boy for trying'.

I have to admire Mozarts determination. He is clearly the sort of boy that sees the beauty within. It certainly can't be Sophie's post walk 'look' that's attracted him.


Late bloomers :https://commonreader.substack.com/p/the-case-for-opsimaths-maybe-late

A philosophical thought :https://gizmodo.com/how-do-animals-perceive-time-1846206287

Something for a Wednesday morning :https://youtu.be/_HX_jF1_Tgc?t=669

7 comments:

Lisa in France said...

Sophie does look satisfied that she's managed to undo whatever grooming you were able to accomplish yesterday.
I wonder why PONs, or at least female PONs, are so unsociable. We'd become so used to scouting the area for other dogs and steering away from potential "scenes" that we are now completely flummoxed by how to deal with Charlie, who's a very friendly guy. I enjoyed both the late bloomers link and the article regarding animals and time. I've always been intrigued by the time issue - how does our cockatiel Oliver know to start singing at 8:55 a.m. every day, exactly five minutes before our housekeeper, whom he adores, arrives?

WFT Nobby said...

So how many hours does Angus need to set aside for Sophie bathing and trimming routine? Or is it days? And I wonder how Miss Sophie perceives the passage of time as she is being subjected to these operations?

Angus said...

Sophie views a bath as the equivalent of purgatory.

Coppa's girl said...

Oh Sophie, you are a lucky girl to have such attentions - even if they are from an aging Spaniel!
Re animals and time. Most certainly our first Labrador, Sultan, has a keen concept of time - even remotely. He spent much time in my husband's office (he worked from home) and when it came time for me to leave my office - usually around 4p.m. - he would sit bolt upright in his chair and turn to stare in the direction he knew I'd be coming from. He kept this position until I turned into our road, when he started yelping excitedly until I pulled onto the drive. On the day I usually visited my mother, he didn't stir and would continue sleeping until 5:30 p.m. when it was time for his dinner, but later he would be alert and we realised it was when I was leaving her house. If I was ever late leaving work, my husband would know if I'd been delayed because, again, Sultan wouldn't stir until the exact minute I'd got into my car to drive home! This was in the days long before mobile phones, so the dog was always a good indicator of when I was on my way!

Angus said...

The more I see of dogs the more it's clear they have skills and insights that humans have long lost.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari Om
Well, today I am a bit of a tidsoptimist... but possibly identify with the opsimaths of the world too!!! YAM xx

Gina said...







That is the best hairdo yet.