Becoming bored with getting soaked and other things

[bunn]

Set off to walk the hounds this morning in brilliant sunshine under blue skies, came home soaked right through to the pants.  This also happened yesterday, although at least today we did not find ourselves on the wrong side of a rambunctious gang of heifers intent on dog-trampling to take their minds off the rain, and have to make a big damp detour to get back to the car.   Really should learn from this and start wearing my big waterproof coat.  Or at least carrying a brolly. 

The whortleberries are not doing at all well with all the wet (I think it may favour other things that grow up and overshadow them).  Alas, no whortleberry jam this year.  But the honeysuckle is spectacular, filling the trees with gold and white blossom.  Clearly honeysuckle feels that wetter is better. 

Big puppy Brythen does not like rain.  He really, really does not like rain.   As a result, he is spending much of his time indoors, finding things to destroy.  I restuffed Bernie the Banana and Big Tiger this morning and their insides are already strewn across the living room again. He has also popped philmophlegm's huge inflatable dalek, and today he stole an old PS2 game guitar and chewed the strap and the cable into little bits.  He also likes to carry the dog beds around the place and pile them all into big heaps.  Thankfully, so far, he has not tried destuffing those. 

"What?  I had nothing to do with that chewed shoelace.  Nothing.  Must have been a cat." 


At the moment, he appears to be asleep, but I am keeping a stern eye on him.   I need to make more of an effort to use up his energy on things that don't leave bits everywhere, or require replacing! 


I went to Weston Super Mare yesterday, to see Neuromancer, kargicq, and meet the small kargimancers, which was nice, since with one thing or another we have failed to bump into each other since the pre-small-kargimancer days. Neuromancer and the Smallest Kargimancer took a ride on an amazing whirligig thing covered in rather elegant hand-painted-looking portraits and landscapes, all very much in a Victorian chocolate box style, but at the same time, covered in flashing lights. It was a very odd object.  

Weston has really come up in the world since last I was there : it has a shiny new pier and almost all the Victorian buildings are looking sleek and well cared for.   In fact, the whole place seemed very prosperous and nouveau-Victorian.  Having grown up with tired, overgrown seaside resorts, where everything was run down and smelling faintly of pee, with the paint peeling and never any money to restore or build anything new, it's seems a different kind of world.  But apparently we are in deep recession now and woe and wailing is the order of the day?  If we have got to the bottom of our recession, I can't help feeling things could be worse (of course, maybe that just means there is a long way down left to go?  Depressing thought.)

Of course, it rained like a firehose on the way there, and the way back.  Stopping briefly at a service station on the way home, I was interested to see the entire cafe - probably some 25 people of all ages and sexes - watching the Olympic kayak racing with enormous attention.    I do not find I can focus much attention on the Olympics, but since all this effort and money has gone into it, it's probably a good thing that *someone* is enjoying it. 

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Clever pup! - saving you from both the inflatable dalek threat and the possibility of tripping over your own shoelaces...

Can Brythen be distracted with stuffed Kongs or Nylabones? I know some dogs believe that a toy that is indestructible defeats the whole purpose...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Actually those are philmophlegm's shoelaces he has pruned. Now I think about it, almost all the stuff he has destroyed is pp's. Poor pp, he clearly smells chewable...

Bryth has no Nylabones, but does have:
1) giant purple rubber bone
2) antler chews (which he does like, actually, and seem to last well)
3) rope toy with plastic chewy bits which is popular if I am prepared to hold the other end.
4) MANY assorted soft toys (though fewer than there were)
5) 2 more rope toys, also popular if we hold the other end.
6) Kong (he's not really interested even if stuffed, and Yogi adores it, which makes life complicated)
7) regular supply of tripe sticks and rawhide cigars

I think what is attracting him to the other stuff is novelty. Maybe I should buy a supply of toys and chews and give him a new one every day, putting the previous ones away. In theory, all the toys live in a couple of baskets, but in practice he tends to take them ALL out of the baskets and fling them madly about. Or Yogi does. Then Brythen plays with the basket. Sigh!

[chainmailmaiden]

Poor pp, he clearly smells chewable...

I'm sure that in true 'Carry On...' tradition that a remark like that deserves an 'Oooh, errr, missus!' :-D

Poor Dalek though :-(

[huinare.livejournal.com]

He can destroy a Dalek? Best keep an eye on this fellow..

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think he only meant to play with the Dalek. But then it got all saggy.

Nobody in Doctor Who ever has anarchic pets that sabotage the plot. I feel this is a loss.

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

tired, overgrown seaside resorts, where everything was run down and smelling faintly of pee

That's my childhood holidays in a nutshell! Except the smell wasn't always faint.

Brythen's such a naughty dog! I think my hammy would be as destructive if I let him out of his ball. Do you think he'll settle down as he gets older, or are some dogs exuberant their whole lives?

Have you seen the eagle_rbb artwork, btw? I'm pretty sure I know which ones are yours -- lovely prompts!

[I'm not a fan of non-canon era AUs, but I really like some of the others, too -- Marcus as a modern soldier almost works for me with the canon characters; I love the idea of Jamie Bell as a PI with two ghosts; and I can also see myself writing a story about a footman/bare knuckle fighter at a Regency Downton Abbey (though Jamie Bell is way too short to have been a footman, and it wouldn't be slash).]

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I grew up in tired overgrown seaside places, but they were in South Wales where there were relatively few people, so even the smell of pee had got sort of tired and nebulous :-D

Bryth is very naughty, but he is very young - I'm not sure he's even 2 yet - so he is still trying everything out! (unlike hamsters which seem to remain untamed forces of chaos all their lives, given half a chance, or maybe that is just the ones my sister had...)

I am really impressed by the Eagle RBB art! Really good mix of subjects and techniques. (The one I hate of mine is the one of the three of them together. I just think I failed to pull off the faces, it annoys me to look at it. I have put it in my portfolio to see if it still annoys me in 6 months, if it does it's going in the BIN.)

I have, of course, spotted yours at once :-D I am very tempted to offer to write for it, though I think it may get other offers too, so I am not putting all my eggs in one basket... I'm also weirdly tempted by the businessman/coffee house one, if I'm allowed to roll it back to canon era and make Esca into an ultra-cool Brigantes thermopolium slave, and Marcus an olive-oil baron. But that might be a bit mean on the poor artist. :-D

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

Esca into an ultra-cool Brigantes thermopolium slave, and Marcus an olive-oil baron.

That's brilliant! I love those (supposed) fast food shops in Pompeii.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Tess had 27 toys at the last count but still prefers destuffing the beds for entertainment!

We had a week of summer here before the rainy season returned and now seems set to remain until, well, probably next summer!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling guilty now - poor Bryth, I must get him some more toys!