Meet Hamish!

Evening all, long time since our last blog entry. No excuses, busy with changing jobs, dealing with unemployment, commuting to London. A pretty unremarkable year's fishing so far, but at long last a blogworthy event. Actually, getting our front garden landscaped, three weeks on holiday in Scotland - these were blogworthy, but this latest event is positively pawsome.

Pawsome event?????

So, without further ado, meet Hamish!

Hellloooo, I'm Hamish!

Yes, a new addition to our family. One border terrier has already brought much fun and joy into our lives, what will a second one do? Hamish will provide the answer to this important question.

Hamish writes:

"Well, I am not only a posh boy (due to the fact I have a lot of champions in my pedigree!) but a very brave boy too!  I was put in a bag in the back of this big car and then driven away from my birth place.  I admit I did cry a little for about 10 minutes but that wasn't long really!  Ellie just went to sleep and ignored me so I thought I would do the same. 

Once I got to my new home, I had to investigate the garden. I first had a quick word with Ellie just to make sure she was going to be ok with me!



Ello for you, my pal?

I'd heard she was a friendly sort of dog, and she had a lovely garden for me to explore....



I'm in there somewhere! :-)

Investigating the front garden was fun, so many plants to hide under and attack.  It was very difficult for my new Mum to get a decent photo as I am very fast.

Ellie adjusting to the situation while Hamish snoozes

Time for a bit of food back in my crate, and then a nap! Ellie kept an eye on me while I was asleep.

Today, Ellie and I have been getting to know each other a lot better. She is being very kind. She seems to be still a puppy at heart herself, which is just as well....

My big pal is a good sport

Phew, I need a wee and all this typing is tiring. Off for a nap now."

I should just mention - before the RSPCA gets all medieval on me - that the bag Hamish refers to is actually more like a luxury, purpose-built doggy car tent.

Tale of the tape - Hamish is seven weeks old. He hasn't had all his shots yet, and he is a little chap, settling in well. He has received a number of visitors already and house training is going well.

Thanks for reading, more soon!

Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen! Ellie Home Alone?

Belatedly, a short note about our visit to Copenhagen over the Royal Wedding BH weekend. I missed out on all the fuss around Pippa Middleton's bum, but at last I found a use for teenagers - dog sitting!

First of all, for Ellie's fans, here is a picture of her n her pal Nandie. Nothing to do with Copenhagen but....

Little n Large!

Speaking of little n large, this is our friend Flemming, whom we stayed with in Copenhagen...very reasonable b & b rates (we took him out for dinner one night...)...

Arriving at Flemming's place

Copenhagen is a beautiful place, although there is rather a lot of construction disruption presently due to a new Metro line being built.

Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen's Royal Gardens

We particularly appreciated the Royal Gardens and the Botanical Gardens, although we passed on Tivoli. Flemming feels that Copenhagen has become a much dirtier place than it used to be, but to us visiting English it seemed beautifully clean. Some of the architecture is stunning, both old and new. A guided boat trip on the canal network is a great way to experience this aspect of Denmark's capital.

....a map helps, too! :-)

Here's some attractive "old" architecture....

gr8 weather!

.....and some new.....

National Theatre, Copenhagen

We stayed from Thursday through to the Sunday, did lots and thoroughly enjoyed this marvellous city.....

Tired boys

...and would go back like a shot. Not the cheapest of places to visit, but superb for short breaks.

Now if only I could find some time in between work and being a gardening slave to go fishing...........

A note about the rabbits, and Ellie's hunting instincts....

Ellie, in our forest

Being a Border, Ellie's instincts are to go off and hunt. I am more tolerant of this than my wife is, although I accept the concerns are valid. We've heard the anecdotal evidence about Borders - intelligent animals, very affectionate & friendly to all - who've been lost and never found again. The red mist descends, off they go hunting, and that's it - never to be seen again!

Quite apart from that is the concern around what could happen to any "prey" that Ellie might capture. This is the point of this blog entry - to reassure any readers who might share this concern.

I'm pleased to report that, after extensive Terrier Trials, we have scientifically and conclusively proved that Ellie isn't fast enough to catch anything! All she is capable of is running around for a while, getting herself hot, bothered and generally in a right old mess, before coming back to her human companion. At which point she usually flops down exhausted, stretched out at our feet, or in the mud to cool herself down.

It is quite tricky to maintain this state of fitness in her - enough to be healthy, but too slow and lacking in stamina to be a danger to rabbits or squirrels.......but we manage it somehow!

New Forest Walk, Wild Fish, Extreme Terrier!

The weather this Easter weekend has been glorious - a little unseasonal but welcome. We struggle to remember the last time we had any meaningful rain - there may have been some early in April, after a relatively dry and warm March. Thursday evening saw Ellie and me taking some exercise, with a walk into one of our favourite bits of forest nearby.

If I believed in reincarnation, I would come back as a dog living in the New Forest...but I signed up to a different creed a few years ago.

Ellie and I followed a couple (with black Cocker Spaniel pup) down to a small stream, which is popular with all manner of forest users. There's a small bridge for those that want it, but dogs and horses tend to just wander into the stream at this point, as it’s shallow and easy to cross.



View downstream from the bridge



I found myself wondering whether there might be any fish in this tiny stream, knowing how in warm summers previously it had pretty much dried up. So Ellie and I wandered stealthily downstream to check out the deeper pools - the air was busy with insect life so I reflected on my chances of seeing any fish that were present "rising" to feed from the waters' surface.



Insects active as the heat goes out of the day



I was captivated for the next half an hour or so, mesmerised in fact by a series of enthusiastic, splashy rises. These were small, wild fish feeding on insects on or near the water's surface. So that was my question answered - this tiny stream does support a head of wild fish!

Anyway, I returned the next evening (Good Friday) with Ellie and my wife. I was able to wander stealthily downstream and take the following pictures.

This deeper pool follows a shallower, faster stretch of water

This was a different spot from the previous evening, but the insect life was again abundant and the heat had drained a little further from the day. I watched for about 15 minutes or so, another series of very enthusiastic, splashy rises from the population of wild fish in this little stream.



Need a better camera, or a better camera operator?

This was more by luck than judgment, and I have no idea of the species....guessing it’s a wee wildie brown troot or grayling, but it was satisfying to catch the act on film.

Anyway, this started me wondering as regards the legality or otherwise of heading back down one evening with a fly rod. I think the Forestry Commission and the New Forest National Park Authority are not notably pro-angling, and the fish stocks in this stream are probably relatively fragile, so I'll pass, for now. Quite apart from the fact that it would probably need a far better fly angler than me to put the right fly in the right place at the right time in the right manner......

At this point my reverie was broken by Sarah (my wife) calling after Ellie - she was after the rabbits again! Luckily, we managed to retrieve one very hot, muddy Border, and marched off home......

Two beautiful girls!