dogs

Walking in the woods

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

It is Friday morning in Sant Nicolau. I took Bonnie for a walk down the lane.
First we met Bob, a great dog who was lost then found his new home here

As we walked further we were joined by Lucy

More and more she reminds me of Blue – her spotty nose and paws, her solid and comforting presence. She and Bonnie have sometimes been a bit suspicious of each other but slowly, given time, they have become, if not yet friends, pleasant companions.
We met a man with a huge basket filled to the brim with mushrooms and then another – same story!

At these moments it is a joy to be able to speak Catalan and have a friendly chat.
Mushroom hunters seem a little like wood workers – friendly quiet spiritual sort of people.
Then we were joined by Paddy and Trixie who bounded out of the woods to find us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home across the field, smelling the wild rosemary and the thyme

One of the best things about walks in Catalunya – the magnificence of herbs growing along the paths

 

Back home and Bob was waiting for us


Virtual Vermut

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

I am terribly behind in these posts – every day there is something new I want to write about and yet by the evening I am either tired and lazy or too engrossed in Trollope to download the photos.
So I thought a quick Virtual Vermut could be the answer and I can tell you lots of unrelated bits of news in one post!
For those who don’t know, Virtual Vermut is my name for a post written as I might chat to a friend over a drink in a cafe. It’s a chat, a chance to catch up with life.
So, although it is very late on a Sunday or more truthfully very early on a Monday, would you like to join me for a quick vermouth?

There is so much to tell you.
Home Life
As part of a much larger plan to make home life flow better as regards the Resident Adolescent, the three of us went bowling again a week ago. On Wednesday nights there is a special deal where you can play a large number of games for not too much money. The only catch is that the games are for two teams.  So with three people it meant two against one and we kept changing the combination so at one point I played against the two males and although I didn’t win, neither did I shame myself.
 It was only my third time at a bowling alley and my first time not using the side-guards. 
There is something very meditative about bowling and I need to breathe and centre myself before throwing otherwise I make a mess of it.  So true for many other things in my life as well!

Sant Nicolau again
The following weekend included a public holiday. Some people here worked through October 12th – Columbus Day –  as it is celebrates the Spanish State and the armed forces and so doesn’t have a good feeling in Catalunya.  Especially at the moment.
 But it is also my friend Tiffany’s birthday so well worth celebrating!
We took the chance to get away and go back to Sant Nicolau to look for mushrooms.
Blue’s statue is looking good and has a lovely solid presence in the garden

 The flowers were incredibly vivid in the intense autumn light

 There were some edible mushrooms in the woods, as well as a wild boar and a solitary hunting dog with big bloody jowls and a large bell around its neck. But the weather wasn’t really cold enough for a lot of ‘bolets’ although there was a beautiful line of them leading down to where Blue is buried


Back to Granollers and to our relief the house was fairly tidy and clean.  Perhaps adolescence really does begin to fade away in the late teens?  Or is it to do with the New Deal we have created?
The weather began to cool down and the shops to fill their windows with pumpkins and panellets

 Walking
At last we managed to organise a walk with Oreneta in the hills above the Maresme.
We reached a viewing point above Barcelona from where the city looks quite neat and small

Barcelona
Last Monday I went down for the evening to dance tango.  Wandering around Gracia before meeting my friend, I thought that if I ever get a flat in the city it should be here.   
It feels like Stoke Newington by the Mediterranean.
There were lots of Catalan flags hanging from windows.

 Imagine having a Palestinian restaurant nearby!

Milongas finish late so I came home for the first time on the night bus.
There are several that come to Granollers and I caught the 72 which takes 40 minutes from Plaça Tetuan to Granollers bus station.  What a peaceful way to travel and it only cost 3.70 euros. It is just as comfortable for sleeping as the train to Passeig de Gracia in which I can rarely keep my eyes open.

There is so much more to tell you but I know you have to get going soon so I’ll finish with a story about cats and dogs that happened today.
More Walking
Montnegre is a mountain range lying behind seaside towns such as St Pol and Arenys de Mar.  It is much quieter than the Serralada Litoral where we met Oreneta or the Montseny where we often go to the woods. After parking in St Iscle de Vallalta we followed a path up into the hills, passing a large property called Mas Olles. What the book didn’t warn us about was the pack of dogs that live there. First one barked in the distance, then another and another. One by one they all came thundering over the land towards us. I couldn’t count them – perhaps there were 15 or 18 – all large and all rather excited to see two people and a dog walking by

Luckily there was a stout fence but it’s impossible to know the stoutness of a fence until you have tested it. Once safely past, we discovered we had taken the wrong path so had to go past them again. Of course they had left an early warning party waiting by the fence just in case we did just this. I imagine it has happened before and this is their main enjoyment of the day.
It isn’t a place I would walk past on my own.
Later we found these wild cats on top of a ledge

 They looked very well but when winter comes I imagine they have a hard life.
So now good night and thank you for visiting and listening to these odd bits and pieces of life.
Have a good Monday – it is now definitely Monday morning!


Border collie on the train to Barcelona

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday I finally made it up to Barcelona to meet a friend in Ciutadella Park.  I even managed to fit in a tango or 6 in the open air La Glorietta. I haven’t danced for months – it was lovely!
Bonnie came too and we travelled from Granollers Nord Canovelles to Arc de Triumf. It still surprises me that Granollers has three railway stations. From Canovelles you can go in the other direction to the mountains, to Vic and Puigcerda, something we’re planning to do soon.

This was Bonnies second time in Barcelona and only her third and forth journeys on a train. She wears the muzzle only when we are sitting in the carriage, to protect her really as most people don’t try to pat or touch dogs wearing restraints. She doesn’t like to be bothered by strangers.
As before, she was very good, very patient, very quiet and even snuggled up to a man on the next seat, letting him pat her and stroke her ears.
Here she is trying to get comfy and find the best position on a very wobbly and slow train to Barcelona

Our Milk

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

On the way into Penzance I am often stopped by the neighbours crossing the road

It’s a small dairy herd, a family farm producing milk and they live just across the lane.
It’s so good to see them, to switch off the engine and watch the brothers gently leading them from the dairy to the pasture, to remember Spot the collie who used to live with them many years ago and who was always sitting at the farm gate, watching the cars pass by.
Dylan, another neighbour from the past, a large Bouvier des Flandres, was in love with Spot and when it was ‘that time of year’ he would stroll down our lane, cross the fields and settle down beside her, moaning gently. He was a gentleman – never tried it on – just wanted to be close.
In those days people allowed their dogs much more freedom to roam. They had independent friendships and adventures.

Memories are always shadowing me here in Lamorna. Quite comforting to be here while I gather strength for the drive south to the sunshine.

Bringing a dog into the UK

~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

Time for another trip through the Eurotunnel with the dogs.
If you are worried about travelling this route or anxious about the process of getting through pet passport control then please be reassured – it is very easy.

Since the rules changed at the beginning of January 2012 it is now even easier coming back into the UK from Europe.

  • You now have 1-5 days to see a vet before entering the UK and they only need worm treatment.

Here is what we did this time.

1. Seeing the vet

As we were driving up through France we stopped at a vet in a small town en route.
Our Eurotunnel crossing was on Thursday so we did this on Tuesday, a comfortable 48 hours in advance of travel

We had camped overnight in a municipal campsite in St Martin D’Auxigny so the next morning we went into town and after breakfast, asked in the bakers for the address of a vet. They directed us to the Clinique Veterinaire (Tel 02 48 64 63 67) which was handily close to a supermarket where we filled up with wine and cheese!
The vet spoke English and saw us within 30 minutes.  Vets in France are very clued up about the pet passport so although we were checking each step we were also confident that he knew what he was doing. He checked the microchips and gave each dog two tasty worm pills which they gobbled up like treats.  Paperwork was completed – stamped and dated with the time of treatment and a clean bill of health for travelling

The whole thing cost about 32euros and we were able to drive on to Calais without worrying about having to get there at a special time.

2. Passing through passport control

Our train to Folkstone was at 11.30am. We arrived early as you can usually advance your booking if there is space on an earlier train. You drive straight to the parking by the pet passport control. There were many dogs and owners coming and going out of the small office block where you get checked. The woman used a hand held microchip detector to make sure the dogs weren’t trying to sneak by with a forged passport and then quickly checked the documents and then we left. All over in five minutes.

3. The Tunnel

As planned we were able to catch an earlier train and drove onto the train almost immediately. Unfortunately this meant missing the ‘last French coffee and cake’ so beware of doing this if, like me, you like going to the departure lounge.  Both dogs slept all the way through the tunnel – it takes about 40 minutes and as it is so comfortable for them it was worth all the miles we drove across France.
 
Travelling with these ‘not so good’ friends
We are so lucky that both Bonnie and Duna are good travellers. Bonnie sleeps on the back seat of the van and Duna curls up at the feet of whoever is travelling as passenger in the front. They are both patient and forgiving of all the boring hours of travel and strangely our life in the camper van is easier than at home – the dogs are happy to be always with us and there were no possibilities for fighting. Duna always is in the front and Bonnie always in the back so everyone is together but separate.

Sleeping all together in a small space at night meant we felt like a pack, safe and secure together. Duna likes having the front seats to herself and never has tried to jump over into the back compartment where we are with Bonnie. But just in case, she is tied by her lead to the door!