And just like that, time has ticked on. Long gone is the dreary winter and after a short shot of spring, we have been having a glorious summer littered with the odd heatwave and spurts of seriously colourful flowers. This has meant lazier days, hammock time, less walks but there have still been many adventures.
This year opened with my attempt at fame. Mum and Dad took me to a place called NEC in Birmingham where there was seemingly the biggest dog show in the world known as Crufts and I was lucky enough to be there. I qualified at a dog show last year, which I have already reported on including my appearance in local papers, and an interview on Radio Norfolk, so a long time ago. Of course the world got to see my beauty both in the show ring and on the big screen as Dad paraded me round a huge arena at Scrufts at the semi-finals with other qualifiers from classes such as prettiest cross breed bitch (I won this one of course), the most handsome cross breed dogs (plenty of boys in this one), Golden Oldies (veteran cross breeds) and Good Citizen Dog Scheme.
Mum and Dad were in awe as to how many doggies were there on the day and it was kind of overwhelming. There were thousands of dogs there, competing in a vast array of classes based on looks, beauty, agility, sporting ability, good behaviour and all manner of other amazing things. Every single doggie was special and it was fab seeing so many folk brought together by a love of canines in all shapes and sizes. We watched some flyball where the dogs were rapid and very noisy. It was such a spectacle and although I had previous dipped my paws into this activity, it didn’t take my fancy as I just don’t see the point in fetching that ball when it doesn’t run away from me. Its no fun. We also witnessed agility but I wasn’t there to compete in this sport but more to dazzle with my beauty.
There was also much shopping to be done with thousands of trade stands. There were demonstrations and displays, and it was loud, dazzling and wonderful to be part of it. Mum and Dad bought me a new robe to wear when I was wet which I modelled perfectly, and I was treated to a large packet of rabbit ears… yummy! I picked up some freebies too, just by being me, such as a water bottle and a water bowl and I was even forgiven for having an emergency wee in a tent. I couldn’t hold in my excitement of the day but everybody coo’ed at me and told me it wasn’t my fault.. phew.
I had this thing called a DNA test to establish what my parentage was and me and Dad got to appear on the TV – that box with moving pictures – to announce the results. It turns out that although everybody thought my dominate breed was Basenji, because I am gloriously ginger with a curly tail, I am made up of 14% Azawakh, 14% German Shepherd, 13% Basenji, 8% Fijian Street Dog, 8% Central Asian Ovcharka and 6% Wolf, amongst many others. Everybody got very excited about the wolf bit and Dad remarked that this fit in with my profile of being every inch the warrior princess. I’ve always thought my amber eyes, my death stare, my hunting prowess and my delightful singing (howling) voice would have given this away before now.
We came across celebrities including Ellie Symonds, a well decorated gold medal winner Paralympian swimmer, Radzi Chinyanganga, a recognisable and household named presenter on TV (think Blue Peter, Match of the Day etc), and Claudia Winkleman, also a TV presenter and household name made famous by Strictly Come Dancing and The Traitors amongst other popular TV shows. The guest judge in the Scruffts section was the lovely Dame Laura Kenny, a track and road cyclist winning no less then 6 Olympic medals (5 gold and 1 silver). Mum and Dad had got talking to some lovely people who were naturally complimenting me on my good looks when Laura, their daughter, happened to come over to us and chatted away as if we were all friends. She fussed me a lot and Mum was fan-girling over her. Dad was oblivious, but he was dazzled by the bright lights and after appearing live on the TV, I think he also felt like a celebrity.
As it was, after a very long and exhausting day, but lovely all the same, I didn’t take home the win but graciously handed the win to another cute and deserving dog, as gracious as I am. The winner of Scruffts was Marnie, an 8 year old Golden Oldie. Mum and Dad assured me that I had been a very good girl but I didn’t mind and I was thrilled at the kilogram of rabbit ears to munch on.
Owing to a wonderful summer and endless heat waves, the garden has bloomed and Mum and Dad have done an exceedingly good job of ‘the flowers.’ Both being very novice gardeners, and Mum even confessing that gardening was never her favourite thing, we had a beautiful display of spring bulbs. Daffodils burst open, with crocuses and snowdrops, grape hyacinth followed by tulips. When the spring bulbs faded away, these were overtaken by pansys, osteospermum (African daisies) senetti, hydrangea, and the creeping plants of honeysuckle, jasmine and clematis all sprung into life and have found their way up a new garden fence and are just getting started upwards bound via a trellis, to join what will hopefully be a trailing display over an archway. We’ve had fuchsia and gladioli so a real mix of sunny displays. Mum has recently planted some laburnum in the hope that there will be a vibrant splash of purple next year.
The parents refurbished ‘Pear tree Avenue’ where they built a retaining wall with railway sleepers, thereby creating a lovely bed in which to plant flowers to brighten up the garden against a backdrop of bark in keeping with a natural and rustic garden which is lightly pretty but not to manicured. Dad created borders around the garden, and hand made some raised beds in which there appeared more spring bulbs which gave way to a smattering of wild flowers made up of corn chamomile (yellow and white flowers), corncockle (pinky purple flowers), cornflowers (blue flowers), corn marigold (yellow flowers) and poppy (red) and other hardy but delicate flowers. This myriad of colour and scent has been a delightful attraction for bees and butterflies which pleased the parents, particularly Dad who recently went on a bee keeping experience so now he has ambitions to have bee hives when he retires from his day job. The wild flowers have wilted rather early though in the scorching summer and there was a distinct lack of poppies but I had fun running across the raised borders to feel the long stem’s brushing against my legs. I felt wild!! Mum was disappointed that I managed to trash some of these flowers but there are many other flowers so I didn’t share her feelings on this.
Dad’s precious lawn has not done so well in the drought, and coupled with a hosepipe ban, the grass is scorched and reminds me of the barren plains of Africa, such is the intensity of the heatwaves. Because Dad has not been able to mow the lawn as often as he would usually do, he has taken to building things and we now a fabulous area of decking with a gazebo. He works very hard and even sustained a nasty injury when shifting the sleepers, but he has squeezed in a little hammock time and I always try to join him as I enjoy the Daddy-Daughter time.
Along Pear Tree Avenue, the Parents cleared away the brambles and bushes on the other side of a picket fence, and we now have great views at the back of the garden over a field which has revealed a vast array of wildlife. Dad has installed a trailcam and Mum put out a bowl of water, and some vegetables and fruit and we have been visited by muntjac deer, fox, badgers, hedgehog, squirrel, cats and many birds of all varieties. There are so many cats that visit and it is great for me as it is better than TV, watching them all saunter across the pasture. There have been turf wars, and the trail cam caught some fighting by these territorial kitties. I regularly press my snout through the gaps in the picket fence to watch them all, and warn them to stay away. They do torment me but I will get them one day.
I did have a day where I managed to escape the garden and took myself off around the village for a solitary adventure. Some men were in the garden and they were very scary so I ran away and it took hours for Mum to come and get me. I know Solo used to take himself off on adventures by himself but I really did not like it when I realised I was very much alone, and might have been a little lost. It was very very hot and I got very confused, and I hurt my paws on the tarmac roads when I was running around. Thankfully, Mum came and rescued me and although I felt a little exhausted after my 5 hour escapade, I promised Mum I would never do that again and I haven’t, so the cats remain safe. I will remain in our lovely garden, so that’s enough of any solo jaunts.
As well as having the best time in the garden, Mum and Dad have taken me to other places on a couple of trips away. We visited Northampton – something to do with Dad’s work thing – and we had a lovely walk in Crick Jubilee Wood along the banks of a river known as the Grand Union Canal and caught sight of graceful swans. This can be found on the outskirts of Crick Village in Northamptonshire and it was a splendid day. One of those swans carried babies and it was fascinating, watching them gliding elegantly down the waterway in the glistening sunshine. I’m not sure why but they didn’t like me too much, and hissed if I got close. They stayed on the safety of the water.
We also visited my friend Khalee, and we went walking with friends Kerry and Richie where they live in the Cotswolds. Khalee is getting a little old now and slowing right down, so we took a gentle walk and I kept my distance. She can’t keep up with me, so I let her take it at her own pace. We also visited a pub called the Farmers Dog in Burford, Oxfordshire which is apparently on the TV, and is part of Clarkson’s Farm, whatever that is. The parents watch this on the TV and it is a documentary about a bloke called Jeremy Clarkson running Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, apparently. There was a lot of people there, and a lot of doggies but Mum and Dad were very excited about this place because they kept going on about seeing it on the TV. It was a but dull for me as I wasn’t allowed to be free and run around but it was still exciting to be out and about. And I got a lot of fuss and did some sun bathing.
The fabulous weather has meant a fabulous summer. There have been challenges in that I have not had nearly enough walks but still, we have had some great days out and some great days in. Mum and Dad seem happy that we can actually spend time in the garden now that the fences have been fixed, and it looks really pretty most of the time. Mum still despairs that the weeds seem to thrive when the lawn does not but that is life in the countryside I guess.
Another friend, Honey has come to stay periodically, and joined us on some walks when it has not been too hot to get out so we have been having glorious days. The year seems to be rapidly running away with us all and the summer will soon be out but I look forward to cooler more autumnal days, and all the adventures that come with the changing seasons.
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Nomadic Family Unit 
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