Month: April 2015

Collies crossing the Border

5 Comments

Ola! Blog here,  International Travel Dog.

Day Two of the Camper Van Experiment has seen us cross the border into Spain. Landing initially in San Sebastian, a picturesque seaside resort on the Atlantic coast.  VW_sanseb_11

Arriving in the centre, it immediately felt too urban – cars, people, businesses, busyness. We stopped at one end of Bay of La Concha and took a walk to look back at the town. Cracking view, and we were rewarded by a sculpture called The Wind Comb.

VW_sanseb_1

Happening upon a small coastal road that ran above the cliffs, we continued westwards and stopped at a place called Zarautz. This was more like it. Smaller, quieter, with a beautiful beach and plenty of grass.

VW_sanseb_4

It has to be admitted that we opted for the ease of a camp site – with luxuries such as toilets and hot showers. Bliss (for the humans). The parking spot was on a headland overlooking the sea and the beach, with the mountains on the other side. Gorgeous.

VW_sanseb_3

And – deep joy, we could be let off our leads – hooray!

VW_sanseb_5

The camp site was practically deserted, just a few other camper vans – all MASSIVE compared to ours. Most folk seemed to have a doggie or two with them. All this running about is thirsty work – time to investigate the local bar, check out the cervezas and the basque tapas, of course. These are called pintxos.

VW_sanseb_6

And work out what we do tomorrow (to be continued).

 

A pail of puppies

4 Comments

It was time to change their bed sheet, and so the puppies were transferred to a big red bucket for a few moments, whilst fresh bedding was brought in. Looks like this method of containment will only be effective for another couple of days.

puppies_3

The puppies are now 21 days old, and growing up fast. All 8 have their eyes open, and are moving around, albeit rather wobbly on their legs. Their individual personalities are starting to show, they are certainly getting noisier and more inquisitive. In a nutshell, they are getting cuter.

puppy_smile_2

Little Liberty laughing

Liberty, in a classic case of nominative determinism was one of the first to clamber free of the birthing box.

puppies_1

Following in the footsteps of her big brother, Looping.

puppies_4

 

California Dreaming

7 Comments

California tossing and turning more like. We are just back from an Experiment, namely : Can 2 x humans and 2 x border collies live in comfort and harmony, on the road, in a VW California camper van for a few days?

The conclusion seems to be ‘mostly’.

VW_van_1A pristine, white camper van turned up last Tuesday, and I quickly commandeered the back seat. Excellent viewing possibilities -paws on the kicheney bit, good view through side window – hail all oncoming white vans and lorries. It was also to be my bed. Very nice.

Genepi was consigned to the floor, and took up position between the driver and passenger seats – either of which she later used as her bed.

VW_gen_1

Once loaded with a surprisingly modest amount of stuff, off we set, heading west into the Basque Country. Plus Point No 1 for campervaning is that we can head off wherever we like – there does not have to be a Plan. We headed off to the sunshine.

The van came with a guidebook to something called France Passion, which lists all sorts of stopover places – all free, and in places like vineyards and farms. Dallas decided we should head for St Pee sur Nivelle – Genepi thinks this is hilarious. And we found the site, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, up high on a sheep farm.VW_pee_2

Minus Point No 1 is that we seem to have to stay on our leads. We were in the middle of the countryside, nothing but fells and rivers, precious little traffic. Just herds of sheep grazing peacefully. They seems to be able to roam freely – why not us? Dallas mentioned something about a video clip called Jesus Christ Fenton  (https://youtu.be/3GRSbr0EYYU) – and we must stay tethered.

That evening I was taken for my customary wee wee walk, only this time it wasn’t just me who availed myself of the grassy banks. Minus Point No 2 (for the humans) is that the camper van lacks some basic facilities.

It was all VERY peaceful and quiet. They enjoyed beers and saucisson as the sun set over the Pyrenees, and Dallas whipped up dinner in the mini kitchen. As darkness fell, the two camper van novices started fettling their sleeping quarters.

This is the upstairs bit of the van – opened up electronically, and the bedding fed up above the cab. Clambering up there was not a lesson in grace and modesty. Glad I was downstairs. Especially when the wind picked up and could be heard whistling through the rafters.

VW_pee_1

Anyway, they emerged from Above the following morning – and we were all soon off on another wee wee walk. Breakfast prepared, it was time to break camp and work out where to go next.

Lets go to Spain – y viva espana    (to be continued)…

Its a Boy, and a Girl, and another Girl, and another Girl…

8 Comments

Gibs_pups_balloons

I can proudly announce that I am now officially Granddad Blog. Gibsie gave birth to 8 puppies a few days ago. Two boys and six girls. All healthy, squeaky fur balls, in various markings of black and white.

Gibsie is made-up. She is well chuffed with herself (rightly so) and is doing an excellent job of caring for her brood. Although I hear today that she feels like a bit of time off – not for another 8 weeks or so, Gibsie!

All my own work

Here they are less than one day old. They took about 10 hours to arrive, and Gibsie coped really well, delivering nearly 3 kilos of puppy.

One is more Dalmatian than Border Collie…

Gibs_pups_3

The two boys have mostly black coats, whereas the girls have all sorts of patterns. Here is Lucky, the first born…

Gibs_pups_2

 

Gibs_pups_balloons