Thursday, January 21, 2010

What I do for pleasure, or I think I like the rainy days and mud better.

Went for a walk with the dog, and quite a walk it was.  I took my friend's dog Nonna again as her daughter is quite ill again and had to go in for another bout of emergency surgery today.

It was an adventure.

First we met up with a large St Bernard/pit cross who escaped from his farm and followed us at length to the overwhelming excitement (read hysteria) of Nonna.  Somewhat to the delight of Chuck though as she was a she.

That done, motos went storming by repeatedly.  Those BMX ones that make the most outrageous noise.  Truly.  Outrageous. Chuck hates them.  He hates them a lot.  He chases them quite rabidly.

After a few of these came a fat guy on a vespa.  We were on a badly rutted dirt road.  Chuck normally doesn't mind Vespas at all, but by now he's just a little worked up.  So he chases it.  The problem is that fat guys on Vespas on steep dirt roads are slower than Chuck, so he was barking like a wild beast right at the guys leg.  A miracle no one was hurt.  Then came a bike.  Normally no big deal but his chuckmeisterness was a wee bit worked up, so I hung onto him.  Then the Vespa guy came BACK!  Then he stopped his bike and I let go of Chuck and apologised.  No problem.

Not done yet.

Then came the motos again, then a gang of them.

This was not quite the tranquil walk I had envisioned.

I went a little further and got to a less used part of the road.  As I turned a corner I realised that, all at once, a bike was coming up behind me, a horse being walked by it's rider was coming down towards me and the local shepherd with all his goats and 6 dogs was at the next corner.

Oh JOY!

Chuck knows all about the shepherd and it usually isn't a big deal, but he is pretty worked up, and has his woman with him to boot.....so he gets into a fight with the shepherds dogs.....the shepherd and I called them off, no damage done.

We finally make it past them, only to discover that the biggest of the shepherd's dogs is showing an interest in Nonna.  An unwelcome interest and is following me up the hill.  The shepherd keeps telling me to be careful.

I think going to the gym is not quite as stressful.

We get on a little further in peace, and then come across a beautiful little female beagle.  She's a hunting dog.  Chuck is excited (again). I am not, because that reminds me that today was hunting day and I am dressed in 'See me here!  Don't shoot me' colours.  Not.  I am wearing a grey shirt and jeans. Ho hum.

Leash goes on the Chuckster, so now I am walking down the mountain giving my best imitation of a man being drawn by four horses, because the dogs would NEVER want to sniff the same side of the road at the same time.

Good lord.

I did manage two paintings today, more than I had planned, but fun.  Glad I am giving this a whirl.  Lesson learned from today's painting?  I am rusty.

10 comments:

J.G. said...

After all that chaos you had time to paint??? In the new house?

I'm just glad no one got hurt. It sounds like there were multiple opportunities for things to turn ugly (and I have a funny mental picture of a fat guy on a Vespa).

Vancouver Isle Doug said...

I am all worn out just reading that! I took the dog for a walk and it was SO quiet, and on the main road to boot! 45 minutes and we were almost home when two vehicles finally went past. I guess that's what we get for living almost at the end of the road. LOL!

I dream of having a Vespa! My other half is a tough sell - no air bags. OY!

Lynda said...

Oh nuts... I didn't walk today... and I didn't paint.. I just thought about ice-cream. And red wine.. and "why on earth I decided to make January my healthy alcohol free" month.

I did eat an apple?

Word Verification Today:

Lynda said...

Whoops... forgot to type it in and hit enter..

Try again:

Word Verification Today: ingrout...
After you have spent the morning scrubing the shower, he doesn't even say thank you... that is an ingrout.

Anonymous said...

Try red wrigglers as pets instead. They don't whine, don't need walking and their poo makes great compost
Sea Dog

oreneta said...

JG, I continue to have funny images of the fat guy on the vespa. Not in the new house yet...sheer laziness has kept me here so far...and faint distant optimism.

Doug, jealous about the end of the road. Your other half does have a point, mostly that folks out there are not all that used to seeing them which does increase the chance of getting hit......they are so very cute though.

Thinking about icecream all day doesn't sound to bad Lynda, I'd kind of like to do that. Ingrout. Perfect. I got toxin on someone else's site and thought of you. That sounds dreadful. I thought of the game with the word verification. Better, no?

seadog, been there, done that. May well do it again. They are a little hard to cuddle after a rough day though, and don't provide any protection in the mountains.....

swenglishexpat said...

Menacing menagerie! I just kept laughing reading your account of this. Thanks for the entertainment!

oreneta said...

Swenglish....it was quite the adventure. I keep giggling about the fat guy on the Vespa though....

Nomad said...

Hoot!!

Hilarious Post!!

Miss you!

oreneta said...

Miss you too hon!