Reformed Character

Doggo's halti snaps and he doesn’t seem to notice. Either that or after thirteen years he’s finally learnt to walk on the lead without pulling. All the same I think I’ll get him a new one, just in case he’s not the reformed character he currently appears to be.

The weather is foul and I have visions of sliding about on my already dodgy legs at dog training tonight. Thankfully they cancel it. Although yesterday’s horrifically painful calf is already feeling much better. Must plan my next race...

I go for a swim instead.

The last time a motor racing Grand Prix was held in Russia was 1914. Now racing has returned there exactly 100 years on. It was held yesterday in Sochi where we were for the Winter Olympics and they’ve actually built the track in between the stadiums.

It’s still raining later when I pick L up from her book club’s Booker Prize evening, although she does keep me waiting for half an hour. Doggo and I amuse ourselves watching a constant stream of folk attempting to park their oversized people carriers outside the community hall across the road and mostly failing. Usually they then resorted to abandoning said vehicle in the middle of the road and tottering in to the hall on their equally oversized high heels (applies generally only to the women) before emerging later dragging their offspring out from whatever event is on there. MD sleeps through everything.

(Monday 13^th October)

A Lesser Dog

I send L some photos that were taken of me on Monday at dog training. I am pictured with a ‘lesser’ dog. It’s a Heinz 57 thing but is quite cute I suppose. Naturally L is thrilled telling me how good I look with something small and furry. Now she wants one instead of a new cooker. Tell that to the gasman.

I’m on the bus and after work I head straight to Nottingham and meet L at Beer Festival.

We try and support the local breweries as much as possible although some of them make that easier than others. You can say what you likeabout Blue Monkey, whose beers aren’t to everyone’s tastes, but they turnup with a 10.6%er whilst the Nottingham Brewery bring its usualfavourites Legend, EPA and Rock Bitter. Ewww. Shoot me now.

After an aperitif at Flipside we head to our favourites Lincoln Green where a guy from the brewery keeps giving me free samples of their Buttermuch Butterscotch flavoured ale in an attempt to convince me that I won’t like it because he doesn’t. Perhaps he’s just trying to get rid of it. He fails because I love it.

They also have our favourite Tuck with added Vimto. Very odd but ok although it’s better neat.

We forget to seek out the stagnant algae beer.

L (all thirds)

1. Flipside Russian Rouble 7.3%

2. Lincoln Green Quarterstaff 5.0%

3. Loch Lomond Silkie Stout 5.0%

4. Clouded Minds Hazelnutter 5.0%

5. Milestone Honey Porter 4.9%

6. Lincoln Green Tuck 4.7%

7. Raw Anubis Porter 5.2%

R (all halves)

1. Flipside Flipping Best 4.5%

2. Lincoln Green Buttermuch 5.5% (third)

3. Loose Cannon Porter 5.0%

4. Cheshire Brewhouse Smokehouse Porter 6.0%

5. Mile Tree 1850 Porter 5.4%

6. Hopcraft Crema Extrema Vanilla Porter 5.0%

7. Rock n Roll Dr Feelgood Chocolate Stout 6.5%

8. Milestone Tumbledown 7.5%

9. Liverpool Organic Imperial Russian Stout 7.4%

(Thursday 9^th October)

Pandering To My Ego

The watch says ‘new record’ but I know it’s just pandering to my ego. I don’t even know what it means by a new record. Does it mean a record distance or a record time? It just didn’t say. The raw facts are 5.59km in 26:59.

The run was sandwiched in between riding to and from work, so I guess any record is the sign of improvement.

At dog training, I suspect that somebody is wearing L’s new boots (the one’s she hasn’t got yet) but I didn’t feel I knew the young lady well enough to start discussing her feet.

L sends me a photo to compare them with. It seems having a dog at your side when you wear these boots is compulsory. So it’s a good job we’re sorted on that front then.

Dog training is a bit slow and MD only gets two runs. He needs quantity as well as quality. L will be complaining tomorrow that he hasn't left it all in the agility ring when she takes him for his morning walk.

(Wednesday 2^nd April)

Sheep Like Hordes

While the sheep like hordes of agility competitors head up to the usual first weekend of August meet up a Scunthorpe, I head south to Rushden & District Dog Club’s Barking Mad Agility Weekend. Says it all really.

The show is nearer to me than Scunthorpe but only because it’s not in Rushden and is actually just outside Peterborough, close to the A1.

MD has been drawn numbers 1, 5 and 51 in three classes which all kick off simultaneously at 8.30am in three different rings. This is not physically possible for man or dog, in more ways than one.

We give it our best shot when some other people would simply not have bothered to adhere to the rules at all. Many a time I have been helping out on a ring and the person drawn number 1 has turned up two hours after the start. So, three runs in just over an hour - one clear and two lots of five faults. So not too bad.

It was a shame about the faffing around in the clear one because that clear got him 6^th place. If he hadn’t faffed around it might have been top 3. In fact, if he didn’t faff we’d be deadly.

Then... a big gap. On his last run, four hours later, I get him eliminated by sending him over the wrong jump. Oops. Totally my fault. It was an audacious move and you win some you lose some, so they say. Mostly lose for us actually.

Then finally, just Doggo to run. Who goes clear naturally.

L’s stayed at home today being a proper scrubber. Housework. Bless. I rush home to save her from herself and to throw myself between her and the spider, with whom she says she’s having words in the bathroom.

(Saturday 3^rd August)

Tactical Errors

It’s kind of ironic that on the day that L cycles for the first time in months I discover an article on Cycling Deaths in Nottinghamshire... Apparently we have the highest death ratio in the country outside of London. Although there are no deaths actually in Nottingham City, they’re all in the wider county where the current policy is to remove cycle lanes and hand out free reflective clothing instead. An interesting approach which doesn’t appear to be working.

L leaves ‘the thing’ at work and walks home... although for unrelated reasons, urgent shopping or something.

Elsewhere a dog is saved by Mountain Rescue after sixteen days in a gorge in southern Scotland .

The poor thing. Bloody collie of course, suffering from red mist in his eyes. It says that Sparky is now 'quiet and subdued' that is until he sees another goat.

It’s a beer tasting, pub games and fireworks evening tonight at a friend’s place and we’re still struggling to get a decent beer to take. We go out every week and drink really good local beers but when you want a take out of one suddenly they’re all off. After work I head down to the Castle Rock Brewery tap for the acclaimed Midnight Owl but it’s not on. What’s worse is it takes not far off an hour to travel the three miles or so and back in the Nottingham traffic to find that out.

Instead I take a recommended replacement of a strong Stout from Sheffield. So not local. We drive it over in the car, which is abandoned there, we’ll taxi back.

The fireworks are good, especially the ones we brought and no one gets torched for a change. The pub games are good too. I remain unbeaten at table football but bomb out of ‘killer’ darts as all the male players annihilate each other leaving the Ladies to battle among themselves for victory. Somehow I think we all got the tactics wrong. L didn’t get chance to put any tactics in to play at all, removed from action (to her obvious relief) after just two throws as somebody repeatedly hits her number, which was next to mine, when actually aiming for mine.

Beer wise, of the eclectic four up for tasting, my replacement Stout is a bit of a let down. A bit dry and dull. The others are home brew (nice but deadly and oversweet), something that resembles Spitfire but turns out instead to be another beer by the same brewery and a pale Belgian-esk but not quite beer that turns out to be Special Brew.

Not sure which one was the winner actually.

(Friday 9th November)