Beach trip and we got pressies!

Last week we went to the beach - yippee!! It isn't very far from where we live -

in fact it is where our mummy works. She tells us that her office is just five minutes away from

this beach and she often come here at lunchtime and thinks about how much we would love to be there too....

Although it is January, the beach was packed because it was sunny - but it was also blustery and quite cold - perfect for us! We just love running through the waves.

Daddy always manages to find a stick from somewhere -

he is the best stick-thrower ever.

BUT - to make our week even more special...

WE GOT PRESSIES!!

(why is it that Gertrude is always so polite and well-mannered when there are pressies going around??!)

Well, to be more accurate MOLLY got presents - but being a generous kind of gal (and because I don't stand much of a chance against Gertrude when she wants something from me...) I decided I would share the prizes from Goober Stan's 'Most Improved Beard' title.
We got a cool squeaky stuffy toy, an even cooler fridge magnet with a photo of Stan the Man himself (!swoon!) and some great treats. One was a pigs nose that was almost (almost!!) as big as our noses, but not quite (with a bit of poetic license)!

We LOVED the sweet potato chewy treats - they are just yummy and last a long time. We must try to find some over here. They look nice and healthy for the discerning girl who is watching her waistline....

Thank you Stan. Your magnetic photo now reigns over our kitchen from the fridge and has an exclusive view into our very own dinner bowls - how good is that?!

We must have been very good and very lucky girls this week because we also got some other pressies from some friends in America. A quacky duck, a frisbee that flies for miles and yet more treats!!

Here we are getting down to some serious bonding time with our new toys. That duck is just asking to be quacked don't you think?

And who was victorious.....why me of course - Molly the Marvellous!!

We are truly spoilt and will enjoy all these things for a long while to come.

Love from Molly and Gertrude

xx

We're Home!

Happy Holidays!

Well - we are back and boy did we have a great week away in the Lake District.

We are true Majestic Mountain Bears.

This is a really long entry because we have just so many photos to share and stories to tell....

So sit back and hear all about our holiday.

We stayed in a cute little cottage with an open-fire and slate floors

It was certainly a 'Double-Airedale proof' cottage

Here we are checking out what is cooking in the kitchen

The weather was wet and soggy all week long. Here is poor Gertrude being pelted with hailstones during a particularly wild and windy walk. We had to be protected by mummy and daddy until the hailstorm was over because it was like little stones being thrown into our eyes. Molly hated it.

The Lake District is an exquisitely beautiful location. We climbed lots of mountains and enjoyed some lovely views despite the bad weather (when the clouds lifted!)

Peek-a-boo Molly - I am the King of the Mountain
Here we are on a far-away rocky ridge with mummy. Our agility skills are perfectly honed and we could leap and scramble up anything!
As we said - the weather up in the mountains can get pretty miserable in January. But we were always careful not to go anywhere too dangerous.
Look how windy it was! We had to hold daddy down else he would have blown away!
One day we met up with a beautiful Airedale called Ted. Here he is leading the pack with us behind - it was great to be able to run and play with him. ps. - the signpost next to us here said 'Dales Way' and it is pointing right at us!

Ted lives in a lovely place called Windermere - he took us up his nearby hill to show us the sights. Afterwards we had pigs ears back at his place and Gertrude snuck a snooze in his bed!
Here I am trying to blend in with the long grasses - do you think the camouflage works??
Here we are nearly at the summit of one mountain - showing daddy the way. It was so rocky we had to scramble all the way!
At the top! We claim this to be Our Mountain.


And then you always have to go back down again - ah well.
Climbing with daddy
I am a great one for fine views. I love just sitting and taking in the beauty of the Lakes and hills. Daddy clearly had the same idea.
Do you like my back-drop?
Gertrude is never far behind me when I am racing up the mountainside - being a hardened mountain Dale I like to show her the way and how it should be done. She was getting braver and braver by the day.

Hey mum - look at me!

A stile like this is nothing to me - it's funny to think I used to refuse to go over stiles and had to be lifted over! Hang on Molly - I'm coming too! Did I mention that Gertrude will follow me anywhere?!


Well - almost anywhere....
Poor Gertrude couldn't manage everything and got a little stuck here, poor pup. We had to show her the way up.



Do you know what - this holiday thing is pretty good!
Gertrude makes a great fireside pillow.

One day we had a day off climbing mountains and instead went into pretty Keswick. We like to people (and dog) watch from the coffee shops!



It isn't called The Lake District for nothing....there are Lakes and water EVERYWHERE! Gertrude just loved to splash in the shallows of the lakes. We also climbed the mountain in the background of this photo.

Here I am contemplating my next swim on Derwent water.

We even found little lakes (tarns) on the tops of the mountains! We just loved all the snowy mountains.

Oh look - another lake! This one is Buttermere.

I was keen for a swim on Derwent water so excitedly followed daddy onto the jetty....Gertrude came too......

Oh dear Gerta - did daddy throw you in? I bet you regretted following me!

But I just love to swim and retrieve sticks from the water. It is my favourite thing ever.

The water was like glass - still, tranquil and perfect - (that is until Gertrude came splashing in after me!)

Magical.

So - there you have it. Our magical holiday in the Lakes is over but we will dream about it for a long time. You can't fail to be impressed by the beauty of nature when it surrounds you like this - we are both so lucky.

Lots of love from

Molly and Gertrude

xx

Big walks planned!

Apparantly we are going on holiday tomorrow! Yippee!!

We are all packed and ready. We have heard there will be lots of walks up mountains, lots of swims in lakes and lots of fun. We are also meeting up with a fellow Airedale called Ted who lives in the Lake District - we just can't wait!

Before we go though, we had to sit patiently and listen to mummy telling us all about it.

It was an interesting discussion, but of course we are wise dales capable of such intellectual conversation.

We will miss you all next week - but when we come back we will come and visit all your blogs to say hello. We are sorry if we have not been very good at doing this lately.

....Now - what to pack......red blanket, green blanket, food, teddy, more food, hairbrush (for meeting Ted), towels, Gertrude, hmmm.....some more food and better not forget the food. I think that's about it. Gosh, I think of everything.

Love Molly

xx

and Gertrude (hey Molly, you packed me a bit too early)

xx

Our story.....

Well - we were tagged by Noah in the Blue Mountains to tell our story of how we came to live here in Devon with our mummy and daddy. So here goes.....

Our mummy and daddy first saw a photo of two Airedales in a magazine - advertising curtains in a grand castle!! They both loved the photo and wished they could have an Airedale of their very own because we look just too cute and wise and characterful - but they thought they would need a castle before they could have such a HUGE BEAR of a dog....Wrong!

They used to see other people with dogs and go on walks together and just wish they could have (me!) as company. So - they started looking around for puppies. One day their friend told them about a website that advertises all kinds of puppies, so mummy looked that evening. She could not believe her eyes when she clicked on 'Airedale puppies' for our area (there are hardly ever Airedales available in Devon!) and she saw an advert for 12 little Airedale pups 5 MINUTES DOWN THE ROAD IN THE NEXT VILLAGE!! It was a one-off litter and the mum Tess was going to be speyed afterwards....so now was their chance!!

It is true that some things are just meant to be....

The next day (yes, just like that!) they came to get me! We were all scampering around the kitchen looking cute and being goof-balls - there were only two of us girldales left and they really wanted a little girl. When they arrived, me and my little sister (now called Jess) were only trying to squeeze ourselves through the crack between the kitchen cupboards, and generally getting up to no good. In the photo at the top of the page you can see two of my brothers nibbling on daddy's shoe-laces....! After a while we were all sent out into the garden.

I was having none of that. I squeezed my way back through against the flow of puppies and ran up to mummy and put my cute little paws up on her lap and said 'pick me, pick me!!'

That was that - I was picked!! (I think I picked myself!)

In the car on the way home mummy held me tight all wrapped up in a sheet and said 'I want to call her Molly' and that was that too!

Look how adorable I was!

It was raining when I first got home and I managed to put my tiny little paw-prints all round my new house just to show I had well and truly arrived. Our old house was a cottage and we had a lovely warm wood-burner - I loved lying next to that in the evening and toasting my paws.

Below is a photo of my Dale mum Tess - she is a beautiful girl and I really think I take after her. I am really pleased because both she and my brother Harry (who stayed with Tess) have signed my guest-book above, so I keep in touch with my real family. For the first few weeks after I came home we would all get together at the local vets for a puppy party!! Most of my brothers and sisters were there - but at the first party I was a really silly and spent most of the time hidden nice and safely under a chair and I would not come out! After that I realised what fun the parties were (see the video below!)

My mum Tess

As I got bigger I started to discover the wonders of the great wide world -

I learnt that I loved to swim and run and chase things and play.

I also loved the snow!

And daddy taught me to be brave and adventurous.

I just kept growing and growing......

In the end, my mummy and daddy even had to get a bigger car just for me!

After a while, mummy and daddy thought how nice it would be if I could have an Airedale friend to play with and take on long long walks. The plan was for me to have my own little puppies....but then......fate intervened again!

Mummy picked up a free newspaper that had been lying on the doormat for a few days - she was about to put it in the bin when she just thought she would have a look at the puppies page. By complete chance - there was an advert for more Airedale puppies in Devon!! (And to think we almost put Gertrude in the recylcing bin.....heeheehee!)

So - that very weekend they disappeared off down some windy roads on a trip deep into the countryside and moorland. Who did they come home with but Gertrude - my Nemesis!!

My puppy plans went on permanent hold (sigh) but instead I had my very own naughty little sister. And what a whirlwind of love, delight and disaster she has brought to our family!!

Here I am curled up with our little pup being the perfect big sister.

I cannot say that she is reciprocally the perfect little sister however...but we all love her. She is our funny little goofy, quirky girl and she adores us all.

Now it is my job to teach Gertrude everything I have learnt about the world and how to be an Airedale through and through!

So - that's our story. That is how fate decided that we should all be together and share our lives. Who knows what the next chapter will be...???


Now - we are going to tag Mojo to ask her mum and dad to tell her story. We are sure they will have some stories to tell!

Video clip: my puppy party aged 12 weeks!




Love from Miss Molly and Gertude
xxxx