2015


Bob's year 2015
Life in France

Bobby is doing OK. He had a setback in the spring when one of his legs gave way all of a sudden. For a while we were carrying him between areas of grass but he has gradually improved until he can make it into town on the early morning croissant run and back without needing a lift. Walks are gradually getting shorter in distance and longer in time.
Starting with the weather...
Snow: Bob loved the snow in January and February. Maybe he didn't race about as much as in the past but he was always ready to go out and investigate. When the snows returned in November he was just as happy.
Ice: After the snow came the ice. In this instance the fog had turned to ice in the tree branches and ice shards were raining out of the trees each time the wind blew.
Rain: What do you do with your dog when it is pouring with rain and he has to pop out into the garden to relieve himself? You could wait and then towel him dry when he gets back in, or you could be pro-active and limit how wet he gets.
Sunshine: There was a huge amount of very warm sunshine throughout the summer. A lot of the pictures feature Bob in the sun - here he is trying to keep his cool on a very warm evening at La Boulaye.
Poorly Bob: Bob was doing OK until one day when one of his legs gave way all of a sudden. At that time he could only hobble about on three legs but lots of extremely short walks coupled with a supporting bandage allowed him to gradually improve. Now he can just about walk into town and back but we watch out for the first signs of a limp and try to carry him for a while before it can develop any further. Bob doesn't dwell on it, he either stops and asks for a lift or carries on using just three legs according to how the mood takes him.
One effect of the problems with Bobby's legs is that quite often he trips and falls flat on his face. It shouldn't be funny but sometimes...
The backpack: While being resistant in the past, after his episode with the poorly leg, Bobby has come to realise that his backpack is actually quite a good thing and will let him join in on the longer walks. On one organised walk he stayed in there for about an hour (with a few outings for legitimate three legged activities) before it was too much. At least we have the option to give him a lift to the more interesting parts of the walks.
Talking of walks: As always there are plenty of opportunities for interesting walks around here.
Walks on Mont Beuvray: In the heat wave in the summer we often went up Mont Beuvray for a walk as it is always several degrees cooler there (being over 400m or 1300 feet higher than our house). Here are a few pictures of Bobby looking particularly happy with himself - probably because we took an aperitif/snack along for the three of us. (Each picture was taken on a separate day's walk.)
Snoozing: Bobby is demonstrating that snoozing can be a year round art form if you put in enough effort.
Birthday: Bob received several birthday cards and presents. Michelle (from the bakers in town) gave him a plant. Bobby was obviously very pleased with it because he often went across to where it was planted in the garden and gave it an extra watering - and the plant flowered all summer long.
The garden: Bobby loves his garden and whenever we are busy you can find him snoozing nearby in the sun or shade as appropriate. These are a few pictures from when he was awake and supervising.
Halloween Bob: Everyone else was dressing up so why not?....
Santa Paws: It has become a Christmas day morning tradition now that Bobby arrives at the bakers in his Santa outfit. This year he wore his Santa outfit all the way from home for the walk into town, across to the bakers (where he had a shop full of admirers cooing over him), and back home.
The effort was obviously sufficient that on his return home he didn't have time to take his suit off before needing a nap...
The curious case of the nose in the gateway: Since a new family have moved into the house next to the town hall we often find a nose through the tiny hole by the handle of the gates. Bob always ignores it, even when it starts to whine. The nearest thing to recognition is when Bob marks the stone at the edge of the gateway in his customary fashion.
Visitors: Bobby had lady friends (Nellie and Daisy) to stay for a week in the summer. Bobby has known Nellie since puppy class and they just settled together as always. Daisy on the other hand, while being fine with Bobby was a walking stomach on legs. Amongst other things she started by eating all of the strawberries from the garden and then went on to strip the raspberries as far as she could reach. Then she discovered a chicken carcase and we had a worrying few days monitoring her poos! Luckily she has a cast-iron interior. She certainly kept us entertained.
More visitors: Blue, Sally and Tilly came for a weekend in the summer. Sally and Tilly were around Bobby's age but Blue is a lot younger. Bobby was in charge (of course) but try as he might he couldn't keep pace with Blue. Sadly, Sally is no longer with us but Tilly and Blue returned for a fortnight at the very end of November.
And a final little story from less than a week before Christmas.
We were in the baker's in the morning fetching our croissants and there was the normal queue of people fussing Bobby (this is France - where he's encouraged into the shop not chased out). After her turn fussing Bobby, Michelle went back behind the counter to serve. René was next in the queue and when he came past with his purchases he stooped to give Bobby a fuss. Seizing the opportunity Bobby gave the end of René’s baguette a good lick. René gave it a wipe, said it was alright and went on his way.
While I was being served I told Michelle what had happened and instead of telling Bobby off she just said "that's not a problem - the baguette is for René’s neighbour".

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