Marcia and I had a meeting at
Dartington last Monday. Once this was over we popped into the
Roundhouse there for a cup of coffee.
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| Dartington Great Hall from the gardens. It was, as you can see, a day of sunshine and showers. |
I do not have to tell you that I am
always on the look out for a blog dog and so you will not be
surprised to hear that when we left and I saw a likely candidate
sitting attached to a motorised wheelchair, I just had to stop and
ask for permission to take his picture. You will see the result
below.
Like many collies, Boogie is totally on
the ball – alert, intelligent and ready for anything. Unlike many
people who have to cope with life in a wheelchair, Philippa Armstrong
is equally alert, intelligent and ready for anything. Most of the
“anythings” in her life have to do with her dogs: there are two
more which we shall meet one of these weeks.
I am sure that many of you have seen
dog agility competitions either in the flesh (or should that be ‘in
the fur’) or on television. The handlers look to be as fit as the
dogs as they race around the course, guiding their dogs over, around
and underneath the various obstacles they have to overcome. All
handlers, that is, apart from Philippa – the only handler to
control her dogs from a wheelchair. In these rings she competes on
level terms with able-bodied handlers (about two hundred of them) and
she is surprisingly successful: she has competed in two national
finals.
Now, think about that for a moment. It
is hard enough training dogs when you can work close to them but
Philippa has to control them from her wheelchair which, to be blunt
about it, just isn’t fast enough or agile enough to stay close to
the dogs. That means she has to control them from a distance which,
in turn, means that both she and her dogs have to be that much better
than the competition to have an even chance of success. If you want
to read more about her, click here.
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| Snowdrops heralding the spring |
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| This mahonia, meanwhile, seems to think it is still autumn. |
After this bit of doggy portraiture,
Marcia and I went for a short walk through the gardens at Dartington
before returning back to our computers. There we found the first
signs of spring just around the corner: snowdrops just visible, the
first crocus poking shy heads above the ground, a couple of male
blackbirds shouting at each other and then taking off to chase each
other through the shrubs and trees. Ignoring them was a robin, intent
on enjoying a late lunch, and overhead the rooks were chattering
amongst themselves.
Driving back home the sunset was
astonishingly beautiful and because we had taken Marcia’s car I was
able to just sit and watch as the colours of the clouds hanging over
Dartmoor changed from white to the palest of yellows and then through
a pink suited to some mythical princess to an almost angry red.
Suddenly, as if a light had been turned off, more rain clouds
gathered overhead and we were hardly inside the house when the
heavens opened – again. The end of another memorable day.
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| Boogie - I hope to offer you another one of this chap in action quite soon. |
