MACINTOSH MONTHLY

Macintosh has always been a bit shocking off lead. He's never really nailed the basics of the recall command 'come' and just tends to do his own thing. However recently he's been behaving a bit better. As a result we have been allowing him off lead a bit more, in select locations. 

He behaves really well off lead on the aqueduct (pictured above) so we let him off whenever we go there. He's also been behaving pretty well on the Pacific Crest Trail up near our house. He loves running ahead but always waits for us to catch up with him. So again we have been letting him off there.

Until the other day. 

Above is a picture of the area of the Pacific Crest Trail we usually walk. It doesn't really show you how steep it is but you can guess its fairly high up because the wind turbines look small. Anyway we went for a walk along this trail with our small group from church. There was quite a group of us and despite the cold wind it was great fun. However Andrew, in his infinite wisdom, decided letting Macintosh walk off lead was a great idea, despite the fact there were lots of people and it was harder to keep an eye on him.

At first it was great. Mac ran backwards and forwards between all the groups of people and kept the children amused as they chased him. So I began to relax and not worry about him so much, especially as Andrew had "got it under control". Then it happened, the inevitable. Macintosh smelt something and off he went. Slowly at first, but then gathering more speed. We watched him zip down the side of the hill we were on and up the next. I began to panic obviously and this only got worse when we saw the rabbit he was chasing. Now I knew we were going to lose him! 

Up until this point Andrew was insisting that Mac would simply come back when called, but despite pretty much everyone calling him Macintosh was simply ignoring us. When he went over the brow of the next hill Andrew decided that my stress and panic was clearly too much so off he charged down the hill after him. Thankfully my husband runs like a mountain goat when needed so he got down pretty rapidly. After a few mini games of hide and seek, and being cut off from the other side by another rather quick lad, Macintosh was eventually apprehended and placed firmly back on the lead. 

I wish I had some pictures to show you but in my panic I didn't take any. All I could think was; that dog is never going off lead again, we nearly lost him, I'm going to have words with Andrew and other things to that effect. 

So there we go, Macintosh inevitably broke his good streak and we are back to walking on the lead at all times!

H

CHRISTMAS DAY

Last year Christmas day was rather quiet and strange as it was our first one in California away from all the family. This time round we were somewhat prepared for the silence and the less busy day and so we actually really enjoyed our day. 

We had all the usual Christmas traditions; stockings, present opening, a HUGE Christmas dinner, a walk after lunch, some games and of course the Queen's speech. We did manage to Skype a lot of family which was great fun too. Here are a few snaps from our Christmas day!

It definitely was a good Christmas day, especially as we ate SO much! I was practically in a coma by the end of the day. Why is Christmas food just so good?! Its not fair.

H 

#PETER ON TOUR - THE SNOW EDITION

So this is the last little update about Peter's visit with us. Twice whilst he was here we went in search of snow. The temperatures had been dropping enough that in the hills nearby there was snow. So obviously we had to go and see it, there's not much snow that drops where we live. 

Our first trip was to Big Bear. We'd been there before, but not when there was any snow. There wasn't a lot there this time, but enough in the hills that it was cold and that we enjoyed ourselves. We went for a walk in the hills, mooched around the shops in the town centre, ate some good food and took a stroll from some of the lake. Here's a few pictures. 

This next picture is my favourite from the mini trip. It shows Macintosh in his true walking state. This is what he looks like when he's on a scent trail. He literally flies through the air with no regard for where he's walking or how muddy he's getting. Amazing. 

The second snow trip you'll have to wait to hear about until Macintosh Monthly as it features mostly him. No great surprise there! 
H

DUNSTABLE PART II

We hung out with my family at Wrest Park whilst back in the UK. Wrest park is a National Trust property in near Luton. This provided another opportunity to top up on our historic buildings as we visited friends and family. 

Once through the opulent gate houses, and down the long stretch of drive we pulled up to the carpark. Through the gift shop we strolled through the walled gardens towards the house just as the sun broke through the clouds. It looked incredible. The french style architecture looked beautiful in the autumn sun, glowing with the leaves around just turning.

Entering the house via the exotic conservatory (containing many plants from the Americas!), we were given a brief history of the house and then left to ourselves to explore the newly restored rooms.

As is often the case with national trust properties, Hannah and I wandered around the house collecting inspiration to use on our imaginary house. They had a copy of the architect's original letters describing the house and the work he did which provided a fascinating insight into the design and embellishments. I was amazed by the lightness of the rooms, definitely some ideas for our future ‘Manor House’.

We then strolled round the gardens passing the many statues, pergolas and verandas, just enjoying the autumnal hues at a peaceful pace.

Obviously this all wasn't without food or drink, making sure everyone was well fed and watered we enjoyed time to take on tea, scone and other provisions.

Here is a lovely photo of the family (minus Matt who was working unfortunately) outside the old cricket pavilion. 

A

EXTENDED FAMILY GATHERING

My family like to get together whenever they can to hang out, but with such a big family it can be hard to co-ordinate that. If you factor in us living on the other side of the world then its even more tricky to get everyone together. I think it's been at least two years since we were all in the same place, perhaps even more! So it was nice that for one afternoon we managed to get everyone in the same place for a bit.

We did a walk through Ashridge, which is an amazing National Trust property near us. Then we descended on my Mum's new house for a tea and cake, followed by dinner and then the dismal rugby! We didn't manage to take too many photos as we were too busy catching up, but we did take a few of us on the walk.

I love the photo of Elisha and his stick! He kept hitting my poor brother-in-law on the head. Guess that's my first bad influence as an Auntie, yup thats right I gave him the stick! 
H

MACINTOSH MONDAY

Last week I decided to take Macintosh for a walk. We had some storms earlier in the week and there had been some flash flooding in the desert area. After a few days of heat I had assumed that most of the puddles would have dried up and that the desert would be back to normal. With that in mind I put on my flip flops and Mac and I set out. 

The first part of the desert was fine but after a while we began to encounter some leftover puddles. The sand around the puddles had turned into a muddy substance and was actually quite slippery. I had been told by Andrew to watch out for it, so I did. Macintosh avoided the puddles and so I thought I was completely safe, until right at the end of our walk....

We were one puddle away from the safety of dry sand. I was distracted for half a second and in that half a second my wonderful beagle decided it was now time to go into the middle of the puddle. He made a small dash for it which pulled hard at the lead and caused me to stumble forward. In doing so I ended up on the slippery sand/mud and did what can only be described as a cartoon style slip. My legs were running on the spot and I was failing about in an attempt to stay upright. However my attempt was futile. I landed straight on my bottom in the middle of the puddle. This caused Macintosh to jump and sent him running around me in circles at high speeds flicking mud everywhere. Trying to stand up covered me in more mud and ended with a scraped knee, but eventually I got out of the puddle.

I now had mud all over my bottom, up my legs, my flip flops were caked in mud and my dog was filthy too. On top of that I was still quite a way from home. I attempted to clean my flip flops in the muddy water. I only succeeded in removing the lumps and covering myself in more muddy water. I pulled the back of my top as low as it could go and decided to just walk home.

It was a humiliating walk. I didn't see too many people but whenever I did I ducked behind a car or bent down by Macintosh to fuss him in the attempt to disguise my rather messy self. After an agonising two blocks I made it onto our compound and rushed as fast as I could (on slippery muddy flip flops) into the house. Obligatory photographs were taken before Macintosh and I were both thrown into the shower and cleaned as quickly as possible. Once clean I sent the photos and details of the story to Andrew only to have the response, "LOL" followed by descriptions of how the lads at work found it funny. Now a few days later I see the humour in it but at the time I was mortified. 

And just to round off this humiliating post I'll show you the two photos I took. The first is of my legs and Macintosh which doesn't portray the mud as too severe but the look of my shorts will give you an idea I'm sure!

Fun and games!
H

#TIMONTOUR - YOSEMITE PART III

Overnight and as day three began so did the snow! It was really weird driving in as the pass got whiter and whiter. It didn't last long as there was soon bright blue skies and sunshine. It lasted just long enough for us to drive along Glacier Pass and get some amazing glimpses down into Yosemite Valley. Oh and to see the amazing Half Dome in all its glory. Take a look.

Just as we were thinking about leaving the pass the fog began to roll in and we lost sight of the valley. It did clear one last time for us to just look at Half Dome once more. 

As we left the park for the final time we swung via the Mariposa Grove to see some of the Giant Sequoias. They were insane! 

Overall it was an amazing trip. I don't think I could ever write about it, or photograph it in a way that truly shows what its like. That means the only logical thing for you to do is come and visit. Our tours really are the best!
H