I (Blimey) Oh (Riley) I (Blimey) Oh (Riley) It's Off to Work I Go!

I've been remiss this week. I've hardly got off the ground with my posts. Apologies for this. In my defence its been a very busy time. I actually went out to work for 3 days... invited to work as an artist in a primary school which I loved. The children produced some very good artwork in a variety if mediums over the week including silk paintings which I worked on with them. Meanwhile the dogs have been well cared for by a dear friend who pulled the short straw. It's been raining heavily all week and its taken Lynne Mills a few hours at the end of each day to dry out after long dog walks by the Ings! Thank you sooo much Lynne!

this is the last blog for a while as Riley is homeward bound. Daniel has returned to no. 5 and wants his dog back! Its been lovely having Riley over. Hope you've enjoyed reading these little snippets. Here's one last report.

Riley has been busy with one of his all time favourite pastimes in the evenings too - gardening; digging to be more precise. I have collected photographic evidence to share with you.  Tony has also passed on a little light ditty on the matter.

Here it is:-
The big digger. He digs he digs he digs. He's not a gardner, he's not a council worker, he's not been paid 4 his labour. He digs he digs he digs. Is he working 2 a plan? Is he on a secret mission? is he going 4 a world record as he digs? He digs he digs: our garden slowly disappears! Our neighbours watch nervously. Our village is on tenterhooks because he digs he digs he digs. Riley's bear sized paws dig!

Riley's Gone Puddled!

Since we have been hosts to Riley it may be evident from my blogs that most days we have had lots of rain! We Brits are renowned for going on and on and on about the weather - but not without reason! While parts of our country are suffering droughts and preparing stand pipes others of us are deluged in more water than is fun. I talked to one lady today who lives near the river Ouse just a couple of miles away from our house. She is having to live upstairs because her house has been flooded... again. I am always amazed by the resilience of such people...carrying on regardless - another national characteristic! My thoughts and prayers are with her and her neighbours right now, some of whom live in bungalows with no upstairs to escape to.

As for Riley - he's loving the extra deep puddles we come across on our daily walks. Funny how dogs revert to breed traits without being taught a thing! Riley is definitely a water baby.

My husband, Tony, has written a poem for the blog today that describes this attribute of 'our' lovable Riley. Here it is:-

Rainy Days
He loves,
Yes he loves
Puddles.
Rivers, streams
And oceans
Are Riley's dreams.
He needs no Olympic event
To dive full length
Into a pool of muddy water.
He needs no invitation from the Queen
To celebrate
With a mighty SPLASH!
He loves
Yes he loves puddles.
Rivers streams and oceans
Are the perfect playground
In Riley's dreams.

Riley Tiptoes Through the Bluebells

Had a very civilised walk today. My mum came visiting and we all took an amble around the land belonging to Beningbrough Park; one of the most beautiful stately homes around the outskirts of York which is now managed by our wonderful National Trust. Although the sun failed to shine the bluebells graced us with a delightful spectacle and shared their sweet aroma making us all happy to be alive. 

Mud Mud Not So Glorious Mud!

Had a little Riley moment today! It was all my fault! Here's the low down:

I have taken to feeding the dogs separately. It cuts down on meal time confrontation and is a whole lot less messy. This evening I fed Sally in the kitchen and took Riley out to his dish. I left him for a few minutes to gobble down his food. I miss timed it! I went to bring Riley in but alas no Riley!! Now Riley is a good boy and unlike Sally he's no run away!! I went all round the house, looked up the street - no sign of Riley!!! I called his name and sure enough I saw him emerging from our next door neighbours' back garden... wet through and filthy! he'd obviously been for a quick roll in their very very sludgy pond! He ran straight for me, wagging his tail behind him then jumped right into my princess pretty pink and very clean kitchen... not for long. No sooner had he stepped in to the house than he began to shake with all his might. Within a twinkling of an eye my immaculate kitchen became covered in mud - not so glorious mud. It covered every unit, cupboard door and pink wall up to 2 metres high. Argh!!!

I spent about an hour cleaning up. Bless him! I rubbed him down and a little later took both dogs out for a walk. What did Riley do as soon as I let him off lead? You guessed it - he headed for the nearest muddy puddle and rolled. Oh boy!! No pictures today - I was too busy scrubbing walls and a dog!!

Riley the Braveheart

Our walk today took on a twist all of his own. It couldn't have been in greater contrast to our walk yesterday! The day had taken shape, moulded round the jobs I needed to do which included me painting the seasons names onto tiles for a primary school display. I had taken my time as painting letters on bumpy tiles with a acylic paint is not to be rushed! To keep the dogs happy I had painted in our dining room which opens out onto our back lawn, flung the patio doors open and let Riley & Sally loose out there. They had a ball, play fighting and making ferocious sounds on and off for an hour or more. The sun was shining and everyone was happy. Later, after Joseph was home from school we decided to take the dogs out for a walk around the village together. What could be more pleasant? As we cornered our drive I glanced skyward... Oh my! The biggest, blackest and most ominous looking clouds were gathering with haste above our unprotected heads. Another few steps and the heavens opened. Bulletsof rain attacked us as we picked up speed. Hang on what's this? Hail, huge boulders of ice descended from the heavens bouncing off fur and everything else. To top it off as we entered the orchard thunder claps roared like sea billows rolling across the leadened skyscape We didn't hang around for long after that. We legged it all the way home! Joseph rubbed down the dogs and I headed for the shower. Riley handled the whole thing very bravely and then tucked into his evening meal as if he hadn't even noticed. Bless him.

this video clip is not the most exciting but its about me and Riley legging it home in the hail... even though you can hardly see the hail, trust me... it was there!!

Riley Takes a Hike

What a great day we've had today. The birds were singing, the sun was shining in a cloud dappled sky and we were on the road. Don't you just love days when demands are low and when you have time to play with? I do. It's been one of those deliciously freeing kind of days for the dogs & me.

We set out on an average kind of walk then just kept on walking... right out of the village, up to the golf course, followed a country footpath that led to a farm and then found civilization again as we headed into the village of Wigington where we dilly dallied on a bench by the duck pond. Finally at around lunch time we made it to the centre of the adjoining village of Haxby. I was hungry but alas I hadn't thought of bringing my purse... just a bag with dog treats, my trusted phone and doggy bags! Joy of joys (I love it when this happens) I rummaged around the recesses of my bag and pulled out the total of £3! A quick nip into the bakery produced a sausage roll, coffee and a Big Scamp!* leaving me with change to spare. I sat on a bench with dogs at my feet right on the busy high street and munched my way through the lot only pausing occasionally to lip my lips and knock the flaking wayward crumbs of pastry off my clothes. Riley & Sally looked on longingly and offered me their paws but to no avail... they did get a dog treat - I'm not that cruel!

Refreshed and rested we ambled home the way we'd come arriving feeling at one with the world. Only one minor incident when Riley decided to playfully grab Sally's neck and Sally managed to pull off her Houdini act by freeing herself from Halti, collar and lead by the main road... I somehow managed to keep hold of Riley whilst diving, rugby tackle style on top of my escape artist dog like some crazed madwoman for lots of passers by to behold!!! It was all worth it. Enjoy some of the snapshots I took along our way.

* Big Scamp = huge butter and vine fruit enriched scones with a scampish face made with glaze cherries for eyes and a slice of candied orange for a smile - delicious!

Riley's Return

Guess who's back for a vacation... you got it; Riley!
While Daniel is visiting family in America we have the pleasure of Riley's company for a couple of weeks and the fun has already begun. Check in to Blimey Oh Riley if you want to catch up with Riley and share some of our antics.
So what did we do to mark our visitor's arrival? We went to watch Shakespeare, that's what. To be more precise we went to Rowntree Park in York where Tony was practising Act 5 his part of Master Page in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' for the York Shakespeare Project 2012. We did hang around for a while to listen to the actors' first outdoor performance 'off book' and to be honest it was pretty good. After that it was serious Riley time. We walked around the park, across the Ouse river along the impressive designer bridge and far away. Riley even had an impromptu dip in the river. After bounding up to other dogs and chasing a skate boarder we were back in the park, did a sojourn around the duck pond then rounded the afternoon off with a visit to the stationary icecream van parked at the head of the park by the basket ball courts. A great day was had by all.
Hope to catch you tomorrow.

Riley is on the Move

Just to let you know that there are signs and there have been definate sightings... Riley is on the move and he's heading in our direction. A couple of weeks to go until the Blimey Oh Riley blog makes a come back. We are delighted to announce that Riley will be staying with the Bowers over some of April. Can't wait. Hope to see you then. Bye for now, Love Claire xx

Post Riley!

Sitting at my computer screen pondering and marvelling on the fact that the simple little blog I created to mark the stay of our canine friend Riley managed to draw 614 views and counting (even though it finished a couple of weeks ago!) Thanks to you for clicking into the links! Got me thinking. Well I've decided to start up a new blog... even without the dog! Well, that's not strictly true as we do have our own very special dog: Sally and Riley is still a regular visitor so they are sure to feature in it somewhere along the way.
So what is it all about? I hope I hear you ask. It will be about the things I notice along life's way. Check it out and see what you think... Let me know if you feel inclined.
Bye for now,

Claire/

Blimey oh Riley: The Video

Blimey oh Riley: The Video

Enjoy the very last Blimey oh Riley blog post!

Special thanks to Daniel for putting Riley in our care - its been so much fun!

Farewell from Claire :)

Day 11 - A Sad Farewell

           

Riley the landscape gardener decided we needed  a hole

Riley the shredder got rid of a few documents lying around the car

  Riley the walker decided to take Sally out but the lady wasn't for moving!

Alas poor Riley... I knew him so well... and now he is gone... back home with Daniel.

Its really great to have Daniel back with us but we're going to miss having Riley round here and I'm going to be lost without the blog. Its been fun putting it together and its given me a buzz to see people checking in from around the globe. Before I bow out I want to say thank you so much for viewing. I hope you have enjoyed the offerings and that they have brought a little fun into your day!

I will be putting one more Blimey oh Riley blog up with a slide show of the photos and videos from the fortnight. For now though I'll leave you with one of my favourite video clips from this week. It shows Riley impersonating a hippo (think Mud Mud Glorious Mud and you've got it. You could even sing it while you watch if you feel inclined!!)

Well that's all folks!

Splish Splash Splosh - Video of a Happy Riley

Riley found a track of water and made sure he made the most of it! There's a boy!

Day 10: Storyboard by the Pond Starring Riley & Sally

Pond - er this!

'Right Sally we are at the pond, what next?'

'Just look natural Riley and leave the rest to me!'

'Well we've been looking natural for a while but how are we supposed to spring into action tied to this bench sweetheart?'

'Quiet. This is it Riley - they are in our grasp - pull from your end and we've got em!'

'Got what? The flowers? The bushes? The trees?'

'Hey Sally did you think to bring along any bread to feed to the ducks?'

Day 9

Its been a good day to wander through our village and to appreciate the wonder of Spring.

I'm starting to feel a little sad that our time with Riley is drawing to an end and as we took our stroll  the weather seemed to fit with the slight melancholic mood of the moment. As I spied some trumpeting yellow daffodils I started to smile and remembered that with Spring here and Summer on its way there are lots of good times around the corner. Funny but black tulips would never have the same effect!!

Our village has a beautiful green with a 13th century church perched above. Check out these links if you want to know a little more about the village:
http://skeltonvillagetrust.org/#
http://www.skelton-york.gov.uk/conservation_area.htm

I decided it would be an ideal spot for a doggy photo shoot. You know they say never work with children or animals... well I am a qualified primary teacher so I ignored the first bit a while ago and now the dogs... it wasn't easy to get them to pose for camera I can assure you but take a look at these pictures and I think you'll agree with me that it was oh so worth it. 

We continued on to the fields and (Riley in particular) had a fantastic time but I think I'll save those photos for another day. Keep checking because they are worth it! Two more days of  'Blimey oh Riley'.

Riley Takes the Lead! - Video Clip

Here's the evidence of Riley taking the lead... literally. Fun while it lasted. Enjoy!

Day 8

The day Riley's halo Slipped!

Out and about this morning. Sally firmly attached to lead and halti... and my clenched fist. Riley roaming free through the small woodland in our village. All's well with the world. The daffies are peeping out, the birds are singing and, eh, what's that bombing through the woods? A white cat! Riley, no! Stop Riley, No! Oh boy! Said cat is so freaked by the 'lion' chasing it that's its now perched in the top branches of one of the tallest trees in the wood. Can you spot it in the photos? Hope it made it down after we left but it certainly showed no sign of budging while we were at the bottom of the tree. That's for sure. Take that grin off your face Sally!

Day 7

The day my brain wave waved goodbye along with Sally. The run away dog ran over the fields and she blew, she blew! Oh Riley, you were supposed to grab her lead, remember?!

Let me rewind a little and explain the train of events. First of all I decided to let the dogs play freely on the orchard with Sally trailing her lead. After watching Riley pick up the end of the lead yesterday and bring Sally back to me I was eager to try it again. This time I had my video camera at the ready. I'll post the evidence just as soon as YouTube does its thing!

After that bit of success I got a little cocky. We set off down some country fields when I had an urge to let them play freely again. Oh boy what a mistake. This time Sally saw and took her chances. She simply shimmied past Riley, swam across the stream, took to the fields and ran, ran, ran. Riley looked confused. I called, we waited, we walked slowly home. The afternoon took shape. It included a lot of phone calls: police- check, vets-check, local shop-check, York dog warden-check, Petlog-check, old vets-check. Long suffering husband-check.

At around 5.30pm my phone rang. It was a local chap with a stray and exhausted border Collie: Sally. Within 5 minutes I had her back in the car. The guy had noticed a farmer chasing Sally through his fields and back on to the lane where she had fled at lunch time. She had flopped on the path having given up and handed herself in. I'm so glad I remembered to attach her new ID tag to her collar.

We've had words but I don't think she's taken any of it in!

Riley is looking particularly pleased with himself this evening. I swear I saw his halo gleaming in the sun.

Day 6

Entry 1

Ever seen something you are bursting to share but find yourself alone with no one to share with? Oh the joy of a blog! Now listen to this...

... Been out in the village this sunny Spring morning with the dogs. As usual hardly a soul in sight and no other dogs on the orchard so I took my chances and let Riley off lead to have a romp. He had so much fun. I pondered on the sad fact that Sally would love to join in the fun but anybody who has read even one of my other blog posts under the name: 'A Rather Special Border Collie Called Sally' will know that it usually spells trouble, stress and a deal of searching if I weaken! That's when I had a brain wave. If I leave her lead attached to her collar but let it go I don't think she will run off. That way she gets to frolic with Riley & a chance expand some energy and frustration but I'll be able to get her back... today!

My plan worked a treat. They had a blast. Even a passer by commented on the fun they were having and they both stayed close to me on the sun dappled orchard. Fantastic! I knew they were happy to play for a good while but it was lunch time now and I was getting hungry. I decided to walk towards a bench at the top of the orchard in the hope that Riley would follow and encourage Sally to follow too. It's what I saw next that had me in loud belly laughs all the way home. Riley, ever faithful dear old Riley had indeed seen me walking away and was determined to follow... with Sally. He simply picked up her lead and led her to the bench and up to me from the far end of the orchard. Good, clever boy Riley. What a pity I didn't have my camera. I have now and as you can see the experience has quite worn him out.

Entry 2

Fun & games in the garden this afternoon. Riley is responding well to a little training. I think Daniel must have been working hard. Riley happily presented his huge front paw when asked to. He is also beginning to sit on command. I had a breakthrough with 'down' which made my day. He copied Sally's action as she laid out flat and he has repeated it lots of times since. What treat for such hard work you may well ask. Well how about an hour in a pretty princess pink (don't ask) kitchen with the aroma of home made cakes wafting up flailing nostrils and the occasional titbit for good measure? Well that's what he got. Take a look for yourself.
Off for a moonlit walk together now. No need for a torch tonight. The stars are out in force. See you tomorrow. Come on dogs, walkies!

Day 5

What can I say? It's been a lovely lazy Sunday. Riley has been dutifully walked, pampered, played with... even brushed & rubbed down. He's had the afternoon lollaping by the heat of our crackling fire and has felt disinclined to do much more. I don't blame him. It's the day of rest after all!

Day 4

Day 4:

In which Riley was challenged to think about joining an order of Benedictine monks!

We awoke this morning to drizzle - a grey blanket of sky and lots and lots of drizzle! That put paid to the idea of a trip to the coast. (Come on you need a hint of sunshine for that)!

As it happened we had a plan B. I picked up a leaflet for a place on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors yesterday. Its an Abbey called Ampleforth Abbey and has lots to offer including free admission (Always a winner). Its got a swimming pool, tearoom, bookshop, its own pub, orchard and cider distillery - you must be impressed by now. To top it off its surrounded by woodland in an area of outstanding natural beauty! One ingredient needed to be included and it was. I read down the leaflet with care and bingo. It reads: Dogs are welcome on the grounds on leads. Wahey!!!

If you'd like to check it out then you could click into this link: http://www.ampleforth.org.uk/

The unexpected and much appreciated bonuses made us cock a hoop. We drove out of the flatness of the vale of York into... hills (Yippee!!! - miss hills soooo much) and as soon as we got out of the car the sun came out making it the perfect day to take lots of photos. I've had to be very picky about the ones to include in this blog.

                       

He's behind you! Not sure who this geezer is but as its a Benedictine Abbey maybe its supposed to be...

Up a Gum Tree!

This truly is the life of Riley!

The walk took over 3 hours and the views were stunning. As we neared the end this beautiful rainbow arched the footpath back up to the abbey. They always fill me with a sense of awe and wonder. Riley took it all in his stride... of course!

Back to the vale of York (after a stop off at a fab old pub with crackling fire and a jar of Theakston's Old Peculiar) with lots of wonderful memories.

Day 3

Day 3

This morning our stroll took us down the orchard, past the primary school and onto a wooded lane by a stream. The weather was misty and the mood was good. Here's a little memento of our time out together.

'Now how did you get on with getting Riley into your car Claire?' I hear you ask. Well they say a picture paints a thousand words so here's a few pictures that tell at least one story:-

It was a huge achievement for both man and beast but we did it... together! And look where it got us...

Beautiful Beningborough Hall that's where. I highly recommend it. We bought artisan bread from the farm shop and sliced it up for tea - yum! Just the thing after an afternoon ramble- next to a plate of rump steak of course!

Its the weekend... it could be a trip to the seaside for us but you'll have to wait and see.