Dogs Less Fortunate Than Ourselves

For once a serious post.Earlier this week while I was travelling I met a young woman sitting quietly crying in the corner of a pretty deserted park hugging her small terrier dog. I stopped to talk to her to see if she was ok and it transpired she and her dog were living rough as she had recently escaped an abusive relationship and had hoped to find work and a new life in the city far from her ex partner. She had no family or friends to turn too and most refuges will not accept dogs. They both looked as frightened as one another and were clearly the most important and loved thing in each others lives.While some might say she should give up her dog for the chance of somewhere safe to sleep I can understand hearing her relate her story exactly why she hadn't, the dog being the only security and comfort she had in a time where she had made a difficult decision to run away and for the dog she  was the only stability in an unfamiliar and frightening world. She was not on drugs, drinking and was pretty well educated.
There are always two sides to any story but from what she said I believe her and cant imagine how difficult life must be. She wasn't begging or asking for anything yet most people walked by without a second glance. Particularly in the economic times we live in now many people will be in similar situations very often through just making misjudgements of situations or people. I haven't forgotten her and her story and it made me look at what support is available closer to home.
In the UK some hostels will accept dogs but only a very few and space is limited.The Dogs Trust Hope Fund works to educate hostels/shelters on the importance of the human canine bond for vulnerable people and encourage them to allow dogs in. It also offers advice for those unfortunate enough to find themselves in that situation plus subsided veterinary care and advice for their canine companions.Next time you see a collection tin for them or in other countries those providing similar services please spare a thought for people like her. I've found many things to complain about recently but this really puts it into perspective.

Marley & Lola's Border Terrier Life: Outrage

Marley & Lola's Border Terrier Life: Outrage

The Biggest Doggie Show on Earth

Once more brought to you by the furry paws of Hetty the Bear (now slightly less furry thanks to the grooming parlour)

Some of you know I like to do my running, running and Terriers go together so I will be honest it comes naturally, although more naturally if squirrel's or bunnies are involved..... Anyway, as the culmination of my running year so far I went running at Crufts last week. Running and Birmingham I hear also go together as I am told some parts are a bit rough and you best be running if you want to escape but I didn't see any of that luckily.

As Crufts is on the television I had to be looking my best, this meant a trip down to the grooming parlour,  somewhere I am not a great fan off not least because its run by poodles and painted pink but apparently it was an important part of the preparations what with HD filming and the fact the camera puts pounds on you if you have not had your hair stripped recently.

More sensitive dogs than me might have taken offense at being bought this

Then we were off to Birmingham. Birmingham is quite a long way from where I am living and even for a travelling dog like me I get a bit bored. On the way we developed a puncture on the car, due to the cost cuttings where the staff is working there was no spare tyre and just a can of foam which to me didn't look quite up to the job and also like it might be a bit messy for those of us who have just had their fur done. This meant we had to go to a tyre repairer. Luckily being near to the big doggie show they were very kind to me and gave me crisps and a nice warm place to sit.

Waiting for the puncture to be mended, bit dull....

Then it was time to go to the hotel, I have never seen so many furry friends in a hotel before (apart from the places people call "hotels" but are actually kennels, don't be thanking I am so stupid as to fall for that). There were little furry dogs, huge great dogs and more Red Setters than I thought there were anywhere. The nice people at the hotel were well prepared though, there were 3 bowls of water in reception ( tried them all because you cant be too sure) and they gave me a dental chew when I checked in. After all that excitement I needed a little snooze.

I am liking the Holiday Inn thank you

Next morning I had to get up early which is not one of my strong points but I was smuggled some bacon from the breakfast buffet and sat under the table so things could have been worse and I was excited to be going to see my running friends, particuarly Mitch, he is a Border Terrier too and he has to drive all the way from Scotland which I hear is a very long way.

I am open to royalty payments for allowing myself to be have my picture taken next to the controversial Crufts logo

So then it was time for getting ready for the running...After I had collected my race number there was lots of time to look for things I never knew I needed. Everyone was very keen to get me to try their treats and sell me dogs beds. I don't think I have been fussed so much in one morning.

I was very excited!

I had to be very quite backstage, it was very difficult because all I wanted to do was run and everyone was barking but I tried my best.

See, trying best not to bark, honest

Then it was finally time for my running!! I ran around the arena and More 4 did film me because apparently I was quite amusing being quite little.

Then I was running outdoors... For those that have time on their paws you can see me running about 5.5 minutes into this clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZYO-SRoF0k

I was running quite fast as I have heard there be gangs and such around Birmingham so I was taking no chances ...

After all the running I was tired again, even after my bacon breakfast and lots of free dog treats so it was time for a bit of a swim in the lake.

We are all having a drink and a swim in the lake after our sprinting



After all that excitement there was time for a bit more doggie retail therapy, although I wasn't too sure about some of the things on sale..



Not sure there would ever be a time or a place for a cowgirl outfit thank you


Finally it was time to head home but not before I claimed my free picture from the nice people at Venture Photography, not sure they captured my best angle but I can safely say its different to my other pictures!



Thanks for reading, signing off now for a snooze,
Hetty

Hetty Goes to Holland

This blog is brought to you by the furry paws of Hetty...

The more observant amongst you may have noticed I have been a little quiet lately. This is because I have been busy. I have been out and about testing my Pet Passport and I can report back that it worked well which is a good thing or I would have been stuck abroad with dogs who carry baguettes and wear berets or other unsuitable dog wear (you would never catch me sporting such fashion faux pas). My paws are not so good at typing so I have included lots of pictures for those of you have the time to peruse them.

So what have I been up to, well, a few weeks ago I moved house, this was on a Friday, people always seem to move on Fridays.Silly day to move. There were many many boxes, I looked in lots of them,there wasn't much of interest for a small terrier.Anyway, all the boxes moved and so did I, although apparently I'm not staying long as my owner is deciding where to live so the boxes are all packed away somewhere.We might be moving abroad so it was decided I needed to go and try being a jet set pup to see if it suits me or not. So this brings me to my travels. I like travelling, I don't like the car very much, I pant all the time and look even more sad than usual but I like it when I get there as mostly I get to go running or go to a nice hotel where people fuss me and feed me bad things. So on the Saturday morning I was made to get up very early (I'm not a fan of early mornings, in fact not a fan of getting up before around 12:00), we drove a long way to a place where I had a boring walk in between lots of lines of cars, the nice people who worked there patted me and waved at me through the window and other people in the cars talked to me and said I was a brave dog and had I been abroad before. This made me a bit worried... Then we drove on a train, I don't like cars but I like even less cars inside trains, its unnatural.

Here I am in a train under the sea

Then we got out again, someone had forgotten to get Diesel so we had a walk by a garage (it was dull, we could do that at home surely?) and I had some nice French mineral water (they had forgotten my water too - sigh-). Next stop was Bruges, I liked it there very much, everything smelt of sausages and the forbidden chocolate.

Wheres the sausages?

Its a canal, am I meant to be impressed

I read about some cafes, it made me very calm and sleepy

Then off we went again, next stop Amsterdam. If it wasn't bad enough to have to go in car then inside a train I then had to go on a tram. I don't like trams. We walked for what seemed likes miles,  lots of people talked to me, I didn't always understand them but I think they said kind things. I didn't see any other Border Terriers, I don't think there are many in Amsterdam, there were lots of other dogs though, I barked at them just so they knew I was in town. Next we went to the park, I was disappointed I couldn't join in with the running people and there were no squirrels, I only give in 2/10 on the park scoring board for this reason.What is a park without squirrels I ask you.

So where are the Squirrels?

It was then time for some city dog activities, I was very excited to be allowed in a big department store. I was a bit scared and the perfume department made me sneeze but I was on very best behaviour (apart from a near International Incident involving a chihuahua..). There were lots of things to look at but I was a bit too nervous to have a close look or sniff anything so I tried to blend in and look like I went shopping everyday in a continental dog sort of way.



A matching lead set would match my fur nicely thankyou



We went for some more walking, it was better than the tram though so I didn't complain. Then things started to look up, I like cheese, what dog doesn't? But I never knew there was so much cheese to be found in the whole world, it was just like one of my favourite films where my hero Gromit goes to the moon and its made of cheese, only a bit better as this cheese was real.

That is a lot of cheese

Not so interesting as the cheese



I was a bit tired after all the excitement



Then it was time to go to a nice hotel. Everyone was very kind although I did get some strange looks, I made lots of new friends and was passed around everyone in the bar. Someone said I wasn't really meant to be there but that I was very sweet so I could stay. I ate lots of of snacks then felt a bit sick.



Sleeping off the snacks, I could get used to this



Next day we did more walking, I was getting a bit over the whole city lifestyle so I was treated to a Starbucks. Ive only ever been to the drive through Starbucks so I was excited to go inside one. They even gave me free water and I had leftover Chai Tea Latte.

I like Starbucks

All too soon it was time to go home. I crossed my paws that my microchip was ok and passport in order. In the end no one really looked at me but they gave me copy of Your Dog Magazine and I got to play in the dog exercise area so it wasnt all bad.

I was expecting more than this



Back in Blighty



Choices and Cake Pops

Welcome to this weeks blog. The theme being "Choices and Cake Pops", odd combination I hear you say, maybe not so odd as you may initially think.So Cake Pops firstly, you must have seen these, at least at Starbucks? I decided I needed to make some, they look quite easy, balls of cakey mixture on stick, how hard can that be?? Let me tell you, harder than it may look, to get perfect cake pops has required more cursing even than the macaroon saga. The mistake I initially made was to try and make these using had made ingredients, a big mistake...i handmade the cake, handmake the frosting, what did it make? A big gloopy mess, not a happy culinary moment.Take 2, onto YouTube and the Queen of Cake Pop Barbarella, apparently you need to crumble the cake then mix with pre made "frosting" (Buttercream style) and mould as PlayDoh. Ok, so off we go again, made the sponge, crumbled by hand this time not MagiMix then mixed with the evil looking frosting as opposed to "real" butter cream made with real butter. Stuck lolly stick in with Candy Melt and refrigerate..So far so good! Wouldn't be eating them in a hurry but looking like they should. Now for the Candy Melted. Managed to source real American ones but seem a little trickier than you would think. There seems to be a very small window between melted and too hot so goes solid again (surely against the rules of physics??). After a long and frustrating phase of melting by various methods the bain marie seeems best and passable pops are dipped.

Cake Crumbs plus Betty Crocker = Cake Pops

So we now have the cake balls, time for dipping. This is where the Candy Melts started to misbehave. Very temperomental, also, as a footnote dont try and add colour unless its gel or the whole lot sets solid even at temperatures similar to the sun.




Evil Candy Melts :(



Adding the sticks

then decorate with many sparkley things :)

More Bling The Better

So finally the cake pops are constructed,  bring back Michelin Star recipes thats all I can say. And the choices? Well, im still making them, think that will be next weeks subject matter.

Food I remain suspicious of

A very dubious idea....

This week takes me to Holland, namely Amsterdam, somwhere I spend a great deal of time so should therefore be more at home in than most locations. Something that continually facinates me is the food here, it is, shall we say "unique" in a strange non descript way. This normally means that having asked for a vegetarian option you normally end up with a cheese sandwich or cheese salad made from very non descript forlorn ingredients and after a couple of days you just get so fed up you stop eating anything apart from chocolate from the vending machine. This is not to say all food is terrible, indeed only last night I had a lovely meal of pan fried cod with celeriac and lentils but sadly this was an exception to the rule.

I hesitate to be too judgemental though as I know I get quite offended when people say all food in the UK is terrible having based their opinion solely on a fast food vendor somewhere near Leicester Square or similar. There is one thing that really does trouble me though, and I just cant come to terms with it. The hot food vending machine....For anyone not familiar with the phenomenon imagine a type of see through lukewarm cabinet full or suspicious looking fried food products which can be obtained automatically by putting coins in the door and magically the cupboard opens to allow you access to your "food". There are a number of issues I can see with the system which I have yet to be proved wrong about. Firstly, why would you want to use one? Secondly, is it ever a good idea to store parricuarly meat based products at just the right temperature for bacteria to grow? Thirdly, how do you know how long its been there? These are just the reasons that come to mind straight away, I just dont understand. Maybe I am missing the point and have yet to be enlightened but Im not convinced. This brings me to another food item I find a total mystery, the Fray Bentos Pie. I was walking round my local Tesco at the weekend when it was pointed out that these pies had been in existence as long as anyone could remember. This does indeed seem true, but I have never known anyone to buy one, little own eat one? I got to thinking about how then the compnay stays in business, is there a vast number of the population shopping  under the cover of darkness for food products to stockpile which might help them survive a nuclear winter or natural disaster maybe? Or, judging by the length of the use by date did Fray Bentos actually go out of business several decades ago and the shelves just still have the original stock as no one did ever buy them and the brand is just an overworked urban myth? But why would you ever think of putting pie in a can? Who ever thought that sounded like a good idea?Its a mystery I am determined to get to the bottom of one day.

Is this retro packaging or just because the can has been in the shop for the last 30 years?

No Bears in Boston

So here I am, back from Boston, four lattes down and still a little jet lagged. First piece of news, there were no Bears :( Maybe there are some somewhere, but as no one had heard of the Blue Hills and the only person who even thought there might be hills of any kind said not to bother going there. Thankfully though there are a great many things to keep you occupied in Boston even if they don't have big teeth,claws and like honey.
So looking for the none Bear like amusements I saw a sign for a Gingerbread House Baking Competition. I am well known for being over competitive on the baking front so was dissapointed only found out when I arrived or would have had to enter. This was again not your average size Gingerbread house as might be seen in Continental Europe, these were monsters, electric lighting, glazed windows, fully decorated interiors..

Anywhere else you would charge rent on a Gingerbread house of this magnitude

The only animal I saw with claws

The Boston "Beast"

If you go to America you have to do it properly, so the first priority was to get a suitable vehicle. You cant be too careful with how the weather has been lately so we thought it best to make sure we were prepared for all eventualities...A quick look through the flip chart of models available left us none the wiser due to none of them having the same names as in the UK (apart from a Yaris and that was just never going to happen) This led to being walked around the car "lot" to look for something we liked the look of as very few cars were out on hire and it seemed to amuse the staff greatly to have us choose, so much so it wasn't even going to cost anymore. Too much choice is also a bad thing so eventually we just asked what the coolest car was to be seen in to the retort that the car rental guy would look cool whatever he drove...but say he couldnt pull that off what would be cool then?? This line of questioning led to a huge black Ford of some sort with blacked out windows and alot of what can only be described as "bling". To Me it looked like it should be  being driven around with a very loud stereo somewhere like Southend on Sea dealing drugs but apparently this was "it" so the decision was made and we headed off with "The Beast".

Disappointingly looked like a swamp, not v Mystic

Off we went fully equipped with sat nav, and therein lies an issue....so you think in America everyone speaks English? Have you ever heard a Garmin in the UK talk about "Plows" and "Ramps" and did you know there was a difference between Interstates and Highways? Maybe the rest of the "English" speaking world does but sadly I didn't. Up until now my US transportation has consisted of chauffeured cars/taxis and a train so this came as to be honest a bit of a shock. It did however lead to probably the most amusing driving experience ever and aside from a maybe one of two pick ups it was the biggest car on the "highway". The next most amusing thing was the names, its not everyday you get to drive over the "Mystic River" for example.

Rockport, clearly named v appropriately

An unnatural altitude dinner

After the very underwhelming responses for the Bear tracking it was time to explore a bit more so we headed along the coast to Rockport. This turned out to be a picture book New England village with a beautiful seaview and more random things such as Great Danes being driven around in convertibles and a quite disturbing young shopkeeper clearly trying to "really" look like Shaggy from Scooby Doo with the episodes playing back on a loop.....time to go..Back in relative safety of Boston I remembered just how true it is that everything in America really is well, just "BIG". Even some squirrels in the park were huge monster size squirrels compared to any others I have seen. The next exciting episode was dinner at "Top of the Hub", 52 floors up in the Prudential Building. Its not for me a natural altitude to eat dinner particularly when you body thinks its about 3am but these things have to be done. It just makes me uneasy sitting by the window with the other would be skyscrapers looking like normal size houses and the planes going into Logan airport flying below you. Maybe I just need to get out more.

Huge Squirrel - Obviously have evolved this big due to lack of Border Terriers