Regular readers of our illustrious journal will know that with a certainty only exceeded by the fact that Jack will be hungry at 6:30pm daily, the second Sunday of the month means the White Lodge Walk.

It is probably appropriate at this juncture to point out that the accuracy this nomenclature is perhaps becoming somewhat diminished given the attendance, or lack thereof, of any of the current White Lodge residents, both this month and last. However, one grudgingly has to admit that Aunty Claire had a fairly reasonable excuse for her absence this month - being some two thousand miles or so distant.

Apparently where she was was (and probably still is) warm. One only wishes that one were able to say the same about our location. This was Melton Country Park - one of our favourite White Lodge walks. The weather however was unfortunately, in colloquial parlance, good for ducks; we even found some towards the end of the walk. Eleven hardy souls turned up to brave the wind and the rain, bringing with them a mere five humans; barely enough to be called a pack. Buddy and his new companion Lola, like ourselves, could only manage to get their dad to attend; our mums providing some what dubious excuses as to why they could not. Millie and Bess, Sol, and Sandy however did manage to get their mums out; so top marks to them.


"It's horrible out here!!"

The astute among you will have noticed at once that two new names have appeared; Sol and Sandy. And indeed, not only did these chaps get their mums out, they managed to do so, on a day such as it was, for the first time; one must take one's collar off to such achievements.


The Crowd

We set off not long after 2pm. At first it was all the usual, i.e. constitutionals being seen to by one and all. However, once over the river we were off; well Maple and I were. The other three decided to stay with dad and just potter. I have to hand it to Maple though; she is up for anything. As was Sol.


Millie

Sol, as pointed out earlier, was a newcomer to the White Lodge Walk. One is never certain how things will turn out with new chaps - particularly as I have to say, and I'm not saying this in any dogist kind of way, he didn't look too pointy. Pointer, maybe, but not pointy. However, I needn't have worried as he in fact turned out to be an absolutely terrific fella. Well up for the old chasing games, and didn't mind a bit of rough and tumble. And like me, well, even more than me, he is a ginga (as I believe the term goes), and also like me he is able to stand correctly for the camera - a skill that fewer hounds than you may realise possess. So with the exception of Maple, we let the pointy dogs be sedate - I think it was the weather - while we went off and and a jolly good time of it.


Sol in Action

A word here about Sandy. I think he wanted to join in from time to time, but wasn't too sure about leaving his mum on her own, being her first time here and all that. But we did have a chat, and it turns out he is a Bollywood Beast called Sanjeev. I got the impression that his body of work is a tad limited at the moment, but it sounds as though he is working on it.


Sandy - aka Sanjeev

Buddy was very good with Lola, and stayed with her most of the time. I think she is still finding her feet a bit, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Millie and Bess always stay with their mum (dead strange way with names these humans have though - their mum's name is that same as our dad's. How does that work then?).


Buddy and Lola with their Dad

So those that wanted to had a bit of a run around, and those that didn't had a good walk, albeit a bit damp at times. But none of that mattered once we got back to the car park, because that is when the the treats come out. Actually, Buddy's dad had had some all the way round, but they don't really count; they were more like snacks to keep the energy levels up.


Ducks - it was their kind of waether

Must admit though, no-one particularly wanted to hang around too long; it was getting cold and starting to get dark too. And that dear readers is the signal to find a half decent fire to lounge in front of while you get your human to sort out your tea; so that's exaclty what we did.

Until next time,
Kai