Doggy day

I woke up in the night but didn’t go back to sleep very quickly so I was fast asleep when the alarm went off. I dithered a couple of minutes in bed reading some emails before getting up. I needed to get up and put on the early washing as I’d promised this before 08:00. We were a little late out onto the Promontory and it was cloudy so no stars or planets. The previous day I’d actually seen Saturn, Venus and Jupiter almost in alignment. I knew too that I needed to get back for the washing and to collect the money from the German couple who only came for two nights. They are the owners of the Rhodesian Ridgeback Lily. They arrived on Monday to stay for one or two nights: stayed for two, then two more but forgot to leave so were still present on Saturday. Jan was exercising Lily on the beach but soon came over to see me. Lily was distracted by my presence so his training was beginning to fall upon deaf ears. He paid and we chatted. He told me how pleasant it was to have hot showers as it had been such a long time. It would seem that other campings have only cold showers. His wife arrived with the washing up and picked up Lily’s rejected food to offer to Skinny Dog who has been roaming around for several weeks.

She tracked him down and he ate some of the food. I’d not seen him except from afar to was unaware how much skinnier he’d become. I wandered out to the beach to see if he’d come to me so that I could check him over. The other two came out and we made a good fuss of him. Up close it’s possible to see his condition which is still good despite his emaciated body. He seemed friendly enough and was happy to be loved. Jan picked up a small stick and Skinny Dog was gone immediately, indicating that he could well have been beaten. They were encouraging me to keep him and I them. They were weakening but I could see the downfall of a rash decision as Lily is getting bigger by the day and their van is not big enough for two dogs even though they were good friends and played together well on the beach the previous day. Skinny Dog took himself off into the camping and disappeared. I suspect we have not seen the last of him.

If I knew I could rehome him as quickly as Extra Dog, it wouldn’t be a difficult decision. Ideally I’d like to get into a situation where I’m able to accommodate only a couple of extras on a temporary basis and still have an easy life. It would be good to find the right home for Charlie as anyone would be glad to have him as their pet and he them. Oskar is slightly different seeing as he doesn’t bond that quickly and is much more attached to me. He would need someone who has the patience to deal with his pottiness and other insecurities.

I got a quick shower after my run to Krios and it was almost time to make my weekly call.

Georgia arrived followed by a new customer in a van. Another German who told me he was from Stuttgart. He paid for a week but may stay for a month. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. Georgia had been driven over by Lena who was also looking after Πέντε and Mickey. I could easily see that Georgia’s poorly knee was having an adverse impact on all of their waistlines. They are both very overweight and require more exercise and less food! Georgia left to have lunch with her mother and Lena and I prepared to go into Paleochora as I was very low on food. Xanthippos was speaking to a friend on the phone and warned me to wait as it was raining heavily in Paleochora. I could see that when I rode in later as suddenly the road was wet and actually running with water as I arrived in Paleochora.

I completed my shopping then made my way back to Grammeno as it was nearly time to walk the dogs. I quickly prepared my spinach, onion, rice and peas for supper before going out with the dogs. The sun was setting as we went onto the beach so I hastened to make use of the daylight. The evening walk is all about ball throwing at present. Luis and Fido race up and down the sandy area in pursuit of their ball then we return to base. This evening we left when it became too dark for them to reliably see the ball. Luis, yet again, abandoned his ball. The Frantic evening exercise is very good for Luis’ waistline and he is snoring gently next to me as I write.

The spinach is now ready so I need to get it from the Pot.