Isabella

We had the heating on yesterday evening as the dogs were a little damp and I felt cold. It was great to feel the warmth around my feet and Oskar was soon to discover the delights of the fan blower. Skinny was curled up on the rear bench seat which is somewhat different to the way he spent last winter. At bedtime, the door was closed all night and only Obi elected to remain on the decking under the canopy. Rain fell during the night and I thought we might not get out for the Early Walk.

The sky was clear and bright as I emerged from the van so we set off as usual across the field. I detected a certain chill in the air and at no point did I feel overdressed. I left Charlie, Oskar and Luis attached to a bush then walked round with the others. We navigated the rocks at the end as the sea was much calmer than the day before however it was still dark enough to require my headtorch. It started to rain so we headed back towards the camping with only Fido, Skinny and Obi on the lead. I caught up with Oskar and Luis on the way but Charlie was ahead. An extraordinary noise had come from the north end of the Promontory as if some animal was being beaten to death. There was a certain amount of excitement as we approached and the rain intensified. I decided to take some shelter at Ammos Beach Bar before continuing. It was at that point I discovered the reason for the earlier noise. A small dog broke cover and scuttled off into the distance. The rain started to ease so I took the opportunity to try to get back to the camping as quickly as possible.

Charlie was hot on our heels as we entered the awning tent. I dried off the dogs and then decided to go back to see if I could find the source of the noise. I stood only moments before a cold, soggy, bedraggled puppy rushed to my feet. I picked her up and took her back to the camping. She was shivering all the way. I popped her in the former Dave residence and gave her a blanket, some food and water. She was quiet so must have fallen asleep. The previous night was probably very difficult with all the rain.

I fed the cats, turned on the water heater then took Skinny for a trip to Kountoura as the rain had now stopped. We just completed our circuit before the next lot fell. I was in the shower by then.

I’ve been quite busy with IT stuff, moving the large dog crate to replace one of the chairs and general doggy activities. I soon discovered that Isabella has some deep attachment problems and the only way to get any peace was to have her sleeping on my lap. I wanted to take her for a walk to wear her out but there have been several prolonged periods of rain today and it was always a matter of being caught out.

The Estonian ladies left the camping and Peter went off in his van to some unknown destination. The others have stayed on an additional night and say they will leave tomorrow.

I took Isabella for a walk around the camping and met up with the German lady with the two dogs. We agreed that Isabella is very beautiful and probably likely to turn into quite a large dog. We reckoned that she is probably around ten weeks old. I then went down to see the other German couple with the small children who were being entertained by IZO. Isabella joined in and had good fun playing with their little boy. I took her onto the beach and wanted to walk her alone as I thought she’d be a liability with the other dogs. As it turned out, she got to have a walk and the others didn’t as another downpour began shortly after I got back to the van. All the dogs are either sleeping under or around my chair or inside the van. Isabella is lying on the doormat her head resting on my shoes.

My next task is to make some food for myself and to feed the dogs. For simplicity, I shall have an action replay of yesterday’s meal. Then I’ll feed all the other dogs. The dogs, all 6.5 of them are now fed. The supper is cooking in the Instant Pot. The rain is pattering hard on the metal roof and we’re all still outside. Over 25mm rain has fallen since midnight and it’s still falling. Somewhat more than predicted in the forecast. Tomorrow should be sunny which will be a blessed relief after today. We can get outside and everything should dry off. Thursday should hopefully be fine until the evening.