Cowgirl

  I am a member of the F.T.O owners club, and love my car to bits.  Every time I look at it I can’t help but smile and admire it in all it’s glory.  I have been to a couple of the small mini meets, and met some very nice folk through the club.  We have a specific section on the forum called “spotted”, which is aimed at finding out who the owners are of the F.T.O’s we see around the country, and try and work out if they are members too.

So when I saw a black F.T.O GR driving up and down Skegness high street, I was quite irritated to see the adults letting a kid through it’s litter out of the window!  So I noted the number plate and then went onto the site, where I posted this -

“I saw a black GR on Friday afternoon, driving up and down Skegness. I did see the passenger was a female, and some kid in the back was throwing rubbish out the window, nice!! Was an N reg and ended with AHD. Any clues? Do they fancy a day litter picking in Skeg, the place is enough of a dump, without their contribution…

Angie x
_________________
Howdy from Cowgirl Angie. ”

  So do you think I might have upset someone, was I within my rights to post this, or am I just turning into a grumpy cow now that I am 30+??  Actually, do me a favour and don’t answer that!!!

After all the messing about with the run away dogs, I was running a little late. I had popped into town to get a few things done, and was heading home to get changed and rush off to milk the cows. I had just got to the outskirts of town when I spotted a very cute Spaniel running down the middle of the road. I stopped the car, put the hazards on, and got out to see if I could catch the little cutie but she was having none of it!! She took off at high speed in the opposite direction, heading straight for the oncoming traffic. Luckily for her, the cars all stopped, and by now the traffic was building up in both directions. Another couple of people got out of their cars and between us we tried to go back to the good old days of the caveman hunting his prey. Of course, the poor little dog was terrified and decided that the only way out was to leap into a deep ditch!! Ooops, that was not what we were planning but at least she was off the road, so slowly the traffic made it’s way past.
I peered down into the ditch which was very overgrown with grass, reeds and nettles. The very cute but very frightened little pooch looked back with fear in her eyes and a big growl from her mouth. Now what do we do? So I left a guy sitting guard to try and prevent her getting back onto the road, and I went and got a spare lead out of my car. It soon became apparent that we were going to get bit if we were not careful, so the guy went and got a pair of leather gloves out of his van. He managed to inch himself down into the ditch and get hold of her collar, he dragged her up to the top of the bank but before we got the lead on her the little wriggle bum got herself free and tumbled back to where we had just got her!
We eventually managed to get her again but she was not a happy bunny! We put the lead on her and sat on the roadside, getting very funny looks from the passers by. I rung the dog warden, who by now was probably getting sick of the sound of my voice, she was going to be a while before she could reach us. The guy who had caught the dog offered to go and meet the warden, so I could get off to work (I was already late)
Sometime later, my phone rings. The dog warden rang to tell me the dog had been reunited with it’s owner, (and offered me a job as a dog warden). Who had actually gone past me and the guy while we were sat on the road side, peering down at her dog, and wondered what we were doing sat there!! She was on her way to the post office to give them a hard time about them leaving the gate open which allowed the dog to escape!! While on her way back home, she had seen the guy handing her dog over to the dog warden on the roadside. Lucky for her, she was passing at just the right time. And I do hope that the warden told her that she could have saved some of the stress and worry to her and her pooch, if she had put a tag on her pretty pink and flowery collar, as I would of rung her direct, and they could have been reunited sooner…

So there we were (the Boo and I) strolling back into the village after our walk, when I was mobbed by about 8 kids who were all very excited and shouting something about a St Bernard and Grey Hound running free down the road. I couldn’t think of any dogs fitting that description living in the village, as I walk for miles every day and had not seen such breeds. I decided that they must belong to a holiday maker, who may have lost their dogs from a camp sight down the road. I get out my mobile and try to ring the dog warden but no answer. I see the dogs moving closer to us, which would not normally alarm me but Billy was just recovering from two operations and still had his stitches in. And with his unpredictable nature, I decided to take action by running into some old boys garden and lying low until the dogs had passed.

I was then told that someone else had spoke to the warden, and she would arrive asap. Luckily for me, Boo, the two dogs and by now a dozen kids, the old boy offered to hold my dog while I tried to deal with the escapees. So off I went, as I approached the dogs I crouched down to the floor to try and reduce the fear in the dogs, and show that I was not a threat. This worked very well with the Grey Hound but the St Bernard was very nervous, and very hot in his big fat fur coat. Mrs G Hound crawled across the floor to me, and then rolled over to submit and let me tickle her tummy. Time was ticking, and I soon needed to be heading off. I asked the kids if any of them had dogs at home but only one lad did. So I encouraged him to come sit with me and fuss the dog. I got him to kneel next to me behind the dog, as far away from her face as he could but close enough to keep stroking her tummy and keep her relaxed. I knew the only way to keep Mr St Bernard there was to keep Mrs Grey Hound there, and the only way to keep her there was to stroke her tummy, the minute we stopped she would run off again!! The boy seemed very happy to be helping, and I made it very clear to them all, not to touch her anywhere else than her tummy, do not look into her face, or stand over her, if she decided to run, let her go but just follow at a distance to keep an eye on them.

I ran back to collect Billy, who was pleased to see me. Then I picked him up, just to get past the two wanderers without any fights. I called out to the lad, who said he was doing fine, and Mrs Grey Hound was lapping it up. Within a minute of leaving them, I was greeted by a hysterical woman shouting something like “Tess”. I realised she was the dogs owner, and pointed her in the right direction, and told her not to worry as they were both fine and safely off the road! Then a quick call to cancel the dog warden, and my doggy work was done for the day.(you would of thought, wouldn’t you?) I did feel like pointing out that a collar on a dog without a tag was really a waste of time but decided that she had had enough of a fright, and the horror on her face when I said she should get to them in time but the dog warden was on her way… See Part 2…

(In reply to Roy SmartWalk’s comments)

I totally agree with the points you make, I spent four years studying dogs at university some years ago now! The problem is that not all dog owners view their dogs the same way that we do. There are very many responsible owners out there but the ones that concern me are the ones that seem to be extreme. Some seem to treat their dog as if they are children and tend to spoil them rotten, which inevitably leads to the dog being the boss and controlling the so called “owner”. Then we have the other end of the spectrum, where the owners don’t seem to give a damn about their dog, in fact I’m sure they sometimes forget the even have one!! They seem to neglect the dog, treating it either as a non-living object that has no needs, or some kind of fashion accessory. I fail to understand why they even bother to have a dog, I have my dog to bring joy into my life but also to bring joy into his. It has to be a two way relationship where the owner is the leader, giving the dog the guidance that it needs. We have to be the provider of necessities, from nutrition and water, fun and games, leadership and guidance, training and discipline, exercise and security. With any of these missing, we are asking for trouble with the dog, which in turn then affects what should be a harmonious relationship between one man and his dog!!

So we are heading off to Bulgaria for my first ever Skiing holiday!! My partner has been Skiing a few times before but for me it was a first. He decided that he would enjoy the challenge of teaching me, what a brave guy hey? Things were going quite well until by accident (well, he said it was!) on my first day we ended up going down a blue run. When I say going down it, I don’t mean stood up on my skis, I mean standing there crying in panic that I couldn’t go up or down!! After a few different angles of attack (like on one foot, my bum, elbows, face etc.) I decided that the only way was to lie on my back and slide all the way. And have a well deserved beer at the bottom to calm myself!!
As the week progressed, so did my skill and confidence. I was starting to really enjoy myself, and had mastered the art of jumping out of my skis, and throwing myself on the floor without hurting myself or others. I did have a Bridget Jones moment, where I had to shout to the snow boarders “Bridget Jones here, out of control and coming through”. Which they found highly amusing, and I think slightly impressed by my off piste skiing, and even more impressed that I stayed upright!!
Anyway, back to the title “These boots are made for walking” The xmas before this holiday, I had brought my partner some rather impressive all weather water proof boots from a Germany company called Englbert Strauss. As we arrived for our days Skiing, the staff at the Ski depot were giving the boots a lot of attention, and asking us where we had got them from, and how much I had paid. One guy even offered cash to buy them there and then but he said no way, they were a gift and the only pair he had brought with him. I then jokingly said to my partner that when we returned from Skiing, I bet his boots would be gone. And yes you have guessed right, he went to the pidgeon hole to put on his boots and the boots had walked!! We couldn’t believe it, we complained to staff but they were far from helpful. I was very surprised how they had all forgot their English which they were quite capable of speaking earlier that day. All they could say was that someone must have put them on by mistake, what are the chances that they would fit? And if so, why were there no spare boots left at the end of the day? Is it possible to wear two pairs and not notice?? We insisted that the Police be called, we caused a scene but still they couldn’t speak English. In the end, we had to give in and get the bus back to our hotel, my partner in the hired Ski boots!! “These boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they did!!”
The next morning, we were greeted by the very excited staff, who said “we have found your boots, they have just appeared” but when we tried to find out where they found them, they could no longer speak English. Now we laugh about the whole scenario but at the time it was far from funny, I don’t think we will bother returning to Bulgaria again. When we tell this story to other people, we tend to hear of other horror stories and bad experiences with the locals. If you have some good stories, feel free to try and convert me…

Just thought I’d take the time to tell you about my experience in Turkey. I must admit that I have always avoided holidaying in Turkey, not sure why but I just didn’t fancy it, what a mistake!
I have been back in the UK for four days now but would much rather be in Turkey. We booked our holiday to Marverde Plus Club, Kuyucak Bay, Bodrum, only a week before we departed. I can’t believe we managed to get such a great deal of £300 per person to an all inclusive, 5* hotel, in it’s own private bay, and including flights for one week. I was slightly nervous what we might find when we got there but all I can say is that it was a very pleasant surprise. Not like my trip to Tunisia but I shall tell you about that another day, when I feel like a rant!!
With the hotel being an ex Sun-sail hotel, the sailing opportunities were amazing, so we booked ourselves in for some lessons and after a short time we were heading out to sea on a Hobby Kat with instructor on board, unfortunately the wind was not being very helpful and kept starting, stopping and changing direction. We found ourselves at a stand still, then out of the blue a gust of wind came from nowhere and we were capsized. The other two were fine but unfortunately I was at the front of the boat and decided to Karate chop the mast on my way out, ouch!! The speed of the rescue team was fantastic, and before you know it I was on the jetty with a nurse tending my wounded leg. The swelling was that severe, they decided I needed an x-ray. After a quick trip to hospital for an x-ray, I was sent back to the hotel with a well bandaged leg (not ideal for sunbathing or swimming, I must say), thankfully no breaks, and some painkillers in hand. I couldn’t praise everybody involved enough, they all did a very good job.
Anyway, I didn’t let it put me off. On my last day there, we went back out to sea with an instructor and had a fantastic experience, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys extreme sport. I will definitely be doing it again..
After a few days taking it easy and sunbathing with my bandage on we decided to go scuba diving. I had done it once before in Majorca and not had a very good experience but I knew that in the right place, at the right time, I would love it.. And boy did I love it. The instructor who was a man in his 50’s, Paddy qualified diver and instructor, and was a mix of Del Boy, Danny Divito and Shrek, with a great sense of humour. He made me feel totally at ease and in control, his english was superb and I understood everything he was teaching me. We had a great day trip out on the boat, where we had lunch, went snorkelling and scuba diving. Their equipment was top notch, and we are planning to return later this year to do our Paddy course, which means we are qualified to dive anywhere in the world. I can’t wait!! We were all given a disc which they had put some video and photos on, taken with their underwater camera’s, what a brilliant idea? Mum and dad really enjoyed the experience too, while sitting at home on the sofa, cool eh?
Well, I expect you are feeling jealous now! There really is no need, get on and book one for yourselves. I know we were lucky where we ended up because we heard some not so good stories on our flight home, so make sure you do your research and check out plenty of reviews on the net. Oh well, happy holidays everyone. Next time I’ll send you a postcard saying “Wish you were here then? xx”