It's all about the dog (again)

This morning started abruptly at 5.35am when I heard the unmistakable whining from downstairs that is Reggie's emergency toilet call. I duly pulled on a dressing gown and let him out into the garden to do his business, then ushered him back into his crate for a bit more sleep. Thankfully, Reggie went straight back to sleep, although I couldn't say the same for myself!

When 7.30am came around, it was a brief and damp exercise session for me. We were actually rather pleased to hear the rain start pattering on the skylight at about 11pm last night (an hour earlier than forecast) and continue on and off throughout the night - it made us feel truly vindicated in having spent so much effort and energy in moving all the firewood up to the cover of the woodpile over the last couple of days. So, after a spin on the bike in the mist, followed by a quick bowl of cereal, we headed out for our weekly supermarket ritual. We were slightly later heading out than last week, but still managed to beat the worst of the crowds in both Lidl and Esselunga. On our way back up the valley, the car laden with our shopping, we attempted to stop for a coffee at the little café in Pietrabuona next to Frateschi's - a nice little treat for having got the shopping out of the way - but when we ran across the road from the car park and peered inside we realised there wasn't a free seat in the tiny little establishment. Since we have yet to embrace the Italian habit of downing our coffees while standing at the bar and sorting through our change, we decided to give it a  miss and hope we could find somewhere else to have a sit-down coffee later in the day.

On getting home, we unloaded the shopping, grabbed wellies and headed straight out in the rain to go and give Reggie a good walk. Poor Reggie has suffered from a lack of proper walks for the last two of days as we've raced against time trying to get the firewood up the terraces and under cover before the rain started - not that he's been short of exercise, he's had plenty of fun running around the garden and exploring the terraces, but we definitely owed him a proper walk. We therefore headed for the refuge track, as has become our weekend habit, although this time we branched off the main track and followed the footpath towards San Quirico for a little way. Reggie had a great time snuffling through leaves, splashing through puddles, squishing through mud and rolling around in the moss, and by the time we got back to the car he was muddy from nose to tail.

We got home, towelled off the worst of the mud from Reggie's undercarriage and nose and then turned our attentions to lunch. We resorted to our quick, easy and cheap staple bean-dip for lunch, before gathering our things and heading out once again, this time, Montecatini bound.

Our first stop was the pet shop. At first, Reggie came in with us - and unlike the last time we attempted to take him in with us (a month or two ago), this time he came in willingly and showed plenty of interest in the things on display. One of our main reasons for going to the pet shop was to buy Reggie a new harness - the one we bought for him back in November (before we'd even met him and were having to guess at how big his head might be!) is becoming increasingly difficult to get on and off over his head, so we figured that it was time to move up a size. Reggie patiently waited and let us try a couple of harnesses on him, but when he spied some other customers coming towards the area in which we were browsing, he started to get a bit stressy and barky. We decided it was time for him to retreat to the safety of his crate in the car while we finished shopping.

We left the pet shop with a new harness, three bones, a large packet of chews, a travel water bowl and a new bed, all for Reggie.

Our next stop was Decathlon, but not before that sit-down coffee that we'd promised ourselves, which we had in the café in the ipercoop complex. Sue had given us the tip-off that Decathlon was having a sale of their winter clothing items this weekend, so we were heading there to see if we could scoop up any bargain items. Well, we spent quite a while in the shop, but we ended up leaving with just two new footballs for Reggie. Neither of which were in the sale. In the end, we realised that, while many of the items were really tempting, we actually already had similar items already, so it would be a false economy to spend money on them, even in the sale. Sigh.

So we then headed home, the car full only of items for Reggie. I think I now know how new parents feel when they end up spending all of their money on toys and clothes for their babies rather than anything for themselves. I did feel a pang of guilt for poor Florence and Lucca though (and gave them both an extra treat when we got home).

Reggie's swag.

Reggie was delighted with his new footballs - one of which we have put in a safe place for later, and the other of which we let him play with straight away. We know that Reggie loves these particular foamy footballs because our friends Dave and Sarah bought one for their little boy Ollie when they were here and they left it as a gift for Reggie when they went back to the UK. Reggie loved playing with it (er... and chewing it)... until it was stolen! It went missing only a couple of days after Dave and Sarah had left, but Stuart found it again along the track that leads off into the woods beyond the house. This seemed a little odd, as Reggie never goes down that way (besides which, there’s a fence and gate in the way). Anyway, he only had it back for a day or two before it disappeared again, and it has not yet been found. We can only assume that something is coming and stealing things. (We also found a blanket that we’d abandoned outside the house months ago (after it got messed on when Reggie was new to the house and still learning about house training) that had been dragged from where we'd left it to halfway down the path. Goodness knows what animal activity goes on out there after dark when we’re all tucked up in bed!

Reggie gets stuck in with his new ball.

Reggie also eventually warmed to his new bed. Actually it didn't take him long at all. We bought him this bed because we figured it was time we replaced the one we gave him when he first arrived with us - which had previously belonged to our cats. It's funny to think that, when he first arrived with us, he fitted in the cat bed, but now barely half of him fits on it (although he still tries to sit on it!). He wasn't too sure about the new bed at first, but as soon as we put it on the sofa, he settled himself down. The next step is to get him to sit on it on the floor!

That brown cushion was the inside of his old bed...

The new bed is just about big enough...

With the rain lashing down outside, we decided not to be too ambitious with our plans for the rest of the afternoon and instead lit the fire, did a few admin tasks on the computer and prepared some marinated garlic (which we won't be able to try until tomorrow).

We have another Thai-style vegetable curry in the offing tonight, along with a glass of wine and a warm fire. The perfect antidote to a rainy day.