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Best wishes to Mac from all the gang
we all hope Mac is feeling better. Bonnie is a great nurse, Hamish is wondering would she call to him as he thinks she is very cute; I am not sure Lucy would be too happy We are all waiting for the toy show, all four dogs are sitting on the sofa ready to go, they love teddy bears.Och aye, it’s Burns Night!
No, we haven’t been too near the fire…it’s in celebration of Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet (better known for Auld Lang Syne!). So, it’s haggis, wi’ neeps ‘n tatties for dinner (turnip and spuds to the non-Scots!). We even dressed up for the occasion…Mac has been growing his red sideburns for aaaaaaggges! Our slaves reliably(?) tell us that a haggis is a fearsome, stinking and dishevelled creature, that lives in the wilds of Scotland on top of Ben Nevis…sounds just like one of our forebears! At our Burns supper, we’ll be reciting the poem below by our countryman ‘Rabbie’, just as the haggis is ceremoniously piped in…Scots Wha Hae, all the way! Mac and Bonnie xxx
PS We’ve no idea what the poem means but it mentions food, so must be good!
Address To A Haggis
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang’s my arm.The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o’ need,
While thro’ your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!Then, horn for horn, they strech an’ strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve,
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
‘Bethankit!’ hums.Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi’ perfect sconner,
Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
On sic a dinner?Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro’ bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll make it whissle;
An’ legs, an’ arms, an’ heads will sned,
Like taps o’ thrissle.Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o ‘fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!Robert Burns (1759-1796…a long time deid!
)IMG_3335b.JPGI’m such a fan of the Bonnie and Mac updates, not to mention young Keeley. You should write professionally, there’s an epic in there!
Poor Buster has a looooooong way to go before he catches up with Mac in the "beard" stakes
. He’s delighted to see an update on his fellow gardeners/footballers!Post Burns Night update…well, the haggis seems to provide super energy!
Just after his morning walk (cue very muddy paws), Mac took a mad fit and did a “saaaaaahhhhhhhh” (running madly back and forth, whilst using the new landing carpet for traction; imagine jet engines on a dog, turned up to full throttle…). The adjoining pale coloured bedroom carpet (formerly non-patterned) now has a multitude of go fast mud stripes and claw marks! Mac says it looks much better like this and is planning a complete interior makeover to match. Roll on Burns Night next year he says!! (the generous offer still stands to teach Buster* all things Scottie ). Meanwhile, Bonnie says she is permanently starving and refuses to listen to the most dreaded of all swearwords ever again…“DIET”! (*Buster: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12340)
IMG_3331a.JPGHappy Easter to one and all! As you can see, we were not so sure about the bunny ears but treats were in the offing, so how could we refuse?!
We are in good form and pleased that the gardening season is coming around once again. Spring has already sprung, in the form of many fast flying footballs through the daffodils – Mama has a nice vase of these now and says we are such good dogs for thinking of her!
The slaves discovered that Bonnie’s weight gain, lethargy and depression were not due to food intake but actually due to an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). The vet said she is the third Scottie he has come across with this and it is often genetic. So, after blood tests (Bonnie reckons they extracted gallons!
) and a trial on pills, her energy levels are now greatly improved. The weight has also dropped off (Mac is making up for it!) and she is super slim; the downside is staying on the pills for life. There was also a hair loss issue on her back which was treated at the same time and was probably related. Bonnie got very tired of Mac saying “Here comes Baldilocks and the three hairs”, so is very glad her hair has returned! Her appetite has not been affected at all and for the last few days she has been working her way through the home-made compost mulch in the garden…! The eggshells add a nice bit of crunch apparently but a little more seasoning would be preferable. Mac and Bonnie xxx
IMG_3414.JPGIMG_3413.JPGQuestion: how many months have a Scottie (or two) in them? Answer: exactly 48. Confused? Well, it’s FOUR years today (Aug. 17th) since we took over this household and made it our own! Admittedly, it has been hard work on our parts, as the slaves are quite stubborn to see the errors in their ways.
We celebrated our unofficial birthday with some smoked mackerel and cappuccino cake; not mixed, you understand. The years have flown really and we split our time now between our holiday house in Donegal (bought just for us to destress…or is that distress?!). It’s not easy keeping the moo-cows and baa-sheep in their place but we do our best.
We also like the beaches and retrieving our floating lighthouse from the sea (Bonnie is the bravest when it comes to paddling…snorkeling included!). Mac prefers to go rock exploring and blending in with the seaweed – only the collar is a giveaway, so good job it’s not a nudey beach! Last summer we entered a local dog show and came first in our grouping and second overall in the show (winner obviously bribed the judges) – see pics. We still like to “help out” in the garden and only a few days ago, we were helping to dig up the spuds and Bonnie offered her services to eat the compost that was being dug back in. There is just something so tasty about homemade compost, don’t you find? Mac likes to guard the bags of manure and finds they give him an elevated view of his garden.
We did have some excitement back in May when Daddy was taking us for our morning walk – went out with two Scotties and came home with three!
Young Douglas (just over a year old) was up visiting from Carlow and had escaped out of his Granddad’s garden…three of us did look nice! His worried Dad was so pleased to get him back safe and sound and we said he was welcome anytime – two-a-side for the football team is much better!Bonnie now looks slimmer than she ever did (Mac says do you mean dimmer?) and the thyroid condition is under control. We both enjoy our daily game of football, much to the amusement of passers by (the aim is to strip the ball of all the covering, whilst the slaves follow picking up all the pieces). The slaves got us one of those huge gym balls earlier in the year and that is great fun…the plan is to burst it but we’re still working on that!
Mac and Bonnie xxx
(PS having an issue uploading photos, so paws crossed they will follow shortly).
Fantastic up-date Scotties. You are doing a grand job keeping the slaves in line, keep up the good work
we all hope Mac is feeling better. Bonnie is a great nurse, Hamish is wondering would she call to him as he thinks she is very cute; I am not sure Lucy would be too happy 
We are all waiting for the toy show, all four dogs are sitting on the sofa ready to go, they love teddy bears.
No, we haven’t been too near the fire…it’s in celebration of Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet (better known for Auld Lang Syne!). So, it’s haggis, wi’ neeps ‘n tatties for dinner (turnip and spuds to the non-Scots!). We even dressed up for the occasion…Mac has been growing his red sideburns for aaaaaaggges! Our slaves reliably(?) tell us that a haggis is a fearsome, stinking and dishevelled creature, that lives in the wilds of Scotland on top of Ben Nevis…sounds just like one of our forebears! 
IMG_3335b.JPG
. He’s delighted to see an update on his fellow gardeners/footballers!
Just after his morning walk (cue very muddy paws), Mac took a mad fit and did a “saaaaaahhhhhhhh” (running madly back and forth, whilst using the new landing carpet for traction; imagine jet engines on a dog, turned up to full throttle…). The adjoining pale coloured bedroom carpet (formerly non-patterned) now has a multitude of go fast mud stripes and claw marks! Mac says it looks much better like this and is planning a complete interior makeover to match. 
Roll on Burns Night next year he says!! (the generous offer still stands to teach Buster* all things Scottie 
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Oh, you really do need to get those poor dogs somewhere comfortable to sleep 
Last summer we entered a local dog show and came first in our grouping and second overall in the show (winner obviously bribed the judges) – see pics. 
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