I have been very busy in the last few weeks. First, my master and mistress went away to a place called Russia, and left me in charge of things here. Our friend Eve came to look after me and Holly while they were away. We like it when Eve comes, because we get lots of food and lots of walks. Then a bit later my master went away again in the opposite direction -- to America. He talked to lots of people, and he says that some of them want to come and see me next summer, so I will have lots of new friends. I had to run things here and take care of Holly and my mistress, and then, after he came back, it was my birthday -- I was six! I got a big box of biscuits and a new bowl for my tea, and everyone says I am much more grown-up now. Then a couple of weeks later it was Christmas, and I got a new ball! Holly got a big chew, which she hasn't chewed yet as she likes to carry it around and get used to it first. Next she likes to bury it in the garden and leave it for a few weeks. Then we took all the coloured lights and shiny things down off the walls, which you do at Ephipany.
My master says it is 2008 now, and lots of interesting things are going to happen, so I expect I will have to work very hard at supervising him and everyone else at Luss. I hope all my friends have had as good a Christmas as me and Holly. We had a lovely Christmas card from Nanette's master and mistress in Cornwall with two dogs on it, just like me and Holly (and a CAT), and one from Margaret who lives in a place called the Vatican City, which has an interesting stamp on the envelope.
Now we have had to make New Year Resolutions: my master says that mine is to be a better dog, and to keep writing my blog, which I haven't done much lately. So I will write again soon, and in the meantime Holly and I hope that everyone will have a really good new year! Lots of love from Skye.
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The Famous Dog of Luss with some of my friends.
Hello! Here I am again, Skye the Famous Dog from Luss.
I haven't been very well. I had a cough, so I had to go and see Mr Craig in Helensburgh. It wasn't as much fun as usual, because there were no other dogs to talk to while we waited, only lots of CATS in boxes making funny noises. I thought I had better sit on my mistress's knee. Just in case she was worried about the CATS. She said, "Get off, Skye, I can't breathe, don't be such a baby", which I think meant "Thank you, Skye, for protecting me from the CATS".
When we went in it wasn't Mr Craig, but a nice lady who took my temperature (yeugh!) and gave me a bag of yellow pills. This meant that all last week we played a game in which my mistress hid the pills in my food, and I had to eat all my tea and leave the pills neatly at the bottom of the bowl. Then she shouted, "Dane, come and deal with your dog!", and my master had to come and hold my nose and put the pills in my mouth, and I had to pretend to swallow them and then spit them out behind the sofa.
The game must have done me good, because I got completely better, and to celebrate we went in my car to my house on the other side of the country -- me and Holly, my master and mistress, and Sang, who got out of the fridge in his new house to come and see what Fife Not St Andrews was like.
Holly and I went for long walks on the beach beside the sea, which is just like the loch here, but breathes, and goes up and down more quickly. We found something very interesting, which my mistress said was the remains of a seal, and if we didn't leave it alone we would not get back in the house ever again. Holly is very good with remains, as she cleared away a particularly dead sheep on the Glebe this summer, but the seal was very old and not very smelly, so we left it alone.
There are lots of things happening at the Manse just now; some nice people called Baptists came to stay for 2 days, and my friend Tony came to make their tea; I like it when Tony comes, as he makes tea for me and Holly too, and he is a better cook than my master and mistress. Sang's new house is finished, with a nice big fridge, and we had a little party to celebrate, with biscuits. The boys and girls in Arrochar had a big party on Saturday night, which went on till Sunday morning, and they arranged the church service for everyone. (I didn't go, but they told me all about it, and said it was very good.) There are more people coming to see me this week, so I will tell you all about that in my next blog.
'Bye for now,
Skye
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Hello again -- this is Skye, the Famous Dog from Luss, and this is a new episode of my blog.
Now that my friends who came to see me from Finland, Denmark, Portugal, Italy and Glasgow have had to go home again, I can catch up on my blog, as I only have my master & mistress and my friend Holly to look after. And Sang. But I don't have to worry about Sang this week, as the church of Scotland are doing that in St Andrews, teaching him to be a trainee minister. I hope there is a fridge for him, or he won't feel at home. My master says there are lots of pubs for him to go to. My master knows all about St Andrews as he lived there 78 years ago, when he was a trainee minister.
Yesterday 2 new friends came to see me from the Lake District, and brought Peter & Judy with them. I think they were related to Holly, as they looked like her, and we all played in the garden.
My big pathway is now finished round the glebe. It is all dug out and was completed last week, when the owners of a National Park in Italy came to visit my National Park here in Luss, and cut the last bit of grass with a big spade. We still have to put some stones on the last bit, but already I can welcome a lot of people to walk round. Every morning I take Holly and my mistress to check that it is ready for visitors; my mistress brings a bag and a tool for collecting things that aren't supposed to be there, and Holly and I tidy up any bits of old barbecue we can find. Lots of people bring their dogs, and sometimes people run around the path; my mistress says they are joggers, but I think it's a sensible thing to do. I like to go and say a special hello to them, which often makes them run a lot faster. I am a very helpful dog.
On the other side of the river is a very nice path, with a field where there are sheep. My mistress says they are very boring animals and would not want to play, so I must take no notice of them. Apparently you can even get arrested for sheep-molesting, so Holly and I walk past very quietly. Holly usually walks along in the river, getting very wet and smelly, and I say hello to a big bird who sits in a tree and talks to me.
I think it is tea-time now, so I will fetch Holly and we will go and sit in the kitchen looking hopeful. That usually works. Lots of love to Nannette, Margaret, Tiina, Lucy and all my other friends who have written to me. I hope they will all come and share my pathway soon.
Bye for now!
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Sitting at my window barking to the crowd
Hi, Skye here – and this is my blog. Sorry not to have written for a while but life has changed dramatically since I became a Famous Dog. My mistress is kept very busy just hoisting the flags of the nations who send people to visit me so that they can go back home and tell their people about The Famous Dog of Luss.
With my ball on the glebe
The first to come were some girls from Finland. I like them very much and I think that they all want to be footballers when they go back home because they like to kick a ball in my garden. I try to help them by running and getting the ball and taking it back to them. They like to do this for hours and never know when to stop. Sometimes I have to take the ball away just so that I can get a rest.
The Finnish girls are living in the Pilgrim’s Palace with a party of girls from Glasgow who are not used to being in the countryside. They have been specially chosen to come and make my play area over the river more attractive for me. They are building a new pathway so that I can run quickly around the glebe when I have to find Holly (who gets lost at least once every day). They work very hard but they are happiest when they can sit in the sun and play with me so I try to visit them whenever I can, running across to the glebe to bring happiness to them all – it is hard work being a Famous Dog.
I am now so famous that forty scouts from Denmark who were going to the International Jamboree in England decided to come here on the way and spend a day with me. They walked on the hills, boated on the loch, helped with my pathway and made a big meal of sausages and burgers for me in the garden – I was happy to share it with Holly and with them all: I think that there were about eighty of us altogether at my sausage party.
Sitting on the stairs waiting for more visitors. (I am in my best clothes!)
My new friend is Sang. He has come to learn how to be a minister from my master. He makes lots of mistakes and I remember how I used to make mistakes when I was very young (sometimes forgetting to go outside when I needed to). So when I think he needs a little encouragement I take him to visit my friends in the Colquhoun Arms. He has a beer and I allow him to buy me some crisps.
I am having to do a lot of eating now that I am a Famous Dog. There are so many people coming to see me and staying here that now we have a full-time chef called Tony who makes meals for my guests who always ensure that there is plenty for me as well. I hear Sang say to my mistress, “Rachel, I never feed the dog” to let her know not to worry because he has made sure that I have something good to eat.
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The Famous Dog of Luss in Loch Lomond with her Ball
Hi! Skye here. This is my blog. My Master tells me that I am already famous! After my last blog I received a message from a dog called Nannette who lives in Cornwall and I also got an email from Margaret who is a nun in Rome and who is very fond of dogs. I think I will like being a Famous Dog with friends all over the world. If you are a dog who would like to be my friend please send me a picture so that I can include it with my blog and let everyone see how many friends I have.
In response to the demands of my fans I will tell you a little about me so that you will know about The Famous Dog of Luss. I was born in the Vale of Leven where my brother still lives. His Master is a postman and I will tell you about him soon. My first home was in Arrochar which I liked very much. The postman who belonged to my brother used to deliver the post to my house and I would hide under the bushes and leap out at him when he arrived. He really liked that game and I was very good at it and he would say ‘Down, girl; down, girl’ which meant I had to try to lick his face. Every day I would wait for him to come and play with me.
Retta, the ‘finding-a-new-home-for-dogs’ lady
But one day I had to leave my home. The lady who looked after me became very ill and died and I was very sad. The ‘finding-a-new-home-for-dogs’ lady arrived and said that she would take me to a new home where people would love and care for me. She put me in her great big car and delivered me to the Manse along with a sack of dog food, some cans of dog meat and some biscuits. My new Master was very pleased to see me. ‘Will you keep quiet!’ he would say to me, whenever the telephone rang, to say thank you to me for letting him know that the phone was ringing, and I knew at once that he liked me very much.
I would let him know when people came to the door and I would jump up to the glass pane and smile to them and bark loudly to them so that they could hear my welcome through the glass. Sometimes people were so happy with my welcome that they didn’t even stop to see my Master, they just went happily on their way saying to each other ‘See that dog – one day she’ll come through the glass.’ They knew how much I wanted to welcome them.
I was looking forward to my game with the postman and I wondered if the postman came to the Manse as well. Then I saw the red van. I hid under a tree and launched myself at him, barking happily and trying to lick his face. He turned and ran back into his van and drove away at very high speed. It wasn’t my brother’s postman but a different one. But he must have liked the game because he sent a letter from the Post Office to my Master. My Master said it was the first time any dog of his had ever received an asbo (I think it is some kind of award for playing with postmen) and to celebrate it he went out and bought a new post-box to fit on the outside gate so that the postman would tell his friends and more and more postmen would come to see this lovely new post-box and want to come with letters to put in it and play with me. One day my favourite postman from Arrochar came to bring the post to the Manse. He didn’t use the outside post box but came right to the house and I was allowed to go and play with him – I wish he came here every day.
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