Sue Woodcock: It’s a dog’s life as four-footed companions test my patience

Newly-arrived Tess is a lovely border collie of about 10 months but she loves me so much that she is jealous, and there have been one or two spats with my dogs not to mention food squabbles.

When I decided to have a tidy-up, I discovered she has a thing about brooms. It is really very difficult to sweep the floor with an enthusiastic and bouncy collie attached to the bristles.

Once I began mopping the floor, Brillo my small terrier who already has a hate-hate relationship with any hand brush, along with Boo and Tess, declared war on the mop.

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One dog yo-yoing at the end of a handle is bad enough, but three at once is enough to try the patience of a saint, which I certainly am not. I banished them all to the other room.

It is amazing what one finds in a clean-up. The dogs had managed to secrete about a dozen toys under the armchairs which I duly cleaned and re-presented to them to their utter delight.Now they are squabbling over them.

The rain has come down in earnest. It gushed down my drive and collects in a little lake by the barn before spilling over and draining down to the mire. Taking the bad weather as an opportunity to muck out one of the shippons, I searched for ages for my fork and eventually found it under some of the old straw but not before I had dashed down to the hardware shop for a new one. Then I found another, so now I have three. I also discovered all sorts of implements I had forgotten.

After such a mucky afternoon I ran a bath. It was wonderful and very therapeutic until I got out. When I removed the plug I found Boo had chewed through the wastepipe. I managed to fix it without flooding the whole house but you can go off dogs sometimes.

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A caving friend from many years ago has come to visit. Like me he has no intention of diving into sumps or doing anything too strenuous. Most of the decent caves around here are either too inaccessible or prone to flooding which with the present rainfall means that they are not feasible for a visit.

If the weather improves there are a couple I should like to explore.

I used to go caving a lot but these days I have neither the time or the company to go too often. Solo caving is a definite no-no as it is very dangerous. I think I am also a little old to embark on too much.

The river levels have come up and everything seems lush and moist. The dogs come in soaking wet and then spend time grooming themselves before lying around snoring in the sitting room.

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Everywhere flowers and plants are thriving and life is very colourful. After a lot of rain my friend and I went for a drive in Upper Wharfedale and over into Bishopdale. On the tops we could see water spouting from every stream bed and the waterfalls were quite spectacular.

They have after all carved out the countryside and made the dales what it is, a haven of nature and a geological paradise.

The tops were veiled in thick cloud and the skies were threatening more rain. But despite the black clouds the views down the dales were breathtaking. Looking down towards Hubberholme the pale green of freshly cut pastures contrasted with the darker greens of wooded areas and the ever present dry stone walls.

Sheep and cattle were grazing tranquilly in the fields except for the few lambs that always seem to find the road verges more tempting. The sound of waterfalls cascading behind us as we took in the fabulous scene made it seem like one of those idyllic moments in life when everything is right with the world.

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Jolted back into the reality of the present day, we moved on to do the pub quiz. The archaeological team that comes every year from all over the world won this week. They are an interesting bunch and generously nominated my animal charity for us to support next week. Once home, Tess escaped and I spent the next 20 minutes as it got dark and started to rain trying to persuade her back in. Back to normality!

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