Sea Dog Alfie

This is Alfie - seasoned sailor sea-dog on board Sailing barge Greta. He gets on really well with the three of us when we meet on the quayside, and said a nice "Hello" to Mum and Dad when they came on board yesterday. The kennel is a new feature on deck, and has now been adopted by Alfie after a long time of ignoring it. Steve-the-Skipper says that the No Smoking sign is because it is Alfie's "place of work", as per the new regs

Poor Meggie, meanwhile, has gone lame, with a pink inflamed middle toe on her front left foot - probably a grass-dart type injury. She is let off the walk today and booked in at the vets. With the "old girl" out of the picture, Haggis and I get treated to a good fast long walk in the forest - lovely and quiet - we didn't see another soul

Poor Meggie gets taken to the vets, where she is given a thorough check up ("For an 11 year old dog with Cushings", he says "She is brilliant"). But there is still the thorny problem of the grass dart / puncture wound. She gets muzzled, grabbed at one end by Dad and wrangled by a blonde Finnish vet nurse at the other (Didn't hear Dad complaining about that one!), while da Boss does his work with local anaesthetic and a lancet. Ouch. Poor old Meggie. Now she's on antibiotics and salty foot baths.

Have a good 'un

Deefs