Mike Owen's blog: Ruff stuff

We've taken 16 flights and travelled many thousands of miles since we finished work last July. Quite frankly we were both pretty tired and wanted to just chill out at home for a few weeks over Christmas and New Year. So we had the perfect opportunity to find ourselves another border collie. I haven't been so happy for a long time!

Losing Scamp had put me in a very melancholy mood for a few months, despite all the fun we were having on our travels. (That is the sort of thing that us depression sufferers have to put up with from time to time.) It just wasn't right that we hadn't been there when she died and we couldn't just go and get another dog straight away. Now all our flights are finished and we're going to be travelling in the Cali from now on. So we've been spending quality time with Ruff and trying our best to get her used to travelling, which has had it's ups and downs. Typically we have had to stop and clean up the mess inside my poor Renault van twice on our way to the cliff or climbing wall, but she is getting better.

Otherwise, Ruff is settling in well at home and is getting used to going out for walks and meeting different people. She is making us very happy and healing our broken hearts.

Next week Eddie and Mandy Martinez will be arriving on the Cote d'Azur, then we'll be going on to Sicily for about 6 weeks. We can't have Mark Hetherington having all the fun and being the only one to climb all the best routes out there!!