Ball on a rope

This morning we went on a big long walk. Nine and a half miles to be precise. We walked along the Union Canal to Slateford and then from Slateford all the way along the Waters of Leith to Leith, which took us three hours.


When we got to Saughton Park, just look what I found.................... a 'ball on a rope'. Yay! I carried my newly found 'ball on a rope' for the rest of the walk which was about 6 miles. And the good thing about me carrying the 'ball on a rope' was........................ I didn't do any 'silly puppy jumping up' at anybody. It was really busy on our walk, especially in the Dean Village/Stockbridge area of our walk but I was such a good little collie pup today.

I just trotted along nicely next to Ann in good dog mode. Loads of people stopped to chat to me and pat me but I was very calm and kept all my paws on the ground so Ann was very pleased with me.

When we got to Leith, Ann checked her bus app and said, 'Trixie, there's a bus coming in 6 mins so we can jump on that and go home.' But then, do you know what happened?.................... I sat down at the bus stop and put my 'ball on the rope', on the ground in front of me, and Ann tried to take it off me. She'd spotted a bin and said, 'Trixie, that 'ball on a rope' is one of the mankiest balls you've ever found and half of the rope is missing. Let's just chuck it away.' Seriously?! Did she really think I'd carried my 'ball on a rope' for more than 6 miles just to chuck it away? I had to pick it up and clench my jaws around it while we waited for the bus.

So we jumped on the bus and I settled down for a snooze. I was happy to sleep, safe in the knowledge that my 'ball on a rope' was on the floor beside me. I knew there was nothing that Ann could do with it on the bus and I also knew that she didn't really want to touch it as it was soooooo manky.


Our bus journey home took 45 mins. OMG, the journey up Leith Walk was horrendous. We've not been to Leith for ages and although Ann has seen various posts on social media/Google news feed etc about the impact that the tram works were having on local businesses, she hadn't really appreciated how bad it is. The whole place is an absolute mess. It will be a miracle if any of the local businesses survive. And the thing is; Leith Walk went through all of this disruption more than 10 years ago when the tram lines were first being built. And then it was decided that there wasn't enough money to build the tramlines down to Leith so all the work and disruption to businesses and inconvenience etc etc just got covered up again. It's mad! Yes the trams are a super quick way to get from the centre of the city to the airport, but so is the No. 100 bus!!! And to be honest, Edinburgh Council doesn't often get it right, but Edinburgh must have one of the best public transport systems in the UK. Edinburgh buses are amazing. Talk to any local and not many of them will have voted for the trams!

Anyway after 45 mins we got home and we both had to have a snooze because we were so tired. And then Ann said, 'Trixie, where's your ball on a rope?' Yes, you've guessed it.................. I left it on the No. 16 bus. Booohooo.

PS – Ann won't be phoning lost property to see if it's been handed in. Lol!