Water of Leith walkway

Today we set off on an adventure, after a quick visit to the doctor to see about my sore shoulder, which I always thought was arthritis, but it might not be. A blood test was taken. After I’d hung the washing up we were out on the bus by 10am. A second bus to Roseburn. Archie is SO good on buses now - just lies down, looks around, and waits. We were going to walk part of the Water of Leith, and I’d spotted where it was on my many bus journeys to/from the Zoo.

I called in at a wee cafe/takeaway to say hello to N, my pal’s nephew, who owns it. Unfortunately, though N was dog friendly, Archie wasn’t allowed in.

We walked from Roseburn to Stockbridge - quite far. Well, I walked and Archie romped. Backwards and forwards. We met loads and loads of dogs, all of them friendly. Except one tiny little madam in a pink coat who snapped at him.

When we reached Stockbridge, I needed a sit down, and I knew Hector’s cafe/restaurant was dog friendly, so we headed there, via Just Dogs to check out new harnesses and get a bag of treats (for Archie, not me). The nice barman made such a fuss over Archie, coming over several times to pat him while I had a half pint and an accidental bowl of fries…

One bus ride home, and as we approached the house, I saw that my two burly path chaps were there, putting up a big shelter thing. Archie spotted them too, from afar, and started barking like mad. What a good guard dog! He then zonked out asleep, and their sawing, drilling, laughing and general noise outside the lounge window did not disturb him. He was so tired.

It was a long walk, but a good one, because he got lots of exercise, running around, and it was very scenic, with added dogs. He’s getting very good at stopping and checking on me and not getting too far ahead. In fact, a couple of times when he went too far, I turned and went back the other way. Often when he stopped to check I was still coming, I waved my arms as a signal to come. It worked. We'll do another part of the walkway soon.