The Chopper Chronicles

I know it’s been almost forever since I posted last. What can I really say, except ” You just can’t get good help these days ” Drums handsome Chihuahua toe toes and looks around. In all fairness, things got kinda crazy around here for awhile. SO much has happened lately I almost don’t know where to begin…..so I suppose it’s easier to start where I left off ! Not that I, Chopper The Brave, Grand PooBah of All I Survey and King Of both North and Mid Wales ( yeppers folks…I have extended My Territory since the last time I posted ! ), thought it was such a great day !!! It began as most *Adventure Days* did….Early wake up time, early cooked to order Chopper sized fresh Welsh sausage for breakfast ( and the 3 measly pieces of wheat toast Mum tossed My direction ). The Tetched Twosome were all excited about where they were going today. Dinas Bran….sounds like some breakfast cereal that comes in one of those boxes that do not have free surprises in them, to Me ! In any case…spirits were high. That Bearded Guy did a great job directing Mum to a narrow lane near Worlds End called Panorama Walk. Instead of turning towards Worlds End like before, we turned right this time and followed along the base of an AMAZING limestone cliffs formation. ( this entire valley is a Site of Special Scientific Interest & Landscape of Special Historic Interest ) Without warning, Mum suddenly turned off the road into a small pullout.  She is famous for these sudden unannounced stops which always leave That Bearded Guy sitting in the navy gators seat saying “..poop…poop…poop.. !! ” These usually knock me off of My Throne perch in the back window as well…..raises one handsome Chihuahua eyebrow, taps toe toes and glares at Mum ! I was alright with it this time though….this was as yet, unclaimed territory for me and I was anxious to leave a few markers and do a fair bit of scratching. Turns out that it was a marked section of The Offa’s Dyke Path ! That Bearded Guy stayed behind to take some pictures of the high limestone cliffs beside us ( except the sun had not peeked over their tops yet ). Mum and I walked along the road/trail/path for a little ways. That’s when My day started to go ever so  wrong !!! I was just trying to leave a nice Claim Marker to make it well known the area was now Mine when those darn Klingon’s attacked Me again !!! About this time I am seriously wondering why the heck this was called Offa’s Dyke Trail…because it certainly was NOT coming Offa !!! Making matters worse, That Bearded Guy caught up with Mum and I, and they continued walking up the trail !!! No matter how far i duck-walked, looked miserable, etc etc…onward they went !! Needless to say, I was lagging behind by an entire lead length. I could hear them plotting some dire measures, but could not hear anything beyond..” …not getting in the car with Klingons..” This would pose a major problem. It was cold, we were out in the middle of nowhere, and neither one of them is brave enough to take on the removal without body armour. Ok Ok…so this is entirely MY fault. I tend to go into devil dog mode when anyone tries to get that close to my Handsome Chihuahua butt !! Back at My chariot, things went from bad to worse !! That Bearded Guy pulled out an ultra thick pair of winter gloves ( henceforth known as gauntlets ! ), Mum produced a ziploc baggie of emergency toilet paper, and a bottle of water that i swear she had been keeping under a Glacier ! Let’s just say they BOTH got “Black Marks” for that ordeal ! I was ready to go home now. Cancel the day….the spell of excitement was thoroughly broken ! They even had the NERVE to take a picture of me curled up on My Throne in the back window a few minutes later !! I thought about pee’ing in their shoes for that indignity ! The Panorama Walk track is very skinny narrow, so the going was slow.  Although I was in full sulks and wanted to go home, I really did enjoy the spectacular views ! Not far down this track was our destination for the day. A castle ruins atop a really steep sided mountain, called Castell Dinas Bran. This area even got ME into high spirits as soon as I got out of the chariot !! It was built on the site of a really really old old Iron Age Hill Fort so the place really hummed ! There was only a small footpath type sign indicating the way up, and room for only 2 or three cars to park there.  Only one car was already there, so we anticipated having the place almost to ourselves ! Mum clipped on My Royal Leash ( nice, handy, retractable deal ) then she and That Bearded Guy started digging in the chariot boot. ( that’s the trunk to us Yankee Doodle Chihuahuas…not the smelly old kind people put on their feet ) It was really really windy and pretty cold so The Bearded Guy was putting on his down jacket, and Mum was tying hers around her waist. Well folks, I am not one to wait around for the Dawdling Duo for too long…so i carefully started making My way across the flat railed cattle grid between us and the path. Honestly folks, I really think I could have made it all the way across if That Bearded Guy had not alerted Mum, who instantly freaked out and not only called My name, but also clicked stop on the lead handle !!! Ever try turning around on a 3 inch wide rail ???? It sucked me right down and almost swallowed Me whole !!!! Literally hanging on by My toes, I could feel nettles tickling My tail !!!! It was terrible horrible and very very bad ! No sooner did I gain the top of the next rail…it sucked Me down AGAIN !!!!! Oh Waily Waily Waily, I kept falling through the raily !!! Not once…not twice…but THREE times it tried to eat Me. There i was, hanging on by mere claws, body dangling over an ancient oubliette, full of nettles growing on top of layers of prehistoric hedgehog remains, dinosaurs and certainly more than one Roman sandal, and all my Mum could do was call My name ! ( drums toes…like I wasn’t already TRYING to get away from it’s greedy jaws ! ) She was finally able to assist Me by pulling straight up on my leash. This was fine and dandy enough, although I could have done without that momentary dangle over the gaping maw of that hideous creature called a cattle grid. Whats worse, is there was not a single cow in sight !!! Mum put Me in the car boot for safe keeping, and i instantly tried to burrow in That Bearded Guys newly discarded fleece jacket. I was traumatized, claws and toe toes ached from the strain, my backside and tail, not to mention my hind legs had nearly been nettled again…and all I wanted was to burrow all the way HOME home home !!!!! Sighs heavily here for dramatic effect….Do you know what I got folks ??? If you guessed tenderly carried back to My throne in the chariot’s back window for careful transport back home…you would be wrong. Nope….The Terrible Twosome were still determined to climb the vertical hill to the castle above !!! Mum simply gave me the once over…..and shoved Me into her bozo, and off they marched….around the side of the Chihuahua eating prehistoric oubliette hiding cattle grid !  Slaps paw to handsome Chihuahua forehead…no one told ME there was another way to get past that thing !!! Without Me to pull them both up the steep hillside, it was their turn to climb up stuff with their nails !!!….. But that’s for the next post… Thanks for your patience, folks. I promise a return of regular posts. Everything has kind of settled down a bit around here.

Mum and I headed down a portion of Panorama Walk that is also a section of Offa’s Dyke Path

On Offa’s Dyke Path….not ONE word about My Duck Walk stance !!!

View from The Offull’s Dyke Path

My ‘Post Gauntlet Indignant’ pose. I was NOT amused

Refusing to acknowledge The Terrible Twosome and their levity !

Yours Truly after the prehistoric oubliette hiding Chihuahua eating cattle grid incident

To view the entire set of 18 pictures taken of the Eglwseg Rocks and The Offa’s Dyke Trail and Panorama Walk click -> HERE <-

This is Chopper The Cattle Grid Survivor, ( Gone where NO Chihuahua wants to go ! ) Grand PooBah of all I survey and King of North Wales & Mid Wales signing off for now……

Happy Turkey Day to My American Friends and Family !

I raise my Paw and Wag my tail in a *bark out* to my wonderful friend, Debbie with a new last name as of Oct 11, 2008, in Marana/Tucson, AZ !!!!! HellOoOooo and Thank You Debbie Of All Pet Travel ! HelloOoOo and Thank You’s to Rich and Erika, miss and love You’s ! You too,  Carmen,  All of Vail AZ, …. Lots of kisses and Wags.…Hiya’s to Maxx and Duke ! Also to one of My NEW friends from Washington State, who recently visited…HellOooo Rob ! Thanks for the awesome tin of South American beef with gravy !

Chopper The Brave ” Going Where No Chihuahua Has Gone Before “

Mum ordered a tv and dvd player online Wednesday morning. The Crone takes a couple of naps a day sitting on the Crone throne in the lounge ( living room to us Yankee doodle Chihuahuas ) If we make noise, we get glared at and possibly get turned to stone ! . With a tv and dvd player in our bedroom it gives us a hidey hole to go to where we do not disturb her. It arrived Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after she ordered it….pretty impressive for Amazon no frills delivery  ( ok, so the real kudos go to the third party company it was sold through ) Friday morning the dvd player arrived. Barking at and sniffing  the delivery mans shoes was pretty much the highlight of the entire morning. Walkies were cold and windy and that traitorous twosome had the NERVE to pick up The Coat . The Mind Control lessons I take online during the middle of the night are finally paying off. Mum put that coat down and didn’t touch it again all day. ( My Chihuahuan Levitation Skills are still terribly lacking…the sausages and bacon still remain on their plates ! ) The rest of the morning was pretty much the usual routine until right after lunch. That Bearded Guy suggested we all go for a nice little drive around the local area. Mum and I had NO idea what was so close by ! Within a 32 mile round trip drive we saw the most amazing things !!!!! Taking the crazy skinny lanes through quaint little villages with stone buildings, beautiful green countrysides, and even crazier skinnier lanes ! It took me awhile to settle in and ride around on my cushion in the back window. I am used to riding on Mums lap or shoulders, but that was always with our friend “C” driving. That Bearded Guy navy gator’d us up and over an AMAZING area called the Horseshoe Pass, then down the other side through an area called Worlds End. At first I was expecting to see Captain Jack Sparrow or at the very least, pirates hanging around. Alas, not the same Worlds End. This one was landlocked but ever so beautiful !!! Mum did some checking about Worlds End. It seems to be a hikers paradise, but not one that is easily found. All the information she found said ” Do not ask locals for directions to Worlds End…they will not tell you !!..” My chariot, Clio, really knows how to drive up steep crazy skinny lanes !. That particular route had been in use since the Tudor Period. Next time we will take pictures of it. The only pics taken this time were on the way up to Horseshoe Pass and on top of Horseshoe Pass. It was wild and windy up there on Horseshoe Pass, but I walked around anyway. I was very pleased to claim such a historical area as mine Mine MINE !!  Even more pleased to get back into my warm charriot however ! Drums toe toes…those sheep up there have little respect and have the right of way with traffic ! I prefer my sheep plucked and roasted, not playing dumb and being a traffic hazard !!! After driving through Worlds End we drove up and across some moors !!! Another amazing area ! Not a lot of plants besides bracken and heather and sheep, lots and lots of sheep. So many sheeps my ‘Barker’ got tired ! If we go up there too many more times I shall have to employ a Royal Barker !!! Sunday was another nice driving outing with a very nice 5 curly tail walkies along another very crazy skinny lane overlooking The Vale Of Clwyd.  Mum is really getting the hang of driving the royal charriot. I am getting the hang of steering the rudder from the back window cushion too !! She only made That Bearded Guy poopie his seat once ! ( she vroomed the charriot through a great huge giant puddle that went across the whole road and was deep enough for Moby Dick & Shamu ! I could hear the theme song from Free Willy too !!!!! ( and I am not talking about when That Bearded Guy forgets to zip his pants either !! ) All in all another wonderful 5 Curly Tail week of sight seeing and walkies !!! All right here within a 20 mile radius !!! Amazing. Arizona was extremely beautiful too, but in a totally different way. This Chihuahua feels very fortunate to be so well traveled and have had the opportunity to experience such diverse and beautiful places. Except for Las Vegas. I could have done without the 3 months I lived in Las Vegas !! I will take Saguaro Cactus, Coyotes, Cheeky sheep, Fox and Badgers anytime !!!!! Oh yes, i almost forgot ! Speaking of Badgers. More Badger diggings have been spotted up along the farm track. Mum even noted where a regular Badger trail comes through the field fence onto the track now !!! AND ( this is the really cool part ) our next door neighbor came by the other evening to tell us that a badger has been in his back garden !( backyard , but these Brits get REAL testy if I call it such ! ) This guy mows his perfectly manicured lawns twice a week ! Everything is postcard perfect. He has an aviary of noisy budgies in his back garden and also has feeding stations for the wild birds. Some Badger(s) have come into his yard a few times after the peanuts fallen on the ground from the bird feeder ! Also dug great holes in his lawn digging for worms and stuff to eat. Another neighbor has had the same experience as well. Luckily neither want to hurt the Badger(s) and have put out food for them. Especially our neighbor, who believes if he makes food readily available, the badger will not dig up his grass.  Rolls handsome Chihuahua eyes….nice thought ( try ) though.

Thats it for now. It’s been difficult to blog lately. Lots of crone naps and other interuptions…not to mention a lot more little outings because My chariot is rolling once again !

View of the Llandegla Moors

My faithful chariot, Clio

Along the road to Llandegla were I went for a walkies

View from Horseshoe Pass

Cheeky sheep that poo everywhere on Horseshoe Pass

Another view from Horseshoe Pass

Mum…..umm you trod in sheep poo and your pants leg blew down…again !

Its only a view. Lets get back to the chariot before my ears freeze off and My tail blows away !

Sunday outing pictures below

Come on Mum, the Vale of Clywd is new territory !!

The Vale of Clywd

Vale of Clywd…Very peaceful and serene. Now Mine !

This is Chopper The Explorer, Grand PooBah of all I survey and King of North Wales, signing off for now……

I raise my Paw and Wag my tail in a *bark out* to my wonderful friend, Debbie Hannon, in Marana/Tucson, AZ !!!!! HellOoOooo and Thank You Debbie Of All Pet Travel ! HelloOoOo and Thank You’s to Rich and Erika, miss and love You’s ! You too,  Carmen,  All of Vail AZ, …. Lots of kisses and Wags.…Hiya’s to Maxx and Duke !

Chopper The Brave

” Going Where No Chihuahua Has Gone Before “