Back in the burn

Today has been mostly about playing in the burn. It's been hot today and when it's hot Ann always tries to take me on walks where there is somewhere that I can cool down. We went through the Hermitage this morning where there is a burn and lots of trees so it was nice and cool for me. It was pretty busy in the Hermitage but I didn't do any of my silly 'puppy jumping up' so Ann was very pleased with me.

We met the puppy lab who lives in the block of flats opposite us. Actually, he's not a puppy any more; he's a big grown up boy now so I was allowed to have a play with him. It was slightly worrying though because his owners told us that when they'd taken him out at about 10pm, a few days ago, a suspicious looking man seemed to be following them. That's around the time I go for my bedtime wee. Mmmmmmm................... at least it's still light at 10pm and I NEVER get let off my lead at that time of night anyway. I literally just go out the main front door, have a wee and then come straight back in. It's still worrying though. It seems like every time Ann logs onto FB there's a report of another dog that has been stolen or lost.

…..................And in other news.......................... We're heading off to our St Ives home tomorrow so while I've been having snooze time, Ann has been cleaning and packing. It's slightly alarming that about half the town now seems to be shut due to COVID, but hey ho, I'm allowed on all the beaches before 10am and after 6pm so she'll still be able to meet all her friends even if they can't go out for meals/drinks. To be honest there isn't actually a huge number of people who have COVID. Most of the restaurants/pubs/shops are closed because the 'track & trace' app has told them to self-isolate.

Mini RANT coming up here............................. Does anyone else think that the 'track & trace' system is just 'paying lip service to the rules'? Ann was told to self isolate on 25th Nov 2020 when she knew she hadn't been in contact with anyone for 15 mins or more. (See here). After she'd 'self-isolated' for no reason whatsoever, she then deleted the 'Scottish Track & Protect App' because it obviously wasn't working properly. She still has the English app on her phone for when we're in Cornwall.

However, Ann has been out and about quite a lot since 17th May, and most places just think if they stick a QR thingy on their door, then they're following the rules. Hardly anywhere has checked that Ann has 'checked in' using this. And what do you do if you don't have a smart phone??? The exceptions to this have been Chaophraya (who actually insisted on getting all the names & phone nos of the party when booking and then re-checked once the humans arrived), the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick where we went for lunch on Tuesday and the Merlin Pub in Morningside (who manually wrote down the humans name & phone numbers on arrival). No where else has bothered and Ann has been to at least 8 other places in the last month. It's no wonder the COVID cases are on the rise again.

Having said that, all the restaurants/pubs that Ann has been into feel quite safe. She thinks if she catches COVID it will be from the buses. It's the only place that she goes where she is in contact with other people, less than a metre away, for more than 15 mins. …..............So why don't you have to scan yourself onto a bus every time you get onto one???

Scanning QR codes, self testing twice a week, vaccinations, self-isolating, etc, etc, etc, Life seems so much harder than it was a year ago??!!

When will this ever end????????????????????????????

OK RANT over!!!

PS - Does anyone else hate the fact that there has only been football on TV for the last week??????????????????