“Woof – Every now and then the Boss goes out of the room and then it’s my chance to take over his blog.  He’ll never learn!  So, here’s what I’ve been doing all year.”

“We had the usual nonsense back in January, where the Boss and some of his other daft friends go on this thing called the Spine Race – one thing is sure, there’s always lots of snow for me to play in.”

Spine Race 2016

“As if that wasn’t enough running around in the snow, one of the guys on the Spine called Javed decided he hadn’t had enough, so he ran back to the start – funny old business, I just don’t understand humans.”

Javed does the double Spine Race

“Woof-woof  –  There was still lots of snow around back home in Wales in March – I’m not sure that the Missus likes playing in the snow as much as I do though!”

“Still, I can always rely on her to remember the dog biscuits!”

Late winter in the Carneddau

“In April the Boss took me out on another hill in Wales called Tryfan – say what you like, but these hills all look the same to me”

Heather Terrace on Tryfan

“We had some fun in May though – we went up to Scotland, and I’ll tell you what, those hills make our hills look a bit small!”

“I think the Boss called it Quinag, but I got a decent walk out that day.”

Quinag in the North West Highlands

“On the way back we went to somewhere called Skye – that was fun as well”

A day on the Quiraing

“I still like the hills back home though, and in July we had a great dog walk in the Berwyn Mountains – and the Missus brought dog biscuits again.”

Berwyns day

“August was fun, ‘cos we went to the seaside in Pembrokeshire, lots more walking and the Boss even found dog-friendly pubs as well – I should think so!”

The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

“In September the Boss and me had a day out in the Carneddau Mountains – now they are proper hills I can tell you.”

Back in the Carneddau

“In October we went to somewhere the Boss called ‘The Lakes’ – huh, we didn’t see even one lake, but at least I got a good walk.”

Skiddaw and t’back o’ Skidda

“In November we ended up in Derbyshire – I’ve got to say, they don’t half get a lot of misty weather there.”

Bleaklow

“And to round off, we had proper snow back home – Woof, ready for some more of that!”

Snowdon in the snow

“Well, I’ve had a great year, and it looks like the Boss and the Missus have as well – I just hope that he can remember how to get her back to her real size, after all she carries the buscuits.  Woof Woof!!”

Text and images © Paul Shorrock (With a little help from Border Collie ‘Mist’)