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Do you know what... I've got into modelling recently.

Oh, I know I always look good but this professional modelling is different.  It's almost like hard work.  I mean, someone kept throwing me a sausage and then I'd have to hold a pose for ages... at least a second.

Why not look me up on Facebook, you can find me here:

http://www.facebook.com/barneytaxassist

I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave a message, ask a questions (I promise to answer in my doggy style) or simply Like the page.

Anyway, that's not really what I want to write about today.  Nope, I have a different feline in me fur.

I live in Morningside and I have to say the walk through Morningside and Bruntsfield is one of me favourites. There are loads of local shops, smells, places to eat, The Meadows, Henriks Bar where they even let me humans in for a drink and lunch.

But I'm worried for the area and the reason I'm worried is... Sainsbury's.

It all started a few years ago with Tesco's on Holy Corner.  No-one really noticed and actually one express store like that was probably a good thing.  There's always the missing dental sticks and biscuits that need to be bought.

But then Peckhams, next door to Montpeliers, closed.  There was a pause of a couple of weeks before the signs went up and then it became public... it was Sainsbury's going in there.  I wasn't happy but, okay, I suppose one more of these mini supermarkets I could live with.

But now, they've taken the scaffolding down from the rebuilt building opposite the Canny Mann's and... OMG it's another Sainsbury's.  We don't need another one!

How long before the local shops begin to feel the squeeze?

Now, I know they have to compete in the modern world and, of course they should.  But they can't compete with laziness, even if they win hands down on service, quality and sometimes price.  The problem is it's just so easy to whip into Sainsbury's.  You know where everything is and you don't have to interact with anyone.

But please, peeps, make just a little bit of extra effort and keep using the local shops to make sure Morningside and Bruntsfield stay vibrant... we don't need another one of these express 'local' stores.

Holiday - Day 5

The last day of our holiday dawned bright and clear...

No it didn't.  It was dull and overcast.  But at least it wasn't raining.

After our altercation with the Lindisfarne Inn and our extra night at the Black Bull in Wooler we had a bit of a drive to our starting point... which was the Lindisfarne Inn.  The last part of the journey was the 6 or so miles from Beal across the causeway to the Holy Island.

Compared to our previous days, the walking was easy; a well maintained footpath all the way to the end of the causeway where the footpath promptly ran out.

The causeway opened to traffic at 9.45 in the morning after the tide subsided and we arrived at 10 - on foot - so there were still very large pools of sea water across the road... and lots of cars with drivers who seemed to want to drive through the pools at top speed and send a fountain of water over the edge of the causeway, or anyone who happened to be walking along it.  Like us.

So began a cat and mouse game of dodgem.  A quick look both ways and then a sprint to the other side of the pool before the closest vehicle could try and soak us.

The problem was I quite fancied a swim in the sea on either side of the causeway and I kept getting distracted just at the wrong moment.  I'd slam on the ol' anchors, pull Renee to a complete stop and try to jump off into the sea... all the while with a car load of Italian tourists bearing down on us, hell bent on revenge for... well, something, 'cos we're all friends now!

Lindisfarne Island was bigger than I thought it might be and it took us another half an hour to come to the little village itself... and very nice it is, too.  Especially the hotel where we had a jolly nice lunch in the garden. What actually made it nice was the fact that there was a umbrella over the table and it was now sluicing down with rain.

There was nothing for it... the rain wasn't going to stop, so it was a long 6 mile trudge back to the car.  And there was a choice.  We could either walk the long way round via the causeway, or cross the Pilgrim's Way: across the mud guided by nothing except a few poles sticking up out of the mud.  Richard was all for it, but Renee decided to play safe after she saw one fella up to his eyeballs in goo.

It was the long way round for us.  Well, it was alright for me humans: they were wearing waterproofs.  All I had was a fur coat... and one that holds the water, I might tell you.

So, there we have it.  5 days of walking, adventure, a very sore bum, a broken ankle, a bitch and a soaking fur coat.  Here's a link, in case you're interested: http://www.stcuthbertsway.net

Personally I wouldn't change a thing (apart from me bum) and I can't wait until next year.  I reckon St Oswald's Way... 100 miles in 7 days.

You can find out more about Renee, Richard and me at www.taxassist.co.uk/reneemackay

Holiday - Day 4

Oh the relief when I woke up and me bum wasn't going off like the landing light on an aeroplane. So, we were good to go... Wooler to Beal and a slightly shorter day's walking today; only about 13 miles. And the sun was shining, the birds were singing (and my bum wasn't) it was a lovely day for walking. It was easy going to start with and all three of us seemed to be enjoying it... Until we had to cross a field. Alright, it wasn't the field that was the problem per se. It was the whacking great bull that some jolly old farmer had put in the field and what he was intending to do with the cows. No, that's wrong. It wasn't what he was intending to do with the cows it was actually what he was doing to the cows. We stood at the gate in an agony of indecision mostly because the bull had finished and was looking around for another... well, you know what he was looking round for, and we didn't want it to be one of us. Eventually we spied an escape route, squeezed under a fence, walked along a river bank and re-entered the field away from the amorous bull but right int he middle of a herd of cows and their calves. I never knew humans could run as fast as that... but they can. By lunchtime we'd made it to St Cuthbert's cave... so called because 1,200 years before monks from Lindisfarne, fearing an invasion by the Vikings had high tailed with with the old boy's body and rested under and outcropping of rock. It was sort of sobering, even for a woofer like me, to think that those monks has stood in that very spot all those years ago. So, onto the last leg to the Lindisfarne Inn at Beal. Richard said he was ready for a pint and was therefore very disappointed when we got into an argument with the manager. Lindisfarne Inn markets itself as dog friendly but I wasn't allowed in the bar, conservatory or even in the garden. I had to be locked in me room and they didn't even do room service. Fair play to me humans; they were having none of this and immediately cancelled the room. Fortunately our car was parked nearby so we went back to the Black Bull (the picture on the pub sign looked suspiciously like the randy devil we'd almost been chased by earlier in the day) where we spent that evening... Very convivial it was, too. Next week,q the final stage of the journey... Beal to Lindisfarne and don't forget to sent me your holiday stories: I'll post them on me blog for you. Send them to reneemackay@taxassist.co.uk