We got a major chunk of the Christmas food shopping done today. I say “we”, although Susan actually did the shopping while I took our two messketeers for a walk round the nearby Irvine beach park.

Swans and ducks gather in the one corner of the pond that is still accessible

The rest of it is frozen over and covered by a thin layer of snow

The big pond in the park was almost completely frozen over, and someone had clearly ignored all “danger” notices and left a rather interesting pattern on the surface. Beanie also loves to flirt with danger, and as I prepared to get the above shot she darted in front of me onto the pond, hence the cluster of little paw prints by the edge. She was of course on lead so extraction was not a problem, but Biggles’s knows his sister’s penchant for peril and thought it was best to be prepared anyway:

“How do I work this thing?” Or maybe “How do I chew this thing?” is closer to the mark!

After completing a thorough sniff of the lower section of the park (and digging up and consuming an inordinate number of frozen poos) we headed up towards the “dragon” that overlooks Irvine beach.

Almost the second we got up there, Danger Beanie went thrill-seeking, and this time Biggles decided to join her.

Visibility was quite poor up there, but we could just make out a solitary ship braving the unusually calm but misty sea.

By now Susan had fought her way through the checkout queues and made  it back to the car park to pick us up. There was a problem however; the shopping had overflowed the limited free space in the rear of our car and taken up residence in Beanie and Biggles’ crates. There was only one solution – I had to have both our doglets on my lap in the passenger seat. It was cramped in there, but very warm and furry. At one point I glanced at the wing mirror and all I could see was noses and ears.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the two B’s; they got a clear view out of the window and gave a thorough woofing to every dog, horse and cow we drove past. The only downside to the cuddlefest was that after eating all those poosicles, both of my little companions were in dire need of a breath mint!