Grouse Counting

Here is my explaination for the current lack of stitching progress/photos.  The Bumpy Dog and I have been away grouse counting.  The Bumpy Dog is a working gundog and, together with The Bouncy Dog, we are part of a team that go up on the moors to count grouse.  Here in the UK we shoot mainly the Red Grouse which is a beautiful bird.  This one let me get very close....

Counting and mapping the birds is an important part of managing their numbers and a good bird dog really is the only way to find them in such a vast expanse of mountain.  The dogs work in the classic 'bird dog' way, they quarter over vast areas and literally freeze 'on point' when they get scent of the birds.  This allows the guns (or the notepads when we are counting!) to creep very close to the birds before the dogs is asked to flush them from the heather.  This is The Bumpy Dog doing what she does best....

I get such a buzz from working my girls, it is incredible to watch them do what they are bred for and gallop across the heather with their noses tasting the breeze.  This is The Bumpy Dog and The Bouncy Dog (in the background) at the end of the day.

I promise to stitch a lot this week and to put some better updates up soon.  This will be after my Christmas decorations are up though, I'm too excited to wait much longer.  The next post will almost certainly be my decorations!