My name is Blob Thing and I am a small pink soft toy. Together with my sister Winefride I have toured across Tyne and Wear over the course of two weeks and together we have attempted to complete the Great North Snowdog Trail. This consisted of us having to find sixty-two Snowdogs and ninety-seven little Snowdogs. That's one hundred and fifty-nine dogs in total.
And that's a lot of dogs.
We almost succeeded too. We managed to see one hundred and fifty-eight of the dogs in their locations. The only one we missed was called Patchwork who wasn't in Tyne and Wear at all. Seeing Patchwork was impossible for us. Never mind. We saw every other Snowdog and little Snowdog and we are very proud of ourselves for this achievement. We've also seen a lot of amazing sights along the way because Tyne and Wear is full of wonderful places.
And we've seen Patchwork too now, at the Snowdog farewell event. That was a very special day for me, being able to see all the dogs again. The streets of Tyne and Wear feel somehow empty without those dogs.
For more information about our amazing quest and the way we were helped by our person, please see my first post on this blog. It can be found at http://blobandthesnowdogs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/blob-thing-and-winefride-welcome-you-to.html I confess that we all got more than a little obsessive about Snowdogs in the first half of November 2016. There are worse things to get obsessive about.
Please remember that the Great North Snowdogs existed not just as an enjoyable addition to the landscape of our wonderful county of Tyne and Wear but as a way to raise funds for St. Oswald's Hospice which is our local hospice and which does amazing work. To find out more about the hospice and see ways in which you can donate, should you wish to, please head over to their website. It can be found at http://www.stoswaldsuk.org/
I will include the above text in all my posts. It explains everything. If you get obsessive about Snowdogs too then don't feel you should read it every time. That would just be taking obsession a step too far.
Today's post contains pictures of the following Snowdog:
Dog Number 26
Photographed on 1st November 2016, the fifth dog we met that day.
This dog is called Arthur.
This dog lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival, outside the Theatre Royal, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
The dog was painted by Jeff Rowland, who named the dog after his late father who was cared for by St. Oswald's Hospice.
It was the first of November and we had no idea that we were going to be going on the big Snowdog hunt. No idea at all. Before the start of November I had my picture taken, with Winefride, with only two Snowdogs. Dog number 18, Tails of the North East, because we were passing it anyway. And dog 22, Hound Dog, who we had passed on 22nd October when out buying a present for someone who had fallen and broken their back. They were stuck in the hospital at the time and I visited them with Winefride and my person nearly every day they were there.
We didn't know that we would be seeing lots of Snowdogs - or that we would have to go back and take a special trip to see Hound Dog again because we had only taken one picture.
The first of November was the first day of our big Snowdog hunt that finished on the fifteenth of November. And even once this day was over, a day that included lots of Snowdogs, we didn't know that we were going to be hunting for the rest or visiting packs of Little Snowdogs or getting more than a little obsessive about the whole thing.
On the second of November we saw one more Snowdog. Accidentally. We hadn't started our major Snowdog hunt then.
On the third of November we saw no Snowdogs at all. We hadn't started our major Snowdog hunt then.
On the fourth of November we saw Snowdogs because my person decided to walk a very strange route to buy a pizza in Tesco and that route happened to pass some Snowdogs. We liked seeing them but we hadn't really picked up the urge to find all the dogs. I think the seed was planted in us that day but it took time to take root and grow.
You can tell it hadn't grown because on the fifth of November we didn't leave the house at all because my person wasn't able to. So we saw no Snowdogs that day.
And then there was the sixth of November. My person was sent out for a walk. And she chose a route that would pass Snowdogs. But that was a particularly sad day for me and for my sister Winefride because she forgot to take us out with her. I've already posted about those dogs and repeated my moan each time. So Winefride and I saw no Snowdogs that day either.
So between all the days before November and four of the first six days of November we saw a total of three Snowdogs. Three. Just Three.
That only left eleven days - including the first and fourth of November on which we could try to find all the dogs. And we managed it and I am very proud of my achievement. And there was an entire weekend in those eleven days too on which we couldn't see any new dogs at all. None at all.
Which means that Winefride and I managed to see fifty-eight new Snowdogs and ninety-seven new little Snowdogs in just nine days.
That's pretty good because my person's head is often not good enough for her to go out lots. She did extremely well. As we're typing this she's having some worse days on which being out is very difficult indeed. It's not her fault. It's just what it is.
And all the time while searching for Snowdogs we were completing photographic challenges too. Every day during the end of October and the first half of November my person had a challenge to complete. It just so happened that the first of November was also the seventh challenge day and the challenger - who also happens to be my creator - challenged my person to take a picture of a white dog. She thought laterally and decided that since there was a white Snowdog she could take a picture of that. That was her success. She got a bigger success the next day when she took a picture of a real white dog just after the three of us had walked down the length of the south pier at the Tyne estuary in South Shields.
That was an amazing day too. We had to find a white horse and she did so much walking and planned things very carefully indeed so we would pass a pub called The White Horse. She had a complete moment of total clarity not long after that. A moment that meant she could change the direction of part of her life and walk away from something which was very good indeed but which wasn't for her. She had a moment of total joy too when on the pier as she was sprayed with lots of sea water coming over the wall and she just felt bliss and freedom and wonder and excitement and perfect wholeness. It was a wonderful day. Maybe I'll write more about it when we come to post about dog number 59, Gizmo.
And then she thought some more. Each of the first six days of challenges had turned into something more than a challenge. They had all turned into a big adventure. She had created the world's least impressive marble run. She had found a great deal of wonderful street art in Sunderland. She had created a hammock for Winefride and I out of a bra and posted a video too - because that was a challenge. She had toured Durham before finding a rainbow ribbon round a tree in Newcastle. She had found a winged unicorn and Winefride flew on it. She had a wonderful time in search of a duck. My person had done so many things and the challenges had been exciting times for her. You can read about all those challenges on her blog which is linked to at the side of the screen if you're not reading this on a telephone.
The white dog challenge became something more. She decided to pretend that she didn't really know where a white dog was - which she did because she looked it up online especially and planned things very, very carefully before going out. She would visit - with Winefride and myself - several dogs in the day all in Newcastle and she would even walk along some streets she had never walked along before in order to find dog number 31, Fear of Emptiness, in the Stephenson Quarter.
It was a great day. Or part of a day. We saw lots of interesting things together and the autumn colours were still beautiful. I especially enjoyed seeing the Metro bridge across the Tyne from above because I happen to like having my picture taken with bridges. My person even extended our walk after we had found the white dog - Roodle - in order to take pictures of three more dogs.
I suppose it would be safe to say that after the first of November there was a certain inevitability that my person and I would suddenly decide to chase down all the dogs. We can both get quite obsessive and can have short-term special interests that burst upon us and a blossom of joy and then depart quite suddenly after which we can't even bear to think about them. At all. It hurts our brains too much. My person can have long-term obsessions or special interests too. I'm not sure whether I can because I'm not yet one year old. I've had lots of adventures for a soft toy who is so young. You can read about some of them on my own blog which can be found in a link on the right hand side of your screen if you're not reading this on a phone.
That's enough typing. My person is glad that she won't have to type so much about every dog and that I'll be getting her to copy and paste everything I just wrote about the first of November when we post about the dogs we saw that day.
Here are our pictures of Arthur.
There are less photos of dogs from this day because we were only on a photo challenge to find a white dog. We didn't know that we were on the Great North Snowdog Trail then.
You can see how excited and happy both Winefride and I were to be on the trail of Snowdogs. We have had an amazing time. And I think our person has enjoyed herself too.
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