Today we're playing a game of 'Has Old Lady Dog missed me or is she waiting for me to look away from my hard boiled egg for an instant?' Mostly, this involves fussing a dog while having a staring contest.

I have had very, very little sleep 😂 Sneaky preview, quick processing in Snapseed only

Just in case this is useful for anybody in light of the sky being ridiculous again

Oh she is *dancing* this afternoon. Proper photos later, I need to warm up for a few days first!

Current snow level: ⚪Sprinkling ⚪Stomping weather ⚪Snow plows out ⚪Sleds and skis out 🟢Huskies losing their damn minds ⚪Huskies lost to snow drifts ⚪ No thank you

Spot of fun abstract stuff (and/or webcam¹ at the fuel depot in the current warm² and wet snowstorm³) ¹ lns-spitsbergen.kystnor.no ² -4°C ³ so much fucking snow

Tiny bit of snow

Today, Boy Dog and I are learning to play fetch. Current understanding is missing a key component: 1. Chase ball 2. Pick ball up 3. Carry ball further away and place it down carefully 4. Run back to me enthusiastically (He's learning and I'm very proud!)

I am home home. You can tell because it's still dark at lunchtime and there's a snowstorm forecast for tonight. Magnificent, wouldn't change it for the world.

Incognitoad

For the record, some of you go through life far too seriously 😂

...tell me about your understanding of tea 🤨

This evening's update from my husband and the dogs on their walk. Might have to fly back early just to fight them all (Best viewed full size, it's a big one tonight)

Please join me in bullying @stylishpanda.bsky.social , who is only on temporary morning dog walk duties while I'm away doing paperwork and still managed to send me these photos from their 6am walk like an actual shitbag. I'm so cross 😂

Dog update video from my husband. My poor hairy baby is seriously mad with something in his dream 😂

I am *so warm* 😂 just sweating my way round the supermarket. That 28°C jump is a bastard.

Going to keep a list of all the things that catch me off guard about the UK, things I probably should have remembered but they are so far removed from anywhere else I've lived recently, here

Biggest reverse culture shock since being back is these sorry excuses for luggage racks on trains. My suitcase fits in no position other than this, which then prevents anybody else from using the shelf. And the wheels still overhang.

Airport chill If you've got an exam on Thursday for your large animal veterinary medicine unit, your professor hasn't written it yet. This is because he saw three arctic foxes in one day and is still emotionally recovering 😂

Eesh 😂 bit aggressive for October

2:30am dog drama. I went to the bathroom, Boy Dog came to stand guard at the bathroom door. Got back to discover Old Lady Dog on his bed, pretending to sleep. She would not move, did a full toddler star fish, and was blocking his access to the other bed (for some reason, he won't climb over her)

Top marks, Norway. 10/10 No notes. Fucking magnificent.

Extract from Boy Dog's Diary, Oct 23rd: "The dog from the internet shouted at me today so, logically, I took it extremely personally and tried to start a fight from 20 metres away despite being twice his size and perfectly capable of walking in the opposite direction." 🤦

Sunrise has passed the 11am mark, for anybody curious. Up at 11:02, down at 14:19. Four more to go.

Best time of year is back! It's Dark Season Doughnut Time 🥳

It's 8:05am and there's still 2 hours and 40 minutes until sunrise. Then 3 hours 48 minutes until sunset. 5 sunrises left including this one.

I feel like it's cheating to put actual corpses up for Halloween, even if you arrange them creatively. (🎵 Totally normal town. It's a totally ✨ normal ✨ town 🎶)

Right, one of our local dog yards has just won the prize for most unsettling Halloween decoration in every competition that there is, was or will be. Yes, those are real carcasses after the puppies finished chewing on them.

Winter has arrived all at once

Update on the snow situation 😂

Old Lady Dog is old for good reason.

Picked up my new winter jacket today and it's so insulated and weather sealed it has 'maximum wear time above this temperature' safety warnings 😆

Just tried to peel a banana and the skin sort of fell off in my hand and honestly it has ruined my entire day

Old Lady Dog gave herself the heebie jeebies on our walk this morning. I don't know what she spotted in the darkness but it really upset her (I suspect fox, sometimes she doesn't like foxes, but I was very willing to follow her lead and run home with her just in case 😂)

The bed is extremely cosy this morning. It's -8°C and very dark outside, one of the dogs is still asleep and I'm trying to convince myself that maybe they don't need walking just yet (they do, I need to move 😭)

Ohhhh there is *so much snow* This is only my third October up here but there is vastly more snow than in previous Octobers falling from the sky right now

Old Lady Dog, who is asleep on my bedroom floor, has just done the most horrific fart without even stirring. I am not thrilled.

The worst of the snow stayed away, so actually the walk home after dinner was really nice (if chilly)

The angry peanuts are back in the supermarket 🤩

Going for dinner at a friend's tonight. Said friend lives at the very opposite end of town, 2.5km away. 2.5km doesn't sound very far at all, but I have seen the weather forecast for the walk back...

For anybody worried, Boy Dog did not catch a reindeer. He didn't even really hunt a reindeer. What he did was lunge once and then march towards it, fully upright - ears up, tail up - and smacking his chops as he went, until I got enough traction on the icy floor to stop him.

Boy Dog and I had a Discussion on our walk this afternoon. We've worked really hard on establishing that he is only allowed to chew reindeer antlers. Today, he attempted to test a loophole. So now we work on only allowed to chew antlers that are not still walking around on a reindeer.

Been playing down at the beach

Absurd. (Unedited photo straight from the webcam at lns-spitsbergen.kystnor.no )

Got home to find Boy Dog sleeping in the hall, clearly sulking. Turns out that's because Old Lady Dog is in her Princess and the Pea era. Fucking menace 😂

Good morning 😁😁😁

"When you can't find your awful, hairy son, he's on the balcony, pretending his ears don't work in the snow." Husky problems 😆

Update on today's progress towards winter: 5-7cm of snow on the ground Below freezing but only just 6h 28m of daylight Huskies losing their damn minds

Feels a bit more like we're committing to winter this morning. It's super variable at the moment, though. Picture 1 is just now and picture 2 is 48 hours ago.

The what, sorry?