Welcome to "Man with two dogs" - the family website for dog owners and dog walkers.

RAKING OVER old bones in search of ancestors was one of the reasons the Doyenne and I have just spent a week's holiday in Orkney. My paternal grandmother was born in Kirkwall, and brought up, we think, on a farm several miles outside the town. Because of duplication of place names we need to do more research.

MANY COASTAL birds, confined traditionally to the shores and cliff tops, are now found well inland; sometimes to nest, but always because there is a ready supply of food.

AFTER A lifetime's experience of dogs I'm no longer surprised by the revolting things that they discover in hedge bottoms and proudly retrieve to share with me, or eat, or sometimes both. So when Macbeth appeared chewing steadily, I knew it was just some more of the same.

THE DOYENNE and I had a hectic long weekend down at Hexham, on grandparent duty. Oldest grandson James came with us to visit his cousins Cecily and Fergus, and sharing all the interesting sights and stories with him, especially around the Borders, added to the fun of the journey.