We're Back, We're Brown, and my dog almost drowned...

Thursday was our last day on the glorious Island of Aegina Greece. As Andy and I took one last swim in the turquoise sea, I figured it would be the last time I would be taking a dip for quite some time - at least until our holiday with the children in August.

However we touched down late Thursday night to torrential rain, a typically up-yours welcome home from this wonderful place we call England. We were told on Friday morning by Andy's parents that both Alex and Molly had been on best behaviour, however Molly had not been outside for a proper walk since Tuesday because along with the heavy rain, came massive amounts of thunder and lightening. This is something our fierce little dog just can't cope with (along with fireworks), so she made the decision to forgo her beloved walk and stayed in the relative safety of her grandma's kitchen.

Today she nearly went mad with excitement when I took her out on the field to meet up with her pals Rico and Abby. I stood around laughing with Emma and Elaine (the dog's mom's) about how silly they were being, before the conversation moved on to more serious issues i.e. my trip, Emma's husband's big win on a game show - Deal or No Deal, etc. The dogs kept going in out of the bushes and it was after a few minutes that I noticed only the Dalmatian Rico on the field. Molly and Abby were nowhere to be found. There could only be one answer - The Beck, the stream that runs down behind the field that these two bad girls can never resist - must be a retriever thing.

Now we normally don't like the dogs going in the stream as its not the cleanest, however when it rains its not too bad. We did get a bit concerned though because with all the rain the river was running very deep and very fast. After a few minutes of calling, the dogs still didn't return. This was not too worrying, as they don't often come straight back, however when an additional minute or two went by and they still didn't respond, panic started setting in. We split up to scout out various parts of the stream, without much result. Double panic time. Elaine finally discovered Abby just out of sight behind some bushes, out in the middle of the water, struggling hard against the current. At least she was ok, but it was obvious she wasn't going anywhere and was tiring fast. My heart was in triple overload by then, for as I was fearing for Abby, I still couldn't find my own dog. There was only one thing to do and it looked like it was going to be me doing it. I took off my shoes, handed my sweater to Emma and plunged into the dirty, fast flowing Beck. I couldn't think about where I was headed, I could only think of the girls. Thankfully as I neared Abby, I finally caught sight of Molly, further down and like Abby, struggling hard. The poor things. Fighting the current, hearing their mamma's calling, and not being able to help themselves. I reached Abby and struggled to get her back upstream where Elaine could grab her and then went back for Molly. It was hard work getting us both out, but we finally managed. It was with a big sigh of relief that I pushed Molly to where she could jump out and thankfully reached for Emma's hand. The dogs were fine and went back to acting like nothing ever happened, although I will say Molly was worn out and slept most of tonight. I took my soaking wet-self home to get under the shower where I tried hard not to think about that dirty water, and clean out the cut on my foot. I don't dare think of what could have happened to the silly cows if we didn't find them when we did, and I'll be keeping a close eye out to ensure they don't go anywhere near the water during the next few days.

I do realize that this isn't the post most of you were probably expecting. I do have lots to report and some great photos to post in relation to our brilliant time in Greece, which I will do tomorrow.