Merry Christmas

Wishing  all my family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and Happy New Year 2014

Name this tree!

I know I'm being rather silly but I'm feeling rather melancholic today. Not because of the weather, although that's extremely changeable; it's literally pouring down one minute and feeling quite cool, then the sun comes and it's hot and this has been the pattern so far today!! The real reason I'm feeling low is because Beccy and the family will be out of touch for the next three weeks. Don't get me wrong I'm absolutely delighted that they are having a three week holiday in France with Joules' family. Dillon, Mollie and Ben will have a brilliant time with their little cousins, aunts and uncles and their other grandparents; Ben rang me last night to tell me all about it and say goodbye- he's such a sweetie. I suppose I've got used to daily contact through the blogs and more recently skype and this is what I will, selfishly, miss. However Beccy and Ben are coming to spend a few days with us in July while Dillon and Mollie are away at camp so I have that to look forward to.
Now what have I been doing
Yesterday (Weds) on my walk with Angel I decided to concentrate on trees. Growing up in the country I was far more interested in climbing them than learning their names. Of course we all knew where to get our conkers and had marvelous fights to see who had the champion conker. I think this has now been banned in schools because of H&S issues, yes, there is an element of risk but what's a few bruises compared to learning good eye to hand co-ordination and having fun that cost nothing!! On the other hand were we just lucky and what would have happened if someone had been seriously injured, probably not a lot when I was a child; nowadays someone would be sued!! So I guess it has to be better safe than sorry- what do you think?
The Horse Chestnut which gives us conkers.
We suddenly came across a tree that had been unrooted, I couldn't decide if this was part of the estate management or whether it had been blown over in a storm.
I couldn't get a full photo of it as it was a really huge tree. In fact it was so big it spanned the river and I couldn't get it all in camera view, about half of it is in this picture.
It seemed strange to suddenly see this little conifer on the edge of the wood, alongside its tall friends!
Now this is the tree I cannot name and I'm relying on someone being able to tell me- I wonder if it is a rhododendron!! (The flowers were almost over).
We also stumbled across lots of molehills and Angel was more than a little interested and tried to dig into a couple of them.
We were out for a couple of hours and another hour yesterday evening - needless to say we both slept very well!!
Today (Thurs) I have been having internet connection problems and have only been able to stay on line for the last couple of hours which is why I am late posting this. I wanted to go swimming this morning which meant I was up and out with Angel by 7am. We only did a short walk 1.6 miles and she did not look impressed when I later went off without her. It was also the monthly Market this afternoon and I took my mother, luckily we just about got back between the storms. I was able to get a lovely lot of fresh fruit and veg grown about 30 miles away. I'm particularly looking forward to trying the early raspberries, strawberries and the asparagus and embee had to have a pastie for his lunch tomorrow!

Anyone for walkies!

Thank goodness yesterday was dry and sunny although cold. I retraced my footsteps from the previous day, armed with my camera for a walk through the Blaise Castle Estate. I have posted about these walks before and you will notice from the photos that it looks very different from the last time I took Angel there for a walk. After all the recent rain and now that it's well into Spring, everywhere is green and fresh looking. The trees have burst into leaf, some of the wild flowers are in bloom and birds are singing (sorry I can't provide that).

 

We had a great time exploring lots of the little pathways alonside the river, luckily it wasn't too deep for me to cross although it was nearly to the top of my wellies in a couple of places. We saw only one solitary duck which promptly left the pond to sit on the stone bridge and watch Angel from a safe distance. If you enlarge the photos you will notice a couple of caves have been fashioned in the rocks (the stones forming the roof of the one cave is quite interesting). You will also notice a picture of Angel looking out of my dining room window she likes to watch one of the neighbour's cats who sits on a wall opposite as if taunting her! I also suspect she is on the lookout for her family but she seems happy enough most of the time.

My visitor

This is my visitor, Angel, the dalmation belonging to my niece. My brother, sister-in-law, their two daughters and their families have gone to Portugal and I'm giving Angel her holiday for the next 10 days. You can see she is settling down for her first night and she does like her pillow!
Yesterday it rained all day and I got soaking wet twice taking her out for walks. Not sure it's so pleasant in the rain but I'm sure the excercise is doing me good!.

Doggy sitting

Back in November last year I introduced you to Angel my niece's Dalmation. I am doggy sitting again this weekend while they go to a wedding. Angel is very well behaved and no trouble and she encourages me to get out walking. Yesterday we went to Blaise Castle (which is not actually a castle) a favourite walk of ours and I decided to go up through the woods and have a look at 'the folly'. I actually remembered to take my camers and took a few photos.

Angel decided to investigate the daffodils.

She managed the steps with no trouble.


This is the folly you can't get inside in winter and it's not very pretty but it's built on a high spot and there are some good views (yesterday it was not that clear even though the sun drifted in and out).



This is looking down on Blaise House and across Blaise Hamlet.

It's the start of British Summer Time today and the clocks went forward by one hour so I overslept and am now running late. There is a dalmation waiting to go on a long walk (she's looking longingly out of the dining room window and I haven't even had breakfast yet. Oh and it's raining so not as pleasant as yesterday.

Just One Dalmation

Let me introduce you to Angel, who is a Dalmation, belonging to my niece who lives a couple of miles away from us. Angel is a lovely sweet natured dog who normally goes to stay with my brother whenever there is a need. However, next year they have all planned a holiday together in Portugal, and I said that I would look after Angel while they're away. Although it is many years since our own dog died, I have never seriously considered having another dog as it was so devastating when we had to let her go.

Tamsie was a much loved border collie cross (labrador). If you care for your pets properly they are a big responsibility and I could never leave a dog in kennels so I was very tied and we never had holidays abroad as we could not take Tamsie. I have to add that did not worry us as we always went to Cornwall which we loved as did Tamsie who enjoyed lying in the sea or any water she could find.
Anyway I digress, my niece wanted me to have a trial run so that if I found it difficult she would still have time to book kennels which I know they didn't really want to do.
I was very confident there would be no problems and Angel arrived late afternoon yesterday. She explored a bit both in and outdoors and was very well behaved settling into her bed as soon as my niece and her daughters left. She whimpered a bit but was very exited when we took her out for a walk later in the evening. I had forgotten how strong big dogs are and she nearly pulled my arm out of its socket. We didn't hear from her overnight and I took her for a lovely long walk this morning through Blaise Estate which also has a folly and a museum in the main house. I really enjoyed the walk it's where we go as a family for our tradittional Boxing day walk so I will no doubt mention it again. The trees were still looking quite colourful as they had not all lost their leaves unfortunately can't include photos ( those who read yesterday's post will know why).
I had also forgotten just how friendly all dog owners are, so many people stopped to speak to us and introduce us to their dogs. I was educated, by the owner of a cute puppy, on the meaning of 'Angel' which is of course 'God's messenger' and how it originated from a Greek word; I met two small terriors (who were pretty little things) and their owner told me how they had recently jumped on the back of a goat but luckily no serious damage to either the goat or dogs. I could go on and on but I won't bore you with doggy ramblings. However, at the end of the 2 hour walk I felt quite elated and there was a part of me that wished Angel was staying for a bit longer; just think of the excercise I would get twice a day. She slept most of the afternoon and I have just said goodbye to her, she was so excited when they came to collect her. I am now looking forward to the next visit and I hope she is too!!