Weekend walks every day during lock down

Each daily walk is different for my two terriers Boo and Eric. Some times I walk them, at others, my husband does.

If it's a normal working day for me, it can be a shorter walk, especially if it's raining or icy. It can be a very fast romp down the lane and through the village if I'm running late for work, and there's definitely not time for dawdling. Oh no.

Weekend walks are completely different of course. There's time  for them to stop and sniff and track.  For me there's time stop and stare...at the horizon, at the fields, at the sheep sheltering under the trees, to stop and talk to friends, both human and canine.

Now though, during lock down, every walk is like a weekend walk. When I would normally have been driving to work, a 45 minute trip each way,  now I can be taking my time, and my cue from Boo and Eric.

Sometimes they like to turn left out of our gate, sometimes right. I don't mind as there are beautiful views and things to delight any which way we all choose.

On a hot day, it's important to have some shade....the cool air along the track by the church is pleasing...

Further on, the small lane lane invites us upwards

to what my youngest used to call "the top of the world"

Not quite, but it is a wonderful view, which never fails to please me. There's something different to see here every day...it may be a buzzard, different animals in different fields, or new crops in the fields.

Sometimes  my wellies squelch through the mud, but this weekend the land is dry, the sort of  bone dryness which cracks the earth. I turn my face to the sun, inhale the fresh warm air and listen to birdsong.

Sometimes we press on, this time not....but there's still plenty of room for the dogs to scamper off , to run, to chase a stick or two or to investigate the hedgerow.

As we come down from the hill I see my friend's field, with its newly laid hedging,which frames a timeless scene....

In a few minutes I'm back in the village, where there's a traffic jam, or what passes for one, in our village.

Farmer Phil and Jane are walking her sheep to another field....and there's also time to stop for a chat.

Our world may have changed forever this year, but this conservation village that I love, doesn't change all that much. Farmers still walk their animals through the village, there's community, greenery, space to be and plenty of it. and now during lock down, I have so much more time to appreciate it.

As for Eric and Boo, they don't know what's happening in the world, all they know is that I'm working from home, am spending far more time with them, and there's time for weekend walks every day......

Days of weekend walks



 

Weekends are made for walking. Whether it's a casual walk around a village or town, or a romp or yomp with the dogs...I love my weekend walks .

Any time is a good time for a walk....I find exercise, fresh air, being completely in the moment, away from interruptions, is so beneficial. Then there's  something about the Autumn light and colours. A real shift from day to day.

Usually, there's Boo and Eric to accompany me on my walks. Once out of the village, we head for certain fields where I know can safely let them off the lead to run, to explore and sniff.

The fields full of stubble provide the perfect toning backdrop for Eric to pose

Boo however usually is too interested in everything else around her to stand still and look into a lens.

 



 

But most weekends , Winnie,  my son's dog joins us for a walk, and at the moment I 've been walking four dogs. Boo's other son Rudi has come for a three week stay while my daughter has been on holiday. Of course while she was here to drop him off, we went for our favourite walk....

 

 

 

 I love the contrast of colours....the green grass against the light brown stubble, then the richness of the dark brown earth





 

 

Boo, Eric, Winnie and Rudi walk so well on the lead, but even so it's good to have a little help. My friend Debbie has come for a walk with us twice now, and it's been so enjoyable.

 

 







Walking and talking , we've covered so much ground, in both senses. Planning our new joint project, life's  hopes , joys and problems...there's not many things that a walk and a talk can solve.

On every walk, nearing the village brings the sound of Phil the farmer on one of his machines, and  a wisp of wood smoke in the air which defines autumn days.....the smell of which brings winter ever closer.

As soon as we get home, no matter how many dogs have come with me for a walk, they all jump onto the wooden trunk, and sit patiently while I get the dog biscuits.  Then they settle in their beds for a rest, while I put the kettle on. By the time I sit down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in my hand, they're all asleep.



A day at an empty beach, apart from a body

Any visit to see my daughter in Southsea, no matter how short, always involves a walk at Eastney Beach. Right at the end of the beach, just before the naturists take over the next section of beach. No further though....my daughter is not a naturist.

At first glance you may think there's nothing much there, just shingle down to the beach, and perhaps a few scrubby plants. Your eyes are drawn to the Isle of Wight in front of you and Hayling Island to your left.

Oh, and some beach huts.

But come rain, come shine, it's a great place for walking the dogs, to throw a few stones for the dogs to chase into the water. Rudi, my daughter's dog, and son of my dog Boo, loves this game and gets a good work out with both running and swimming for as long as you will let him.




The last few times we've been here, it's been in the depths of winter, or early spring, so it was lovely on Friday to see what's growing on this vegetated shingle beach.

Sea kale,so bluey green and so rare.

Valerian...slashes of red against the brown and sand coloured shingle....which highlighted the colour of Rudi's collar.

This part of the beach is designated as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation , containing rarities such as the sea kale, sea holly and sea bindweed.

Holidaymakers  sunbathing on the shingle are rarities too, but this time, we did see a body stretched out by the shoreline. You couldn't miss it, dressed in a yellow high viz jacket, and as we walked closer, shorts and trainers. We knew this person wasn't sunbathing, as it was overcast with a slight drizzle. As we walked closer, there was still no movement. We were hoping that this body would sit up . She didn't, we observed for a moment,  keeping a respectful distance, then all of a sudden, she waved us away without speaking.

Was she an exhausted runner who, completely knackered, had simply flopped down on the rather uncomfortable shingle, or was she communing with nature and the elements?

 We never found out.

We had a ferry to catch to the Isle of Wight, for a rather important wedding....

weekend days

It's first thing on a Monday morning. A dark, very wet and dreary morning with torrential downpours, winds and thunder predicted. Oh the joy.....

And after the weekend I've had, I really feel I could do with another day off. A mooch around the house kind of day, perhaps do some baking, read a few magazines ....but that isn't going to happen.

When I say the kind of weekend I've had, that's not saying it's been a bad weekend, it's been a great weekend, but just busy.

 Saturday mornings always mean a long walk with Eric and Boo.....we waited until the rain stopped but still the dark clouds rolled in....

Eric wanted to play King of the Castle on top of the trailer....

And as we walked home, there was a magical light, a strange glow as the sun tried to peep through the dark clouds...

We'd all got very muddy, but after a quick wash and brush up for us all, I left the dogs to snooze and whizzed over to the other side of the county to meet up with my friend  and work colleague Dave Andrews who was opening a local village show and presenting the prizes. Meanwhile I was recording enough material for  an hour long gardening programme. Dave is the usual presenter of that programme but is currently recovering from a hip replacement operation...hence the crutches.

It was a lovely afternoon in a beautiful village seeing the whole community getting together..
and admiring all the things they had grown, picked and made...

But then it was time to whizz home, spend an hour with the dogs, get changed and off out for another fifty mile round trip for a party...a great party thrown by Kay, Katherine and Annie  - three fabulous women to celebrate their joint big birthdays.

And what a cake they had....

Getting home at 1am, I was shattered but couldn't get to sleep. So I think it was safe to say when I woke up at 6.50am, I wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. But there was no time for a lie in..because my friend Laura and I were off to the local car boot sale.

It was a successful mission. We both got some absolute bargains...a car full. But more about that another time.

Yesterday afternoon , the dogs and I went off the allotment to pick beans , raspberries and apples, followed by cooking a Sunday roast and poaching a kilo of plums I'd picked on Fridays.But there was disturbing news from there...more later on that subject when I find out more.

So yes, I fell asleep on the sofa last night!

What's in store this week I wonder? I'd better go to work and find out........

Wordless Wednesday : The last walk on the last day of the year

 

 

 

Days of autumn skies

Boo is six months old and she's still learning something  new every day. So am I...by looking at my world through her eyes. Also, after nearly five years being without a dog, she's making me get out, come rain come shine.....and I realise how much I've been missing.

One of my favourite walks around the village starts by turning left down the lane, right at the back of our mediaeval church, and then up a track to a huge field....after harvest, there's stubble in the field. Nothing unusual, but Boo had never seen stubble before...

 She snuck into the stubble very carefully , looking up at me as if to say "What on earth is this?" But within seconds she was romping through it without a care in the world.

So was I...because I could see this.....the sun coming out from behind the early evening skies...

This is one of the biggest fields near us..and because we live in hunting country, there's wide spaces of green beside the hedges for horses....

Boo loved it  - so much so, I took her back there the following day. We had company...my eldest son who is getting over his latest knee operation

What an invigorating walk, the breeze in our hair...a fresh but quite chilly day







We took it slowly around the field, my son still has to be very careful, but slowing down meant more time to just stand and stare at the beautiful landscape and skies....





and watch how the rolling clouds transform the panorama in a matter of minutes.....

It was time to head back....Boo had walked at least twice as far as us...darting ahead, then coming back to us, hither and thither...so much energy...



Boo collapsed in a tired but happy heap as soon as we arrived home, I sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee  and realised how much I adore looking at wide skies around me. Their beauty, their drama , simply fill me with wonder and happiness..

Today's track is "Clouds" by Newton Faulkner....I know I've chosen another track by him before...on the blog...but he's such a clever songwriter.....and I love this song......