Summer Sun and Friends

Today was a lovely day. The sun was shining and the sky was blue so we set off for a walk.. down the hill into the village.

At the bottom of the hill is the church. There were some good smells just by the gate.

There are some very pretty houses in Hinton Martell.

This thatched cottage is having a new thatch put on – it looks like the thatchers have almost finished.

There’s a fountain in the middle of the village but this morning it wasn’t working.

This cottage is called Old Timbers and it’s for sale.

Now we’re down at Emley Lane. I stopped for a while by this old tractor that’s got a poorly wheel. I don’t think it’s going to be going anywhere very fast until it gets its missing wheel put back.

Emley Lane has fields on either side and at the moment the fields are mostly yellow.

Well, except this one that has big piles of fertiliser stacked up ready to be spread on the fields. Last week when we did this walk we found a Kenco Coffee sign in the hedge – it says fresh coffee served here. We thought it was funny then, so we blipped it,  but it looked even funnier propped up on the big pile of poo. There was definitely no sign of anyone serving any coffee!l

From this spot, you can see where we’ll be walking soon – right on the horizon. The footpath runs along on the other side of the hedge.

Meanwhile, we have to continue walking down Emley Lane..

Until we get to Woodcutts Lane. We have to walk all the way down and then up to the top of the hill where the trees are.

At the top of the hill we turn off down this farm track – it’s lovely and cool in the shade, I stop to have a sniff where something has left it’s scent behind.

Just before we go into the field there’s an absolutely ginormous oak tree. It’s definitely several hugs round and has a rope ladder attached to one of the branches so you can climb up into it.

Here I am back in a field, we’re on the footpath right at the top of the hill that we could see from the bottom of the hill.

The farmer has cut a footpath along the side of the field – it makes it much nicer to walk on and easier to see who’s coming along the footpath. Who’s that? Oh my goodness, it looks like my pals William and Freddie!

It is! We have an enthusiastic hello and a quick catch up on the latest news.

We like to have a run around together. I haven’t seen them for ages because I’ve been going for walks somewhere else because of the bird scarers, but ‘paws crossed’ they’ve stopped now so we can do walks near home again. They turned round and walked back with us as they weren’t doing a circular walk today.

We stopped to say hello to the horses too. I went into the field and got told off for walking behind its back legs. Ooops, mum says they have big metal shoes on and might kick me by accident.

The good thing about there being a lot of horses in the fields is that they always have nice fresh supplies of water – so I can get a drink, or on a day like today I can have a quick paddle to cool off – it was nice and refreshing.

We’re almost at the end of our walk now but we stop for a while just to look down towards the village, it’s all looking very pretty.

Well, here we are, back at the stile just before we get back to the road. We all sit and wait for our mums to go over the stile and let us through the dog gate.

What a great walk, in fact it was so good I think we might do the same one all over again tomorrow!

The Snoozy Pet Photo Contest by Slumber and Sloan

I’m going to enter this… and you can too, but it’s UK only.

Just click on the link below my photo to read all about it on the Slumber and Sloan website… and feast your eyes on the absolutely fantabulous purple bed which is the prize!

The Snoozy Pet Photo Contest by Slumber and Sloan.

I’m F I V E !!!

It’s my birthday today! I opened my morning presents upstairs on mum & dad’s bed – there were some cards, one from my granny, one from my bestest pals that lived next door at our old house and one from my twitter pal JazzyDaCat.

Jazzy gave me a great Orbee ball that I can play with in the dark and a super soft shaggy pink piggy that squeaks!

On my morning walk I saw my friend Tilly the boxer and I also saw Big Bird!!

I don’t know if its supposed to be Big Bird but that’s what we call it – what do you think? If you want a closer look try clicking on the photo and it should get bigger.

After my walk I had a bit of a snooze and so did Pickle the Cat – she’s so small she can stretch out on the window sill in the sunshine.

I just realised that I really should have let ‘IT’ have a blog post to update on the ‘progress’ in our relationship. We’re pretty much best buddies now but we haven’t gone as far as sleeping right up close. I reckon that could be a bit dangerous – she’s likely to stab me with her claws in the night if I start snoring! Anyway, she’s only a cat and this is my blog so I’ll not worry about it.

At lunchtime daddy came home for lunch and brought me another present and a card from my pals Maja and Shelby! Of course Pickle wanted to get stuck in and help me with taking off the crinkly pink paper but I told her to go away.

There were two little parcels – one was a gorgeous matching collar and lead from Salt Dog Studios - it’s made of hemp and is a really pretty lavender which looks perfect against my black fur.

Doesn’t that look great?  I do love new clothes and haven’t had a new collar for absolutely ages. Even Pickle was looking a bit jealous of my new outfit.

The second parcel was even better because it was a Pup Cake! Yes, even though I love new clothes, food always gets a big paws up.

I ate half of it straight away and then a bit later on I managed to snaffle the other half when mum was trying to take a photo of me sniffing it. As if I wasn’t going to try and nom it.

Anyway, I can thoroughly recommend the Pup Cake that was hand made by Alpha & Ruby’s Dog Bakery and only contains healthy stuff good enough for humans. It was nice and solid with some scrummy icing on the top. I did a lot of chewing and then had to clear up lots of crumbs off the floor.

After lunch I went for a walk at Whitesheet – didn’t meet anyone to walk with, but we did bump into the tall leggy dog that looks like me, well, except she’s a lot taller and has great long legs! I went swimming in some stinky water and was wearing my new collar… ooops!!

I thought that was enough excitement for one day but when we got home we had a little rest and then went out in the garden and I helped mum cut the grass. Dad came home and did some grass cutting too – and I did a little bit of digging.

Can you tell I’ve been digging?

I’ve had a lovely day and tonight I think I’m going to take my new pink squeaky piggy to bed with me. Perhaps I’d better ask mum to wash my nose for me first though.

A huge thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes – I think I’m going to like being five.

The Devil Cat Moves In

Woofs fail me. What have they done?

This scrap of a thing has got me scared woofless. She’s called Pickle, is about 4 months old and arrived this afternoon at about half past three. That moment in time will be forever in my memory, well, until about next week maybe.

WARNING! WARNING! Scary photo alert.

Dogs of a nervous disposition close your eyes now.

Isn’t that just the scariest thing you ever did see? Look at those hackles and that huge tail!!  Mum and dad have been trying to get us to make friends but whenever she gets too close to me I panic and hide behind dad.

Here was our first attempt at saying hello.

We’re kind of calling a truce for now… meanwhile she’s been checking out the kitchen. Can you believe that she WALKS ON THE COUNTERS? Well, to be honest, she runs, very fast indeed. Would I be allowed to do that? I don’t think so.

Nosy isn’t she. And you know what? She’s even been checking out the birds outside…. and they’re mine, all mine.

I think she should stick to checking out exciting stuff like the bread bin

And up above the bread bin – I have absolutely no idea what’s up there! Does anyone really care? It’s a weird cat.

She found the milk jug interesting but didn’t like the contents.

And the sink didn’t seem to be very appealing either.

Hmmm all these kitchen gadgets, I’m sure I could come up with a dastardly plan…

Ah… the Kenwood… perhaps next time mum’s making a cake I could accidentally push her into the bowl?

Or perhaps I could knock the iron on her… flat cat anyone?

Or I could tip the chair over…

This was another attempt at saying hello…

Actually, I’d really like to make friends with her so perhaps I’ll give it another go tomorrow. After all, how evil can one tiny little kitten be?

Quick reminder needed?

That evil. Wish me luck and send me garlic cloves and holy water.

Snow, snow, snow…

Well, the weather people got it right – we got snow!! Lots of it and it’s absolutely fantabulous. It was so exciting looking out of the window first thing this morning and seeing lots of pure white pristine snow… just waiting for someone like me to run around and make paw tracks in it and, of course, to make some of it yellow!

Perfect Snow

Doesn’t that make you want to put on your snow togs and go running round in it? Well, that’s what it made me want to do, so after daddy had helped me into my Ruffwear Climate Changer Fleece Jacket that mum got for me last winter from Muddy Paws I was off outside to do some bonkers zoomies. There were a lot of critters hiding under all the snow so I had to do a lot of digging too. And then daddy threw the ball for me, luckily it was purple so I could see it but sometimes it was very hard to find.

Dig, dig, dig… it’s here somewhere

Here’s a little video of me doing some zoomies and sort of playing fetch, there was actually more of the running around than the fetching bit.

We had lots of fun doing our usual patrol around the garden – some people were walking up the lane so I had to sit by the fence and check them out.

I’m watching you

Here I am about to do a mad dash across the bridge.

And then we checked out the wild side on the other side of the stream. There were even more things to sniff and investigate – I think all the bunnies and pheasants and moles and mice were all snugggled up in their hiding places because I didn’t find anything to chase.

Such a lot of places to check

It was just so exciting I could hardly control myself, I just kept running here, there and everywhere!

Yay!!!

We went through the little gate in the fence and walked up the field to see what we could see.

It was snowing quite a lot so we couldn’t see very well but the village looked very pretty down through the trees.

Looking towards the village

And we could also see our house, or at least we could see the garage, the house was hidden behind all the snowy trees.

It was really fun walking up the field.

We’d been out for quite a while and by now my legs were covered in quite a lot of snowballs.

We got back to the little gate in the fence and went back into the garden.

It was far too early to go back indoors though so we walked up the lane to say hello to Mr Mally the horse.

Hello up there!

He didn’t want to walk down the hill to see us so we walked up the road and along the top of the hill to the bench at the viewpoint.

It didn’t look as if anyone had been sitting on it today, I wonder why! We passed some people out walking and some children with plastic things to slide down the hills and then we were back at the footpath that goes down into Hinton Martell.

The fountain was still doing its fountain stuff, spraying water, but the water underneath was all frozen.

The Church looked very pretty too.

This was my first ever walk without a lead! Usually mummy or daddy have got one in their pocket but today they didn’t! A couple of cars did go past us but I’m very good now and I just sit down and wait for them to go by.

Not many cars on the road today but the tractor has been up the hill with the snow plough so it’s not too deep.

Almost home

By now I was really looking forward to a nice big fat stick of tripe, I’d worked up quite an appetite, but first I had to pose on the wall.

I’m such a patient pup, I sat there for ages freezing my paws off.

Ah well, if you’re feeling chilly after seeing all the snow, hop back and take a look at my last post that was a walk back in July when it was lovely and warm and sunny!

Goodbye 2012 and Hello 2013 – Happy New Year!!

Well, just like last year, The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for my blog. Considering the lack of posts I’m amazed at the number of people visiting. So in 2013 there will be more posts than there were in 2012. Anyway, to anyone who would like to read my stats, here they are… my favourite bit is the search terms that random people have used when they find my blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 9 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Join me on my BOAT walk in July!

This Friday we’ll have been in our new house for eight weeks so I figured it was time I took you on some of my new walks with me. I know I’ve taken you on my stream walk but we do go out for proper walks as well, so let’s start with my BOAT walk. I’ve called it my BOAT walk because it’s a walk along a B.O.A.T. which, in case you don’t know, stands for “byway open to all traffic”. It’s also called Emley Lane.

So, if you’re ready, let’s start by walking up the road.

Just a short walk up the road

And before you know it we’re at the footpath sign and now we have to do a big jump up.. be careful of the mud, it’s a bit slippy.

Up we go

And now we’re off the road I can have my lead taken off and then we have to negotiate the first stile with the ‘dog guillotine’, I didn’t like them at first but I trust mum & dad not to drop the door down on me now.

The dog guillotine

Once we’re in the field I go for a run in the long grass to check out the smells.

Can you spot me in the grass?

By the way, that’s not a ghost following me around, it’s a scratch on the camera lens. Dog walking is a hazardous environment for a camera but this one still works just fine, unlike the previous ones, so we just ignore the ghost and the black specks that show up sometimes. Just a bit further on is a nice spot with a very comfy bench.

I could sit here for hours

Over a couple more stiles and then we’re into the last field and another viewpoint. This spot is my favourite because after all the rain we’ve had lately there is a fabulous puddle!

Cooling off

Or if you don’t fancy a dip you can just look at the view.

Nice view

And then we carry on walking along the field boundary until we get to the gate.

Almost at Woodcutts Lane now

We walk around the gate and along the track which runs down to Woodcutts Lane.

That’s Woodcutts Lane

I have to put my lead back on again here because we’re going to walk along the road again.

The cows live in a boggy field

These are rather lovely bullocks because they are all black and I think that black is the best colour in the world.

The view down the hill

It’s a very small wiggly road but we don’t meet many cars here.

Listen out for cars

We have to be careful but we keep our eyes and ears open. I like it when we get to the junction with Emley Lane because I don’t have to be on the lead. Today though, there was something going on…. new gates!

New gateposts and gates!

Yes, I know that’s not very exciting, but not a lot goes on around here so we get excited about little things! Anyway, where was I… walking down Emley Lane aka the BOAT.

It’s just a farm track that goes between Woodcutts Lane and Hinton Martell.

Here we are a bit further down the lane….

You can see the farm buildings at the bottom of the lane so we’re nearly back to the village.

Here we are and now we’re on the last leg of the walk… but first we have to walk down past the village fountain! Yes, we have a fountain in the centre of the village.

Gosh, I’ve just realised that when my friend Bingo comes to visit we’re going to have to try and keep him out of the water! That should be fun. Anyway, now we just have to walk back up the lane and then we’re home again.

I always like this bit, especially in the summer, because it’s nice and shady and cool.

Edit: Yes, it does look quite summery doesn’t it – it was July but it’s now almost Christmas and the typist hadn’t published this post. So, instead of finding pictures of a cold, windy, muddy walk I thought it would be nice to just hop back in time a few months and bring you a bit of summer.