Frosty Morning Dog Walk

There was a beautiful sunrise here this morning, really orange and pink. It was lovely to see everywhere white with a harsh frost and so I donned the layers to take Barry for a walk; Jack usually does his morning walks so Barry did in fact have two this morning, not that he's complaining as he loves walks and gets quite a few every day!

I love the crunch of the frost underfoot; there were frosty snowdrops and daffodils in flower as we made our way to the field where we walk Barry in the mornings and Barry enjoyed attempting to chase a Red Kite who sat perched on one of the fence posts! Sadly he flew off before I could get a photo.

We didn't bump into any of Barry's doggy pals this morning, much to Barry's disappointment but he chased after his tennis ball instead and attempted to sniff out rabbit poo - one of his favourite foods!

And a close-up of his face as he actually stood still for five seconds; though his usual alert ears were back as he could hear the distant traffic of the A34 rumbling past!

Have a good day everyone!

Em x

Blue Monday - Something To Cheer You Up

Apparently today is Blue Monday; named so for the fact that we're all feeling the pinch after Christmas, pining for the summer to arrive and fed up with the winter weather. If any of you are feeling the January blues, here's a final photo from our lovely walk at the weekend in Oxfordshire; beautiful sunshine through the trees and a happy little Jack Russell bottom racing off ahead!

Throwback Thursday: Frosty Days

The cold winter weather has finally shown up and I have to say, I love it! This morning at home it was beautifully sunny and crisp outside. It looks so pretty everywhere when there's a frost and it's much better underfoot compared with the boggy mud paths of late.

Apparently the weather is set to get much colder over the weekend so make sure you all look after yourselves. Here's a photo I took back in February 2012; it was taken at RSPB Fen Drayton Lakes back in Cambridgeshire at about 10am, when the temperature was -14! I had a great day strolling around the frozen lakes, it was so pretty.

Almost the weekend!

Em x

26th December: Ten Mile Boxing Day Jaunt

Hello everyone!

I do hope you've all had a lovely Christmas Day and Boxing day and are feeling suitably relaxed and full of lovely Christmas food! Firstly I have to also say how saddened I am for all the people who have had to deal with the flooding and other after-effects of this terrible wet weather we've had. It hasn't affected us down here but I really feel for those who have had their Christmas ruined by flooding.

Yesterday we decided to get the map out and explore some new walking routes around here. So far we've ventured south towards Newbury on our walks to take in villages such as Beedon and Stanmore, but we wanted to see more of the Ridgeway. This time we headed along a different by-way out of our village, East Ilsley and walked to West Ilsley. The by-way brought you in through a lovely small wood and then past many paddocks with Thoroughbred youngsters. I know Mick Channon's racing yard is situated in West Ilsley so these horses could have something to do with him. They were gorgeous anyway and very inquisitive. Barry, ever the wimp, wasn't too keen to meet these tall animals but Jack forced him up to the fence for a sniff anyway and he soon gave their soft noses a lick. I loved being near horses again, I really miss being around them and I'm determined to get back into riding next year.

 

 

We popped through West Ilsley and up onto the Ridgeway where it was very windy. Thankfully the weather was dry during our walk but very muddy which made the going even tougher. Barry loved it though; muddy puddles, various wildlife to try and sniff out and we met lots of other dogs and walkers too. There was some lovely views along the Ridgeway and I really can't wait to explore more next year (in the sunshine too!). We walked down past the gallops in East Ilsley where we usually join the Ridgeway and instead carried on right down into the next village, Compton.

Once into Compton we carried onto some other footpaths and by-ways, through some lovely forests and back towards East Ilsley.

Barry loves a stick!

 

In all, we walked ten miles and our achey legs prove that today! We got home, showered and de-mudded and then all snoozed for the rest of the afternoon before enjoying cold meats and pickles. It certainly felt good to go for a long walk and I enjoyed exploring new routes.

 

 

 

Em x

19th December: Christmas Food Shopping & Muddy Walks

Our mud monster!

Today started by getting to town for 8am to do our food shopping first followed by a wander around the shops to find Jack a pair of trousers for his work Christmas party tonight. We've now got all of our food for Christmas, yes masses, much more than needed but hey that's what Christmas is all about; over-indulgence and enjoying cold meats and leftovers! We found Jack some trousers in Debenhams and I treated myself to a gravy boat in John Lewis ready for some tasty homemade gravy! We got some lovely clementines in Waitrose too, they're always super sweet so I always make a special trip there to buy them. Aldi do some nice ones too actually.

My new stock pot ready to cook my Christmas gammon joint and some tasty clementines too!

Jack spent the rest of the daylight hours working on his shed and I dropped him off to his work Christmas do a short while ago. Now Barry and I are snuggled up watching the Strictly come Dancing final.

Brilliant Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn, love old movies!

Barry and I had a lovely walk earlier up the gallops and towards The Ridgeway. It was very muddy up there and Barry loved running through the puddles! We met a big tractor and a horse too but Barry was too bothered running in mud to notice them much. I cannot believe just how mild it is out there - it's the 19th December and 18 degrees! Crazy!

"You've got to wash this all off when we get home Mum!"

Shake shake, wiggle wiggle, mud mud!

 

Post-walk: Bathed and then wrapped himself up in his blanket for a snooze!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend and not panicking in the run up to Christmas, not long now! :-)

Em x

Today's Weather Photo

Foggy and drizzly here today