Our beautiful Bonniedog died at the end of July. She'd been a bit ill for a month or two, but in the end it was all very sudden and a huge shock
This is so difficult to write. I've been coming back to it for a month now, going through all the photos we took of her and maybe adding a few more words before having to stop and cry some more. No amount of words or pictures will provide a fitting eulogy, but here we go:
Bonnie was rescued in Ireland, and made her way over here via the Dogs... continue reading »
Continuing the occasional series of "Katy and Abi go for walking with the dogs". Plan A was a weekend in Pembrokeshire, camping and walking some bits of coast path. But then we remembered that Pembrokeshire is quite a distance away and the weather forecast looked a bit crap, so time for Plan B. This involved flicking through several local guidebooks and maps and eventually settling on the Malverns.
Starting at Hollybush, we headed for British Camp via Millennium hill, then down to the Malvern Hills Hotel. As it wasn't quite midday we debated if it was too early to stop for... continue reading »
One of the many lovely things about having dogs is having a good excuse to go for nice walks with other dog-owning friends. It had been a while since we walked with Abi, so we put a date in the diary and then spent far too long trying to decide where to go.
We eventually decided on this route, at Hole in the Wall. Unfortunately Jon was suffering from man flu, so I left him at home with Bonnie and just took Tilly. There's nowhere to park in the village (hamlet? handful of houses?) itself, but there is a layby just... continue reading »
If you follow me on instagram, you'll have noticed that we've had a new addition to the household recently. This explains why I seem to have disappeared into some sort of antisocial black hole recently. (sorry friends)
Anyway, meet Tilly!
She's a 2 year old lurcher, who we are fostering from the Forever Hounds Trust. Hopefully she'll be staying with us permanently - she has some issues with separation anxiety which we need to address first, but we do seem to be making good progress thanks to being able to work at home, and her settling in and getting used to our... continue reading »
Last Saturday we attended the "Greyt Walk and Get Together", organised by the Forever Hounds Trust. I didn't realise it was happening until about Thursday, but we didn't have anything else planned and it was nearby - on Robinswood Hill - so off we went.
It may look nice and sunny (because it was, until about 10 minutes after we got home) but the walk was mostly rather muddy. Obviously this doesn't bother me, but Bonnie isn't always keen to get her paws dirty or wet. Not that she really had a choice - and she wasn't the only dog trying... continue reading »
Last week Abi suggested we go for a walk on the Malvern hills. Great idea! We were joined by another friend of theirs, bringing the total to five humans and three dogs.
We met in the car park at British Camp, and headed up to Worcestershire Beacon. As usual there were plenty of other people (and dogs!) around, and it was a bit windy (again, nothing new there). Mmm, lovely fresh air.
From the Beacon we kept going around Sugarloaf hill, then headed back via the Chase Inn for a nice pub lunch. The staff there were more than happy to have... continue reading »
Earlier this month we popped over to Bourton-on-the-Water, to visit Birdland.
I've been before a few years ago, and I think I probably took all the same pictures again - but nevermind!
My favourite birds are the penguins. They have King penguins and Humboldts, and we were there for the 3pm feeding session.
Other than penguins, there are obviously lots of other types of bird. Flamingos, emu, pelicans (including one 'on the loose' that was attempting to terrorise people), chickens, owls, finches, other birds. Lots of birds.
Oh, and parrots:
One thing that wasn't there when I last visited is "Jurassic Journey" trail - a... continue reading »
Today was lovely and sunny. We went for a little wander around Pittville Park in Cheltenham.
Most of my previous visits to Pittville have been for parkrun, but there's more to the park than three laps of the lake!
For example, the aviary. Slightly confusingly named as it houses animals as well as birds, but there we go.
My favourites were the chipmunks because they're tiny and cute and pretty. They're also really fast, which makes it difficult to take their photo - especially when you've got your camera shoved up against the bars.
We went to the 'Ale & Steam' weekend on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
Pretty self explanatory - there were trains, and at Toddington and Winchcombe stations there was a lot of beer (and cider). I didn't get any decent photos of the steam train though
Ahh, it's 2009. Apparently this is something new and exciting, just because the number's changed. Right.
Let's sum up the last two weeks in handy bullet point form.
Christmas Eve. An exciting 'night out' in Monmouth to catch up with school friends. There was a queue for spoons. Let's write that again, because it's that ridiculous: a queue to get into wetherspoons. yes. madness.
Christmas Day. Family stuff, and lots of food.
Boxing Day. Got bored and dyed my hair. With henna, so it's an interesting shade of fiery orange. Or ginger, if you prefer.
Saturday. Delivered a fridge to Ironbridge, and prodded Jem's cats/guinea pigs
This... continue reading »
I went walkies yesterday 10 miles of mostly flat up in North Shropshire (Prees/Whixall ish). Nice day out actually - and I'm quite glad it was yesterday and not today, silly weather!
Would anyone be surprised to hear that I went out in shorts? I guess not, hehe. This slightly backfired as there were stinging nettles and things, but I survived with just a few scratches and a couple of bites of some variety. Need to invest in a pair of those trousers that zips off into shorts I think. New hobby yay (or more correctly, rediscovered old hobby)
The baby birds from outside the front door flew away last weekend. I was going to write about them ages ago, but forgot...
They're songthrushes apparently. That picture is from, um, last Friday I think. Don't they look evil? The mother bird was even more evil looking, glaring at us whenever we went out of the door.
I'm not fussed at all with baby birds. Alex thought they were cute, even when they looked like a mushy lump of alien squiggling around in the nest. Oh yes, and being sat on. It was quite weird... continue reading »
10 miles of mostly flat up in North Shropshire (Prees/Whixall ish). Nice day out actually - and I'm quite glad it was yesterday and not today, silly weather!