Apologies

Sorry that comments from the last time I posted about My Travel Checklist have been lost. The Social Spark customer had a glitch with its campaign and all posts had to be removed. Then I was given the opportunity to do it again, but of course, the original comments were lost, though fortunately I did have time to respond to them.

I really appreciate all your visits here, especially when you take time to make comments. Please keep them coming and I will reciprocate whenever I can.

Now I still have to do something about those blue screen crashes reported earlier, which are happening several times a day. Looks like I'll have to call out my little IT wizard again.

My Travel Checklist

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of My Travel Checklist for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ever go on holiday, unpack your case and find there's a crucial item you've left behind? It's happened to me more times than I can remember. Usually it's meant having to use some of my precious holiday spending money on something I could easily have brought with me. Or I would have to do without something that would have made my time away easier or more comfortable. I've sometimes thought about writing a checklist and keeping it on my computer, but it would take up time that I don't really have when I'm trying to get everything done before I leave home. So up to now I've always relied on what is in my head or written on scrappy bits of paper.

Now someone's come up with a brilliant solution to this problem. You just have to go to My Travel Checklist and download the widget to your PC, or you can save it on your mobile phone.

 

I put it on my computer and made a generic checklist in a couple of minutes. It first asks a number of questions about you, where you are going, and for what reason. Then comes up with suggestions for your list and you click a box to include the ones you want. You also have an option to add anything that's not already there, but it's pretty comprehensive and I didn't have to do that. The list is divided into useful categories too, and includes areas for planning and leaving your home safe as well as what you'll take with you. Afterwards you can amend it whenever you want, and you can print it when the time comes to use it.

Mine's done. All I need now is somewhere to go. It'll probably not be until March as I hope to take my hubby away then for a break to include his birthday.

Frustrated

My computer doesn't seem to like Christmas. Here I am trying to respond to a specific IZEA request and watch one of their videos on a downloaded .mov file. I'm told I need to download some software to do this, but every time I try to install it, I get a blue screen crash, and I'm no nearer being able to view it. It's really frustrating.

This blue screen thing happens also when I leave the darned computer alone for a while.  I come back and find it has rebooted itself, recovered various files and left me little messages about it.

Help! What can I do?

A Walk in Lyme Regis

The Dorset seaside town of Lyme Regis was made internationally famous as one of the locations for the movie, the French Lieutenant's Woman, starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. Meryl Streep plays the woman of the title, who likes to walk on the cobb at Lyme Regis where she lives at the start of the film.

The cliffs in this area are full of fossils and it was also the home of Mary Anning who is believed to have found the first fossilised ichthyosaurus in the rocks there.  She was one of a number of avid Victorian fossil hunters in the early 1800s.

Lyme was also our destination on Sunday because it is about half way between my sister's home and my own, and we like to meet there each year to exchange Christmas presents.  We usually have a stroll around and then a pub lunch, before returning home in opposite directions. It's interesting to see how the town council has developed the area above the beach into a maze of pathways between well kept and very pretty gardens.

The residences along the shore are very pretty too, as you can see from the picture above. It was taken about four years ago but that part hasn't changed much. This next picture was taken around the same time and shows the cobb, which is the retaining arm of the harbour. It's the green in the foreground that has been transformed since then.

Fun on the Beach

After the chilly picture I posted yesterday, I thought I'd find something to warm us up a bit today. Here my great nephew has fun on the beach with a rather nice derriere getting wet in the background. It was taken last July on Preston beach in Torbay.

Winter's on its Way

We've been having quite mild weather for the time of year. We're in December now and last year we had plenty of snow and ice, at least it was more than usual for us. But we're still likely to get some severe weather over the coming months. And it could be sooner rather than later. This is what our road looked like one morning last year.

I didn't go out much then, and when I did, I got in the car and let my hubby do the driving. This year it's going to be different. I will still have to take Jade out three times a day. So we'll be getting in some rock salt to stop us slipping on our drive and the pavements on the short distance to the park. Last year there were lots of reports of broken limbs due to falling on the ice. We don't want that to happen to any of us.

Rock salt from a mine in Cheshire is what the Highways Agency and most of the local authorities here use, and I know where we can order some of the same stuff. They use the brown rock salt which is a mite cheaper than the white kind, and they order in bulk, whereas we will only need one or two 10 kilo bags.

I'd recommend anyone with the same concerns to stock up on rock salt now, before the bad weather hits, and everyone is screaming for it.

Holes Bay Again

I took Jade along the side of Holes Bay today, so I thought I'd post some more pictures of the area. They were taken in the autumn of the year we moved here when I was doing lots of exploring. Things haven't changed much in the couple of years since. In the first one you should be able to make out the railway bridge on the line that dissects the bay in Poole harbour.  I'm quite blasé about that train trip now, but at first I got so excited whenever I travelled that way across the water.

The second pic shows where the footpath comes up against Cobbs Quay and you have to walk out and around the roadway to the other side of the marina if you want to continue beside the shore. A colony of Canada geese have set up home here so I always stop a bit short with Jade.  I don't want her even to think about chasing them. She does love to stalk and chase smaller birds if they come down to earth, but of course they always fly off before she reaches them.  I'm not sure what the geese would do and I don't think I want to find out.

Today we also saw one egret and a swan, as well as some seagulls. There seems to be one lone swan now at this end of the bay. We think it must have lost its mate during the summer. It must be feeling very lonely, poor thing. A couple of weeks ago I was very intrigued by the antics of the seagulls at low tide. They were all hunting for something under the water.  They would fly up a short distance, then up-end themselves and drop down beak first, ending up with their heads in the water and legs waving in the air, a bit like ducks who can do it without lifting themselves right out of the water first. I saw one doing this first, then looking around I noticed some others in different areas of the shallow water.

If you want to see more pics of Holes Bay, look here or here or here or here or here.  There's always something different to see at Holes Bay.

Spookies Compendium

I've just put this review up on Amazon. I promised David, the author, that I would review in return for some free books.  I don't usually choose to read these kind of books, so I didn't know then how much I would enjoy them.

"This compendium contains a series of e-books – two full length novels and a short story – about the activities of Spookies, a paranormal investigation team. I was hooked from the start by the three unlikely characters on the team: Sceptre, the aristocratic female with a ghostly butler; Pete, an athletic ex-cop and unbeliever, afraid of nothing and noone; and Kevin who is unaware of his psychic powers and fearful of the spirits that interact with him. And they all remain in character throughout.

In each of these stories a paranormal investigation takes place side by side with a criminal one. The Spookies always come out on top, though they always need the help of Sceptre's butler, who died when she was a baby but remains close, albeit on the spirit plane, to take care of her and follow her instructions.

It sounds strange but the author has a knack of making the unbelievable acceptable, even if it just makes you laugh. He keeps you turning the pages to see what will happen next. My only complaint is getting too tired because I can't put my Kindle down when I should be settling to sleep."

The two novels in the Compendium are The Haunting at Melmerby Manor and The Man in Black.  They are also available separately at Smashwords - see my side bar.

Travel Thru History

That was quick. I only sent my photos to Ruth Kozak on Sunday and today they and my Menorca article are up on her site. Please go and have a read, and check out some more great articles about far away places on there. They make me want to get up and go again.

Here's yet another pic of Ciutadella harbour in Menorca.

Remembering Menorca

Ruth Kozak of Travel Thru History has been holding one of my articles about Menorca for almost two and a half years. I'd almost forgotten about it.  Then this morning she emailed that she's going to publish it this month, giving her apologies for keeping it so long, and asking me for photos.

It was a lovely surprise, and it got me thinking again about our visit there in 2008.  It was the last of the three Balearic Islands I'd been to and I have written quite a few pieces about different aspects of them, some of which sold at Constant Content all at the same time, bringing me a nice dollar income that month. Perhaps it's time to write some more.

I took lots of photos on that Menorca visit and have published some of them before.  Here are some more.

 The beach near our hotel

 Boats at Es Grau

View from the fortifications at La Mola

Wordless Wednesday: Nile Cruise Ships and Feluccas at Luxor

Books to Be Won

My pal, author David Robinson, has an exciting new contest for bloggers and readers. Anyone who reviews one of 5 of his titles on Amazon or Smashwords will be entered into a draw to win the whole series in paperback, with other prizes of e-books offered for the next winners.

The picture shows one of the covers. Head over to his site to find out more.

Worless Wednesday: Luxor's Banana Island

A Secret Santa for Christmas

If I don't get started on Christmas soon, it's going to pass me by this year. Thinking about it while driving to and from a meeting today, I was remembering the Secret Santa events I've been involved in in the past, either organising or just taking part. I do recall them being great fun with lots of merriment.

Do you like my picture? It is a Santa in one of the windows of Selfridges in London's Oxford Street, taken when I was there in December 2008.

When I was teaching adult literacy I always had a hotch potch of learners that included some from very disadvantaged families. For the last class before the holiday, I always arranged a little Christmas party with fruit juice and bucks fizz, snacks and crackers with paper hats. During this, we'd hold our Secret Santa, with me putting in extra little presents myself on the quiet for those who couldn't afford to contribute.

If I remember rightly, we set a limit of £4 for each of the Secret Santa gifts, and in those days that was sufficient to get some cute little things to wrap up. And of course the point of a Secret Santa is that noone else knows what you buy, and you don't know who bought the gift you get. We jumbled them all into a sack and each person put in an arm and felt around, pulling out one present to unwrap and take home. You could usually tell which one you had contributed from the feel of them, so that you wouldn't pick your own.

Money doesn't go as far these days, but you can still find inexpensive Secret Santa gifts to raise a laugh. You can even order them without braving the winter weather for your shopping. You just need to go online and view the sometimes somewhat risqué suggestions for men and women, or the less suggestive but sometimes a little rude ones for boys and girls.

I feel like getting a Secret Santa group together again this year. We all need a bit of light relief at the moment.

Devon Again

Yesterday evening I returned from a lovely relaxing long weekend in Devon. I walked past this beach (Corbyn's Head) in Torquay several times. In just four short days, I caught up with many members of my family, and some friends as well.

Hubby looked after Jade at home and I felt the freedom of being able to walk anywhere without worrying about where I could take the dog and whether I had enough pooh bags. I missed Jade of course, but I got a lovely welcome from her at the train station when hubby brought her to meet me.

I've now been home and back in my routine again for just over 24 hours, and I'm so tired. Will I ever get the balance right?

Visiting London

When I go to London I am lucky because I can stay at my daughter's house and take a 20 minute train journey to the centre.  Sometimes though, I wish I could actually stay where the action is and just have to step outside to be in the thick of it. Although I lived there for over 25 years, there are still bits of the metropolis I'm not familiar with, and I often discover places to see there on the blogs I visit. Much has  changed in the years since I moved out too. Here's a pic I took last spring of the avenue of blossom trees leading to the London Eye on the South Bank of the River Thames.

Have you enjoyed a visit to London in the past? Would you come agan? Do you want to visit London for the 2012 Olympics? Thousands of people want to be there soaking up the atmosphere even if they don't have tickets for the events, so if you are among them, you need to be sorting out your accommodation now.

People who can help are Robert and Polly Arnold, a couple who have been bringing up their children there, and making it their business to help visitors have the best possible experience of their city. They'll book London Apartments and offer lots of advice about what to see and where to eat, and so on. It's good to have a home from home you can relax in with your family and soak your aching feet after walking around the sights of London all day.

The Arnolds help businesses too, because London is a vibrant business centre where important meetings are held and crucial deals are negotiated. Business's often find it's cheaper and more convenient to put their people up in decent London Apartments, rather than fork out London hotel prices.

I can't keep away from London for long. I'll be there again this November. When will you be there?

Blogging Hiatus

Just following up on my last post a week ago.  All went well on Thursday in terms of timing to get us to the funeral. The ceremony was well attended. My bro-in-law was a popular guy. So sad we're not able to have fun with him any more.

I haven't posted since because there has been so much else to do, and I'm still feeling tired. But tomorrow I'm off to my sister's for a few days and will be catching up with some friends, leaving hubby to care for Jade, so I hope she doesn't miss me too much.

I have to write another post today which will earn me a few dollars, hopefully. But after this, my blogging schedule will not go back to normal as I've taken the momentous decision only to write what is necessary until I've done the accounts for the tax returns for myself, hubby and son, and then caught up with the rest of the filing and paperwork that's sitting around.  I really need to put my house in order before I can relax and do whatever I like. It's going to take some self-discipline, but looks like it's the only way.

So it's a question of see you when I see you. But don't worry; I  won't be able to stay away for long and I'll be popping in from time to time to catch up with all my lovely friends here.

Horrid October

Sorry I've been absent longer than usual from here. Things have been a little chaotic lately.  We've had several small domestic crises and I've been a bit under the weather and battling to get through my commissioned work this month. Still not feeling 100% and getting quite a bit of gut pain.  It's probably just the dreaded IBS but I'm having various tests to make sure.

Tomorrow we have to get up before 5 am to drive to London for a family funeral. It shouldn't take that long to get there but if we left it later we'd hit the morning rush hour and be too late. I'm not really looking forward to it, especially the early morning.  Jade won't know what's going on, being put in the car at that time of the morning as she usually sleeps until I get up after my son has gone to work at 7.20.

We have to pick up my stepdaughter and her bloke, then cross south london to my daughter's where we leave the dog before heading to the crem at Leatherhead for 10.15.  I hope it will all work out.  Afterwards of course, we'll have to do it all again the other way around.  I think I'll sleep well tomorrow night.

The RSPB at Arne

We went to the RSPB nature reserve at Arne today. You can take dogs as long as they are kept on the lead. We have an extending one for Jade so she can run around but we can still control her. Arne is just a hop,step and jump across Poole Harbour from our little local beach, but we had to drive about 15 miles around the shore to get there. I've been wanting to visit ever since we moved here so I'm glad we finally made it. 

There's a small car park next to an information hut where people go to report the birds they've seen. Every day they write them up on a white board. We didn't go especially to view the birds but to have a nice walk and see the scenery and any wildlife that cared to show itself to us. There were quite a few deer and some of them posed for me very nicely.

 

We walked as far as this little beach where we could look across the water to Hamworthy, the part of Poole where we live.

I was surprised to see lots of red berries on some of the holly trees. I hope that doesn't mean we'll have a particularly vicious winter this year. Last year I didn't go out much when it was icy. This year, of course, I will have to brave it to take Jade out.

But today, the sun peeped out every so often from behind the clouds and we had to take off our jackets and tie them around our waists as it got so warm.

Wordless Wednesday: onTop of the World

Memories of Egypt

Our last overseas holiday was early in 2009, before we moved house.  We went to Luxor in Egypt and saw many wonderful antiquities.

Jade is a Flower Child

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hills Pet Nutrition for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We've been experimenting with food for Jade. At the moment, and for the next four months she has to have puppy food. After that, we need to find out what is the best adult diet for her. The vet told me she doesn't have a heart murmur, which is quite common among King Charles Cavalier spaniels. Her heartbeat is normal when she is still, although she does have a slight abnormality in it when she moves. Hopefully that won't interfere with her quality or quantity of life.

Another common problem with the breed is with their legs, and Ted, the dog my daughter sometimes looks after who has also featured in my posts here, has had to have operations on his. Fortunately they were successful and he is fine now. And again, fortunately, the vet said Jade's legs are fine at the moment. But, of course, you never know what is around the corner. I'd prefer to avoid any mobility problems for her when she's older if I can.

Anyway, I checked out the Hill's Pet Nutrition site. It's well worth a visit and clicking around for lots of good advice about diet for dogs and managing your dog to keep the animal healthy and happy.

When I found their Healthy Mobility Challenge page, I decided to register and was given access to money off vouchers for their Science Diet Healthy Mobility dog food. They are offering up to $30 in vouchers. You should check it out. Everyone who registers gets the Hill's Healthy Mobility Coupon offers and is entered in a draw that will have 30 winners who will all get free pet food for a year.

I also went to the page for Hill's Pet Nutrition on Facebook, clicked on Little Dog House, took a little quiz about Jade's personality and discovered she's a 'flower child'. Why not go and find out what your dog is? It's a fun way to take a break from your work and pass a few minutes online.

Yesterday I realised just how strong my flower child's passion for feathers is. We took her to Baiter Park on the shore of Poole harbour and let her run free for a while. It was littered with seagull's feathers and she had a ball with them. I'd rather she played with them than her choice of chomping and tasting the pony droppings in the New Forest. There I had to keep her on lead all the time so I could control what she picked up as we walked.

Hidden Gems by David Robinson

We are all lucky today because I have a guest post for you.  I get an excellent blog post without the pain of drafting it. (Didn't you know writing can be painful?) And you get a great writing tip from a successful author.

David Robinson is a pal of mine who has been active on the Writelink site even longer than I have. He is one of the most prolific successful authors I know, turning out several novels a year.  He also has a cracking sense of humour and writes side-splitting blog posts.

David has said he's less comfortable writing non-fiction, but today's post proves that he is just as good at it. Enjoy it, and then please go and visit him. And while you're at it, why not buy one of his e-books advertised in my side bar.  If you click there and buy, we'll all be even happier.  You'll get a spiffing yarn at a reasonable price (or the very useful how to tome), David will get a sale and I'll get a commission.

For a preview of his writing style. read on.  I know you'll enjoy this.

Hidden Gems

Like Jean, I’m a much travelled man. Leaving aside the rest of the world, there is no part of Great Britain that I haven’t visited, whether on business or holiday.

Wherever I go, if I have a little free time, I always head for the second hand bookshops, and I’ve been fortunate enough to pick up a few treasures here and there. A first Penguin Edition of Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass & The Pit dated 1960, a first hardback edition copy of a little-known novel by Keith Waterhouse, Office Life.

I was scouring the shelves of one shop in (I think) Whitby when I picked up a book entitled Hypnotism & Crime by Dr H. E. Hammerschlag.

I trained as a hypnotherapist in the early 90s. I was also writing crime fiction and I’d had this idea for a detective who was a ‘forensic hypnotist’. I bought Dr Hammerschlag’s book sometime around 2003, with the feeling that it would more than repay the £5 I paid for it.

Understatement! Hypnotism & Crime contained a hidden gem.

The book details a series of cases where hypnosis has been used in the committing of crimes, and within its pages there was an account of The Heidelberg Case.

Without going into great detail, this case, which happened in Germany from 1927-1934 blew away the notion that a hypnotised subject cannot be made to do something which would be against his/her moral standards. The subject, only ever identified as Mrs E, made six attempts to murder her husband and when they failed, the criminal hypnotist persuaded her to commit suicide. It was only good fortune that prevented her doing so.

To someone who writes crime fiction, mysteries, dark sci-fi and paranormal horror, The Heidelberg Case was a gift from the gods. From it, I developed a 100,000 word novel which, as I write, is with my editor, in preparation for publication.

My point here is not The Heidelberg Case, or the potential for abuse of hypnosis, or even the writing of such fiction. It’s research.

As writers, we all know the value of research, but people often say to me, “you write sci-fi and horror, you don’t need to research anything.”

Wrong. Many of my titles are set in the here and now, and at the very basic level, I have geographical research to carry out. Some of my sci-fi titles are set within the Solar System and I need to know the names of Jupiter’s moons or the orbital period of Saturn.

When it comes to more complex tales, such as the abuse of hypnosis, I’m up against a community which will swear that I have my facts wrong. Dr Hammerschlag disagrees with them, and so do I.

But it’s not simply establishing fact to mingle with the fiction. Having this research material to hand permits me to speculate. Why did Mrs E never remember a hypnotic induction? How did the hypnotist entrance her without saying a word? Why did Dr Ludwig Meyer’s original account of the case disappear?

These are questions to which there is no answer, but they’re questions upon which I can allow my fictitious forensic hypnotist to speculate.

And all this from a book that is almost 60 years old.

So the next time you’re wandering through the second hand bookshops and have your eye on a title, pause a moment and ask yourself what hidden gems you may find in those pages.

David Robinson is a freelance writer, novelist and humorist, who self-publishes his works on Smashwords and the Kindle. You can find him at http://www.dwrob.com and http://flatcapfritters.wordpress.com/. His titles are listed at http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B004M204BC and http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dwrob

More Memories of Lanzarote

I can't believe it's five years since we were last in Lanzarote. The first picture above is of the cactus garden, one of the island's tourist attractions.  I've blogged about it before and you can see more of my photos here. 

The picture below is of a quiet beach on the island of La Graciosa which is just a short ferry ride from busy Lanzarote.

 

This shoreline of volcanic rock is on the quieter north western side of Lanzarote.

Finally here's an interesting mural placed on the garden wall of what I think was a private house.

Getting Your Hands Dry

Don't you hate it when you've visited a restroom in a hotel or a cinema, an airport or a train station, you've washed your hands and find the only way to dry them is to stand for about five minutes waving them around in a warm slow air flow? I usually give up, flap them around a bit and let them dry naturally.

Some of the latest hand dryers actually work. They are more powerful and can really dry your hands quickly. But the crème de la crème must be the Dyson Air Blade, where you slide each hand down into a pocket and pull it out dry about 12 seconds later.

I wish I could remember where I first came across one of these airblade hand dryers. I'd definitely be going back there. I recall that it was one of those really pristine bathrooms that actually smelt clean. I was a bit wary of the hand dryer at first, but I watched someone else go first and then it was my turn and I was just amazed to have clean and dry hands in an instant. Dyson describes the process as being like a windscreen wiper scraping water off your hands. Apparently these dryers also use a lot less energy than the warm air dryers, so they are better for the environment too.

Dyson has always been famous for a revolutionary type of vacuum cleaner and I hadn't realised the company had diversified into Dyson hand dryers, but now that I know, I'm glad they did.

Wordless Wednesday: African Art Seen in Madeira

Holiday Souvenirs

With the way our finances are right now, and the fact that we've reached the time of our lives when travel insurance goes sky high, I rather doubt we will be making any more overseas trips. I look over the photos of previous years holidays to remember those good times.

New York July 2005. Manhattan and over the East River, from the top of the Empire State Building

Lanzarote January 2006. A remarkable piece of residential architecture.
All buildings have to be painted white and not more than two storeys high.

Madeira October 2007. View from our hotel room.

I've  enjoyed trawling through my pics to select these.  It  brings back all the good times.  I'll post some more of these another day.

Help for a Friend

The other day a friend of mine was talking about moving her website to Wordpress, and she was wondering how difficult it would be. I thought she'd probably need help and I found this new website with Wordpress theme designers. They are eager to help people to migrate to Wordpress and convert existing design into Wordpress theme and they promise that their solutions will be fast, effective and affordable. They will also design a custom Wordpress theme from scratch or tweak an existing theme to personalise it for you.

Good things about them are that they'll give you a free consultation and quote before you have to commit to anything. Best of all, if you're not satisfied, they'll rework, and if you're still not happy they'll give you your money back. I'm going to suggest to my friend that she tries them out. She can't lose financially and at best, she'll get a great new website, at worst, she might learn from the experience.

I'm going to warn her, though, that she'll have to watch the content. These people are designers and I don't think they concern themselves much with words. I noticed quite a few typos on their site.

Wordless Wednesday: Silhouettes

Busy, Busy, Busy

Boy, am I getting writer's cramp. Of course that is now a figurative expression. It used to apply to pen pushing, now it's more a case of RSI - repetitive strain injury - or Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.

Last week, in addition to my normal workload, I had to think up, and write up, topics for five articles for a customer's website. They had to be at least 400 words and had to be littered with keywords from supplied lists.  This week I have to write 5 blog posts on the same topics at around 300 words with different keywords from the same lists. Next week it's rewriting each of the original articles twice. Not terribly exciting, but fairly representative of a freelancers lot.

I'm not having much time for Constant Content these days, with all this going on.  But some exciting changes are happening over there.  They've introduced writer pools for specific categories, and I've got myself into several of these, which are throwing up some interesting requests.

It's not easy to write much for this blog either. But one of my pals at Writelink might do a guest post for me, which will take off some of the pressure. It will be a refreshing change for my readers, too, to have a view from someone else. He doesn't write non-fiction but has quite a few books for sale at Amazon and Smashwords, so here's hoping he'll follow through with his offer.  Watch this space.

Upton Country Park and Holes Bay

We did a circular tour of Upton Country Park yesterday. This walk has quite a bit of variety and it can be exciting whichever way you decide to walk.  Yesterday we turned anti-clockwise to take the shoreline trail first along the edge of Holes Bay.  This bit of the bay is also a nature reserve and has a couple of  bird hides beside the trail.

Here we keep Jade on a long lead so that we can make sure she doesn't go off the trail or annoy people we meet coming in the opposite direction. 

She is such a friendly little soul and thinks everyone wants to make friends with her.  As soon as we see someone coming towards us she gets all excited and her tail is going nineteen to the dozen. If I don't get her under control she'll be jumping all over them. Most people like this and think she's adorable, but some just don't like dogs or are nervous of them, even a light weight puppy like Jade.

I am so busy with writing and other projects at the moment, that I don't have enough time to take her as far as I'd like, but we turned up towards the gardens of the house, getting a glimpse of the view I showed you yesterday, and went on through to a parallel path back homewards. But we don't stay on that path with Jade because a lot of people cycle that way. And when we we turn off and go into the woods, we don't meet many people, so we let her run off lead. She dashes around, nose to the ground like the spaniel she is, and sometimes we don't see her for a while, through the undergrowth beside the path, until she comes pelting towards us again. Yetserday at one point, we got quite worried as she was gone so long and we couldn't even hear her, but suddenly there she was behind us having doubled back and found the path again.

When we reach the gate at the end of this path, she sits down patiently and waits for the lead to be clipped on again.  And then it is just a short step back to the road where we parked the car.