Winter Sun and Wind

It was bitterly cold with a bracing wind at the beach this morning. Heading into the wind really took your breath away. It was bliss to turn around and walk back. But the sun shone from a bright blue sky and everything was beautiful. the dogs appreciated it too.

All Girls Together

My granddaughter is the queen of selfies. She took this photo this morning on a dog walk with family and friends. We had a lovely stroll in the October sunshine while our leg of lamb was roasting.

Dorset's Blue Pool

Wednesday seems a long way back now, but that is the day we went to The Blue Pool, and I wanted to share it with you. Once it was a clay pit developed to serve the need of smokers in the 17th century when tobacco was introduced to the Britain. Then the clay was made into clay pipes and later made fine china crockery. Now it is a tourist attraction with lots of delightful walks where you can take dogs on leads. When they say that, we always cheat and take our long leads, only shortening them when we meet other people.

The pool is famous for the turquoise colour of the water that you can see in the pic. It's not always that colour and Wednesday wasn't sunny all the time, so it wasn't the best conditions to see it, but we were lucky to get some good photos.

I was determined to walk all the way around it. Even though there were much longer routes than the one we took, it was quite a long walk for me and I was glad to reach the tea rooms and sit down for a lovely cream tea to share with my daughter. Grandaughter had her choice of chocolate cake. A quick browse in the little museum and a couple of purchases in the gift shop and we were off to give the dogs a bit of a  run on the Purbeck Way which runs past the entrance. Then back in the car and home after a peaceful and satisfying afternoon.

Evening Walk

The sun was still shining after we had eaten and we decided on a walk at Ham Common. I still find it hard to believe I actually live in this beautiful place. 

Of course it was tinged a little with sadness as we walked towards George's seat, where the dogs sniffed around as if they could still sense him.

But it wasn't hard to appreciate the warm, balmy evening.

After this we strolled to the lake that sits behind the sea, before heading back

 to the car park and home.

A Walk to George's Seat

It's 1.30 am and I can't get to sleep so thought I would get up and write a post to see if the activity helps.

Today I took the dogs to George's seat. It's next to where we scattered his ashes so I call it his seat. I go and sit on it sometimes and feel close to him again for a little while. To get to it, I drive to the viewpoint car park which is inside Rockley Park, a holiday park full of mobile homes. From the viewpoint, there are several footpaths over Ham Common and down to Rockley Beach. The seat is off one of these at the edge of the cliff. The dogs are oblivious to my ruminations. They mooch around sniffing and wait for me to get up and resume our walk.

The common is lush at the moment and threatens to overwhelm the path with its fast growing vegetation. The foxgloves are out again, and on the steps we take to get back up to the car park, 

I spotted some little dog roses peeping out from all the greenery at the side. I had to stop for a bit at another seat once we were at the top and watched a brave magpie that stood its ground as Rafi found a piece of wood to gnaw quite near to him and Jade chewed on the grass.





It's funny how the dogs seem to be slower when they go out with me. They don't run around like my daughter says they do when out with her. I guess they pick up on our energy levels and follow suit.

Four Legged Windsurfer

Yesterday, walking our two dogs in Hamworthy Park was blissful in brilliant sunshine, with a light breeze. This is what we saw on the water.

Hard to tell if the dog was enjoying it or petrified, but it was obeying commands to come or stay as the sail was turned. Sometimes he was the same side as his owner, but the best pics we took were when he was on the other side of the sail All the while we watched, he didn't have a ducking. Plucky dog.

Another Country Walk

The dogs just love walking at Badbury Rings. It's one of the huge Dorset earthworks with a long history. I've posted about it before here. We went again recently although I can no longer walk as far as I used to. I managed to get over the top, with help of my daughter's arm and a few rest stops.

I love this pic particularly because the detail of the fallen tree is so clear.

The views from the top of the banks are amazing through 360 degrees. Rafi is particularly difficult to photograph as he rarely keeps still. Here he is showing off some modern steps that have been added to make it easier to get up and down.

Here is Jade with my daughter.

By this time the clouds were getting very threatening and we headed back to the car park and off for our lovely pub lunch at the True Lovers' Knot, a nearby hostelry that admits dogs and that we highly recommend.

Sandbanks Again

We just can't keep away from this beach. It was gorgeous yesterday. Sun shining and not too many people around. Just a few dogs for ours to say hallo to.

Rafi doesn't like to pose so we were lucky to get this pic. Here we were opposite Studland and the location for my last post. If you look carefully, you can just see the Old Harry Rocks on the left edge of the horizon.

Every so often the sun went behind one of those threatening clouds, but we were safely at home before the rain caught up with us. It was warm enough to sit and bask as long as you were well wrapped up, and it was a blissful morning.

Canoes in the Harbour

The temperature seemed mild when we went for our walk with the dogs and a two year old this morning. When Jules took her charge into the swing park at Hamworthy Park, I sat on a seat outside with the dogs, and then the wind got up and I got a bit cold.

Walking back to the car on the promenade, we saw a canoe class out on the water. The canoeists didn't seem to feel the cold.

Rafi found them interesting too.

Views from Canford Heath

Yesterday's walk was a new one. We'd never been to the  top of this hill on Canford Heath before. The view across to Poole, the harbour and the Purbeck Hills beyond were absolutely stunning, well worth the effort of getting up there. The dogs, though, couldn't care less. They were more interested in the smells.

Sea Kings Say Goodbye

 Last Monday morning daughter and I were at Rockley Beach with the dogs by 9.30. The tide was out and I've rarely seen the sea as calm in the harbour. There was not a ripple to disturb the reflections of the pier.

But there were a lot more people than usual and cars in the car park. We thought that a bit strange, but carried on with our walk under the pier, along the beach and back again. By then there were even more people there, and we knew something special must be happening, so we asked.

We were told that the Sea King Helicopters based nearby were being taken out of service, and were going to do a fly past. Only a few minutes later they arrived, and we managed to get the pic below.

What a lovely coincidence that we were there at the time.

The Work Comes In

I've been working again. Asked for commissions from a former customer and was welcomed with open arms. I now have five more articles under my belt. It  took me  a while to get back into the routine of researching and writing, so the pieces took longer to put together than they should. But it was good to have a purpose for each day and something to do while I was pretty housebound with a bad cold. Now to sit back and relax.

Tomorrow the family are off to London for another long weekend. They won't be back till Monday, which will seem strange as I've got so used to having them around all the time. I've invited a friend to come and stay for the weekend so I won't be alone. She was recently widowed and is very stressed by all the arrangements she needs to make for her own solitary life, so it will be good for her to get away from  her home for a bit.

Everything seems to be changing at the moment. The one constant is the dogs. I shall have to walk them on my own this weekend as my friend will not be up to it.

Wild Weather Takes its Toll

Slight setback healthwise this week as I caught the cold that's been going round the house. No surprise there, but as my immune system has been affected by the cancer drugs, it hit me rather harder and I've spent a lot of time sleeping.

I did get out one day though and there was a dramatic change in the sea within the harbour. One day it was like a millpond and the next day it was like this and right over the promenade. The wind was enough to take our breath away at times.

Cliffs of Colour

On Saturday we all took the chain ferry so we could walk the dogs on Studland's South Beach, and we saw these beautiful multi-coloured cliffs again. These colours of nature contrast beautifully with the lush green of the vegetation, even at this normally drab time of year. We were all spellbound.

We had hoped to have lunch at the nearby Bankes Arms inn, but we'd spent so much time on our walk that we were too late, and it was packed to the gills. Instead we drove home via Corfe Castle and Wareham, had a warming toastie snack and then opted for a Chinese takeaway in the evening. That's a real treat for Eryn as she loves it.

It was the start of a really pleasant weekend that continued as we were joined by friends for a very convivial Sunday roast and a few bevvies the next day.

Enjoying the Winter Sun

After the funeral we attended yesterday, a walk on the beach in the winter sun was just what the doctor ordered. The dogs thought so too and were frolicking around like puppies. We parked at Branksome Chine and walked almost to Canford Cliffs before turning around. The beach was mostly populate by other dogs taking their owners for a frolic. And one lone swimmer in a wetsuit was keeping pace with us in the water as we moved along the sand.

Jules took a video that you can see on my Facebook page.

A Sunny Surprise

Jules went on the dog walk without me yesterday as I had to get ready to go to the hospital. On her return I was green with envy when I saw the photos she took. It was such a lovely day and every time I've been to Hamworthy Park recently it has been wet or windy with no sign of sun.

Router Problem Indoors, Sunshine Outside

After being without the internet on my laptop for nearly two weeks, I finally have  a new BrightBox courtesy of EE, and I can post again. Yippee. My faithful Belkin was working hard to connect everything, but couldn't get me internet access so it has been consigned to the stationery drawer, where it will probably languish for a while before exiting for an unmentionable future. It was touch and go with the BrightBox when I got it set up, but when I turned everything on yesterday, we quickly got connected.

Everyone is pleased, but granddaughter jumped for joy that she can get Youtube on her i-pad and can play on the Xbox with friends from the London area.

We've had some good weather recently, and a lovely walk on Sandbanks beach on Sunday while the lamb roastie was cooking. The dogs loved it, as they do most of the off road walks we have around here. Here they are both waiting patiently by the front door for their humans to be ready.

Now we are a two dog household one of the problems is that when Rafi gets excited, Jade joins in and they both chased a local cat in the garden recently, after which Jade's limp has returned with a vengeance. The vet says she must still have moderate exercise so she still come for walks with us, but we can't go too far and she musn't run much, not that she wants to.

Another Lovely Dog Walk at Badbury Rings

We took the dogs on a recce to Badbury Rings this morning. Jules goes horse riding nearby one day a week, but she rides alone and wanted to learn her way around a bit on foot. We did some exploring, which I love to do, following the bridleways. Didn't meet any horses and riders - just a few walkers like ourselves.

It's a lovely place. I went there with George in June last year and wrote about it here. Of course it was a little bitter sweet remembering that. This time we went through the gate at the far end and followed little paths until we could see the farm where the horse Jules rides lives.

Then we turned to do a loop that took us back into another entrance to the Badbury Rings enclosure and along the outside of the outer ring of the hill fort to the car park. We walked for nearly an hour which is a bit longer than I've been doing lately, but I really enjoyed it.

The dogs had a great time too. Unfortunately, Jade found an area of sheep droppings to roll in so she had to g in the shower before the indignity of the hair dryer and then getting well wrapped up for her kip.

Jade Likes the Beach

Jade and I are alone again. After the last of my visitors left yesterday, Jade was really upset. I didn't realise until it was her dinner time and she wasn't interested in her food. Hunger got the better of her though. She picked at it during the evening and it was all gone by 9.30. She's back to normal this morning and breakfast disappeared in a flash.

Her limp is getting better, though still in evidence, so I haven't been walking her far. But yesterday morning we went for a final walk on Sandbanks Beach with Eryn, her mum and a friend, and of course, Rafi. Jade was overjoyed and ran and played a bit, though not as enthusiastically as Rafi.

It was a day for meeting other cavvies. These dogs always recognise their own breed and run towards each other with tails wagging away. We met at least half a dozen of them in ones and twos, which was quite unusual.

Eryn forgot to bring her jacket, although she had been reminded before we got in the car. She insisted that she wasn't cold, even though the air was distinctly chilly in the wind. She probably just wanted to show off her new T-shirt.

Anyway. it's back to solitary walks for me and Jade now.

Friday the 13th

I'd completely forgotten that today was Friday the 13th until a few moments ago when I logged into my email and discovered I am a little over $40 better off as my article about this phenomenon sold today at Constant Content.

That was only one of the happy events of today. It rained quite hard in the night and was still raining when I got up this morning, but by 10,30, when I was ready to take Jade for a good walk, it had stopped. Before that I had tucked her into her rainproof coat and let her out into the back garden.

After the rain we enjoyed a grand tramp through the woods and Jade obediently stayed on the far side of the gate while I hotfooted it to the pooh bin at the Upton House car park. The farmer was about to bring his cows across the lane and was really impressed that she stayed exactly where I left her until I returned. I wasn't: that's what I had told her to do. (The picture is by John Lamper, and shows the rather splendid frontage of Upton House, which is surrounded by the country park.)

After that Jade stayed at home while I went to catch up with some of the Streetlifers over a drink at lunchtime. I had to leave them early though to head on to my singing group practice, where we had a hilarious time with all the jokers bang on form. When I got home Jade was looking out of the window to watch for me and we've just had a lovely cuddly hour on the sofa.

So I have enjoyed today. I think Friday the 13th could be good for me.