Saturday 31 January

Above freezing and once again it's been thawing overnight, back to the mud.

 Song Thrush first one this year 

Likes the Sunflower Hearts

Meg fast asleep after breakfast, she sleeps a lot these days - she could run all day once upon a time and so could we :)

Take Care

Wednesday 14 January

Below freezing this morning

 Bit of hail and sleet has left a thin layer of ice, makes it bad for walking and driving.

Meg was at the vets this morning for her acupuncture session on her back, it certainly knocks her out for the day, she will back to normal tomorrow.

Take Care

Monday 12 January

Damp & Mild

The temperature is up & down like a yo yo.

 Coot on the Big Lodge

 Meg showing off the famous muzzle

River Yarrow - don't you find watching water flow is peaceful & relaxing

Take Care

Friday 9 January

Dry & Cool

Meg heading for the steps

These roots are right at the side of the steps - I have no doubt that at sometime they were used to get up to the field and path before the paths were altered.

The weir from the steps

Take Care

Friday 16 May

Knott End on Sea

 Caravans

Common Blue Butterfly

Knott End and Estuary View

Meg wanted to take her find home

Sea Potato

They are washed up in numbers at certain times

Take Care

Thursday 15 May

Good Morning from Knott End on Sea

They like to call them apartments today but they will always be flats to me - work has restarted on the luxury flats, they have been untouched for over 4 years. We thought they would eventually pull them down but we presume someone has decided to complete them. It is a nice view over the bay & estuary.

Euston Hotel in Fleetwood

Meg

On the Sea Wall

Microlite

Not in flower yet Sea Purslane - Atriplex portulacoides

Take Care

Sunday 11 May

Good Morning

 Big Lodge

 Big Lodge

 Burnet Rose - Rosa spinosissima

 Common Bistort  - Persicaria bistorta

 Elder - Sambucus nigra

 Hawthorn - Crataegus monogyna

 Meg in the woods

Red Campion - Silene dioica

Take Care

Wednesday 30 April

Nice morning

 Apple - Malus

 Common Twayblade - Neottia ovata

 Common Water-crowfoot - Ranunculus aquatilis

 Common Whitebeam - Sorbus aria

One of the habitat piles that has been set on fire - I think this part of the wood has to adopt the name of Funeral Pyre Wood

 Garden Privet  - Ligustrum ovalifolium

 Large Bittercress - Cardamine amara

Still 13 babes

Meg Homeward Bound

Take Care

Tuesday 8 April

Another good morning

 Butterbur - Petasites hybridus leaves just showing

 King Alfred's Cakes

 King Alfred's Cakes Think he burnt these :)

Meg on the hunt

Wild Garlic, Ramsons - Allium ursinum some tasty leaves for the salad

Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatanus

Take Care

Meg's Muzzle Puzzle

Joan I thought I'd better explain to you and others about Meg and her muzzle.

Meg never wore a muzzle until late last year when her blood tests where all over the place, our vet asked if we had been feeding her different - we said no but we cannot regulate what she finds and eats outside so from that time we put the muzzle on - 

Now all the people we meet and walk with know that Meg is first and foremost a well loved part of our family, she unfortunately has epilepsy sad but not the end of the world, she is well and the epilepsy is well controlled, the seizures seem to have got less has she has aged and we are now lowering her drugs very slowly, now the drugs she has been on most of her life have side effects - dangerous ones that compromised the liver function and other organs, yet with careful feeding and adding certain herbs she has maintained reasonable health & fitness, one of the other bad side effects is a constant feeling of hunger, humans can be told this but a dog sees something to eat and gulps it down, Meg has always eaten horrible obnoxious objects whilst out on her walks and runs, she was also sick quite a few times a year - we put it down to this eating whilst out, we did our best to stop her but it's not easy to stop a dog as they tend to swallow things whole, anyway to cut this tale short the muzzle has been a blessing she has lost a bit of weight - So the chief rules for Meg are diet & drugs have to be kept constant changes can alter the balance, if we change something it is very slowly.

Meg on the beach last year - typical Spaniel nose down, tail up.

We do get the occasional look when we meet someone for the first time - I suppose they think fighter or mad dog, but we soon put them right about the muzzle and Meg well she is only really interested in putting her nose to the ground and tail in the air looking for the next good smell as all good spaniels do they want to work and that's what she does. Occasionally she finds a ball in the woods or grass so we take the muzzle off so she can have a play but she soon tires of that and returns to her old ways, the muzzle has to go back on and all is well with the world - does it bother Meg ? perhaps a little but her main objective is to smell every inch of the ground and find game, she's good and many pheasants, rabbits and wildfowl have been flushed by that nose, if we had been of the hunting persuasion we would have been well fed by her efforts.

As some one once said about Meg "she's a babe" you now what she is.

Thursday 3 April

Another good morning with plenty to see

Mini apples Golden Hornet - Malus

 Horse Chestnut - Aesculus hippocastanum

 White Lipped Snail

 Ivy-leaved Toadflax - Cymbalaria muralis

Meg once again without her muzzle she has found another tennis ball so we let her have a play with it, we let her have about 15 minutes then it's back to the muzzle.

She is saying just another 5 minutes 

Take Care