A Short Walk

 

Earlier this week, (Tuesday),

I took the camera for a short walk.

 

 

Well the sun was shining,

so it seemed a good idea.

 

 If it hadn't been so cold,

it could almost have been spring.

 



 

 A nuthatch was hopping amongst the branches,

making a devil of a loud noise.

Who knew they were so noisy?

 

 

 There was an intermittent breeze.

 

 

It won't be long before we see leaves in bud.

That will be quite a transformation.

 

So that was my short walk.

It's proving to be a regular one.

A walk along the road,

to the river,

and over the bridge.

It's nice to continue the walk down to the river

and alongside it in either direction.

But with all the rain of late,

it is just so muddy underfoot,

requiring me to don borrowed willies,

several sizes too big.

So, I'll reserve that for another time,

or perhaps when it has dried underfoot.

That won't be for a while I expect,

it rained very heavy yesterday.

Though you wouldn't think it

looking at these blue skies from the day before,

would you?

 

 

 



Rediscovering

 

Five days into the new year.

Time for a trip into the countryside.

 



 

Looking towards the Lakeland fells.

 

... towards the Pennines.

 

Past interesting sounding places like

Scarrowmanwick,

not so nice sounding places as

Dead Man's Slack

and Foul Sike,

and the nicer place names such as

Rose Farm, Fetherston Hill

and my favourites,

Raven Beck and Daleraven.

 

It was lovely to rediscover some of the places and views

I have travelled in an earlier lifetime.

As lovely as ever.

 

Wishing you all a Happy New Year.

 

 

Fish in a Jumper

This morning was lovely and sunny, too nice to be indoors, so my sister and I took a short walk with our cameras.

We walked as far as the river, which isn't very far at all, and admired the views from the bridge.

My sister spotted a dipper. I took this photo on full zoom, which isn't enough to show the bird up well. My sister's camera captured it better with it's bigger zoom. It was lovely to watch the bird diving into the water and swimming around.

Then I spotted this fish beneath us on the bridge. It was just keeping it's place in the river with very little effort against the current. It looked most peculiar, as from our position above, it looked to me as though it was wearing a jumper. It's head and tail were pale while the rest of its body was dark. It was probably a salmon, a big one too.

There's plenty of leaves left on the trees.

There are still flowers to be seen too.

Altogether, a morning to brighten the spirits.

A Walk Along the Wall

 

This morning started off sunny.

So we went for a walk.

By the time we got to the start of our walk it had clouded over.

Our walk was to be along part of

Hadrian's Wall.

We started at Banks

and parked near a Roman turret.

The path followed the edge of fields

before diverting through a wood.

 

 

 

To get out of the wood

we went through a kissing gate,

 

and into the sunshine.

 

From then on

it was lovely and sunny,

and quite warm.

 

The sun cast distinct shadows.

 

At last we could see our destination ahead.

Birdoswald.

It lies on the wall

and is on the site of a Roman fort.

 

 

 

 

 

There were a few other people visiting the site which was sadly closed.

So no tea and cake at the café then.

At this time of year it's only open at weekends.

 

Then we set off on our return walk.

Along

the long

road.

 

With lovely views.

 

 

At the end of which,

after a short car journey,

we found a tearoom.

 

At Lanercost Priory.

But that's a visit for another day.

 

 

Bleak day

Yesterday was a bleak day for us,
and I think these photos capture the mood that I was feeling.

 

 

I knew as I was taking them that Mike was on his way,

and at the vets

with Paddy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's the same walk I did with Paddy, Jewel and Rufus,

all lost to osteosarcoma now,

back in August 2008

After we'd walked round the tarn,

we went into the tea room for a cup of tea,

no cake for me.

The very same place

where Paddy

finished off someone's ice cream that they had dropped.

Fond memories.

 

 

 



Paddy



 

Very sad to say that we lost our Big Boy, Paddy to osteosarcoma today.

He was diagnosed with heart problems a year ago and was given medication on the understanding that it would give him a further 6- 12 months.

On Wednesday, he was diagnosed with bone cancer.

 

Today Mike drove to a special place to spend some time with Paddy,

just the two of them together.

He says,

'It seemed a special moment in time that we were both caught up in....'

 

Later, he says that feeling continued, so that when the time came....

'.. it was as though Paddy was calm and as easy as a sleeping baby

and drifted away with only a sense of being at ease.'

 

I am only sorry that I am in England and unable to share that time with them.  

 

Paddy

February 2003- 20th October 2014

 

 

 

There's no two ways about it

Paddy was special.

 

He was often anxious, and sometimes fretted.

We could never stay long at a friends house,

knowing that Paddy would be wondering where we were.

The other thing he fretted about

was

Food Time.

I don't know why

because his meals were at regular times every day.

But he loved his food,

right up to the end.

He's the only greyhound I know of that had to go on a diet.

One of his favourite things to do

was to lick all the dishes clean.

Our other greyhounds would stop eating their food part way through and swop bowls.

Not Paddy,

no one swopped with him

because there was nothing left to swop!

 

He was a most handsome fellow.

He couldn't understand it if we passed people on the footpath and they didn't stop to stroke him.

When people did stop to say hello,

it was Paddy they were drawn to,

and Paddy who would push his way through to be closest to them.

He was a charmer and loved to be stroked.

 

There will be a big gap in our lives without Paddy.

 

 

 

Left to right: Jewel, Paddy, Rufus, all lost to osteosarcoma,

but together again now.

 

If you click on 'Paddy'

at the bottom of this post,

you can see more photos or stories about him.

 

 

 

 



A Long Way from Home

Such a lovely day today,

(yesterday),

I'm so out of practice writing posts,

it takes me ages.

I went for a bike ride.

It was a bit hot to be riding a bicycle.

But I only rode as far as Bernkastel, (7 km.).

 

 

 

I didn't stop to take a photo

until I arrived in Bernkastel,

where I noticed where this cruise ship originally was from,

(or registered?).

It's a long way from home.

River Harmony was registered in Valletta, Malta.

 

 

I like seeing the cruise ships on the river.

They are a touch of luxury against the working barges.

 

 

 

It was obvious that lots of people had the same idea of getting out on their bicycles, despite the heat.

Mike met me in Bernkastle. He had left after me, but had come on his motorbike.

We enjoyed an ice cream together under the shade of a tree before going our separate ways.

 

 

I continued taking photos.

This is a café half way up the hill to the castle.

There are lovely views across the river from there.

Leaving Bernkastel,

I stopped to take capture this lovely chapel snuggled

in the vineyards.

 

 

It's lovely cycling next to the river.

 

 

I had more photos to show,

but for some reason,

Blogger prevented me.

 

We are very fortunate to have such lovely cycle routes.

And such lovely ice cream to enjoy

before embarking on the return journey.

I was so busy enjoying the ice cream,

I forgot to take a photo.