Foggy Starts

I took these photos on Tuesday

after an early start.

Mike and I were up at

3.45 a.m.

so I could take him to the airport

for his flight to the UK.

 Rufus looks as though

the early start tired him out.

It was foggy on the way to the airport,

but this eventually lifted

and we got some lovely sunshine

later in the day.

So I took the camera with me on our afternoon walk.

I tethered the dogs while I took a couple of photos.

Unfortunately, my foot got caught in one of the leads

and I fell flat on my face.

After the walk,

I took the hounds to our bit of land so they could have a run.

The next three photos show Jess and Paddy having a run together.

Rufus and Arthur seem more interested in a hole under the fence.

They were fixated on it.

Maybe they were watching for a mouse or something.



The weather has followed the same pattern since Tuesday,

foggy starts followed by sunshine.

Somehow the grey seems to be in for today though.

I have a bad back for a while

which restricts time spent at the computer.

But for some reason it's worse this week.

It's not helped by the photos not loading,

it takes an age.

Which is why it's taken until today to post this

and why I haven't been visiting everyone as I'd like to.

But I'll get there.

In the meantime,

I hope you are all enjoying a little sunshine wherever you are.



Doggy Post

As requested by Mike and Mildred,

here is Paddy peering through the flowers.

Anyway,

how could I not resist posting these today

when I couldn't include them in yesterday's post?

I think I would like to take more photos of Paddy amongst the white flowers.

White on white is rather nice.

I'm not sure he would stay still long enough though.

So following on from those photos,

I thought I would make todays post a doggy one.

Especially as Mike is missing his pups!

This morning after our walk,

I went to a small piece of land that we rent

amongst the vineyards.

We got it specially for the hounds!

Being greyhounds, they love to run,

but we can't trust them off the lead.

Well,

we have sometimes

let Rufus and Paddy off for a run along the river.

And if we have treats in our pocket,

Paddy is very well behaved

and comes back first time when called.

But there is no way

that we can let Arthur and Jewel off for a run.

Although we have on an odd occasion tried it.

Arthur tends to get himself lost in the undergrowth chasing interesting smells

and doesn't hear us when we call.

But Jewel.

She is willfull.

She stands and looks at us,

then looks at the open spaces,

and runs off,

into the distance!

The last time this happened was earlier this year.

She ran around to begin with,

then spotted some interesting looking trees and bushes,

and ran into them.

I can tell you it was a thicket,

well near to impenetrable.

She was lost for the next two hours!

Mike and I searched,

and searched.

calling her,

but to no avail.

I even scared

a wild boar

from it's hiding place

in the undergrowth

shouting for her!

Eventually,

Mike came across our friend

with her dog,

(Brenda),

with Jewel!

Brenda and Jewel are good friends.

Apparently,

Jewel had wandered to the next village.

Completely away from our village,

and not somewhere we take her.

Where,

someone had spotted her

looking through his window at him and his family eating.

So he invited her in.

And gave her a drink!

Can you imagine it?

So he phoned our friends

and asked if they knew anyone with greyhounds!

And of course they did.

So we were reunited,

eventually!

And we said,

we would never,

ever,

let Jewel off again.

So we asked around to see if there was any land going spare

that we could use for the hounds to have a run round.

Some other friends heard about this piece of land,

in fact it's next to some they own.

So we fenced it in,

and made it Jewel proof.

It was during some of the hottest weather we've had this year,

that we put in fence posts,

and attached the wire fence.

Something neither of us had done before.

It was so hot,

my shoulders got burnt,

and I rarely burn.

It was quite exhausting work.

And do the hounds appreciate it?

Well yes, I think they do.

Do they run around a lot?

Well,

no,

not really....

Rufus doing acrobatics,

Or is it gentle stretching exercises?

Jewel will often make her way to the far end,

away from all the lads.

Except that this morning,

Paddy joined her.

Arthur sometimes likes to stay close

and whine in my ear if I don't stroke him.

Looks like Jewel has moved away from Paddy.

She looks happy enough,

relaxing in the sunshine.

Who would think she was such a little minx?

Family Portrait

It has been so hot lately

that at the end of our afternoon walks,

the hounds and I

have ourselves a rest

before getting in the van for the short drive home.

They have a drink of water

and settle themselves down.

It's a nice way to finish a walk while it is so hot.

In the photo,

Arthur is sitting at the back.

It's very unusual to see any of our hounds sitting,

except for Rufus sometimes,

and then only briefly.

But I think that's the first time I've ever seen Arthur sit.

Clockwise from Arthur is Jewel

our only lady hound.

Rufus is at the front.

He's been upset by the thunder tonight

but fortunately it's stopped now,

so I can go to bed.

Paddy is the white one.

He's big for a greyhound

and he finds the weather too hot at the moment.

He will often have a lie down part way round.

It used to be difficult to get him to relax

and settle anytime we wanted to have a sit down and admire the views.

Now it's him deciding to take a break.

I'm quite pleased with this photo.

At least none of them ran off while I was taking the photos.

Maybe next time,

I can work on them looking towards the camera.

Weekend Contrasts

We woke to snow on Saturday.

But the sun was shining in the vineyards.

And the village across the river

looked pretty.

After our walk with the hounds,

I had a quick walk around our village on my own

hoping for some interesting photos.

But by then the sun had gone in.

So for a bit of colour,

I took the photo above of a butcher,

and a pig.

I wonder what the butcher is doing!

Life size papier mache figures can be seen all around the village.

I've shown one of a clown before.

I'm told the artist lives in the village.

The photo below is also colourful.

It looks like an Easter egg tree!

In Sweden they used to tie coloured feathers to bushes at Eastertime. 

After a dull day on Saturday,

the sun came out on Sunday.

But it was cold,

and a bit windy,

which made it very cold.

It didn't stop us going for a walk

above the village though.

We walked across the plateau

where we can see for miles.

Mike is just a dot in the distance.

Sometimes he waits while I take photos,

sometimes he walks ahead,

and sometimes he offers to take the two hounds that I have with me

making it easier to take photos.

Eventually I caught up with him.

He'd been looking at the work that this bulldozer had been doing.

A road is being built.

Not any old road,

but a road that will connect with a high level bridge across the river,

with a great big roundabout of roads on the plateau,

which will spoil one of our favourite walks!

It is becoming apparent just what the impact will be.

Brothers, Arthur and Rufus.

Notice how Arthurs ears are standing up.

They are usually in this position when he is out for a walk.

We are down in the valley now

and it is Sunday afternoon.

You can see the river in the left of the photo,

and the line of dried grass that the river has left

when it flooded over the path.

The river has been flooded a lot over the last few months.

A nice sign of spring,

catkins.

Not so nice are the chopped trees.

perhaps they became unsafe in the gales we had. 

Mike is standing with Jewel and Paddy

at the waters edge,

where they launch canoes in the warmer months.

Paddy is a bit frisky.

But notice how flat his ears are.

Unlike Arthur's in the photo earlier.

He looks as though he has no ears here!

Of course they can flatten their ears making them more aerodynamic.

After all they are built for speed.

He started jumping around

making it difficult to get him in shot.

He would like nothing better than to have a good run,

except,

he would just carry on running.

He's done it before.

So unfortunately he has to stay on the lead.

They all have to.

They cannot be trusted to have a run and come back.

Such wayward hounds!

This last photo was taken this morning.

I like to watch the barges on the river.

(Mike says he'll get me an anorak.)

On the far side of the river you can see that the banks are whitish in places,

it isn't snow,

it's where they've been spraying or spreading something in the vineyards.

There's been quite a few workers in the vineyards of late.

I suppose it is a busy time.

As the weather is supposed to stay sunny this week,

I suppose I should get out into our garden too!

Trees

Today has been a lovely sunshiny day.

Just like spring.

Jewel enjoyed being out on the balcony.

She likes to sunbathe!

And I managed to take those pictures

I didn't get round to yesterday.

There were even more flowers out today,

bigger

and brighter.

I got to ride my bike as well.

It's an age since I've been out on a bike.

Mike went and collected this one from the UK

a few weeks back,

just so's I can go out on it

with the camera,

and get more photos!

Although today was sunny,

it was still cool,

especially on my hands.

In fact when we got back,

I was very, very cold!

I had to warm up with a cup of tea,

and a piece of cake I'd made at the weekend.

I'll have to do the same journey again and take the camera with me

especially so I can show you the views.

Stunning,

even with the landscape as bare as it is at the moment.

Once I'd warmed up,

it was time to take the hounds out for their walk.

It entailed a drive to get to where we were yesterday.

Jewel and Arthur spent the whole way there standing up.

Mostly peering out the windscreen.

Which meant hot doggy breath

over our shoulders.

Mmmmm....

nice!

Jewel is the one with the beady eyes.

Arthur is spreading his hot breath around!

But he's happy.

Mike sorted the hounds out while I took some photos.

I made sure I took plenty,especially for Mildred,

who  asked to see our walk,

which I am more than happy to do.

Already at the start of our walk

you can see trees that were brought down in the gales at the weekend.

It's happened all over.

In some places trees

have had to be cleared from minor roads,

such as where we took the bikes earlier.

The road was closed to cars

but we got by on our bikes.

In fact

when I took some of the photos for my grey post

at the weekend,

it was quite scary.

The wind in the trees was very,

very,

noisy at times.

Even the hounds were looking up to see what was making the noise.

But today the skies were blue.

We set off in one direction

across open land.

We are on a plateau here,

above the valley

so you can see for miles.

But as we walked on,

the track became muddy,

and no matter which way we turned,

trees blocked the tracks.

Mike is trying to find a way through here,

as I gaze upwards,

at the blue sky.

So we turn back the way we've just come.

But the walk didn't stop here.

We continued on.

But for the rest of the walk,

you'll have to call back tomorrow.

It's gone past my bedtime.

And I need my beauty sleep.

Wild Eyes

The sun was shining again today

and nice for walking.

So we drove up the hill behind our village

to walk through the higher vineyards.

Once you get up there

the roads are fairly level.

Most of the snow has gone.

There are a number of these crosses at strategic points up and down the valley.

I think we can see at least three from our village.

It is a very religious area.

You will have seen some of the shrines in the vineyards in my photos from the summer

as well as in the last two posts.

Mike walked on ahead with Paddy and Jewel

while I stopped to take photos.

Can you see them a bit clearer here?

Something has caught Arthur and Jewel's eye.

Rufus has seen it too.

It's a man walking down the vineyard.

He's just above the van

more or less centre of the photo.

Can you see him?

This is looking in the same direction

but further away.

I like the way the sunshine mirrors

the horizontal rows of houses.

Mike suggested I take a photo looking up at the hounds.

Nice don't you think?

We've turned to go back now but returning on a higher road.

There's quite a bit of waste land in between the vineyards.

Great for wildlife.

Just after taking this photo Jewel slipped her lead.

It wasn't tight enough and she has a very slim head.

She just slipped it and darted off.

Fortunately after running a short distance,

she turned and ran back towards us.

Before running off again!

But she tires very easily

and after a mad few runs,

she walked back towards us.

Safe once more.

What a minx,

and after what I told you yesterday about her running off.

I did notice her eyes though.

She has quite sharp looking eyes and when she gets excited they get a wild look about them.

That's what they were like.

I think she'd enjoyed herself.

All the boys could do was to watch quietly at her mad antics.

Maybe a little envious at having had a run.

I took this last photo towards the sun

just before getting back in the van.

All hounds present and correct.