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.

In the Vineyards

It's taken several goes to get these photos up.

I'm not sure whether the computer or Blogger was at fault.

In the end I haven't included all the ones I had chosen.

Never mind.

I thought you might like an update on how the vineyards are looking.

As you can see they are in full leaf now.

I enjoy walking amongst them.

I've been doing a lot of that this last week

with the hounds

while Mike has been away.

I've noticed quite a few workers in the vineyards.

I think many of them come from other countries,

Poland and other East European countries.

By the time I reached these workers

they were having a breather on the track

before continuing down the next row.

They parted to let me and the hounds through.

I suppose we were an unexpected sight,

four greyhounds being walked amongst the vineyards.

I'm not sure what the workers were doing,

probably tying the vines in.

They have grown quite rapidly

while I've been away.

Here are the beginnings of a bunch of grapes.

The area I tend to favour for walking the hounds is rich in wildlife.

Can you see the deer in this last photo?

It's got it's back to us

but has turned it's head around,

most likely to keep an eye on the hounds.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

It's in the centre.

I wish I had had the camera with me the other morning.

But walking with 4 greyhounds

and a camera isn't always that easy.

Especially when Jewel frightens any wildlife away

before I can get the camera focused.

Fortunately she didn't see the hare

hopping past us in the field,

to our left,

or the deer in the courgette field

to our right,

bounding away.

In fact none of the hounds saw them

I think they were hidden from view

with wild rose bushes and grasses.

But it was the best view I've had so far of a hare,

so close.

I haven't forgotten,

I'll be back to report on my UK trip soon.

But before that,

tomorrow in fact,

I'll have something different.

Buttercups and Blue Sky

It has been another hot day here.

More like summer than spring.

So I chose to walk the hounds in the shade.

We were on the other side of the river for a change.

It affords a good view of our neighbouring village.

The church is quite distinct

even though it's in the background here.

We stopped for a rest

I think Jewel's admiring the view.

You might have to click on this last photo to see the fox in the centre.

We disturbed it while it was sunbathing.

I saw a leap of brown that I thought to be a fox,

it was only a while later that I saw it below us.

I think it was enjoying the sunshine.

Fortunately, the hounds didn't see it.

Has the sun been shining where you are today?

Mad March Hares

After more than a week of lovely sunny weather,
it started raining as I came back after dropping Mike at the airport yesterday.
Typical, I thought,
it always rains when he goes away.
It's not pleasant walking 4 dogs in the rain, day after day on my own.
However, the sun came out later.
And this morning,
it was even brighter.

In fact it was a beautiful morning,
full of promise.
Unfortunately, as I started off on the walk,
I noticed a herd of sheep a bit further on,
so did the hounds.
They were not in a field, but loose,
and I couldn't be sure how the hounds would react.
So I turned round to take a different route.
Only to see a hare,
followed by another hare,
chasing each other around,
seemingly oblivious of our presence.
At one point they even ran towards us.
That was time to turn around again
and try yet a different route.

Greyhounds are trained to chase after
small furry animals.
That's all they want to do when they see one.
A switch goes off in their brain,
and they are not aware of anything else.
They are fully focused on the movement.

Rufus was very interested,
Jewel was too,
and for once she didn't bark.
I'm not sure whether Paddy saw them,
he's often on a different wavelenght to the other hounds.
But Arthur didn't see them at all,
he has poor eyesight.
But I needed to take evasive action,
before Jewel started barking
and got the others excited,
and I got dragged along behind them all!

So we went off in yet another direction.
Luckily there's lots of routes to choose from.
However further along,
a deer ran across the road.
The hounds all spotted it this time,
it was difficult not too.
But maybe our training is having an affect,
they all remained quiet.
Or maybe it was the earlier start.
Maybe they haven't quite got used to the clocks going forward an hour at the weekend.
I think the wildlife isn't used to it either.
I wonder what we'll see tomorrow.

I did manage to take some photos,
though not of the hares,
or the deer,
too quick!

We're still having problems with the computer.
and despite Mike showing me an alternative way to download photos,
I seem to have forgotten.
But I have managed to resize a photo from 5 days ago, that he downloaded before he left,
and I've managed to post that to Blogger.

It's taken from our balcony
early evening.
I was attracted by the lines the jets make
leaving their traces in the sky.

So I will continue to take photos,
and maybe try again to download them onto the computer.
If I can't manage that,
I will look through photos already on the computer,
and start posting them,
now that I can post to Blogger.
Unfortunately,
I think the carnival photos are on the other computer,
which isn't connecting to the internet!

Ahh well,
I'll try again tomorrow.

A Walk on the Wild Side

It's a while since you joined me for one of our walks,

and despite today starting off grey and damp,

it turned into a rather nice afternoon.

So why don't you join me and Mike,

and the hounds,

for a sunny walk amongst the vineyards?

These fine looking fellows

posed for a few photos.

They're quite photogenic

don't you think?

And how do you like the new car?

No just kidding.

The hounds would never all fit in it!

A bit further on and we stopped to admire these friendly ponies

who came over to see the hounds.

A lot of the grapes have been harvested,

but not all.

The majority of the Mosel wines are white,

so it's not often you see black grapes.

I always see some wildlife on this walk.

Can you see the hare?

Click on the picture to enlarge it

to make it easier to see.

And I think you will need to enlarge this photo

to see the deer

peeping out from where it is lay.

Last week when Mike was away and I was doing this walk on my own with the dogs,

I was lucky enough to see two wild boar

running across the rows of vines.

I was transfixed.

I have seen where they sometimes snuffle up the earth,

and I have even heard them snorting,

but to actually see them was something else.

Needless to say

I didn't get a photo,

too quick!

Or rather I wasn't quick enough.

And here we are on the way back.

If I look down to my right,

I can see our village beyond the rows of vines.

The river Mosel is just beyond the village.

If I look up to my left,

there is an area of uncultivated land.

There's lots of these areas dotted amongst the vineyards.

They offer rich habitat for birds and insects,

as well as offering shelter for

the hares and deer,

and wild boar.

I expect that's why there is so much wildlife here.

Well, once again

I've joined Blogtoberfest,

hosted by Tinniegirl.http://tinniegirl.blogspot.com/

The idea is to post every day throughout October.

I thought it would help me keep on track with my blogging.

So I should be back tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.