The lesson for today

Take care when removing staples using red-handled pliars.  I took advantage of the weather to finally get around to repairing the fencing for the hens.  Unfortunately, it now looks like I've undergone an initiation  rite for a Chinese triad or some such other gang ritual... and that was with my gardening gloves on!

We've been basking in the glorious weather, the trees are slowly catching up with the spring blooms, the  forsythia is now garishly brightening the hedgerows hereabouts, and we had a lovely walk along the Ridgeway between Gamps Hill and the Devil's Punchbowl.

You'd never believe it was 25th March, the weather was summertime warm (see below!), hopefully not another early 'summer' like last year/April/Easter, then a total waste of time for July/August, which is when you want the good weather really...

Whilst on the walk we spotted these sorry looking fellows - we think it's a warning to other moles not to pop their heads up on the gallops...

Not really a lot to report this week - worked a full week at the library last week, so catching up on the chores at home and trying to make headway with the gardening... here's the latest shot of our mum-to-be 'Robin'.  She's still there, so hopefully there will be some good news to report later this week!

Going to get an 'early' night and catch up with my book.  Thanks for reading! Keep it sweet, Kat.

Spring!!!

I can't remember if I said that I'd noted the first sign of Spring (more than a few weeks ago...) the first postman of the season in shorts...  Well, apart from the obvious natural signs of spring which are, predictably, springing up all around, today I heard my first ice-cream van jingle.  Yikes!

But I promised photos of my planters, so here they are:

Of the two photos this is the sharper, so imagine another of these planters to the left of the door... Quite effective for plastic!

Did you say GroundForce?  Well, I was thinking of applying, but I'm busy at the Library these days, you know how it is.

Simple scheme - lavender (grey to match planter) and pansies.  Overspill pansies in refreshed pots.  Blue theme ticking the boxes methinks.

Anyhooo...

So, onto more important matters.

Robin.  Let's call him/her 'Robin'.  Still sitting on the clutch.  Don't show this photo to any cats you know!!!

I've consulted my bird book.  It states:  'Nesting nests in low cover, but will use all sorts of 'artificial' sites.  Usually 4-6 eggs, incubated for 13-14 days, the young flying at 12-14 days'. (The Guinness Book of Woodland Birds, Michael Everett)

So day 2 since I found them, don't know how long they've been there, but will keep you updated if any developments.  How exciting!

And for the birders amongst you, I've been using my zoom lens (above) and below...

'LBJ' sitting in the catkins...

'LBJ', for non-birders, is short for Little Brown Job - usually attributed to sparrow or other dun coloured small bird observed from a distance...

Now, you can't fail to enjoy seeing a blackbird...

That was a one-shot shot before it flew off.

That's it for now.  Will keep you posted!  Thanks for reading, Kat.

In praise of mess!

Happy Mother's Day.

Cold today.  But quite productive nonetheless.  We had a trip to Milletts Farm yesterday.  They'd cleverly (cynically?) posted their magazine through our door one day last week, and, as usual, the middle pages were filled with vouchers offering half-price this, BOGOFs and all manner of inventive offers designed to entice us through their doors to spend our hard-earned cash.  Which is what I happily did....

• 3 bags of 60ltr John Innes Multi-Purpose compost
• 2 x 30ltr size planters (square/cuboid plastic, imitation lead looking)
• 2 lavender plants
• 4 trays of pansies
• 1 x rose
• 1 bird box

So this morning, after I'd hung washing out, I hung the bird box in the beech tree in the left hand border at the back of the house.  It's visible from both kitchen and dining room windows, so hopefully there will be some activity to observe.

Next, I re-positioned the old planters from the front door.  The shiny red paint has been flaking away for some time now, so a change was long overdue.

Drilled drainage holes, crocks in and filled the two new planters with one bag of the new compost...  Planted with lavender and 4 pansies in each.  Emptied old pots assorted sizes, and refreshed with new compost, and planted with remaining pansies.  Planted rose in a good spot in the back garden.  Should have taken photo of the planters, but light not good, will do so when sun is out next, and let you see it.  I'm quite pleased all the same.

In the midst of this 'play-gardening' (I'm equally happy to get stuck in and dig out old tree roots) I had to go round the side of the house, through our 'back passage' which is a dreadful storage area (dumping ground) in need of a good tidy!  As I reached amongst the wobbly pile of flowerpots on the     wooden shelves by the back door for the hand-fork, I was angrily buzzed by a bird.  It quite startled me, and I stood back and observed where it had come from.

On the top shelf I'd saved 3 boxes which had had an eryngium, a lupin and something else in, all planted out last year, but I'd kept the boxes for the instructions, in case...  In case I left them there overwinter - in which case they'd make a good nesting box (!) for a bird...  

Several circumspect observations later and a couple of buzz-pasts by the parent bird, and I quickly observed 5 small creamy coloured eggs....  I didn't hang around, I got out of the way and worried whether they'd been left too long by the parent.  The temperature has definitely dropped today, and it's too cold for incubating eggs not to be sat on.

We left the house at 3pm for a late lunch for mother's day (very nice, thanks), and the nest was empty of bird then.  However, when we returned at 5.30pm, I opened the back door, took 3 steps away from the shelves to position myself carefully to view ....  bright beedy eyes staring out at me and whoosh!  Phoebe said 'It's a robin!'.  We beat retreat tout-suite! and now have fingers crossed that they stay put.

Tom wondered whether they'd like to move into the nest box I'd erected earlier in the day.  Difficult to explain the intricacies to a 6 yr old.  But aren't we lucky?

On the small rodent front, Roly caught a mouse again today (he'd had one yesterday as well).  I was carrying the washing out, and didn't see where it came from, but two in two days makes me wonder if there's a nest of them hereabouts... Don't know what I'd do if I found it.  Do mice eat bird eggs?  I'm fairly sure a rat would, but a mouse?  I don't know.  

On the big bird front.  I'm looking into getting a new hen house.  The one I have was a house-warming present from my Dad 5 yrs ago and is too big.  It's a sturdy wooden arc, and has a couple of leaks, which I've had covered over this winter with a tarp.  There's a place up in the Solway Firth that does recycled farm plastics, and has a range of hen houses for reasonable money, so we'll see.  That's the beauty of online shopping.  The fact that this place ticks my boxes for ethics (farming, recycling) and the practicality of a plastic house - easy cleaning, few(er) crevices for mites, is drawing me to them.

Confession.  There's a few more books arrived on my pile of books by my bedside.  I'm still reading Alexander McCall Smith (The Double Comfort Safari Club - turns out The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party had a plotline I'd missed, and I realised I'd jumped a book on, so I swopped them at the library to be correct chronologically).  Recent charity shop purchases:

• Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel.  I've seen this at the library, it's a huge book, 651 pages in paperback, and prizewinner about Thomas Cromwell in the bloody brutal world of the Tudors and politics of Henry VIII.  I'm becoming more interested in historical fiction, I think because I wasn't very good at history at school and regret it now.
• The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - never read it, feel I should have.
• Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - part auto-biography/part biography.  Looking forward to it already, but where to put it in the pile???

Although I love books (and reading!), I absolutely couldn't join a book club.  I can't read to order, and  if I had to cover that many pages by next month I'd not be able to.   So they just pile up by my bedside, and I enjoy the anticipation almost as much as the actual reading....

Looking towards Wantage over Lockinge from the Ridgeway

That's it for now.  I'm working extra hours at the library this week, looking forward to it, so will stop here and get an early night.  I've WI work waiting for me as well, but I'll tackle that tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,  keep it sweet.  Kat

Least said, soonest mended?

How much can go wrong with a 6yr old's treasure hunt birthday party?

Sunday dawned warm and clear skies, which was good for us as we'd planned the treasure hunt to be in the park, with coats and wellies if necessary.  As it was the gods were smiling and the sun shone warm.  All my daffodils opened at once and we were bathed in a golden glow. No, really!!   No coats, no wellies, and 8 little children set off to enjoy the fun.

At least that's what we thought would happen. Only one little boy 'Boy A' had other plans...  I took him aside for throwing stones from our gravel drive.  I took him aside for giving boy B a bloody nose by pushing him over so he fell on the patio and took boy H down with him (accidentally) who needed an icepack on his bumped head.  And that was before the treasure hunt had started...

I took Boy A aside half-way through the treasure hunt, as the birthday boy was in tears.  Boy A was tearing ahead of the rest of the children and covering up the clues with his arms/hands so they couldn't see them.  In the playpark I took him aside after asking/telling him 3 times to stop dragging his toes on the ground while the roundabout was going around - his boots were in shreds!

When he continued to hit his sister I took him aside as he was spoiling the fun of the pass the parcel.  The only time he sat still was for the food.  All the rest of the children were 'normal'. That is to say they were excited to be at the party, and wanted to have fun, but Boy A was in a class of his own.

I held my nerve.  I held my calm.  I exhorted him to be good.  I suggested his mother would be really pleased if I could say to her that he had been a good boy, and of course he could come again.  I said I knew he could do it (I lied!), and said all the other children were having fun, wouldn't it be nice for him to join in?  He didn't want me to have to phone his mum, did he?  He said no. Then he went and did something else impulsive...  he took a candle off the cake after they'd just been blown out by the birthday boy.  This child had absolutely no self-control whatsoever.  Even making allowances for the party excitement factor, this child tipped the scale.

I think I did my bit.  I think I was restrained.  But the birthday boy hadn't enjoyed having Boy A there, and in retrospect, Boy A's mother's parting remark of "If he plays up, just cosh him," has been playing on my mind ever since...

The rest of the children were lovely.  No, really, they got on and had fun, and made a lot of jokes about bodily functions at the tea-table.  I can't turn the clock back, we can't change what happened.

And I've not seen Boy A's mum at school gates yet.  I don't know what I'll say.

Least said, soonest mended?

All my own work!

'Time for bed' said Zebedee.  Boing!!.  Keep it sweet.  Kat.

OK, I lied...

Just had to share this joke I heard on BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour yesterday:

Why did the menopausal chicken cross the road?  Because she bloody well wanted to!

:)  been smiling about that all day!

Anyhoo.  This is aimed at you ladies of a certain age.... but I don't mind who else reads it, you just might not 'get' it.

So, a little before Christmas I'd realised that I finally needed reading glasses.  I'd had laser surgery about 8 years ago, and they said that eventually I'd need glasses for reading. So I was prepared mentally, and annoyed by the children when they'd come up and show me something - by holding it close to my face and saying 'look at this Mummy!'.  And I'd say, 'No, that's too close!' and then move it to about arms length away.... the penny finally dropped, and I made my appointment at the optician.

I have now 2 pairs of reading glasses (Boots Opticians, great deal, 2 pairs £79!), one in my handbag, with string, which I wear around my neck at the Library. And the second pair I keep by my bedside for reading at night.  And it's better.  And I don't mind at all.  And I quite like the day time ones, they've got a retro 60's secretary styling about them which is a little bit wacky... well, I think it is and they make me smile.

So, here's the nub of it.  For ladies of a certain age.

This morning, as I took my shower, I realised as I was shaving my armpits that I actually couldn't see what I was doing....

Well, I'd realised that I can't see my arm pit some time ago, but this morning, in the shower, I was actually considering whether it would be better to shave in the shower with my reading glasses on. Or would they mist up????

There you go, my first documented 'senior moment' (unless you know otherwise!).  I've been smiling to myself about that all day as well.

On that note, I'm out of here, Phoebe's by my elbow, finessing our rhyming couplets for the Treasure Hunt Party on Sunday.

Cherry plum or blackthorn? blossom, Folly Hill

Enjoy the weekend! Keep it sweet. Kat :)

In the interests of equality

I thought I ought to let you know which books are by Simon's side of the bed.  A sort of balancing act... hope you don't mind, is this too intimate?  No. Good.

As time has passed, and after Tom was born, Simon took the task of reading Phoebe's bedtime story - which was a good way for them to spend quality time as he often got back from work late..  Nowadays I do Tom's bedtime story, between 7.15-8.00pm and then Simon and Phoebe have their routine between 8.30-9.00pm usually.

So, he's got a few back issues of Runners World and Bike magazines.  Then he's got a rather wobbly pile of books something like this:

• Life, Keith Richards (Xmas or Birthday pressie from me)
• The Black Dahlia, James Ellroy
• Master & Commander, Patrick O'Brian (this was actually on my side of the bed first.  I wanted to read it after hearing it adapted for radio on Radio 4 some time ago.  I think he's finished reading it, so it'll come back to my side when he's back from the USA)
• One Good Turn; When Will There Be Good News?; Kate Atkinson
• Kensuke's Kingdom; The War of Jenkins' Ear; Little Foxes; all by Michael Morpugo (reading with Phoebe)
• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacs (Xmas pressie from me!)
• In The Evil Day, Peter Temple

and I think he's taken the Conan-Doyle 'Best of Sherlock Holmes' with him to the USA...

Simon likes crime, if you hadn't already guessed.  Our shelves downstairs have mostly all paperback collections of Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin, Reginald Hill and James Lee Burke.  I've read a couple of the James Lee Burke.  I enjoyed the deep south Louisiana/Missouri/Mississippi atmospheric descriptions very much, and the crime element was OK, not my preferred genre.  I'd give JLB the time of day again, if only there wasn't so much other stuff that I want to read!!!

So, onto other stuff.

Today, usual morning routine: get up, make tea, let dog out, get Tom milk, let hens out, shower, dry hair, get dressed, cajole kids to get dressed, breakfast, teeth, faces, school bags, drive to school.  Then, I walked Roly.  Took photos on the way(!).  Got back, put washing in.  Had cup of tea.  Made Tom's birthday cake.  Took washing out and hung it outside on the line to dry (things are looking up!).  Tidied kitchen windowsill, and cleaned kitchen windows inside and outside too!!!  Mopped kitchen floor and hall floor. Had a cup of tea.  Looked at ironing. Started to iron while floor drying.  Blew the fuses.  Stopped ironing, reset fuses, reset the boiler timer.  Took cake out of oven, had lunch.  Plucked eyebrows, took off nail varnish.  Cleaned out hen house, re-positioned hen house on fresh grass, collected 1 egg.  Had a cup of tea and hot cross bun.  Painted nails.  Went to collect children.  Popped into Budgens for a few bits and pieces. Came home, made kids sandwiches for supper (they get hot lunch at school). Took Tom to one-to-one swimming lesson - he did really well - got home, skyped Simon so Tom could tell him how well he did, cajoled Phoebe to do homework.  Cajoled Phoebe to go running club training. Did Tom's bedtime story routine.  Roly and I walked round to leisure centre to collect Phoebe from training.  Sat down to write blog.  Phew. NFK. (normal for Kat).  Guess what? The ironing's still there...  and there's always tomorrow!  9.30pm as I write this and it's getting to my bedtime.

So this morning's efforts on the photo front, I'm quite happy with this:

Daffodils at the Folly

I've got busy few days coming up, so may be quiet for a while (at last, I hear you cry!!!).  I'm working at Library tomorrow and Saturday morning.  Simon's back from USA early Saturday morning. Then we've got Tom's 6th birthday party - treasure hunt, on Sunday afternoon, and his actual birthday's on  Monday... and Tuesday 13th March happens to be the library's 40th birthday, and there's celebrations planned for that as well.  Phew!

Night night, sleep tight! Thanks for reading.  Kat :)

The Joy of ...

... dog-walking.

I promised this a couple of blogs back and got side-tracked.  oops.

So. If you don't like talking to people DON'T get a dog.

They're ice-breakers.  In the park, on the Ridgeway, round the Folly, in the car-park with spotty dog in the back of the car, walking to the shops, or on any of the innumerable walks and holidays we go on with Roly, people stop and talk to us.  And, if we've left him at home, they don't.  Unless they know us and then they ask 'Where's Roly?'.

Now, I'm not backwards when it comes to talking to people, but having Roly is the perfect entre.  A cheery 'good morning' as you pass from opposite directions, a hurried 'sorry' if he's pestering someone/some dog, or scrounging from a picnic/child, or a full blown apology from other dog owners if their dog's taken a dislike to Roly.  As if.

No, actually there are a couple of dogs (naming no names, you know who you are..) who take exception to our handsome dalmation.  I'm sure it's jealousy....  The little yappy one in town, and the rescue king charles who always has a go.  The owners are always very apologetic, and if at all possible they'll take avoiding action before any embarassing behaviour by their dogs.  But when taken by surprise I'm always keen to smooth their feathers/anxiety, and Roly's usually taken a step or two back.  Not that he's scared, normally just puzzled, a sort of 'Why wouldn't you be my friend??' sort of thing.  I mean you sniffed my bum, so can't I now sniff yours??? sort of thing.

So you get to exercise yourself.  Daily.  Come rain, shine, snow, sleet, wind, and/or all together (this morning!!).  Obviously, you're doing it for the dog, but the fringe benefit is yours.  Fresh air, lots of.  Different, interesting locations - this is up to you!  Changing scenery - the great outdoors is the best picture show and costs nothing.  Changing sounds.  And the regular conversation with other dog-walkers who you get to know.

Actually on the sounds front, I thought they were re-shooting Apocalypse Now yesterday.  The omninous sound of helicopter engines had me stopped a couple of times, trying to pinpoint which direction they were coming from, over the brow of Folly Hill.  As I dropped down towards the A420, they made their appearance and I thought over and done with, but no, they flew a wide arc and then, for whatever reason, appeared to be trying to catch a thermal as they circled one another, gradually gaining height, until as I'd walked on they got higher they disappeared into a cloud.  I half expected to hear The Ride of the Valkeryies (sp?) blasting out!!  Now there's a memorable scene from a film. Visceral.  Gives me goose bumps now just thinking about it...  but I digress.

I stopped one morning last week to listen to birdsong.  I managed to separate out the mistle thrush, as I'd spotted him in the tree - no leaves still, so if they're at a reasonable height, then identification is pretty much OK.  And, when it's helicopter free, the birds make a lovely soundtrack to the dog-walk. I've also noticed that the blackthorn blossom is now out, and I think the hawthorn has some leaves sprouting at the bottom of the hill.

There's a sort of dogwalkers conversation etiquette.  If your dogs have stopped to have a sniff, then as their owners you kind of feel obliged to do the same - have a chat, not sniff!!  It can be brief, or longer, as the mood takes you, and I've found other owners are usually very pleased to tell you everything (you maybe didn't want to know) about their dog. But, you can pick up tips.  Anything from which vet charges too much, to have you tried your dog on cod-liver oil?  And you pick up local gossip/interest/opinion.  And if your dogs meet regularly, as often they do, you will eventually learn that Alfie's mum and dad are called Karen and Dave, and so on. For many months you will refer to the owners as Major's mum, Ben's mum or Lusaka's dad. You find out why the dogs are called what they are. And there's plenty to talk about on that one.  Much as why did you call your child Phoebe?

And you get to see interesting things.

If I didn't have a dog to walk, a couple of years ago, I'd have missed the man ferreting the rabbits at the Folly.   I was fascinated, never having seen it in real life, so I stopped to chat with him. Seems he'd a contract to clear the warren as they wanted to do new planting, and the rabbits would have ruined the improvements.  Apparently he'd received some verbal abuse along the lines of 'f***ing bunny murderer', and he was intrigued to learn that I supported what he was doing, although I'd volunteered that I was vegetarian...

As we spoke, he collected the chased rabbit from the netting, and warned Roly to stay away, as the next thing out of the hole was the ferret - swiftly captured by the man's father, also on hand for the job. As the conversation progressed, he carefully de-netted the rabbit, and, without skipping a beat, had calmly wrung its neck, quick as you like.  It seemed a speedy and humane way for the rabbit to be despatched.  I asked him what he did with the carcasses, and he said there was a game dealer who'd take them from him.  I asked him how many he'd caught. He said he'd just finished the contract, and had had 500 rabbits in 3 weeks.  I thanked him for the chat, and bid him farewell.  Later that week I spotted fresh rabbits hanging in the butchers window in Faringdon, £4 each. Country pursuits in harmony with the countryside.  Strong opinions from a non-meat eater!

I doubt that Roly's quick enough for a rabbit, but I know he can catch a rat. I've seen him. Three times.  And I'll tell you about that next time!

Through the trees, towards the Vale

Thanks for reading!  Keep it sweet.  Kat :)

Books by my bedside...

There are too many!!!

Tom's got a pile of books on the go.  We're moving onto Dick King Smith, but still enjoying Terry Jones' The Lady and the Squire, and have a Charlie Small lined up, and there's a Jennings collection underneath Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.  All that to look forward to and he's not yet six years old!  He's also got a sturdy Waitrose bag which we keep the library picture books in - there's usually a dozen or so, and we'll have a couple of those a night as well.

I've actually tidied my pile of books up recently.  Some got relegated to the shelves downstairs, unread as yet, but I eye them up longingly when I'm in the front room... About to join them is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby.  What a pleasure that book was, so well written, so easy to read, short chapters (perfect for me) that painted such vivid pictures, but immensely moving.  I could read it over again, and probably will, but there's so much waiting.

I have now finished The Ghost Road (Pat Barker, 3rd of the Regeneration Trilogy).  Compelling, troubling, satisfying and has been returned to the Library.

I have a system when it comes to reading.  I'll have a 'good' or 'serious' book - something that will stretch me, a classic maybe, a translation, something worthy which I'll feel has enriched my life and educated me a little, or made me think....  Then I'll reward myself with a favourite author, someone comforting, easy, humourous, Terry Pratchett, Janet Evanovich or Alexander McCall Smith are my usual fallbacks.

And I can only read one book at a time.  Just can't keep more in my head, and it would feel like I was being unfaithful somehow, if I didn't give them my full attention....  So I've just started the latest (to me) Mma Ramotswe The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency story - The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, by Alexander McCall Smith.  I deserve something light - after the 1st World War Trilogy of Regeneration!

Recently moved downstairs unread, (but longing to be back by my bedside) are:

• Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H.Lawrence (I've not read it!  I know... I feel I ought to have by now); 
• St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, short stories by Karen Russell (found this in children's section of Douglas House Charity Shop in Abingdon.  Thought it may do for Phoebe, but on closer inspection it's more adult and is likened to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I have read all his books in the past and have adored the 'magic realism' genre); 
• The Bookseller of Kabul, Asne Seierstad (I've become fascinated by Afghanistan/Pakistan and want to read around to understand the culture/situation - hence my love of Greg Mortensen's Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools and appreciation of Khalid Housseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns); 
• One Day, David Nicholls (to see what the fuss is about); 
• March, Geraldine Brooks; 
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne (will read it first before Phoebe gets it)...  there are actually more, but they're more wedged on the shelf.

Still under my bed - so more likely to be read this year!

• The Return, Victoria Hislop (I'm told not as good as The Island, but will give it a go, and looking forward to The Thread in paperback); 
• Natural Alternatives to HRT, Marilyn Glenville (I dip into this when I need it); 
• Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor (loved If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things); 
• Before I Go To Sleep, SJ Watson (Simon passed this on, to see what the fuss is about);
• Diary of a Dog-Walker, time spent following a lead, Edward Stourton (he's a columnist and Radio 4 sometime presenter/current affairs) it's diary/column format, and I'm actually half-way through it, but then got involved in the Regeneration triology, so put it down.  Should finish it really, quite easy going, so won't take long!

So much to read, so little time!!!  And the problem is, I'm a compulsive book buyer.  So combined with me being a slow reader - by way of I enjoy spending time reading, hopefully immersed in the wordcraft of the author - it's apparent that there's a lack of space in the house for the books I already possess and continually add to!  Is there a Book Buyer Anonymous organisation out there?   Maybe I should start one....  Luckily I'm also a skinflint, so I never (almost) buy books new - mainly in charity shops, which as we all know is a win-win situation, or Amazon if I'm looking for something specific.  And I do donate to charity shops as well, so it all goes around...

All this talk of reading's making me hungry to be back with my book. So I'll bid you all a good night, and will sneak off to bed for my next chapter of The Saturday Big Tent Wedding.  Can't wait!

Thanks for reading, keep it sweet.  Kat  :)

A public apology!

I'm sorry.  I must apologise to Faringdonians for leaving behind Roly's business last Thursday.  It was foggy.  Very foggy.  I mean, REALLY foggy.  I almost lost the dalmation - thank goodness for his spots!

Here's the thing.  I drop the kids off at school, and then take Roly for our morning constitutional around the big Folly Field.  The outer circuit of Faringdon's lovely beauty spot/architectural blight (depends on your point of view, and I've spoken to people whilst dog walking there who have polar opposite opinions on the Folly..) takes around 20 mins in a hurry, and 30 mins at a leisurely pace/stopping to chat, and is the perfect place to let your dog do what dogs do best - roam free.  Off lead.  Sniffing, darting, hunting, trailing, jigging, zigging, darting again, hither and thither, back and beyond, off lead, the call of the wild, the call of the dog, the freedom to just ...  be.

Faringdon Folly

And to poo.

So, normally, when Roly's doing his business, he's run on ahead to find the perfect spot.  How he judges this one can only ... well, do we really have to wonder what goes on in head?  And I'm trailing behind, huffing and puffing in his wake, trying to triangulate in my head the exact spot where the deposit has been made.  Sometimes I'll find it straight away, and sometimes the blade of grass, the errant weed, the twig, bush (bird, no, that's silly, even for me!) or whatever I've used to take my bearings, will have moved by the time I've got there, and it can take a good while to do the right thing, and scoop the poop.

And that's all well and good excepting for brown leaves.....  OMG.  The minutes of my life I've spent looking for poop in leaves.  And, honestly, I'll say that sometimes, it gets left behind....  If I'm feeling particularly guilty about not finding what I seek, and I see another dog's poop, I may scoop that instead and call the slate clean, so to speak.

Misty morning from Folly Hill

So, sorry for last Thursday Faringdon, but with all the fog I couldn't triangulate (love that word!!!) on anything, and by the time I'd got near to where I thought it was, the dog, and the world, had blurred away, and I couldn't find a thing.

Can't stay long with you tonight.  I'm onto the last 3 chapters of The Ghost Road, and determined to finish it tonight!  I've got my quiz for the WI done today, which leaves me tomorrow and Thursday to create a Treasure Hunt birthday party clue set for Tom's 6th birthday party on 11th March (his b-day is the 12th).  Not panicking (how do you spell that word??), yet!!!

Love you and leave you, thanks for reading, keep it sweet!  Kat