beagles – Page 3

Nearly in Wales

As we awoke yesterday Lenny and I had little idea of what was being planned for us. All seemed normal as we were released into the garden for some serious pigeon and rabbit bothering, accompanied with the song of the breed wafting on the slight breeze across the fields. When we were hastily harnessed we thought nothing was awry but we stopped at the car on the way out of the garden. Adventures! 😀

Duly loaded into our prison cells we went along the lane, right, left, right, under the bridge and then followed the road. Around thirty minutes later we pulled up to a parking spot under the shade of a tree and were safely discharged to begin our shenanigans. Away from the car we went over a wooden footbridge which Lenny took carefully as he could see the river flowing beneath his paws. Along the path, up the slope, circle right, left and then crest the first hillock and there is was, the ruins of Clun Castle sitting atop the hill. Lenny scented a rabbit in the long grass whilst I was off toward the ruins for an explore. My exuberance was short lived however as I was stopped so we could read the sign that told us some history about the location. 🙄

We pressed on to the great tower and looked out over the countryside which was into Wales into a westerly direction.

The town lay below us so Lenny and I were anxious to stroll around the town. Our assistants had other ideas and we forgot momentarily that we were still attached to them so we had to “behave” ourselves on the downward slopes and paths. Left past the bowling green, right up the lane, right again at the end of the road and right again along the high street. Then it was into the Square, left down the hill into the river Clun for a drink.

Then we retraced our steps slightly as we realised we hadn’t walked too far and there was more to explore.

We were enjoying this. Strolling past small shops selling some lovely things, we wandered right up along another footpath and then wondered why there were so many people all in the playing field. There was a running race taking place which looked like it could be fun, however we were told in no uncertain terms that Lenny and I were not doing any running. So we decided to try and pull as much as possible to as many scents as possible along the lane, which led down to a ford in the river where I waded in to get a drink and Lenny stood on the fringes as he’s not really a water hound. Once our thirsts were quenched it was up the hill toward St Georges Church. Some parts of the church date back to the 12th century but much of it was rebuilt in the 1800’s. We saw a sign that said there were Commonwealth War Graves within the churchyard so we paid our respects to the fallen by being really quiet whilst our parents read the roll of honour on the plaque. Then we were off down the hill and back toward the car. Thankfully it was parked under a tree so it wasn’t too warm. Lenny fair leapt into the boot, albeit into my travel crate but I didn’t mind. It is good to see him getting more at ease with travelling in the car.

Back home and our breakfasts were taken, after which, it was time for a snooze and then watch as the parents tried to make our garden into something less of a scrub patch.

And before anyone says anything I did not mess about, eat garden stuff, try to wind up Lenny or wander around bored looking for trouble. All in all a fun walk with plenty of scents and sights. I think I might go back. After all we were nearly in Wales. Only a few more miles and we can say we’ve crossed the border.

I never realised

Until I blogged yesterday I hadn’t realised what we had done between our adventures on the train to Ludlow in late March and our sojourn to Wart Hill last Sunday. Here is a precis of our shenanigans, sorry I meant to say our adventures. 😀

Firstly Lenny discovered Sallow Coppice, a small wood close by Stokesay Wood. He said it was so quiet and pretty that he needed to explore every leaf, twig and fallen branch. Our dad however had different ideas.

We welcomed another beagle parent to our house, this time one from Houston Texas who was visiting the UK. We got chew toys which we played with quite nicely.

The field in front of our house dried out significantly and I could stroll down by the river, taking in all the sights and scents that accompany a meadow.

Sometimes Lenny and I are walked separately as avid readers will remember. We tend to drag our respective parent around after the same scent so they think its calming for us to walk separately to discover new things. In this regard Lenny found the back road to the next little hamlet of Lower Dinchope which he eagerly explored.

In the meantime I was discovering Stokesay Castle and all its interesting features. We swapped stories and then adventures at a later date.

In early May we accepted the offer of a guided tour from our good friend Griff to go and explore the bluebells at Hope Bowlder. Griff is a rescue like Lenny and me, so we always try to look out for his wisdom.

Lenny and I then swapped routes and he discovered Stokesay Castle, whilst I strolled up to Dinchope to see what all the fuss was about.

The route toward a place called Sibdon Cawood was next to be crossed off our list of places to explore. This walk involved traversing fields of wheat or barley as well as strolls down very quiet lanes. I must admit that there is a welcome dearth of traffic here.

At the end of May we had a visitor from Yorkshire, another beagle called Hector. We couldn’t play as he had a poorly paw and I was very overexcitable so we were banned from exploring the garden without supervision. Actually we were banned from the garden, full stop.

Then we took on the challenge of a 10 km circuit around Wart Hill via Cheney Longville which is a village named in the Domesday Book. Our exertions caused us to feel rather tired for a few days after our walk, which cheered our parents up for some reason. 🙄

Lenny decided to take dad to a place called Flounders Folly as a precursor to all four of us making the trip some weeks later.

The road past Stokesay Castle and the path through the lower part of the wood was the next assault on Lenny’s visual and nasal senses, with him doing the precursory legwork for a future visit.

In early July we made sure that everyone who went to vote was behaving themselves.

This was followed by our combined trip to Flounders Folly for a lovely view over the surrounding countryside.

Finally we welcomed another beagle visitor to our area. River was visiting Griff and we were so happy to show her around the meadow.

In between all these excursions we have been making sure that the fields and side roads, especially those leading to the Discovery Centre have been regularly pounded.

Phew, I never knew we packed so much into our first 4.5 months. I think I need to go and lie down.

Being senior

Well here I am once more seeking to justify my lack of blog entries over the last few weeks. I cannot excuse myself from my inability to blog more often, I am merely becoming older and those things that took a short time a while back now seem to be taking longer. You know the sort of thing, going upstairs, eating breakfast, climbing into one of my eleven beds (I have to share some of them with Lenny!) and bimbling around the garden amongst others.

In any case there hasn’t been a great deal happening apart from meeting up with Smudgey & Ted and their parents of course for a stroll around Stanmer park before they went off for a life affirming sojourn to European pastures. I did manage to pull like a freight train around Stanmer Park dragging mum behind me. I am not sure whether the muttering was directed at me or if it was complimentary. I was too busy pulling, snorting and trying to breath in every scent and sight as well as letting everyone else know I was there.

Back home for a few weeks it seems that Lenny and I have to be subjected to something called “watching the parents work and being quiet”. We can adequately achieve one of those goals but doing both at the same time is often beyond our capacity. It appears that this “work” they do allows us to be kept in the comfort we deserve and require so we aren’t allowed to complain too loudly.

I was in the garden last week for a pre bed time wander with Lenny. We are allowed out so we can do what we need to do and then we are forced to laze about in our beds (he has a cave bed befitting a vampiric being) all night. I have the unfortunate trait of getting acid reflux so I need to eat small amounts regularly through the day and night so constant sleep for everyone is a little unusual to be honest. When I wake up I tend to wake up Lenny and then we work our canine magic on mum who dishes out the treats. This can happen 3-4 times a night so we’ve got used to seeing the parents wake up and stagger around looking like zombies from a B-Movie in the morning. Anyway back to the garden and pre bed strolling. Dad accompanies us outside on these occasions and he was watching me to make sure I “behave”. He shone the torch toward me, I looked up at him and he felt very sad to see that my eyes had greyed over, and my coat glistened all white in the torch light. I wandered back and got some tickles but I could feel the sadness in his fingers as he stroked my ears. The realisation had hit him that I am an old fella now. As I lolloped (look it up) upstairs to bed I could hear him sighing behind me.

This picture was taken when we were allegedly plotting chicanery and shenanigans. Mum saw it and felt so sad because she said I look so old. I’m thirteen and a half apparently, I am a bit shaky when I am trying to relax, if I exert myself when walking then my legs start shaking and I have to approach the leap onto the sofa or chair as a leap of faith. I am on some pills to try and stop me aching so much and sometimes they work. I still grumble quite a bit when I am getting belly rubs.

I’m not sure about this growing old malarkey but I will approach it with my usual aplomb and lack of complaint.

Lenny goes to Leonardslee

We were rudely awoken at some unearthly hour. The tree surgeons were outside to trim some trees and clearly we weren’t to be allowed to snooze.

Strangely we only went out on a fairly short walk and found ourselves returned swiftly to our breakfast. Soon after we witnessed the commotion of our parents being busy and getting the car ready for an unexpected jaunt. Into the car and along the road, turn right left and then we found ourselves being divested at somewhere we had never been to before. Welcome to Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens. Lenny and I looked at each other and hoped it would be as good as the day we spent at the Lost Gardens of Heligan a few weeks ago.

As we waited for dad to pay we announced ourselves to everyone in the reception area. Then it was into the gardens themselves. Two hundred and forty acres it said on the sign. What a playground we thought as Lenny and I looked at each other with glee. Along the path and down the hill, left then right, stroll along by one of the seven lakes and then we heard a wonderful phrase uttered.

This way to the Deer Park. Oh this was going to be fun! Wallabies are here too! The potential for shenanigans had doubled in the course of two short sentences. Sadly our parents had pre-empted our ability to want to be silly and the leads were shortened, we were told to walk closer and we had to behave. Lenny and I took no notice of any of this as we entered the Deer Park enclosure. We strolled along sniffing and trying to scent the deer which were clearly one step ahead of us and hiding. We left the Deer Park enclosure having not encountered any deer or wallaby. Not even a squirrel presented itself for our jollity.

Back into the main part of the Leonardslee and we strolled through the Camellias, beneath the Rhododendron and around the Hydrangeas. Wandering back up the hill we then walked left and right, up hill and down hill taking in all the sights and smells. Lenny seemed to be flagging so we stopped for some water and even managed to snag some biscuits. Then we found ourselves back on our paws and into the gardens.

Down the hill and around another of the lakes, we strolled along the East Path and then the West Path. There were a large number of very nice statues which were around the gardens and we looked at them, sometimes with wonder.

Lenny was slowing down again in the warm summer sun so it was decided for us that we would gently stroll back to the car and return home. We had barely left the car park and Lenny had curled up in his bed for the journey home.

Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens are a good place to visit and very dog friendly. There is so much to explore that I think we will be going again to have more fun. We enjoyed it all.

And then there were four

Firstly I need to apologise if anyone has missed me during my absence. There is no single reason for me not being here so won’t try to excuse myself. I will bring you all up to date on things that have happened recently.

It started the same as any other Saturday morning on 10th June. One of the parents went off shopping and we went out for a quick bimble around the local lanes. It was warm, mighty warm and humid. So it was that we lazed around feeling listless whilst trying not to overdo anything.

Knock knock, aroo aroo. There was a commotion in the hallway and I found myself being attached to my harness and lead. Lenny and I were confined to a room whilst the visitors were allowed into my house. This wasn’t in the script for a Saturday. As we were released from our enforced captivity we found ourselves assailed by two fellow beagles who were accompanied by their parents. Smudgey and Ted beagles had arranged to come and visit us. It appears that we weren’t told about the impending visit.

Smudgey and Ted began immediately to investigate my house but I was kept on a lead as I couldn’t be trusted to behave myself correctly. Also I had a major operation earlier in the year and we didn’t want any relapses or injuries. We were allowed out in the garden to sniff and explore but it was so warm that none of us stayed out for too long. Then the parents started talking so we all decided to have a sleep. Suddenly we found ourselves rudely awakened as it was realised that the local paw paddock had been booked and they didn’t want to waste the chance to let us off for a run around. Off we went, under the road bridge, turn right, through the woods and then down the lane. Into view comes the paw paddock and we all anticipated a good run around with various shenanigans thrown into the mixture. The gates were closed behind us, we drank some water near the first gate and then entered the arena to await release.

Off the lead went Smudgey, Ted and Lenny but when I looked up at mum she told me, with her eyes, that I was too precious to be allowed off to be silly. We started to walk around the perimeter and I got to watch my furry brethren stroll about sniffing and exploring. It was mighty warm, and the shelter looked welcoming, as well as the bench in the middle of the paddock to give us all some welcome shade.

After forty minutes or so we strolled back to the pub and managed to snag a table outside so we could relax and listen to the parents chatter.

Back along the high street and we found ourselves at home where I was, finally, allowed off lead to have a good scent in my garden. I managed to stroll about for a while but then started to get too excited and was swiftly re-harnessed.

Smudgey and Ted told us they had to go somewhere else and we said our sad goodbyes. It was great to meet some new friends and have a lovely time showing them around our manor.

I know I have to be careful so I won’t be let off lead too often if we get visitors. All part of growing older I suppose.

Nothing to say, or say nothing

I am aware that I haven’t blogged in a while. My brain is in something of a cloud since I had my vet visit in January this year. I am due to go back for my annual boosters tomorrow as long as I am feeling better which, it seems, I am. As the vet didn’t get the results of my test back in time, they decided that my inoculations would wait so I get the pleasure of another trip there. Anyway it appears I have campylobacter Jejuni or some such ailment. Apparently its present, but dormant, in quite a few dogs and we live our lives in our free spirited way for most of the time. On this occasion though it seems that my campylobacter decided it wanted to have a big party and invited all its friends, even though we are still under some restrictions and I am not sure if I should be selling the pictures to the media. I shall report back in due course once the vet has seen me again and done the usual prodding and poking of my various areas. I am confident I am over the current bout of illness however.

Our walks have been taken separately due to Lenny and I still competing for the same scent at the same time, causing our parents to complain more loudly than usual of arms being pulled out of shoulders. We have heard rumours that if there was a Beagle Sled Dog Championship, we are front runners. Literally. The walks are the normal routes, although I have been jogging along with mum whilst Lenny takes longer walks with dad. We both return with tales to tell but only after we have chased one another around the house and indulged the neighbours ears with loud bouts of bitey face snout jousting shenanigans. To be honest, I am hoping that Spring arrives soon as it means the really muddy paths which we cannot go along currently will dry out and our parents will be able to navigate them successfully. It’s easy for us with four paw drive. We need more walks to explore and alleviate the tedium of the same three or four walks we are currently on. The views are ok, but I think we are missing the far reaching ones we had when we were patrolling around our old town. We’ve settled in to the new walks as we have been here for just over a year now. We do know where all the local squirrels and cats live which is always fun if the parents aren’t concentrating. Problem is that now they know I have a dicky tummy, the parents are on permanent lookout for field food which may find its way accidentally behind my teeth as I stroll along.

It’s nice here, better than the streets of Cyprus.

I cannot believe sometimes that it has been a year since we arrived in our new kennel. The time has just flown and I can’t keep up. I think we have made the house our own now, with beds and blankets strewn in strategic positions around the rooms. We have to listen to complaints about things being trip hazards but I am not sure it is our fault that the parents don’t look where they are going when they carry stuff.

I hope life gets a bit more interesting soon, as I am feeling a bit blue and melancholy at the moment. Maybe its age, maybe it’s my old bones or just having to live with Lenny. In any case, hurry up Spring as I am ready for some more adventures in the days ahead.

Good morning! Sometimes.

Since the news that our furry cousin, Minnie, went to the Rainbow Bridge there has been a bit of a dampener in the house. Not greatly helped by the weather yo-yo-ing between awful and terrible. Walking in the rain is a fun thing to do, I can vouch for that. Lenny isn’t as gleeful as I am when it comes to looking out of the door prior to our morning stroll and seeing the rain tumbling down. In fact he doesn’t much enjoy walks through the muddy fields either so I am a little worried that he isn’t really a Beagle at all. He even allowed a squirrel to stroll nonchalantly along the fence and never told me.

So our spirits were lifted somewhat this week as the weather has cleaned up its act and we have been able to stroll, sniff and try to eat field food just like we wanted to. I’ve been on shorter walks compared to Lenny although we have walked in the same direction, I generally turn around before he does. He needs the exercise more than I do. Since it is January the weather is changeable from one day to the next. We like it when its dry and cold as the scents tend to remain at ground level and we can bay loudly when we are on a trail. I’m not sure our parents are as happy as us being on a trail, as their arms tend to grow at different speeds. In any case we always try to stop every now and then to soak up the beauty of that which surrounds us.

We went from a beautiful sunrise over Chanctonbury (as above) on Monday to a real pea souper this morning over Shipley (as below).

I actually managed to get to see the pea souper this morning as I had the privilege of walking the male parent, even if I did have to listen to his grumbling about me pulling and jerking on the lead “like a toddler”. Apparently I’m eleven and a half and should know better.

What I do know is that cold, crisp days are great. May I see many more of them.

Safe and sound

It’s all grey, drizzly and dank out there. It is not as bad as it is predicted to be in the northern part of the UK and I am grateful that we won’t be sharing their wet, wild and windy weather on this occasion. I hope they all stay safe and secure though.

I’ve not blogged for a while, you may have noticed. I am currently under another cloak of feeling a bit blue, a little out of sorts and not having much to talk about really. We are jogging along, doing our thing Lenny and I. We still play bitey face, chase squirrels along the fence and pull on the lead on walks much to the annoyance of whichever parent we are attached to at the time. I was accused today of being a three year old dog in an eleven year old furry skin. I had been pulling, huffing and puffing after so many scents that my brain went into sensory smell overload to the detriment of my other (alleged) senses. I arrived home, aroooed at the top of my voice, got some breakfast and then crashed out on a sofa. I am quite proud of my efforts if I am honest. They should be happy I am so active.

Lenny has been out on separate walks from me for the majority of the week as, when are together, we tend to bounce off one another and compete to get to the scent first. Apparently this isn’t good for human arm sockets so our parents cheated and walked us separately. Not that it mattered as even on our separate walks we managed to jerk and pull like a couple of idiots. I think we won that little discussion.

Anyway what I wanted to say is that, during my miasma of brain fog, I have been thinking about stuff and things. Lenny and I have also been talking about said stuff and things and we have decided that we are happy beagles. We are loved, looked after and we are safe and sound. There is an allegation that this picture proves how happy we are. I wouldn’t know, as I am asleep.

An unexpected journey

Off we go for our walk this morning, little knowing what the day held. Down through the town and back through the little wooded area. I have been on shorter walks recently due to the allegation that I may have overdone my longer walk last Sunday and injured my wrist. What is an eleven year old beagle harrier supposed to do? Walk nicely? Anyway we returned home to have some breakfast and then wandered about whilst we allowed our parents to have some food too.

Suddenly we were re-harnessed, found ourselves strolled up and down a local road and then back to the car. This was different and I was extremely surprised to see Lenny jump straight into his travel crate. Hmm, what did he know that I didn’t? Off we went up the road, turn right, under the big road, left, right and a few more turns we arrived at a multi storey car park. Wow, if this was our final destination, it was a bit boring. Once our parents had worked out how to work the parking meter we found ourselves heading toward another ticket machine. Two tickets were delivered and we pulled our parents onto the train station. As the train pulled in, we tried to get on before the doors opened. We got reminded that this was criminally stupid and we should calm down. There were quite a few people on the train but we weren’t allowed to say hello. Ugh good grief, parents can be really boring sometimes. We whizzed along toward our destination and, all the while, the train filled with more people for us to try and befriend.

Quick sharp you two, we are here, was the call that Lenny and I got. As we exited the train we breathed in and then coughed as we tasted the stale air. London! We are in London. As neither Lenny or I can read we had to rely on the station announcer telling everyone this is London Bridge. Excellent, let the shenanigans commence. As we descended from the platform into the street the number of people increased dramatically. Our parents looked at one another with dread and fear etched on their faces. Anyway Lenny and I had other ideas so we quickly pulled them in the direction of London Bridge itself.

As we crossed we laughed and bumped into one another.

Turn right at the top and then stroll down Eastcheap and into Great Tower Street.

Past the Tower of London and we strolled quickly across Tower Bridge before finally turning right again into Tooley Street and back to the station.

All too soon we found ourselves on the return train back home and our adventure was nearly over.

For some reason we slept all the way home in the car and crashed out on our sofas after we had eaten our food. Sometimes we have good surprises from our parents.

Borde not bored.

Phew what a scorcher. It’s been hot and humid around these parts recently. We have been walking early in the morning to avoid the heat later in the day. I knew it was tropical down here when I moved, but this is a bit much at the moment. Apparently this warm weather has a distinct benefit in that Lenny and I seem to be lazier and more likely to sleep for longer.

When we woke up this morning we were quickly onto our paws for a try through the local wood and then along the farm track. Turning round at the bottom of the track wasn’t exactly in the plan despite it being rather warm and humid. We arrived home and breakfast was provided in reasonable order. Suddenly we were put back into our harnesses and the car was opened. This was most peculiar! Off we set for places unknown. Lenny and I looked at each other quizzically. Left and right, along roads and through a town, under the railway bridge and then left again. “Come on you two, out you get” was the command and we of course obeyed. Welcome to Borde Hill Gardens said the sign. It was warm but we were looking forward to seeing what this place was all about. When we were checking in, we each got a biscuit from the nice lady at the entrance. Armed with a map and pulling our parents along we decided to explore the gardens of this lovely old house. We strolled (read pulled and yanked on our leads) along the paths and up to the wooded walk. It was cool and there were many scents of squirrel and deer in the woods. We yelled noisily for a while until we were instructed to sit and be calm. I looked at Lenny, who was looking at me knowingly. They had no chance of anything like calm or sense being forthcoming.

Avenues of Lavender? Where are the squirrels?

We went up hill and through woodland paths, downhill and along manicured lawns. We went to the Italian gardens and even managed to politely avoid getting some tasty morsels when strolling close to the cafe.

All too soon we were directed to the car for the return journey. When we fell asleep quickly after we got home, it was deemed to be a good end to the trip.

What a great place is Borde Hill Gardens. Very dog friendly and very pretty gardens. We enjoyed ourselves greatly and we would recommend to pals to visit if they are in the area.