Tag: Shropshire

Wart Hill Wanderings

Some may have noticed that I haven’t been prolific on here since our move to the countryside back in March. Some may have not. We’ve just been very busy exploring and making sure that the house is getting toward what we want it to be like. Then of course that stuffy work thing rears its ugly head for our assistants.

In any case we have been exploring and the miles under our paws seem to be increasing. We are starting to go to different places and expand our horizons, both metaphorically and physical (I suspect they weren’t words you thought you’d hear from a beagle). Last weekend was no exception when Lenny and I were bundled into the car and we set off along the narrow lanes to, well, who knew where. In this case our parents knew but didn’t bother telling us beagles in our travel crates.

Once parked the boot was opened and the vista was far ranging.

Thats Wales over there.

Unloaded from our comfy travel beds we proceeded into the field via the kissing gate and set our sights up hill along the path.

Lenny looking to go to the cow field

Within 50 paces we were swiftly halted as there was livestock in the field we were supposed to be crossing and let’s just say that livestock and me don’t mix. Chalk and cheese, oil and water etc. Not wanting to recreate any battle we were abruptly turned round and marched down the hill, across the narrow lane and through another gate toward a wooded hill. Now we’re talking! Lenny looked at me, I reciprocated and off we charged, baying and shouting until we reached the extent of our leads and realised we were attached to a parent. They always spoil our intended off lead shenanigans. Through the path close to the bracken, up the hill, turn right and left, back track to a viewpoint and then down the path.

The Long Mynd (one day we will get there)

Turn right then left, traverse the boggy patches on the path, avoid the bracken with its resident ticks (revolting things) and then out into the day light with a small pond nearby. Around the pond, up the hill and then to the road where we turned left and followed the curve of the road back to where the car was parked. We had walked this road before and typically our parents had not taken any pictures. When we got back to the car we were unceremoniously returned to our prison cells for the journey home.

We are trapped. Look at our forlorn faces.

Arriving home we assumed the customary position of snoozing whilst the day went on around us giving us time to dream of our next adventure as well as think about blogging more often.

A pair of country dogs

My friends, I have been quiet recently and now I think it is time I let you all know why I have not been on here as much as I would like.

Lenny and I noticed that over the last few months of 2023, and more so until now in early 2024, that quite a few things have been disappearing into boxes and stored away into rooms that we are not allowed access to. We thought it was weird as we had encountered this before when we were told that we had been moved from our house with the lovely garden in the Chilterns to a posh new kennel, sorry a posh new house, closer to the seaside in West Sussex. What made us more suspicious was that we had also been taken out on short walks at different times of the day over the course of about 4-6 weeks, but we weren’t complaining as it was a walk, after all. Gradually our toys and beds were hidden away over the last few months and we were being barred from some rooms in the house.

Goodbye kitchen
Lenny, get out of bed!

We weren’t even allowed to say goodbye properly to our old house as we were made ready for our journey.

Is that it? Where are all my toys?

Well, it seems that our parents have hoodwinked us both again as we were loaded into the car and driven north by northwest for a few hours to be deposited in a half furnished house that had some of our beds, toys and food already in place.

Mum decided to take the busiest part of the motorway.

We recognised the smell of the house as it was where we had met up with our friend Griff back in November 2023 when we stayed for a week, apparently for a holiday. Yesterday the men who had stolen all our things on Tuesday arrived at the new house to give them all back to us. We were of course very happy to see them again and greeted them accordingly. We weren’t allowed to help the men though, for some reason. We made sure that our beds, food and toys were unboxed very quickly.

Some of our stuff (please ignore the Tring Brewery bags. Dad is to blame)

Sadly that also meant that the leads and harnesses came out of the boxes far, far too early for our liking.

This is now our “forever kennel” so Lenny and I can enjoy ourselves when the parents get the stuff sorted out. We have explored the field opposite, pulled our parents along the lane in front of the house, Lenny has been off lead in our lovely new garden and we have spent the last two nights sleeping merrily in our beds. It hasn’t stopped raining yet, which is a pity. We can see sheep in the field, we’ve watched a Red Kite take off from the hedge in front of the house and even saw a bat flitting around in the dusk on our walk last evening. All in all it’s a good start to our new life and home in Shropshire. We are promised walks to so many different places that we want to go and see them all at once. We have some tour guides lined up for when we are sorted out in the house a little more, which will be good as it might stop raining by then.

Our new kennel.

We will try to write more often once we have some of our belongings a little more sorted out.