Dog Walk

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We have two main walk routes; this is the second. It starts off uneventfully through the churchyard;




and then heads off down mud alley to the woods. I hadn't walked this way since the thaw, because I knew it would be like this:


Just as bad as I had thought, but I keep telling myself lugging that much mud around on the boots is good for my thigh muscles.
There is a terrible pigeon problem locally. I have disturbed flocks that must number in three figures, and they've wrought havoc on the crops. An awful lot of feedsacks on posts have materialised, but there is also this splendid scarecrow. So clever.









Just round this corner I saw a muntjac. Dog completely missed it, despite being much closer to it than me. She did pick up the scent when she crossed it but decided not to hurtle off into the quarry (left) to go after it, thankfully. The muntjac have been much more obvious than normal. Yesterday I saw one about to cross the road as I was driving out of the village; presumably they're hungry.





I love silver birch trunks, and there's a row of them at the edge of the churchyard.
Tonight our four new hens arrive. We've decided, after much mulling, to put them straight in with the girls while they're all roosting, and hope for the best. Up early tomorrow to police them. I hope I'll be able to photograph them but had better not promise anything in case they Do Not Get On and OH and I have to spend our weekend quarantining them into the vegetable garden, which frankly could do with their attentions.

Comments

Anonymous said…
LOVE your dog walking photo's! Dog walking is my "me" time - it keeps me mentally sane...well kind of !!! Love the photo's of your new hens too - we're down to only two at the moment and even they are making a mess of the back garden because we can no longer let them play in the woods "out back" because Dotty (a hen) was taken by a fox recently in broad daylight! Hmmm not sure any of that comment make sense - feeling very gramatically challenged these days!!! Ali
19 January 2009 at 13:28
Jane Badger said…
Oh bad luck with DOtty. The foxes seem very brave at the moment, and a friend told me she was walking up the path past the church the other day to be met by a fox, who was quite unconcerned. I've been letting the dog wander out back as she does seem to put the foxes off a bit. Do you plan to get more hens in the Spring?
20 January 2009 at 11:33
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