Lucy meets 'bog monsters'....

Did yesterdays visit to the trails manage to dispel my melancholy mood I here you ask? Well if you have little time upon your hands and you just require the summary then the short answer is yes, indeed a hundred times yes! For those of you who have the leisure of not caring about time passing by, then you are more than welcome to read on.

As soon as I abandoned the keyboard we threw our selves into the fun cruiser which, apart from fresh water, generally has everything now permanently loaded that we require for going walking upon impulse. I wasn’t expecting to do more than a couple of miles as the air was humid and oppressive, walking in this heavy atmosphere was unlikely to lift my mood a great deal or endear me to the bog monster for that matter, who was likely to spend any distance further than a mile panting and looking generally morose! We headed up to the woods at Nercwys, driving through a cloud burst of a shower. Result, the downpour had freshened the air no end and as we tumbled from the car, eager to be on our way, birdsong rose to a crescendo all around us as the birds welcomed the suns rays spearing through thinning cloud.

As we delved deeper into the woods I was awestruck by the recent growth that the past warm and wet spell had induced in the local flora. The vegetation was now rapidly encroaching upon the trails covering everything with a bright green carpet. And the smells, only in the woods can odours like this after a flash downpour fill your senses and lift you spiritually and almost bodily so that you feel as if your floating instead of my usual heavy footed tramping, wondrous indeed.

Our route would shortly take us alongside and then beyond a recently reconstructed garden wall. The garden belonged to a solitary cottage (of which now even the footings are not really visible in the undergrowth) that existed here when the land was moorland, before managed woods took over. In recent months the walls have been reconstructed by a group of volunteers under the direction of the forestry commission and now produce what initially looks like a coral in the middle of the woods. I had thought that this was to be the last of the work done here but as we approached the gateway of the ‘coral’ Lucy started showing much more than a passing interest to whatever was within the dry stone wall enclosed space. I approached carefully hoping to observe some wildlife that had piqued Lucy’s interest. Well there was certainly an animal within, but not what I’d expected.

I counted eight of the little tykes and oh boy were they cute (although for some reason I couldn’t help but think of apple sauce at the time). I’m at a loss as to the reason that they have been placed here, time allowing I’ll have a scan on the commission’s web site and see if there is any information about them. I think that they are Tamworth pigs although there may well be a little Gloucester Old Spot in them. With a sense of well being we headed around the final few miles of our track, Lucy using the puddles as cooling posts at every opportunity.

As we approached the car park we came across a clump of welsh poppies, ablaze against the back drop of the stone wall.

Had the walk done the trick, well apart from my legs aching like the devil, yes I was able to survive last night’s shift, the ache serving to remind me of where my footfalls had been, and where they may well take me in the future. It is certainly better to get ‘out there’ instead of just wishing for a change in fortune. Well it's off to bed for me now, one more twelve hour night to go and then off for a week catching up on quality time with Clare.

Thank you for reading, take care,

John

Flotsam and Jetsam

Well here I am in between twelve hour day and night shifts working through ‘the grind’, I guess you could say that this part of my shift rota is ‘being in limbo’. I really do despise this part of the rota, trying to ensure that I’m not too knackered for this evening’s twelve hour stint whilst at the same time not wanting to waste my waking hours sitting on my backside being melancholy about the whole nightshift thing. I use the time to play a little catch up with my fellow bloggers; this sometimes raises a smile, drops a tear, gives me ideas for the trail or just imparts some knowledge that I was previously lacking. Then after this I’ll scratch around trying to fill my time but with one eye always on my driving master; the clock. Oh how I truly long to be free of time and its constraints, to just rise with first light and drift off to deep and sated sleep when the evening wraps me in her dark mantle.

Earlier I visited the local charity shops, these, along with weekend car boot sales, provide Clare and me with all manner of good stuff, from items to sell upon the dreaded E-bay to tools for the garden, from items to adorn the home with to cloth bears for Lucy to play with. 

This time there was little in the form of treasure for this ol’ pirate to pass on at a healthy profit to his unsuspecting customers upon the bay, but a trinket, nay a jewel did indeed come to pass to my hands. This treasure I speak of I hear you ask with baited breath? a book! A book that I’ve never read fully, but I’ve seen the film and also caught snippets of quotes from it along the way of my life. It’s a book that I’ve wanted to dive into but you know me, being the frugal pirate that I am the price always has to be the first consideration for these luxury items. So I’ve strolled home with a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea in excellent condition and its black n white illustrations are a joy. I’ll save it for tomorrow, for that time when this ol’ pirate rises from his bunk, his head buzzing with tiredness and probably some wrath at tonight’s shift (that never seems to go well) and enter it’s world with a cup of tea beside me and Lucy looking at me reproachfully from by my feet, just passing the time till the last shift of the rota from hell.

As soon as I've abandoned the keyboard here I going to take Lucy up the trails, yes my legs will ache later on in the early hours of the morning but hey, the choice is simple; the trails with old smelly or being grouchy watching the clock…….

Take care, your friend John

Update on Celt

Just a quick update on Wayne's whippet, Celt, before I settle down to smoked bacon, cabbage and Cheshire new potatoes smothered in real butter (none of yer marg in this kitchen!) all washed down with some extremely cheap cider.

Popped around to Wayne's this afternoon to do a couple of small jobs for him (he still thinks you can have a left handed screw driver!). Whilst there I took the opportunity of taking a couple of shots of Celt now that he’s grown some since that first piece on him.

Celts now 16 weeks old is standing at 15 inches at the shoulder, the Laguna stock in him is really starting to show in his legs, now really looking thick set. Already changes in his stance and demeanour are evident with him looking far more ‘whippet like’ than in my first post on him. He’s walking comfortably on the lead, will sit to command (well most times) and is already retrieving back to hand a lot of stuff thrown for him, this being important once he starts working them pesky wabbits. 

Like I said just a quick one so that you can follow the little tyke’s progress, oh yes nearly forgot he does have a liking for toes, my toes with them bleedin sharp puppy teeth!! Right to the table......

Your Friend,

John

A Thank you to a fellow blogger

I was just easing myself to full consciousness this morning by playing my weekly catch up after ‘the grind’ on blogs that I follow only to receive a metaphorical kick up the backside. I had just clicked onto one of my firm favourites at ‘Wandering Owl Outside’ with the usual expectation of having before me an excellent post coupled with Owl’s superb pictures.  Disappointed? Not a snowballs chance in hell, once again Owl had put together another fine piece which I thoroughly enjoyed, the man has heart and soul when it comes to expressing his love of the outdoors. I moved on to others but there was something there, something not quite right. Just a feeling that something was amiss, you know that itch you can’t quite pinpoint. I returned to Owl’s post and reread it a couple of times, yes I fully understood from where he was coming but why the feeling of, well of melancholy really? I turned in my chair with the intention of making a brew and there was the answer, eyes boring into my own.

You see I’ve been neglecting my duties towards the bog monster a little lately. Remember my posting a while ago about her being unwell, well to honest I’ve not been convinced that the old girl has made a full recovery, she’s been lethargic, a tad miserable and to be honest a little aggressive with some of the local dogs, not a biting rabid aggression just a grumbling keep well away from me aggression, not like Lucy at all. The net result has been the walks restricted to on the leash ambles around suburbia and me not bothering to hit the trails. I could give you plenty of reasons for this; parents older and more frail, ‘the grind’ really grinding (oh if you really knew) and mush too much spinning around in my pea brain. I realised, through Owl’s words, that the one thing that I’d put to one side was the damn thing that we both needed – ‘out there’.

I still paused to make and drink me brew (I really cannot function without at least a gallon of the stuff first thing) and then we were off, shorts n sandals on (scary image I know so I’ll save you the horror of a picture) ZZ top’s “just got paid today” on repeat at a rather high decibel setting in the fun cruiser and old smelly in her usual position of head on the back seat gazing intently at the road ahead.

I didn’t take Owl’s course and hit a new trail, I still held some concern about how Lucy would cope, so familiar and steady was the order of the day.  I kept the pace toned down a little, one because of Lucy but secondly to let us both absorb the impact of just being ‘out there’ once more. As we ambled along I realised that I may well have been overprotective with the little mite as she started to stretch her limbs at full bore down the trails, she may well be getting on a bit but she’s like a bat out of hell when she’s at full tilt, I found myself smiling, not inside but one of those Johnny Cash shit eating smiles. All the burdens and cares that have been starting to weigh heavy upon me lately were being scorched away by Lucy’s antics, the sun and the light breezes that caressed my face.

As we meandered further along the path that I’d picked, deliberately heading for open glades and of course fuller ditches, I was struck by the variety of flowers that had burst out since our last visit, I hope that the pictures give some idea as to the vibrant colours on show in the forest.

With the sun climbing higher and the temperature rising swiftly we turned tail and headed back to the fun cruiser. Mother Nature had wound her spell on us both once more and to quote Owl; “and the fresh air has really helped my attitude. So yes, I’ll get some fishing done and post it here, sometime…But right now, I’m thinking of hitting some new trails. The exploring has created some sparks”. All I can add to his words is thank you Owl for putting me back on track.

The road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with weary feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

—From The Fellowship Of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

(Ok Owl so I pinched your idea, but hey Mr. Tolkien did have a way with words.). And as for Lucy? well I guess you could say that normal service has well and truly been resumed.

Thanks for taking the time to read all the way to the bottom,

Your friend,

John

Fifty and not out....

No I'm not referring to my age (though it's not to far away!) but to the fact that whilst I was indulging myself in some more  fictional writing for my lesser blog, Tails from the Fish, I happened to notice that my blog following total has reached fifty! Well you could have knocked me down with a feather, I'm both amazed and humbled that so many folks would find my tangential ramblings interesting enough to follow. So I'd just like to say a heartfelt thank you to each and everyone of you for taking the time to peruse my pages.


Many thanks, your friend (should that be fiend?),
John