I could have slept
better I suppose. I could have coped with Pogo stomping round the bed in the
small hours; it was Treacle snarling at him that was the most disturbing. And
then when they both finally settled, Fudge’s snoring was a tad loud.
Eventually I nodded
off and for once slept through until the alarm went off. I made some toast
which I ate on my own. All the dogs were asleep. I expect they were tired.
I hosed out my
sinuses (yuk!), made some toast and had a look at the Internet. Facebook
seemed to be heaving with comments about a Mega-geo-meet in Belgium next year. Those Mega-meets can be good
fun. Such a shame that they are so few and far between. There’s one in Sussex
next August, and it looks
like there are plans for one only twenty miles from home for Christmas next year. Bearing in mind
these events are (for many people) a week-long camping event, I’m
intrigued to see how this one pans out.
And friends who have
been posting Labour party propaganda for the last few weeks were today singing
the praises of the Green party on Facebook. What was that all about?
I had a few emails.
B&Q had sent me another money-off voucher. I can get a tenner off of any
purchase I make of over a hundred quid. At the moment I don’t intend spending a
hundred quid with them, but you never know. It’s a shame that this voucher is
only good for a couple of months.
If any of my loyal
readers intend buying anything expensive from B&Q any time soon, let me
know, eh.
With "er
indoors TM"
away I had to organise the dogs this morning. Fudge and Treacle refused to eat
their brekkie. Needless to say Pogo wanted to scoff the lot. Eventually I
wrangled the dogs and myself together and we set off to…
I won’t say where we went.
Karl and Tracey were preparing a new series of
geocaches. The last time they did this someone got wind of what was happening,
and went out and hunted the lot out before they went live, did the secret
geo-rituals four days too early, and caused all sorts of upset. So I’m keeping
quiet on that score.
We all met up, and soon were off on a walk. The
morning was glorious bearing in mind that I’d left Ashford in thick fog. The
first part of our walk was rather muddy; there is a reason why horses aren’t
supposed to walk along footpaths. But we were soon past the mud. It had been
cold when I left home, but it was warm enough as we walked. We hunted out
several places where a rock might sit concealing a film pot.
We met some horse riders at one point. We
started to move back out of the way, but the nice man on the horse said to stay
in plain sight. Horses don’t like surprises. A bit like Pogo, really.
As we walked we let the dogs run free as much
as possible. A couple of times we got them back on the leads when the F-birds (pheasants
– dogs can’t spell!) were about. And there was one time where we weren’t
quick enough. Treacle and Pogo aren’t really a problem with F-birds; they come
back when called. Fudge however does not. But when he starts tracking his tail
sticks horizontally straight out. If you keep an eye out for that danger sign,
all is well.
Usually.
Just as Karl commented that Fudge’s tail was
horizontal he shot off like a bullet from a gun. Treacle and Pogo ran with him,
but lost interest after twenty yards and came back. Fudge kept going. And
going. I had little choice but to set off in pursuit. After about fifteen
minutes I saw what looked like a small dog with a bright pink collar running
off into the distance. Treacle? So I ran after her. I ran, and ran, and
eventually got close enough to see that I wasn’t chasing a dog. I was chasing a
pheasant. Some of them have bright pink rings round their necks.
It was at this point that my phone went. Fudge
had lost interest in chasing F-birds and had gone back to find everyone else (who
were about half a mile behind me…).
As I made my way back I slipped arse over head
in the mud.
From this point on
the dogs stayed on their leads.
There’s no denying
that we struggled a tad towards the end. Perhaps rather than putting up very
obvious signs saying “Private, Clear Off”, landowners might be better
advised to signpost the footpaths and rights of way better.
Once back at the car
we got out of muddy boots and walked across the road to the pub. It was a shame
that I was driving as the ale selection was rather good. But I had a shandy.
And a rather good bit of pate. And a very good burger.
I shall certainly go
back to that pub again.
I
took a few photos as we walked…
There had been talk
of going on for more walk in the afternoon, but the weather forecast wasn’t
good. We said our goodbyes, and as I drove home so the rain started.
Once home I fed the
fish, and inadvertently trod dog mess through the house. Oh, how I laughed. I
settled the dogs, and seeing how the rain had stopped I took the knacked old
barbecue out of the garden and up to the tip. As I drove the rain started
again.
I got to the tip and
heard a familiar voice. I looked around and saw no-one, and then realised that
the tip people had the radio on and were listening to the afternoon show on Radio Ashford. I was right – I *had* heard Steve.
Seeing that no one had spotted my mistake I came home again and took the
knacked lawnmower up to the tip.
After two tip runs I
put the dog gate back into the car, and it was at this point that I realised
that doing heavy lifting and two tip runs hadn’t been such a good idea. I think
that when I fell in the woods earlier I’d hurt my back more than I realised.
I came home, had a
shower, and thought about feeding the hounds. But with all three asleep I
decided to let sleeping dogs lie.
I activated Netflix
and watched a film. ”The
Titan”. The story was done better forty-three years ago by Fred Pohl in
his book “Man Plus”.
Despite starring her who was in “Orange is the New Black” it was… rather
rubbish. All drama works on having plausible characters, and this show
didn’t. I then watched the first episode of Netflix’s “Green Eggs
and Ham”. So far it’s not brilliant, but it is streets ahead of “The
Titan”.
My back really
hurts…
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