23 May 2021 (Sunday) - Back To The Romney Marsh

Sid woke me with his barking at six o’clock this morning. He rarely barks because he needs the loo; he usually barks because he is stuck and can’t get up; he has pretty much no control over his back legs any more. I helped him up, chivvied hm outside (much to his disgust), made toast, and spent a couple of minutes watching the telly. I didn’t watch any TV shows; I just watched the telly. Playing a TV show is beyond it. It seems to have lost the ability to recognise what is coming down the HDMI cables (poor thing).

Instead I put some washing in to scrub and tuned in to the Internet where consternation was rife. We didn’t get a single point in the Eurovision Song Contest last night. Mind you when I say “we” I mean the song that was entered under the flag of the UK didn’t get any points. That song had absolutely nothing to do with me (I have never even heard it) and I suppose I should really say “they” or “it” didn’t get a single point in the Eurovision Song Contest last night. From what I can work out the scoring was the usual stitch-up in that judges representing each country voted for those with whom their country is traditionally chummy, and seeing how the UK has been bending over backwards to utterly alienate itself from Europe over the last five years, can anyone *really* be surprised at the outcome?

Imagine if everyone was as passionate about the blatant corruption and unfairness in our politics (which appears in the news daily) as they are about that which they feel is rife in Eurovision…

 

I then spent a few minutes looking at adverts for new tellies. Some cost just over a hundred quid; others cost thousands. They all seemed to have amazing write-ups, but they all seemed to be competing to deliver a quality of picture which is far beyond the human eye’s ability to discern. If any of my loyal readers have any suggestions about a good telly, I’m all ears. Otherwise I will just buy the most expensive thing that the sexiest assistant talks me into (which is what usually happens when I go shopping).

I posed that very question on Facebook, and  then looked at the geo-puzzle series I’m currently working on. I got ten more sorted before er indoors ^TM” and the dogs came swarming round.

 

We got ourselves and the dogs organised and set off to Romney Marsh where we soon met Karl, Tracey and Charlotte, and we set off on a wander round the marsh following one of the “Trails of the Unconfirmed” series of geocaches.

We’d been checking the weather forecast all week, and had been rather relieved to see a dry day was predicted for today. We reminded ourselves of that less than an hour into the walk as we huddled under a tree sheltering from the deluge. Even though the BBC’s weather app assured us that there was only a nine per cent chance of rain where we were. But the rain soon passed. The rest of the day was dry and warm, but everywhere was wet. I was glad I’d put my gaiters on. The thick grass was rather wet, especially on some of the less well-trodden paths (and there were a few of those).

As we walked we met some of the locals. They seem to be an odd breed on the marsh. As we did the sums for a field puzzle which was based on the weight limit of a bridge, so one of the locals came out of his house and openly stared at us. And when we found an ideal sheltered spot for lunch, a passing local made comment about what an odd choice of picnic site we’d made. We smiled sweetly; I like our picnics. We choose our spot well, the dogs have home-prepared special rice and seaweed sticks for afters, the ladies have fruit cider, and I get some good beers.

 

Geocache-wise it was a good walk. Perhaps a tad too many field puzzles? But people have told me that I don’t put out enough? Each to their own. Someone (I know who he is!) had taken the time and effort to lay out a guided walk for me, my friends and my dogs for today and it was a good one.

I took one or two photos as we walked.

 

As we came home so we could tell something wasn’t right. Both dogs were agitated, and becoming more and more frantic. We *think* that they’d both trodden on stinging nettles as we’d walked, so once home we pinned them both down and rubbed cold aloe vera on their paws, and then covered them with soothing cream. Eventually both dogs settled, and er indoors ^TM” set off to see her mum. I wasn’t happy to leave the dogs so I stayed with them. er indoors ^TM” was keen to see her mum who had just been released from hospital having fallen off of a ladder. The burning question is “what is someone closer to eighty than seventy doing up a ladder” but it will take a brave person to ask it.

Whilst she was out I got my shirts and trousers ironed and got twenty more geo-puzzles looked at (if not solved).

 

Bed time soon. Treacle has perked up, but I’m a tad worried about Pogo. He is incredibly quiet and subdued. I will probably lay awake worrying about him.

Which is *exactly* why I never wanted dogs…