dog walking

Ollie Treads Carefully

~ beetleypete ~ 51 Comments

The snow we had earlier this week has not melted. It is still here, despite strong sunshine in the mornings, and the weatherman’s promise of a thaw.

Now the constant sub-zero temperatures have done their job, and it is frozen. This is a serious issue on pavements, and the well-trodden paths on the dog-walking route. There is solid ice on those, two to three inches deep, and difficult to walk on. Bad enough for me in my rubber-soled walking boots, but for Ollie it is incredibly hard for him to keep his footing on his small pads.

His legs splay apart, like Bambi in the Disney film, and he hesitates as he tries to find dry spots to place his feet into. Where it is really bad, he stands still and looks at me, only continuing when I walk away from him.

Over on Hoe Rough earlier, the snow had combined with the mud, freezing into what looks like a miniature mountain range. Walking on that presents new problems, as there is the danger of sinking deep into the areas that have not completely frozen. And the small solid ‘peaks’ are slippery enough to sprain an ankle, if you are not careful.

Ollie chose to avoid the paths completely, and walk in the deep snow instead. I was reluctant to follow him through that. It makes walking harder as I sink into the softer snow with every step, and it also conceals the deep pools that are full of water that could easily go over the top of my boots and soak the inside of them.

This all meant that our ninety-minute walk felt more like it had taken over three hours, especially in the bitingly cold wind that was blowing at me, seemingly from every angle.

We were both glad to get back home into the warm today.

Video: More Heavy Snow, and Hoe Rough

~ beetleypete ~ 54 Comments

Overnight last night, we had another very heavy fall of snow. This despite the BBC weatherman saying that “The East has seen the last of the snow for now”. It was bad enough for us to cancel the dog groomer appointment and reschedule for next week. No point risking a five-mile drive involving untreated roads, just to get a dog shampooed.

The morning was very sunny and bright, so I took the phone on Ollie’s walk, and headed over to Hoe Rough. Unfortunately, it was still so bright at the start of the walk, that I couldn’t see a thing on the screen, other than my own face reflected in it. So the results are rather hit and miss, but I will post them all anyway.

Ollie in some quite deep snow. Not many people had been over there, and in parts it was as deep as my boots.

A shorter clip of Ollie. He had heard something, so stopped to listen carefully.

At the time, I couldn’t see what was in the frame here, but I managed to get Ollie’s head in at the end. 🙂

Ollie ‘marking’ some snow. The pool of water is left over from the recent floods, and I walked in to show how deep it is.

Where Hoe Rough opens out, you can see the extent of the virgin snow to the south.
At this point the sun went in, and didn’t appear again.

The river bend from the Hoe side, looking across to Beetley Meadows.
Walking there was heavy going, as nobody had been down there before us, and the path was covered over.

Next to the gate of the path that leads up to Holt Road. I am calling Ollie a ‘good boy’ to make him wag his tail for you. 🙂
The pools of water you can see are left over from the recent flooding.

This is ‘The Dell’, where I like to sit and rest on very hot days.
What looks like a pond is in fact a deep pool of rainwater that has been there for months.

Looking north from the southern end of Hoe Rough.
Behind the wire fence is a large private woodland, part of the huge garden of a relatively small house in Hoe.

I hope you have all enjoyed my two days of snow videos. Hopefully, that will be the last of the snow this year!

Video Clips: A Very Snowy Dog Walk

~ beetleypete ~ 75 Comments

When I took Ollie out today, I also took my phone, attached to the grip/holder I bought to try to keep it steady.

Ollie in the snow, avoiding the camera. And the deserted playground on Beetley Meadows.

Boots in the snow, and more views of the Meadows.

Riverside area, and boots in slush.

The River Whitewater, back to normal levels.

No picnics on these benches today, and Ollie refusing to move in shot.

My next door neighbour, and her lively dog, Henry.
Ollie was refusing to play, as usual.
(You can hear me asking him to)

In the woodland area, Ollie liked the smells.
It did look quite pretty in there, with no wind to disturb the snow.
Just after putting my phone away, I had a heavy fall, tripping on a tree root covered by the snow. I managed to bend back two fingers on my right hand, and they still hurt!

If I get the chance tomorrow, and the snow is still around, I will show you what it looks like over on Hoe Rough.

It’s Official! I’m A Jinx!

~ beetleypete ~ 70 Comments

Hands up, I write a lot about the weather. I’s probably the most regularly covered topic on this blog. One reason is that before I moved here, Norfolk had the proud boast of being ‘The Driest County in England’. In fact, that was the title of one of the earliest posts on my blog, reflecting the irony that it seemed to rain every day here.

I also wrote a post about the fact that it always rained at 2 pm, my usual dog-walking time.

Over the years, my obsession with weather has led some people to conclude that I am exaggerating. Others might think it shows signs of serious depression, or some other mental abberation. Moving to a place supposed to officially be the driest spot in the British Isles only to discover it is probably one of the wettest, is a cruel twist of fate indeed.

Then yesterday morning, I had an interesting conversation with a fellow dog-walker, as we both stood looking at the severe flooding that has affected Beetley Meadows. The man was younger than me, but had lived his whole life in this area. And he was a gardener by profession, so spends his life outside, every working day. Gazing at the rushing flood-waters, he told me this.

“This used to be the driest place, you know. Some summers, we had no rain for four or five months, and it never rained during the school holidays when I was young. We had hosepipe bans that started in April, and water was treated like something rare, because of the lack of rain. They even used to close the drive-through car washes because they used too much water. But I started to notice that changing a while back. As I am outside all day working, I get a feel for those things, you know? We began to get heavy rain in early October, and then almost no snow at all during winter, but many consecutive days of heavy rain instead. Washed out summers, ruined barbecues, and only a few reasonably hot days each year.

I remember going home and telling my wife that something bad was happening with the weather here. Even the direction of the arriving bad weather was changing. It was always from the west before, but then it started to come down from the north, and across from the east. Weather patterns and gulf stream directions were all different. I looked it up. Then there was a really big change. I remember it as if it was yesterday. It started with weeks of rain, then a crappy summer, followed by a late winter that left us with snow almost into April”.

I nodded in agreement, then asked. “What year was that then?” He turned to face me, his answer immediate and full of conviction.

“2012. It started at the end of March that year, and it has been getting worse every year since”.

I moved to Beetley on the 23rd of March, 2012. It’s all my fault.

Ollie’s New Friends

~ beetleypete ~ 47 Comments

Over the years, Ollie has sadly lost many of the original canine companions on our dog-walks.

More recently, both Oban the Labrador and Rocky the Newfoundland have died, and then we heard that Bruno the Pug has gone too. He was sixteen though, a good age.

Slowly but surely, new friends are appearing on Beetley Meadows. There is Zen, the tiny Chihuahua who thinks he’s a Lion. Freddy, the pure white Labradoodle who always gets upset when Ollie won’t play with him. Another potential playmate ignored by Ollie is Teddy, a young Alsatian who barks noisily when his attempts to play are treated with disdain.

The couple who lost Rocky have now just acquired a puppy. He is a rust-coloured Retriever/Poodle cross called (appropriately) Rusty. His fur is beautifully soft, and at thirteen weeks old, all he wants to do is play. Naturally Ollie ignores that, and just sniffs him instead, letting him know who’s the boss.

Little Hattie the curly black Shih Tzu has finally decided she likes Ollie, and is now happy to walk around with us for a while.

Then today, the lady who lost Bruno the Pug appeared. She has decided not to get another dog, but misses the walk and the company. So she has started to walk around with us again, just like old times.

Ollie might have to get used to a new gang, but at least he still has one.

Ollie’s Sad/Happy walk

~ beetleypete ~ 53 Comments

I took Ollie out earlier today, hoping to take advantage of the sunshine while it lasted. With full darkness by around 4 pm now, it makes sense to be out long before that.

It was a crisp and cold day, with bright sunshine that was uncomfortable to look into. It had also stirred up some insects, and four bites on my head later, I was beginning to regret my decision.

Ollie wasn’t too happy either, as there was nobody else around. With no other dogs to greet and sniff, he had to resort to sniffing anything left behind by the early-morning dogs, those taken out before their owners leave for work. It was sad to see him looking decidedly fed up after almost an hour of us being the only two on the usual route.

He was staring along the path that leads to each of the three entrances, his concentration intent, no doubt hoping to spot a canine pal arriving. But to no avail. As we headed home, he plodded along reluctantly behind me, making me feel extra guilty for leaving home forty-five minutes earlier that usual.

Suddenly, his head shot up, and he started into the distance. I looked in that direction, and could see a dog running for a ball a long way off. Ollie wasn’t waiting for permission, and took off like a rocket. When I finally caught up with him, I saw he was wth our next door neighbour, and her dog Henry. She was accompanied by a friend with a small Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and both dogs were chasing balls as if their lives depended on it.

Although Ollie has no interest in the balls, he ran alongside each dog as they chased them, and kept that up for at least fifteen minutes. Then a lady arrived with a large white Retriever that Ollie loves, and he scooted off to see that big dog, yelping with delight.

I felt vindicated. His sad walk had turned into a happy one, and he got some great exercise into the bargain.

Climate Change: Something Else To Worry About

~ beetleypete ~ 69 Comments

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis will know that I suffer badly from insect bites during the summer season.

If something is capable of biting a human, it will choose me above anyone else who happens to be in the vicinity. Then it will follow me home, to feast on me at its leisure.

In an effort to combat them, I spend a lot of money on repellent sprays and creams. I also wear an impregnated bangle, and have to take daily tablets to control the itching on the bites that get through my defences.

At least the arrival of colder months gives me some relief from those bites, on my daily walks with Ollie.

I certainly do not expect to be bitten in November, that’s for sure.

But we had a very long spell of relatively mild wet weather during October. When the rain stopped, the sun came out and had a surprising amount of warmth in it. It got to temperatures unknown in November since I lived here, and we didn’t even need to put the heating on until after dark. After three days of bright sunshine, I was able to start to enjoy my walks with Ollie as I was not getting soaked. Then yesterday, I noticed huge clouds of midges on the path next to the river. I decided to backtrack, to avoid walking through the visible swarm.

Close to the time I was heading home, I met a dog-walker I hadn’t seen in a while, and stopped for a socially-distanced chat as the dogs checked each other out. At one stage, he remarked “You have a lot of flying things around your head”. I moved away from that spot, and said my farewells.

This morning, I woke up with five large itchy bites at the back of my head, and a swelling in front of my left ear.

They got me again. And it is November!

Walking Away From The Weather

~ beetleypete ~ 62 Comments

I left in bright sunshine with Ollie for our walk earlier. It had been grey and dismal when I got up this morning, so I thought to take an umbrella, just in case.

Sure enough, I hadn’t got 500 yards before the heavens opened in a torrential downpour. In the distance, I could see blue skies and no clouds at all, so I headed in search of that spot, which I guessed was around two miles south of Beetley. I had some idea I could walk away from the weather here. But like the proverbial distant mountain, it was a lot further away than it looked, and after an hour of walking, the rain had worn us down.

Even with an umbrella up, my clothes were soaked through, and the water was running off my saturated shorts down into the tops of the wellington boots I was wearing because of the mud. Ollie’s brown fur was so wet, it looked black, and he didn’t seem very excited about being out at all. I turned back in the direction of Beetley Meadows as the rain started to get even heavier, and I didn’t look over my shoulder at that blue cloudless sky that was mocking me.

By the time we got close to home, Ollie was already heading for the exit to the Meadows, head down, and not interested in walking in the rain any longer. Even using all three of his dog towels, I couldn’t get him completely dry, and my shorts are in the airing cupbard, drying slowly with the heat from the hot water tank. I came into the office to check the date on my calendar.
Yes, it is the 10th of July.

England, in the height of summer.

Ollie And The Water Vole

~ beetleypete ~ 81 Comments

Out on Hoe Rough this afternoon, Ollie and I were dodging between some heavy downpours. After a welcome sunny break burst through, I was walking back to the gate when I spotted something at the edge of the path, on the side leading down to the river.

No bigger than a cotton reel, and rolled in a ball, it looked to me to be a vole, possibly a very young one too. A closer inspection revealed a thick tail, indicative of a water vole. They are becoming rare now, and are classed as endangered. I have seen adult ones occasionally though, normally swimming quickly to the security of the reed beds at the edges of the small river.

I felt sad, sure it must be dead, and reached down to touch it to make sure. The damp fur felt like velvet, and its body remained motionless. Ollie ran up behind me and sniffed the tiny animal, showing little interest. Suddenly, it moved. That made me step back, but Ollie lunged forward and grabbed it in his mouth as easily as if it was a furry gobstopper. I shouted at him to leave it, and he dropped it back onto the path, giving me a sheepish glance.

The vole scampered off unhurt, hiding in some long grass nearby. Other than a few seconds in a dog’s mouth, he had escaped being a very small snack.

Fear Of Strangers.

~ beetleypete ~ 90 Comments

There has been a gradual change of personal interaction around here since the pandemic continued so much longer than many thought it might. At the start, people kept their distance, but were still chatty. Whether familiar dog-walkers, or people never previously encountered on walks, everyone was ready to stop and talk, if only about the virus, or the weather.

This week, I noticed more people in the supermarket keeping their distance, and obeying the rules. Then out with Ollie, I could tell people were not only keeping a distance, but settling for a wave from a long way off, rather than the six-feet gap to allow a reasonable conversation. In some cases, this is to be welcomed, as there are a few walkers who like to ‘latch on’, and talk at length about things like Brexit, or house prices.

But in general, I detected a palpable sense of fear. Fear of strangers, as well as fear of people they already knew reasonably well, like me.

Walking back to the house, I refelected on why that might have happened. I conclude it might be about survival. When all this started, few people really expected to get the virus, and even less to die from it. But the stark statistics of 32,000 deaths in the UK cannot be ignored, as we see them every day on the news. The longer the virus scare continues, the more it creeps into your head that you could be number 32,001.

Other people are now potentially lethal. Especially strangers.