What an embarrassment!

Well a lovely walk in the woods was marred by the KiT, she just couldn't resist a roll in the mud.

Ok, really it was a lovely walk & we got to meet a horse & lots of doggies.

we had guests in my Queendom, we shared treats

What a beautiful day

Yes it is, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and we are just back from a lovely walk. We went to my Queendom, Joydens Wood, again. Only this time the Ogre decided to go to parts we hadn't been before.

old photo to show you picnic area is to right

Now normally we come back this way, the picnic area is to the right, the last time we were here we walked the wrong way round & came to the picnic area first. Today the Ogre took us straight ahead, we had no idea where we were or what it would be like.

follow the brown dirt road

Well the Ogre forgot to take pictures all the way around, she said no one wanted to see them. Well as you can see it's lovely and sunny, the path was baked hard which was lucky as the horses had left great big prints behind.

We walked past lot of homes, none of them were built of brick, I do hope there are no Wolves in the Queendom or they could Huff & Puff those houses down.

The KIT carrying the bags

 Such lovely views, the Ogre knew where we were in the "grand scheme of things", whatever that meant but she said we weren't lost so that was a bonus. She said we could carry on down this way or go to the right & climb. Well we were a little pooped at this point so we had a lovely drink (KIT had been carrying the water) and decided on the climb.

not too steep 

It was nice and shady for a bit too. The Ogre was slow, so we had to wait for her several times. She did not bring any water for herself, this was silly of her.

if we get too far ahead of the Ogre we will return

 At this point we still didn't know where we were or how we would get back. This is a part of my Queendom I have never been to before. The paths are well kept by my subjects so I will venture here again.

a gateway to where?

Oh yes!! Now I know where we are. Not far from the picnic area, just down from the little lake that had dried up. We had walked a long way & yet ended up not far from where we started. But we were very tired by now, we stopped for a short rest.

not lost at all

back on track, see the blue marker?

We know exactly where we are now. No need to worry & not trust the Ogre at all.

Now normally when we get to the end of that path the Ogre takes us up to the right but this time she took us through another gate & down another unknown path, this one was also dug up by hoof prints. I think this may be a thoroughfare for those on horseback.

another new part

fencing

 Again coming to another crossways we took the right hand path. It seems if you do not know where you are keep tuning right & you will eventually find your way back to where you started.

see where we are

 Yes!! again we find a path well trodden by us. We know again where we are. This is a lovely part, just by the big hill which we usually walk down (never up). This is on what is normally the far left of the forest. So we still haven't made our way over to the other side, it would be a very long walk to do so now, we are so very tired.

just checking the Ogre is keeping up with us

The KIT is doing well carrying the heavy bags, by now they should be a bit lighter as we have drunk all the water that we brought with us.

The rivers & ponds are all but dried up, there is thick mud at the bottom, it is like quicksand, sucking you down when you attempt to drink.

atlast, back to the main entrance

There was a little white Whippet having a rest in the shade, we stopped & had a sniff whilst the Ogres had a quick word. As we were leaving a little brown dog dashed past us without any Ogre in sight, we are not sure but s/he may have been on the run. We hope not for long.

All in all we had a lovely time, we got very pooped out with all the walking but we did get to have another long drink when we got back to the chariot as the Ogre had thought well & brought more water for us.

And just for a bit of fun!!!!   Can you find me?

WHERE'S FIZZY

A whole new world

The Ogre did us proud today. She found a new kingdom to explore.

There was so much to smell, chase & wade through. This was something we had never seen before.

We had a long drive, the ogre had said it would only be 15 minutes but due to a traffic jam (road works) it took us a whole half hour, as you can tell, we were getting extremely agitated. She drove us down this tiny lane, on & on it went. Eventually it turned into a car park & we stopped. There was one other car there, 2 dogs with their Ogre. As there was no other traffic we didn't need to wear our leads to get out, the Ogre just opened the doors.

Our chariot in an almost empty car park (safe & secure)

The view of the road to the car park & over the farmland

Isn't that beautiful (the Ogre picked that rubbish up & put it in the bins). The sun shone, spring is here. The Ogre said it would be wonderful to live here.

The Ogre didn't know what these woods were going to be like, she didn't know if there were paths or what, so we set off to explore. Off up a pathway, we came across great big welts in the land (the Ogre said they were tractor tracks).

rain from previous days filled the tracks

We decided to follow the tracks, these were very deep and the earth was very soft due to past rains. As we followed them we became very disturbed, they led out into total devastation.

trees totally destroyed, ripped apart

What could have caused this? we needed to investigate. Trees had been cut by great big machines, then split open, cut into smaller chunks. Dust everywhere. We were very shocked but the Ogre didn't seem worried. She told us that other Ogres had cut the trees down deliberately, that they use the wood for heating & the woodland was managed properly. It was known as copicing, cutting down the trees to allow for more growth.

this was the result of of all that work

Well it seems the Ogre was right, this is how the older part of the work looked, a nice clear area where the birds could hunt.

the lake

As we carried on we came to what they called a lake, well it was nothing like the Lakes we go to, I would have called it a pond. It was a bit green in places too, but nice & refreshing.

off track there were fallen trees blocking paths

It was not easy for the Ogre to get over all the fallen trees so we had to help her. The KiT helped by finding a large stick to help the Ogre keep her balance (this was greatly appreciated) & of course we kept stopping to check she was ok.

clear routes were easier

We did find some routes which were easy to traverse. I wish there had been more like there is in Joydens Wood (my Queendom) this would have made things easier.

It didn't take long to walk around & we did come across a few other dogs. The big problem was because we didn't know the area we missed a big bit, so we walked it twice. This took us over a hour which is just about right for us. The worst part was the traffic on the way home. We fell asleep leaving the Ogre to be bored. She stopped on the way back, we saw some very big animals & she put a bag of wonderful horse poop in the back with us. Unfortunately for us she wouldn't let us eat any, she said it's for the garden. KiT managed to get some when she wasn't looking.

All in all it was a lovely walk. We will go again.

Just as we left, driving down the lane, guess what we saw!!!

Bunnies (can you see their little white tails)

Happy Birthday to Me

It's my birthday, the big 6 years old. The KIT (Knight-in-training) has been a real pest today, she keeps calling me old & kept stopping on our walk to tell me to catch up. Well I hate to say it but the Ogre is much older than I am & I had to slow down so she could keep up.

The Ogre cooked the most delicious pupcakes, iced with cream cheese & peanut butter, it took ages to lick all that off the top of my mouth. I got to have lots of bikits from the "all you can eat buffet" & got lots of pressies too (although KIT took the squeaky toy & broke it).

The Ogre took us to the woods again for our walk. I so love the woods. It started out not too nice, big grey clouds getting closer & then they opened up & it poured down. The Ogre got wet & so did we, we came across some other dogs & their ogres hiding under the trees trying to keep dry. We didn't care, just carried on & guess what happened? Something was thrown at us, we looked up & there was a squirrel sitting in the tree. The sun came out & it turned into a glorious walk. (I felt JesseJ with me, I'm sure the squirrel was him).

The Gates to the Woods

Lots to sniff

this time we took a different route

at last an area we know

we are walking clockwise around the woods today

the other dogs & ogres keeping dry

Add caption

the waterhole has filled a bit

still not deep enough

very muddy

Squirrel

the sun came out

he definitely threw something

I feel my Jesse

the KIT getting in the mud

Pupcakes

 As the Ogre went to pipe the frosting on the bag broke so she had to spoon it on in large dollops.

I think you can tell from the look in my eyes, these pupcake are awesome

They did not last long

 There were a dozen pupcakes in total, I shared with the KIT.

my pressies

 We stopped at the "all you can eat buffet" on the way home from the woods. These were the pressies I chose for myself (I picked out the snake for the KIT)

last but by no means least, a pigs ear (thanks Jesse)

After all that fun & food a long sleep was required.

I hope by brothers & sisters had a wonderful day too, after all we are the best ever litter of Dolyhir (ok, so were the others, loves to you Rocky & Reba)

Happy International Puppy Day

Me, the amazing Fizz

The Knight-in-training, AKA the Pest 

Just the 2 of us, looking cute.

Tomorrow is my birthday, my siblings & I will be 6 years old. I can't believe it. Hopefully there will be many more happy birthdays for us all.

Rotten weather

It's always said about the British, that we like to complain about the weather. Well it's true.
The weather this winter has been just appalling, no SNOW. Plenty of rain, which we do not like, the Ogre refuses to take us out exploring when it is raining. So we have had no tails to tell. Many of the Knight-in-training's American pals have had lots of snow, in fact so much they have had to dig their way out of their homes, I think I might just enjoy that.

The only snow we had

Had a bath, was allowed on couch to dry

The sun came out & we got a good explore in

The Knight-in-training needed a mud pack to make her beautiful

We got to fight a dragon hiding in the lake

Hopefully the weather will get better & the Ogre will be able to take us somewhere new to explore.