Doesn't turn into a pup during cooking

It's that time of year again when Dad gets to lead the Bluebell Walks in Challock Forest, for the Friends of Kingswood. These are always a bit of a lottery as the walks programme has to go to the printers pre Christmas, by which time you never know what stage the bluebells will be at in April or May. The FoKW try to pre-empt this by straddling a number of dates, and the first of these this year was today.

To be honest the hot dry weather through March, April and now May has marched everything on a bit too much, so that in many areas the bluebells are well past their best - drying and faded to the pale blue dusty stage, and the leaves on the trees are too far out to give that lovely filtered-down cathedral light which makes for the best "carpet of blue" effect. It also chose today, early on, just when people were deciding to come on the walk or not, to give our town a short sharp shower.

No matter, the few who did show up got a good walk and saw some nice patches of bluebells. I got talking to a nice little 7 year old named Saffi who made a big fuss of me (even when I jumped up and planted 2 dusty dog foot-prints on her black leggings!). She'd been on at her Mum for ages to buy a dog and liked Westies, so I was charm itself to encourage Mum that this was a good idea.

Meanwhile in Project Erroll, it all just got a bit more focussed, urgent and solid, with Mum inviting the lady from the estate agent round for a look and getting a load of paperwork to complete to agree the description of the house and sign us up to having them as sole-agent. We've got a valuation and the lady thought we should stand a chance of getting some interest soon. I think it's a-coming at us now like an un-stoppable bull-dozer.

Mum spots an interesting cooking instruction on some "Arosis" Greek pudding-rice, which may have lost a little in translation. "In areas with hard water", it advises, "you should use bottled water. Rinse the rice thoroughly without letting it soak, so that its soluble vitamins and beneficial metals wont be destroyed. Proceed to cooking. Arosis rice remains granular and doesn't turn into pup during cooking"

That's handy. I'm enjoying being the youngest in this family.

Deefs

In disgrace

Remember old Denis? Dad to Rags, and frequent visitor along with Diamond? Well, he's passed away now, but 10 years ago he gave Mum and Dad a small bay tree about 4 feet high. My third pic today shows that this is now more like 15 feet and badly shades the "sun terrace", the kitchen window and even the upstairs bathroom window. It had to go. Coming originally as a gift from Denis it was jokingly known round here as the Denis N Memorial Bay Tree.

This was a job for Saturday afternoon, Dad manning the pruning saw and secateurs, Mum moving load after load of cut-up bay to the tip in her car. We had also booked JW, partner of Diamond, and his chain saw to come and finish off the job with a neat horizontal cut just over two feet from the ground. The plan is to buy a sun-dial here after known as the Denis N Memorial Sundial. JW also sawed the bigger bits into logs, which was handy - these are now stacked in the "log-wall" down by the gravel garden.

Today's main emtertainment was the Friends of Kingswood "bluebell walk" which Dad was due to lead. Unfortunately with the cold winter and slow spring, the bluebells are barely out. Even in the known "best places" you are looking across a blanket of the dark green foliage with maybe half a dozen open flowers spotted about. It will be a good 2 weeks (even if it's as warm as this) before there's a good show, but of course, FoKW can't predict this last October when they are putting together their walks programme.

No matter - we have a good walk in the warm forest and everybody has a good time. We are accompanied by 14 humans and a large ancient shaggy black Alsatian. I am in disgrace now though because at one point I spot a group of 5 sheep in a paddock and I'm gone and under the gate before anyone can stop me. Farmers are allowed shoot any dog worrying their sheep and ask questions afterwards, so my charge (which is admittedly not full-hearted, and only makes the sheep collect together and move a few yards up the field) has Dad bellowing anxiously and grabbing to open the gate and get on my tail.

Unkind spectators have suggested that the farmer, alarmed by seeing his sheep suddenly group and trot up the paddock might have then fallen about laughing at the sight of a rabbit-sized fluffy white westie racing up the grass, and then got more worried by the roaring human risking heart attack in hot pursuit. Dad shouted enough to make me crouch in fear of my life and he grabbed me up and trotted back down to the gate not daring to look behind him at the farmhouse in case he made eye contact with the farmer.

Ooops.

Deefski

ps - my other pic here is another bit of old junk now owned by Dad, a rotovator, now back in working order, dating from 1967.

Minor Miner

Fortunately for me no pictures exist of me after this... um... incident. You know those dalek shaped plastic compost bins. A good compost maker will have them choc-a-block full of rich, sweet, fruit-cake sticky compost. This is shovelled out of the bottom via a trap door, leaving, sometimes, and arching roof tunnel of compost right through to the back. Occasionally a dog might pass by looking for a place to bury a choice bone, and the dark recesses of this cavern can look quite attractive as a hidey hole.

But if that dog had more experience, she'd know that with time the compost "arch" sags and collapses, the "mine shaft" not being as it were propped up with pit-props. What is a miner to do then, when she knows that buried behind the roof collapse is her precious bone. Surely worth getting a bit... um .... grubby to retieve it?

Meanwhile, in Challock Forest the bluebells are just about at their peak. Unfortunately the leaves in the beech and chestnut are also racing to expand and the light levels are falling fast. It'll soon be over. It also being Bank Holiday Monday the car-park is choc-a also, and there are people everywhere..... WITHIN 100 yards of the car park. Yep, it's a bit like the Lake District. You'd think it would be crammed, the number of cars crawling nose-to-tail along the roads, but stop and walk 100 yards, and you've left 99% of them behind.

So it is in the Forest, and with our local knowledge of the back-ways and secret paths we can be alone in minutes, and able to enjoy in-interrupted bluebell walking. Hope these pics do it justice.

Deefer

Birchington in the Sun

Another lovely sunny day for Dad's second guided Bluebell walk in Challock Forest. Again, it's just Haggis and I, as Meggie would never be able to keep up. The bluebells are fully out now and gorgeous, and there are dozens of walkers including a 10 or so little children, some of whom I remember from previous walks. In the bright warm sunshine the woods are a-heaving with humans all come to see the bluebells.

Our route this time takes us down past one of the Friends of Kingswood ponds, where some of the kiddies, under less tight control than you might say was appropriate, manage to get stuck in the mud, losing wellies and shoes when pulled out, to much cheering and banter from the adults not-so-encumbered. We dogs choose to be the picture of decorum and mud-avoidingness, and return to the car in pretty much pristine state.

Home and lunched, Dad is off on a mission. It's "Drive It" day and in honour of this he wants to take the old project car to Birchington. He's not been able to raise any response from the Birchington twinning committee, so it's a solo effort, the plan being to trundle the car round town stopping to take pics where ever he feels like it. I've not been in her yet, as she has mint condition but old, bright red seat covering fabric which is not easy to get hold of (she's from 1961 remember), but my time will come one day when I really am clean.

Dad reports that the old grl fires up first turn and never misses a beat all day. he gets pics at the Birchington "city limits" signs, on the sea-front road, and outside the Sea View pub (the latter is great, because the old black and white pics on the cover of the current La Chapelle d'Armentieres magazine of her being originally delivered have the Sea View in the background.

Marv'lous !

Deefer

Still not really ready

The skies are blue, there's no wind, and the temperatures are up to the early 20's. Mum's been at home all day working on an OU essay - usual story - mad panic across the last 48 hours, so she's taken time off in lieu (TOIL) and is sitting out on the terrace all day, in the sunshine with the lap top. That's good for us, as we have all day access to the garden, but we don't get very far with our requests to be made a fuss of, so we're delighted when Dad comes home and suggests a walk in the forest, to go look at the bluebells.

To be honest, they are not really ready, and could do with 2 more weeks of fine weather to get them at their best, but it's a nice walk in the forest anyway, and we can dawdle at Meg-speed as we are not leading any members of the public this time. So, that's me tiny in the big sinuous track, and back-lit in a rather handsome way, Mr H "stacked" with darker bluebells in the background, and Meggie with her nose down in the clump, whiffing the heady scent.

Stamp Man, by the way, sis come out of hospital, to every one's relief and is now back home. Meanwhile, in the Home for the Bewildered work on the building itself seems to be done, and the Geordie "roofers" are now car-park constructors, kerp layers, and pruners of the outside of Dad's beech hedge (yay! result!).

They are soon to erect the final fence round the outside of their car park (and thereby erect a new fence for the outside of this garden. Can't be bad! Looks like they may be able to spare a young ash tree, too, which is growing technically outside our property, but also now outside their new fence - technically a no-man's land ash.

Nearly the weekend

Deefer

The last one?

Another nice bluebell-iferous pic, this one of Meggie (with me obscured behind) and taken yesterday on a slow gentle walk (Megan and Mum are with us, and neither do Dad's "route-march" pace willingly!).

This, though, is pretty much it for picturesque bluebell walks - although the bluebells are probably at their finest, the beech leaves are now well out and the chestnut coming into leaf, so the light levels are falling. So too the herb and bramble layer is thickening up and hiding much of the colour. Never mind - we had a good run at it, and the sunny heat has been gorgeous. Challock's car park was choc-a-block yesterday.

Enjoy the good weather

Happy 12th, Meggie!

Happy Birthday Megan - 12 today!! Here is a pic of her, eating her birthday cake! It might look a little to you like a raw pork rib from Sainsbury's but let's not split hairs. Naturally we all got a couple (although Haggis is so slow eating his I suspect he may have had 1 and a half, to Meg's 2 and a half, but he can't count, so (Dad) your secret's safe with me!

We also had, treat of treats, another bluebell walk but this time with 6 of us - bro Archie, Mum (Mollie) and Dad (Hector). Dad had actually tried to get Ellie-Bez but her Mum was working

Pics of all that, and more, when I have time!

Happy Birthday, the Megster

Deefs

Bluebells in Challock

Well, we're getting there. Those bluebells in Challock Forest are reaching their peak now. Another warm week and they'll be superb. There's always a fight at this time of year between the bluebells trying to peak and set seed before too much leaf comes on the tree canopy and in the brambly, brackenny leafy layer. Some years the trees come on too fast, and photo's are spoiled by too much green light.

These, especially the 2nd one with the even grey beech trunks and a wispy green start to the leaves, are OK but, even though we didn't get wet, all the bright sunlight of early morning was cut out by the towering rain clouds all around us. We got back home to the river-like aftermath of a massive cloudburst washing down the gutters outside our house.

We were lucky - Dad didn't even have a coat!

Deefer

2 weeks early...

We have had the absolute BIGGEST day! The main event being Dad leading the first "Bluebell Walk" in Challock Forest for the "Friends of..." and this being likely to be a 1.5 hours one, he decided that Meggie might now struggle to keep up, and therefore we'd leave her to rest. She does though need some kind of walk, so we all got up early and headed for the Rec for a chase about, and to let dogs do what dogs have to do in the morning.

That done, and Breakfast taken, Dad, the H and myself head off for the forest in the car to meet up with the new "Friends" committee and any members of the public who might want to come a-walking. Not many as it turned out, although a young lad called Charlie latched onto Dad and me, and made a big fuss of me - they used to have a Westie called "Titchy", so I was happy to be his chum for the walk.

As for Bluebells the poor old Friends never seem to get this timing right. We have to decide back in October when the Bluebells will be at their best, so that we can book the walks and print the fixture list. Last couple of years, when we've done April it's been a cold Spring and we're too early. When we book May it's a scorcher and they're all over.

This is one of the cold wet (and snowy!) Springs, so April 19th is, as it happens, about 2 weeks too soon. Just the odd bluebells are open, and a slight blue thin haze is starting in the best places. They need a warm fortnight, truthfully, to be a good show. Maybe next year we'll book 2 dates about 3 weeks apart

We had a good walk though abnd everyone enjoyed seeing bits of the Forest off the beaten track that they'd not normally see.

We slept through the afternoon, while Dad went off to get some spuds and broad beans in up at the allotment, then we all crashed on the sofa for Dad to have an "Eric Clapton" (see earlier post). Next we were all up again and off to Diamond's place for a supper, and a chase around with Rags (Asbo). Add to that the walk home, and H and I have had 4 walks. No wonder we're exhausted. Won't need anyone to sing us a lullaby tonight!

Deefer

Soggy Bluebell Walk

Fun weekend. Mum does a "Eurovision Song Contest Party" in which the humans seem to assemble to rip the mick out of the contest and worship at the throne of the TogMeister. At one stage it looked like there might be 9 dogs - we three, Old Dad's three (Hector, Mollie and Archie), Diamond's "Asbo", 2CV P+J's "Janey" and a cairn owned by ace guitarist chum of Mum and Dad, "Dylan". In the event (probably a good thing) we just had Janey, so mayhem didn't happen and the cats survived. Arguable whether they would have done had Hector and Mollie arrived (real Mum and Real Dad) - they like a good cat apparently !!

My pics today though, are of the Bluebell Walk in Challock Forest that finally happened. The bluebells were just about clinging on in places but definitely past their best. Best thing ever though was Old-Dad turning up with Hector, Mollie and the amazing Archie, my brother and litter-mate. I just stress that one because of how huge Archie has grown. Look at the pic of just the three (on leads) before we started. Mollie is left, Arch' in the middle and Hector (Dad) on the right. Arch is bigger than Hector already and about one and a half times the size of me!

What a time we had. It was chucking it down and the bluebells were disappearing rapidly as bramble grows up through and beech leaves expand to close up the canopy. But Archie and I had a whale of a time charging round and round. He may be bigger and more powerful but I am nippy and manouvre-able, and we're closely matched in straight line speed.

The other pics are of us out in the forest, one down by the abandonned riding school, and the other in a narrow path with still a few bluebells. Finally there are all 6 of us back at the cars, lathered up with mud and wet. From left to right we are (Front left Mollie (Mum), behind left Hector (Dad), Front centre Archie (look how big he is), behind him partly obscured, Haggis, then me and finally Meggie. We can't wait to get towelled off and home so that we can crash out. That was midday - it's now nearly 3 and we haven't stirred yet!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend

Deefs

The Ancient Mariner

..he stoppeth one of three
By thy old grey beard and glittering eye
Wherefore stop'st thou me?

And all that Jazz. The Ancient Mariner and his good lady wife Barb, are chums of Mum and Dad, and fancied a walk in the Forst before the bluebells finished. So yesterday we got a lovely evening walk in Challock Forest, where the bluebells are just at that stage where they are moving from peak to "over", with one or two bells on each spike starting to wilt, dry and turn pale. We took it gently as opposed to our usual route-march (that suited Meggie down to the ground!) and went a slightly shorter route (which also suited the Lady M!), while H and I charged around

Extra treat was that with 3 humans in the car, the AM sat in the back with us and we could fuss him and he us all the way there and back. Not sure he was 100% appreciative, but heh!

It's the weekend. Mum has just video'd me with her phone. I have a big flower pot in my mouth which I am trying to sneak from the pond area to my hidey-hole, but the pot more than reaches from my mouth to the ground, so the video is an embarrassing mess of clonks and bangs as I keep knocking the pot off kerbs and plants. Very difficult to see round, a large pot.

Dad came home smelling of Hugo the Dane, once more. He has stopped off on way home with Jezz for tea and cookies. They have a plan to try to get some cute pics of tiny me and enormous Hugo, always assuming that he doesn't try to kill me with a first bite! Eeek!

Have a great weekend
Deefs

Bluebells in Challock

What a beautiful day - blue skies, heat, no wind. A day for rolling the roof back on the 2CV and heading for Challock Forest to see how the bluebells are getting on. As you can see from the pics, they are getting towards their peak right now (which is a shame for Dad's "Bluebell Ramble", already advertised for the 13th May. We are definitely going to be looking at a load of spent seed cases!)

So, what do we have today in the pics department? First one is of Haggis having a picturesque roll (no respecter of picturesque carpets of flowers, our H, and me just about to leap on him and beat him up. The second is just Haggis looking very handsome (sigh.... my hero...). Then we have detail pic of the flower itself, and finally Dad just had to get one in of the blue car in the blue scenery. 2CV nutters are a breed apart.

Meanwhile, 2 habits that I probably should have grown out of by now....

1) Nicking stuff. Today, Mum and Dad are trying to put together an IKEA bookcase, and I swiped a dowel out of the end of a plank, just when they'd finished dowelling up and put the plank aside for later use.

2) Watching the flush water swirl away down the u-bend. What's that all about? Fascinates me though

And just when I thought I was getting over the embarrassment of the robin thing, a message from Asbo via Diamond .... "Deefer! The Robin! Respec' !". Thanks Ragworth - not helpful

Hope y'all had a great weekend. Enjoy the photo's

Deefer (Assistant Carpenter)

Tiny Dog, Big Forest

A scorcher! We go for two walks today, one early, before the heat starts to stifle us, and another later, when there's a bit of shade in the Forest, and we can keep a bit cooler. 26 degrees C, they tell me. The early walk was so that Dad could see the big notice and balloons the allotmenteers had tied to the picnic area fence saying "14th April - Happy 50th Birthday and Dad's name" . 50th Birthday balloons were tied all along the fence. Excellent!

Here are some nice pics from our afternoon walk. the big ol' stags head oak tree is not actually in Challock Forest, but close by the A251 on the way back to Faversham. It looks superbly ancient and last-legs in the slanting evening light, but it seems to go on surviving.

The beech woods one is rather fun. If you look central in the pic, half way up the track up the bank you might just be able to see me, looking very tiny against the huge beeches. The curious horn thing at the top of the slope is one of the sculptures done by Stour Valley Arts ( www.stourvalleyarts.org.uk ). It is actually fixed to the top of a 30 foot deep concrete-lined hole, which is drip fed from a dew-pond type pool. The dripping water falls past an assortment of jangly wind-chime type bits, as I understand it, and the subterranean noises are amplified by the horn thing. It is called, I think, "Score for a hole in the ground" and the artist was the banjo player from Shane MacGowan's band The Pogues (Fantastic band, says Dad)

Finally a pretty bunch of primroses, just to make you feel all spring like and Kentish. The bluebells are starting to open, but I'll save pics of them till we get a goodly typical carpet of them, when they are at their most impressive. 15th April is, actually a bit early, and we are mildly concerned that the formal Bluebell Walk Dad leads in the forest will only be left with the tail end of them. Heigh Ho. There's no accounting for nature. Last year we almost had to postpone it because they were so late.

Hope you had a good weekend

Deefs

Bluebells and Snowdrops

A brilliant day - the weekend and both Mum and Dad around for almost the whole day. Sunny and breezy, so they both got all inspired to get cracking in the garden, and I was there to help. Every year they order another 100 snowdrops "in the green" for under the big James Grieves apple tree. The originals were wiped out by the chooks, when they had them a few years back. Chickens annihilate anything green that emerges through the soil (except Rose of Sharon and daffodils for some reason) and quickly reduced the inside of the chicken "paddock" to brown - either desert or mud depending on season.


This year, along with the snowdrops we also got some bluebells (from a reputable source, of course) and these, too, were to go into the mini-orchard (where the chooks were - now the JG above, but also greengage, damson, quince and (this year) a Black Wonder cherry from Brogdale. We also re-sowed the orchard with grass mix


Mum was up the top of the garden weeding, tidying and planting (and ...um.... picking up doggy gifts), Dad was down in the chicken run and then in the greenhouse sowing multifarious kinds of seeds. We dogs were scampering to and from making ourselves useful as follows

• Helping dig slits for snowdrops
• Rescuing snowdrops accidentally left in the slits by dad before he could tread down the soil again
• Dis-interring old beef bones we buried many moons ago, in case they were in the way.
• Biting the end of the hoe when it tried to make threatening noises against the stones in the soil
• Biting then end of the duckweed net.
• Biting the sharp end of the spade. You can't be too careful!
• Chasing blackbirds (You can't be too careful with them either)
• Duffing up Haggis when he tried to stop moving
• Shouting at the doozers in the building site out back
• Shouting at the street cleaning lorry clearing up the mud left by the doozers driving in and out of the building site
• Shouting at the thunder - that scared it. The cloud cruised right on by without raining on our parade
• Re-distributing empty flower pots. Seems unfair that the greenhouse gets them all
• Collecting mud and grime on fur, especially chin. Dad loves it when I nuzzle into his neck with my chin all wet and muddy
• Saying a quick "hello" to little Eve next door. She still doesn't beleive I type this all myself....

Have a great weekend

Deefer