Snow glow

 

Geoff loves the snow so much he glows.

Geoff in a snowy scene

 

I like this shot of Geoff in a snowy scene.

Close encounter

 

I don't advocate approaching the ponies normally, it's frowned upon anyway, too many people feeding them shit led them to develop negative and dangerous behaviours. Although if a pony approaches I feel it would be discourteous to recoil, it may be Epona herself, you don't know, so I welcome the opportunity. Two ponies stood looking down on us from the old platform of Holmsley Station as we passed, an adult male and a foal, both friendly and inquisitive. The foal was particularly interested in Geoff, coming down from the platform the pony got so close as to bump noses, which was all too much for Geoff.

What's that?

 

Something unseen caught Geoffs' attention, it often does. I wondered if our auditory perception and sense of smell were once more acute than they are today; I know chimps have an acute sense of smell. I came to the conclusion that we must have had at some point. I imagine our hunter gather ancestors still had to some degree, and that contemporary hunter gathers would be far more attuned to their environments that we'd be; their environment surely necessitated it. They say that like us dogs have a 6th sense too, though dog boffins believe that unlike us dogs are more likely to trust it.

Golden

A Golden Retriever immersed in a golden dawn; Geoff takes in the sunrise as we approach the exit the lower defencive ditch after spiralling around the hillfort's defences from top rampart to lowest ditch.

Mud club

 

If NASA want to find water on a planet, forget sending a rover, send a retriever. I don't know how the bugger does it, no matter how arid, Geoff will find water. That said, water's not really a problem, mud on the other hand requires my participation in it's removal; and so a short distance on we reached Red Rise Brook where we undertook the ritual struggle which is cleaning Geoff's face.

Early doors

It was early doors for Geoff and I this morning and, man, was the fresh forest lovely; all rich colour and wonderful light. With his dense coat Geoff doesn't favour this hot weather, so we were up at 0400, and by 0520 were already under the canopy as the sun rose and flooded the stands. Deer featured prominently on our walk, they appear to be omnipresent, with groups and individuals everywhere; I mean everywhere. In fact even before our walk, two stags had emerged from the high roadside bracken directly in front of us requiring me to test the brakes, and test my sphincter; luckily both passed.  The early forest was ours for the majority of our walk, which is always nice; the popularity the forest endured during the early period of covid appears to have abated (touch wood); although I still have issues and concerns around the over promotion, and consequent commodification, of the forest...although that's another ramble. After a 10.5 mile walk taking in the wonders of the summer forest we were back at the car before 0900, with the day still ours. Well worth getting up early for.

Revived

The forest's streams were becoming more gravel and murky puddle than stream, to the point where I cringed a bit when Geoff went in for a drink and a cool; thankfully recent rains has revived the forest tributaries fortunes, and once again they're flowing clean. Passing Blackensford Brook Geoff had an encounter with one of this season's young colts; the foal was fascinated by Geoff, and even though his mother clearly was intimating caution, the foal was determined to take a closer look. Geoff sat, patiently and somewhat nervously, as the foal approached, they eyed each other a while, then their noses touched; it was a beautiful moment, a rare one too, foals don't commonly behave like that; this young colt showed great character. Sadly, no photo of the event was captured (well, not be me anyway), as being surrounded by skittish mares I was more concerned with taking in the moment, ..... and monitoring our safety.   

Heather hideout

It was windy out in the forest again this morning, cold too, especially up on the exposed central plains. Crossing Handy Cross Plain we took the opportunity to escape the winds and rest for a moment in a small gravel pit long recolonised by heathland flora; much of the year it's bottom partially filled with water; often we'll stop here so Geoff can clean off or have a drink. The heather on Handy Cross Plain is well established, deep and thick, and when nestled into makes an effective windbreak and insulator, quiet too; I was surprised how comfortable it felt tucked up in nature; wonderful stuff heather, versatile too, with a wealth of uses. At first Geoff wasn't sure what I was up to, though when he realised I'd settled in, soon nuzzled in next to me in my heather hideout.

 

Murd

Geoff's indignant expression may be on account of me having just called him a wanker.....jokingly! And he is. I don't think he could've found a muddier puddle, nor one whose mud was of such a black silty consistency, perfect for infiltrating a retriever's hairy coat. Of course, he was happy as Larry; not so much though when we reached Dockens Water and we had to go through the dance of washing the mud of his face...he's not a fan, nor I, we both always end up wet.  

Retreiver

 Geoff! Such a retriever move, man. 

Geoff

Geoff loves it out here.

Mud Club

Geoff was sure there'd be other muddy pools in the forest, 

but just in case.

Geoff's return

Geoff's returned to the forest on reduced walks and it's straight back to the established routine, first muddy puddle he finds.....every time! 

Poor paw Geoff

Poor Geoff. A visit to the vets this morning confirmed what I'd thought after yesterdays walk, that a broken claw means Geoff's on short walks on the lead for the next week. I know a dog who wont be happy with that, he's used to 3 to 5 miles a day and a longer walk on a Sunday.  Yesterday, he came bounding through the undergrowth of Red Rise Shade, blood all over his front leg, on inspection, clearly a claw...and not one I could deal with. It didn't appear to bother him muchly, though it was still a fraught walk back as we were still over a mile out. He's still doesn’t appear bothered by it, nor his bandage, which is cool.

Fun filled field

Fun was had in the field this morning.

The beach

Back at the coast again this morning. The tide was out exposing a 30m beach and a further 20m's of shin deep shallows, allowing for easy distancing. I've been reluctant to brave the beach fearing herds of walkers (Walking Dead reference intended) and even at 0800 the sands were dotted with day trippers, though still easily manageable. The sea's so good for Geoff, it's good for his skin, he gets to cool down in the sea, he enjoys a swim, and he sees other dogs, he loves it here, that said, he loves it everywhere. We walked from Chewton Bunny towards Barton, past the eroding cliffs which are returning the landlocked inhabitants of a vast 40 million year old lagoon back to the sea. It was lovely, the further along we walked the less folk there were, until it wasn't long before our beach walk was undertaken in solitude. Looking back though, towards the Bunny, I could see a herd had formed at the Highcliffe end of the bay and so decided to take an alternative route home. Too many people don't appear to understand and are dropping their guard. We're still shielding my wife and so the shit's still real for us, whereas the actions of many folk would suggest that everything was all right now, the 'Rona' a thing of the past, that lockdown was a memory and normality had returned. I wish it had, and I wish I had their confidence....but it hasn't and I haven't. 

Tired Geoff

It's tiring being a Geoff.

Happy Birthday Geoff

Happy birthday Geoffrey, man.

Dogs life

This morning may have been a meditation for me, although for Geoff it was flipping buzzing. Initially blissfully quiet walking, as we approached Knoll Beach Café the sands and dunes began to become busier. People appeared to move along the beach in waves; a loose cluster of people, a 300 meter gap, another close cluster of people, and another 300 meter gap, and just like waves on the shore many of them reached a point and turned back on themselves. There were so many dogs too, all breeds, all ages and sizes. Geoff was as happy as Larry, if Larry were a dog with a particular fondness for the beach who was enthusiastic about meeting other dogs. With the ferry being out of service for so long, I'd neglected Studland, dropped it from the roster; walking here today I quickly remembered why we used to walk here so frequently.