ova seer

as might be expected the pools and puddles are now full of amphibian eggs, some in aggregates and some that seem to have disaggregated.

morning

It was quite a fierce dawn today, and it set the sycamores on fire

Oscar's great adventure

Sometimes, just occasionally, something out of the ordinary happens. Today for the first time for a while we went for a walk along the Inny. It was cold and frosty and this makes the walk much easier where the cattle have churned up the ground. As we walked through the long meadow I could hear a dog barking in the woods, nothing much unusual in that. We went on to the little ruined cottage to see if there were any snowdrops out (there were indeed). There were also some frost flowers on fallen twigs.

As I walked up to the ruined pigsty behind the cottage to look for more snowdrops (see above) I could still hear the dog barking. "Odd" I thought. I decided to walk back along a track above the meadow to see if I could discover what was going on. I realised I had walked past the nearest point to the dog, but there was no sign of it which, if you know dogs, you will appreciate is unusually unsociable. So we back tracked, and then eventually up a little fork in the track I could see a little brown coat, but not moving. we walked up to the spot and there was a little long haired terrier seemingly tied down very firmly to a variety of root stubs and bits of undergrowth (see link for google map to get an idea of how isolated this place was). Cold and somewhat subdued the terrier was very pleased to see us even if he was dwarfed by two lurchers and a collie. I was very puzzled by this situation. It looked as if he had been tied up deliberately while his owner went off to shoot pigeons or some such. I couldn't leave him there though in case he had been abandoned, or his owner had dropped dead in the woods. After hollering for some time with no response, I disentangled his chain, and we slowly made our way back to Beals Mill.

Oscar plus chain

He was obviously very thirsty. When we got to Beals Mill we asked the owner (Mr Page, ex RM) of the fearsome pack of dachshunds if any one had lost a dog. He told me he had thought he had heard a dog barking in the woods over the previous two nights. Now, in these situations there is only one place to go, the village post office at Stoke Climsland. So we drove there (with found dog sitting in my lap gazing adoringly at me). Lo and behold only that morning someone had been in to put up a notice with information about a terrier called Oscar who had gone missing three days earlier. A quick phone call and a five minute drive and Oscar was reunited with his owner, Sally (strangely enough next door to the house where Cassie was born and Bracken still lives). It seems he had done a runner plus chain on Friday evening. How on earth he had got two miles or so through heavy undergrowth, meadows, woods, fences and streams with 15 feet of chain trailing behind him is anybody's guess. Maybe there is a shorter safer route to the spot where I found him.

Oscar reunited

Several things come out of this tale. Terriers are determined little dogs and nothing is going to stop them going for a ramble. Lurchers are very friendly to other dogs in distress. Oscar is very lucky it was a frosty morning. The post office is the centre of our social network. Always ask at the Post Office! Clean your lens before taking photos.

at the end of the day

the first sunny evening for several weeks ended in a blaze of glory during our evening walk.  It is worth checking the lane label to see how this little lane can be so colourful and change so much. It was interesting to hear David Hockney talking about this exact same issue on Sunday (on Countryfile), walking through the same landscape day after day one starts to see rather than look.

the first tortoiseshell of the year

This is getting ridiculous, it is only 11 January and this bright tortoiseshell is already on the wing.

my tree

the bracket fungus eye (if they have an eye) view of the tree

frog spawn and daffodils

On our first walk of the year (in the rain, some things never change) we saw some frog spawn, a very happy robin whistling away, and our amazing daffodils. One advantage of having kept a regular blog (for 6 years now) is that it is easy to compare what we see now with previous years; without doubt this is the mildest winter we have experienced here, and the earliest frog spawn by about 3 weeks (which is a lot).

Happy New Year from Spot

And a Happy New Year

and may the sun shine on us all.

out of season

just wandering around the garden today I found these plants in flower (from the top, camelia, feverfew, geranium and cape lily), in addition to our normal winter flowering shrubs mahonia and viburnum. The camelia is at least two months earlier than usual. Any hard frost now will damage the buds. What a strange year!

only in our imagination

It's been a tumultuous year for everyone everywhere, and a sad one for us, but here's to a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you all.

Love

Spot and the OHG

Dismaltide

At this time of year in the meadows it feels as if the party is over, the tussocks are drab and collapsed, seed heads look like cigarette butts chucked on the floor and ground out, the carpet is sodden, and the buzz of conversation has gone. All that chatting up and flirting, and vivid displaying on the dance floor in party frocks is over. No one has cleared up yet, but one gets the impression that the party goers, once over their hangovers, somehow somewhere will start the party again next year.

funnel troops

 

not a lot is going on at the moment although there are more mushrooms about than usual for the time of year. These very large mushrooms are one of the species of clitocybe and are large enough to be gigantea (edible when boiled) or geotropa (v edible), but are probably just plain old common funnel mushrooms (edible). A group like this is called a troop. As usual I cannot tell which is which. My unease about eating wild mushrooms is not helped by the mention (in only one of my reference books but not the others) of the spread of the Paralysis funnel, (C. amoenolens) which is easily mistaken for the others other than that it smells of ripe pears, the ivory clitocybe (deadly poisonous) which is common on lawns. These look edible but are ivory coloured, and don't smell of much at all! It's back to the superstore then.

snipe starling

a starling looking very smart after the autumn moult. The new feathers have creamy tips that stand out from the dark background, and the back feathers are paler brown than in the summer. Below is a snipe caught in mid flight. This was one of a party of 6 or 7,  small groups like this are called wisps. There are two types of snipe, common and Jack. This is probably the common snipe becausethe wisp was feeding on very damp marsh land. They are extremely quick on the wing.

Lurchers frighten off rabbit

large buck rabbit looking very scared in flower bed after severe warning as to future conduct. We will stop at nothing to rid our garden of rabbits as long as it doesn't involve running around and barking.

Daffodils in November

It is hard to believe that these daffodils are so far ahead. Everything is out of kilter. Maybe it is a floral tribute to the sinking of the SS Europa after she hit a transatlantic debt mountain.

more autumn colour 4

Stoke Climsland from the south west looking unusually picturesque for the time of year. And below our lovely scented climbing rose has decided to flower again

more autumn colour 3

Apleasant but fairly dull picture, until you see the little black spot towards the bottom of the tree trunk on the left, which is a very late flying red admiral sunning itself

and adding to this picture of unseasonal warmth there was also a late comma out and about.

more autumnal colours

Bracken has now turned reddish orange and brown. The dearth of mushrooms continues but at least there is fly agaric around to add some colour.

Innycent fun

our morning walk (or in Spot's case madcap sprint), along the Inny, through the woods, bathed in golden sunlight and enjoying the warmth. The lower picture is at the same place where we came across a deer in September at much the same time of day. It shows how the colours change (see link).

autumn colours

late flowering geranium and brilliant red of a fallen leaf.

autumn in the Tamar valley

 this cut down jpg doesn't quite capture the beauty of the woods in the Tamar valley below Greenscoombe meadows (unlike the full version). Devon and Dartmoor are in the background. We went looking for mushrooms today but there are very few around. I think it must be too mild for them and the undergrowth is still quite green and heavy. Strange warm weather for the time of year..

getting on with life

a walk on Bodmin moor on a stunning day, a raven flying above us all, and below Spot recharging his endorphin levels after what has been a period of obvious uncertainty for him after his mother's death.

Cassie's demise has left an emptiness in our house. It has left me pondering why we experience grief. As an emotion it seems to have no biological value at all unlike every other emotion, all of which seem to map on to some sort of survival activity. I do not share the view that animals are mindless automatons, I think their minds are just not quite like ours, but I suspect we are the only animals to experience grief (perhaps elephants?) and so maybe it is the price we pay for our ability to articulate that we are alive.  If so it feels like a bad deal.

Morning has broken

The clocks have gone back so we caught the early morning sun bathing the mists in the river valleys below on our first walk along our favourite lane since yesterday. What a difference a day can make in the sense of things. One person, three dogs and the spirit of the fourth poddling along behind us. Everyone is very quiet now that the leader of the pack has gone.

goodbye, Cassie, old and faithful friend

Cassie was put quietly to sleep this afternoon. We shall miss her great, soft, intelligent, loyal, mischievous contribution to our lives. The muddy paws, the hoarse barking, the great lurcher skill of extremely surreptitious thieving whenever possible, the log carrying, the joy of living, soft brown eyes, the woolly waterproof coat ... everything that makes a canine friend. Much of her life since 2005 is recorded intermittently in Spot's blog who was of course her favourite son. It was a good life.

redshank

a redshank that has just arrived to spend the winter in the Camel estuary

quarry tails

soft grey colours in the quarry on Kit Hill, and one inhabitant showing off the length of his tail. It is worth clicking on the Kit Hill label (see list to the right) to see how this little patch of granite varies so much through the year.

rainbows

It has been that kind of weather, sharp showers and bright sun, with gold at the end of the lane.