JACK BE NIMBLE

I wish I had his energy. The above is him, mid-pounce like a polar bear breaking through ice to get to a seal. Will he ever slow down I wonder? 

 

At last; a decent picture of Snippet:

Back to his bum:

Jack does stop sometimes but always alert:

But not for long:

Snip CAN do it once he's warmed up a bit:

At the end of last week it was incredibly misty:

Nothing will deter the nimble one:

I tried fiddling with the exposure of these misty ones but they looked ridiculous and this really is what it was like:

I think the marsh looks at it's most beautiful and mysterious this way:

A few other things from this week.....

Crow:

Last Thursday I had a very welcome visit from Seagull Susie who writes the great blog Beautiful Brixham (http://brixhamlife.blogspot.co.uk/ ). We went for a walk with the dogs and spotted these strange yellow things on some grass blades. I have absolutely no idea what they are....fungi? Eggs? Can someone please enlighten me?

We saw this beautiful little fungus too. Only one I've ever seen like it:

A young Stonechat experiencing its first winter:

More crows:

Our first proper frost AT LAST yesterday morning! We can finally harvest our Jerusalem Artichokes. Isn't the sky beautiful? This was about 7.30am:

Frosty Witches' Butter on the Gorse:

A dead Foxglove with a frosting:

This looks almost unreal I think:

Frosty grass:

Frosty gate on the way to school:

Cotoneaster in my mum's garden in Chagford:

Fleabane which my mum has always called Mexican Daisy; not looking very Mexican here:

This week OB has decided to get the bus into school as well as home which has been surprisingly disruptive given it should make life easier. Being lateness averse in a massive way, we always leave much earlier than we need to which also means I can get to my mum's by 9.00 to sort her out or take her to Waitrose on a Wednesday. Now, with the bus arriving at about twenty to eight, I'm champing at the bit waiting to discretely follow them in the car. The reason we're doing it is so that he gets used to being more responsible about getting his stuff ready and not relying on us so much reminding him about homework etc. The Aspergers mind is not renowned for its ability with what I now know to be called 'executive functioning'. I can't tell you how often he walks out of the door in the morning clutching a piece of Origami but leaving his coat and bag on the sofa. According to the book recommended by GOSH, 'Late, Lost and Unprepared', we have to try and create a 'prosthetic' environment where, subtly, we make it easier for him to remember things. For example, we have dedicated places for things he has to remember, close to where he is most likely to spot them if you see what I mean. I can't say my executive functioning is great but I've learnt to make copious lists and look at the calendar many times a day!

Things are not moving fast regarding the insulin pump. I had a letter with a booking code but when I rang the number, they seemed thrown by my choice of Exeter Hospital over Torbay (no competition I'm afraid) and said they'd have to pass my details on and get them to write to me. More waiting.....

Right, time to make sure OB is reading a 'proper' book rather than a Wimpy Kid one to which he is addicted but rationed as I'm concerned he'll lose the ability to cope with text without pictures. So, until next time, here are those dogs on their way up to Kestor on that frosty morning. Sorry about the overuse of the term 'frosty' by the way.........there it is again. 

COLD

Winter is here. Heavy frost and cold air that can produce a cough if sucked in too deeply. The ground is like iron in the morning, softening by lunchtime. The ponies, when fighting over food, slither over and get up again with no sense of the embarrassment we humans might feel. The Renault is on borrowed time, so scraping the ice off the inside is only something I will have to do a few more times. We went to see a VW Polo on Saturday, only six months younger than the Renault-ecosystem, but with all its parts intact, and will be collecting it this coming Saturday. Here are some frosty pictures:

Oak

Beech

Snippet

Madam Lady Jane

Morning sun

Gorse

Moss

Dead grass

More grasses

Acer

More Beech

The plant whose name I can never remember in the garden

Marjoram

Fern

Today was the first day the Golden Plover flock were absent from their usual patch, a seemingly fruitless area of scrubby grass, but here they are yesterday.

A pair of Stonechats have appeared. I've not seen any for months; perhaps they've been recovering from their multiple broods over summer. No breeding colours present now.

Today I noticed smoke in the distance. Perhaps they are swailing over near Hound Tor and Haytor (seen on the Horizon). You may remember a picture in the spring of a farmer friend cutting fire breaks up here in preparation for swailing, but then it rained incessantly and the opportunity was lost. 

The Army were flying over us again today.......

.........and gone.

In the garden we have a pair of Bullfinches visiting but, unfortunately, they refuse to come close enough for me to get a decent picture. Still, anything is better than last year's Snow Bunting shot, which brings me out in a sweat every time I think about it!

I need to clean the windows AGAIN as these look a little grainier than I would like. Double glazing + grime + feeding station at weird angle + reflection of tap = not so great shots. However.........

Blackbird male

Chaffinch female

Dunnock

I wait with baited breath for the post each day for the arrival of some of the cards, including the rainbow sheep, whose printed success is in the balance I think. Because we're rather remote, the guarantee of its arrival before midday doesn't really apply, with our postie usually rolling up around 1.00pm. Nice of them to come at all quite frankly. I feel the same way about the rubbish and recycling; it's a miracle. So, until next time, here are Snippet and Jack enjoying the dry weather yesterday.