This is a collection of some of my favourite shots. I enjoy taking photographs, predominantly of plants, landscapes, interesting items and of course Yogi.

I am not claiming to be a photographer, I am very much an amateur, I don’t know much about exposure and lighting and all those technical terms. I just love it when I spot a pattern and can capture it, when I see a beautiful scene and manage to reflect it, and if I get Yogi to sit still for long enough to get a clear pic of him. I usually post photos on flickr.com, but thought I share a collection here.

On our Cornwall holiday we’ve joined the National Trust on the last day at Lizard Point.

We have plenty of National Trust sites around where we live in Cambridge, so it seemed worthwhile.

Today was another grand day out at Wimpole Hall. We did a 2 hour walk across the beautiful meadows and through the woodland.

After yesterday’s dog training class, Yogi deserved a nice long walk with lots to sniff. And I could do with some fresh air to blow those cobwebs out of my head.

I love taking pictures of tree eyes, they are really magical, well I think so. Judge yourself, here are some I’ve taken today.

It was a glorious day, finished off with lunch at the tea rooms. Cottage Pie. We then bought some Wimpole Home Farm meat and headed back home.

Yogi and I immediately collapsed into little heaps in bed for a snooze which was to last some hours. He is now once again snoozing on the sofa while we are zapping through the channels and have some drinks.

Nice Saturday! Just what the doctor ordered

Bisa

JUST A DOG

From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a dog,”
or “that’s a lot of money for just a dog.”

They don’t understand the distance travelled, the time spent,
or the costs involved for “just a dog.”

Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a dog.”

Many hours have passed and my only company was “just a dog,”
but I did not once feel slighted.

Some of my saddest moments have been brought aobut by
“just a dog,” and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch
of “just a dog” gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it’s “just a dog,” then you probably understand
phrases like “just a friend,” “just a sunrise,” or “just a promise.”

“Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship,
trust, and pure unbridled joy.
“Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience
that make me a better person.
Because of “just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks and look
longingly to the future.

So for me and folks like me, it’s not “just a dog”
but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future,
the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.

“Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts
away from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday they can understand that its’ not “just a dog”
but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being
“just a man” or “just a woman.”

So the next time you hear the phrase “just a dog,”
just smile,
because they “just don’t understand.”

~Unknown Author~

We’ve just come back from our summer holiday in Cornwall. We rented a self-catering cottage on a farm near Coverack, on the Lizard.

Coverack

http://www.heath-farm-holidays.co.uk/granary.html

We’ve had a truly wonderful time there with our little Yogi, who loved the spacious cottage and enclosed back garden from where he could watch the mad guinea fowl and chickens safely. We can recommend this place whole-heartedly. Great for starting out on lovely walks along the coastal path. He was the model dog, always came back and walked and walked even though he was so tired in the end that I had to carry him for a little while (which did my lower back in and causes me still to be in pain, but it was worth it.)

Cadgwith is the most pretty secluded fishing village, just wonderful.

For the first time ever I had a freshly baked real Cornish Pasty, it was amazing!!!!

We also went to the National Seal Sanctuary in Gweek: http://www.sealsanctuary.co.uk/ Besides of seals they also have the most adorable Otters and Penguins and a very nice lady explained Cornish rock pools to Ian, Yogi and I.

Afterwards we stopped in Helford, a very pretty village by the Helford River. After a drink in the pub I ran into my former colleague Pete, which was funny, a case of this world being quite a bit smaller than we like to think. We also managed to meet our German neighbours from the cottage in Coverack there.

Pretty Helford

We did a tour to Marazion, from where you can see St Michael’s Mount, but this was the most dog unfriendly place, with signs and fines, awful, there is nobody at the beach, there is lots of stinking seaweed and rubbish from all those people without dogs that are allowed to walk there. And they don’t even allow dogs on the paved promenade we had to use a narrow pedestrian path next to the busy road to get back to the car park. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Given how many people with dogs go to Cornwall on holiday, they are shooting themselves in the foot, in my view. Penzance, where we went afterwards was quite chavvy and I was glad to get back to the Lizard. Much nicer friendlier place.

St Michael's Mount

On the way back we stopped in Cadgwith and bought some lovely fresh monkfish and I found some nice souvenirs. I would definitely love to stay in this village, it’s magical.

On the last day, we were lucky again with the weather and went to Lizard Point. It’s very stunning there. The views are fantastic, we spotted lots of seals in the sea below the cliffs sunning their noses, it was brilliant.

They have some cute little shops and a restaurant with sea views. There are some men left that make souvenirs from serpentine. I’ve got a lovely paperweight. We also joined the National Trust who run the site and had a little hut there. Unfortunatley, when we arrived and I went into the souvenir shop where the lady had a cocker spaniel, Yogi got tangled up, I bend down and my lower back went. Trapped nerve again or somegthing equally evil. I was stuck kneeling on the floor and the lady had to run out trying to find Ian to help. Slightly embarrassing, so I felt I should share it here with everyone…

We then had a lovely lunch (I had a medley of 4 different fresh fish) in the restaurant looking out at the sea.

Lizard Point

On the way back towards home we stopped at the Healey Cider Farm, as my brother has told me about Rattler Cider before I went down to Cornwall and it’s rather tasty. We didn’t go straight back to Cambridge though, we stopped over in Kingham, Cotswolds, for two nights in the Tollgate Inn: http://www.thetollgate.com/

Very recommendable, the people are very friendly and very dog loving. Guinness their Labrador wasn’t keen on Yogi, but that didn’t stop Yogi from pestering him. We had a wonderful room, very clean and comfortable. We had dinner there in the evening, Yogi is allowed in the bar area, where there are tables for diners as well. It was to die for. Wonderfully cooked Scallops followed by Guinea Fowl (in honour of the noisy gang at Heath Farm), and a lovely desert, delicious. All dealt with thanks to Ramazotti, I was amazed as I’ve never seen it anywhere here in the UK before.

The village is very pretty and we did a walk to Bledington on Sunday, it was very hot though and combined with my bad back and not being prepared with maps, we didn’t do too much. Drove to very beautiful Stow-on-the-Wold (http://www.cotswolds.info/places/stow-on-the-wold.shtml), where Yogi even was allowed in some shops. Sorry, he is so important to us, that things like that make a huge impact.

I seriously think that in a country where 8 million people have dogs, there should be more of a campaign for places to become more dog friendly. I wish Cambridge was more like those great places we’ve now visited and enjoyed. So few pubs here allow dogs, with no real reason, just the totally rubbish excuse that they “are not allowed dogs as they serve food” which is clearly not right.

Anyway, we’ve managed to get home safely today at lunchtime. Yogi went bonkers and seems most happy to be home and I think so are we. All in all a fantastic break.

We had a wonderful day at Brancaster beach yesterday. Beautiful sunshine and warm enough to get my feet wet. Yogi loved it once again. He found all the lovely things hidden in the sand he can chew on and pick up and throw about. And of course he loved to just run.

Before the fun started at the beach, we stopped in Thornham at the Orange Tree Pub and Restaurant. Lovely place with amazing food.

Yogi’s social life is better than my own. On this lovely sunny Sunday we went off on a walk to Stourbridge Common. But before we even get there, we bump into Max, the Border Terrier and Harry the Norfolk Terrier and they have a good runaround. Yogi secretly – well actually openly admires Max, Harry is off to pretty much do his own thing.
We then continue along to the Common where we meet Jerry, he is a Corgy-Collie mix, too old for a wild run but he indulges him with a loving wrestle. Yogi for the first time does a hump, no idea what brought that on, I guess it really is time to get him snipped. Eventually we move on, we are all thirsty, but before we get to the bridge that leads home we bumps into Deo and Angus, his Pug friends, they seem to have a kiss and a little chat. No surprise he is now knackered, lying in the sun on the terrace. What an exciting walk!

Horray, lovely weather, been on long walk today along the Cam. We were all totally knackered afterwards. My legs are still hurting, Yogi of course is all fit and bouncy again after a short snooze. Must go for another little walk now, so that will be it for today.
Yesterday, we went for a nice walk too but also into town, around there and had lunch outside at the market square at Don Pascquale, great family run Italian. Good value too! And yummy cake for desert, hmmmm.
After a rainy but warm start today, it’s all blue sky and sunny. So off we are… bye!

Yay! Just had to write that Spring has arrived eventually! Up to 18 degrees Celsius today, it was just wonderful. Went for the lunchtime walk with Yogi just needing a cardigan. I am so happy. Looking forward to spending time on the terrace again! Need to sort out my plant pots this weekend, need to put some seeds out, it looks all so empty and dark.

Anyway, I am a bit tired today, after getting a little less sleep last night due to St. Patrick’s Day drinks at the Geldart. Yogi had a lick of Guinness off my finger and seems to be very keen on it, it’s full of iron, so can’t really be bad for him ;o).

Putting in another order of Kinnie, the fabulous Maltese soft drink, why oh why is this not a staple drink all around this world like Coke I wonder! In absense of that, I am ordering it at the Maltese Culture Movement, those lovely people there will be sending me 2 cases shortly.

http://www.kinnie.com/page.asp?n=home

If you are ever in Malta or Gozo, try it, it’s wonderfully refreshing. Bitter Orange/Herbal limonade, might not sound nice, but it IS! I promise!

Best regards
Bisa

Yesterday we went to the beach with Yogi for the first time. I chose Old Hunstanton as it has a dog friendly pub right by the beach and beach parking as well.

He absolutely loved it. He was running around like a little nutter. When we were far away from anyone else I let him off the lead and he just sprinted around as if he had never tasted freedom like this before. Well the vastness of space there is quite amazing even for a human. I am always stunned when I get there. It was low tide so we just did a walk up to the waterline and back, but that took us a good hour with Yogi running after his ball and crissing and crossing around. In the end we had to take him on the lead again, as some idiotic people decided to go exactly where we were and he spotted them and wouldn’t stop running to them and trying to say hello. He didn’t jump though which is great.

There was so much space, these people should have really picked another path, nevermind.

Possibly not so bad, as he was wearing himself out. On the way back he was wet, sandy and shivering making some little whimpering noises, I think he was a bit cold. But the moment we were on dry sand he was back to his old self. We then had lunch at on the terrace of the Ancient Mariner Inn pub, as the weather was lovely. We had to keep our coats on but the sun was out and it was fairly sheltered. Yogi went into his little travel box for a well-needed snooze.

We then went for another little walk in the dunes. Sat down and had hot tea from the flask and a chocolate cookie I’ve got from a little tearoom beach shop.

Yogi slept most of the drive home and for the rest of the evening wasn’t getting up again. He was well and truely knackered.

Oh he did bring up some food, I think that was due to the amount of saltwater and sand he must have ingested, but he seemed fine afterwards, going straight back to sleep.

Only got up when I made him this morning at nearly 10am, can’t recall the last time I’ve stayed in bed that long, but I was pretty exhausted myself.

Our holiday for July has been booked. 10 days, one week Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall and then 2 days in the Cotswolds on the way back to break up the long journey.

Will be here: http://www.heath-farm-holidays.co.uk/granary.html

And then here: http://www.thetollgate.com/accommodation.html

On a grey dark stormy and rainy day like today, thinking about the summer, warm balmy evenings in beautiful landscapes is just the thing to do.

Bisa