Day 223 - No Frankie and Bunny

brave bunny

We went looking for Frankie this evening, but all we found was this young rabbit.

We'd heard a horse whinnying over that way a few days ago, so were a little hopeful that Frankie might have put in an appearance...so we wandered over there in the evening warmth, only to find a meadow full of long grass, inhabited only by a couple of sheep that had escaped when the flock was driven through there recently. 

No Frankie...

But we did spy this lovely little juvenile rabbit, and he sat very patiently whilst I rattled off a few shots. 

A little too patiently, to be honest...I'm worried that he'll be predated if he's so comfortable as to ignore humans clicking away 10 feet from him...

Still, he's an amenable fellow, and helpfully supplied some blog fodder, on an evening where I was tired and struggling to feel inspired.

Friday night, innit?!

Thanks, Bugs!

:-)

Day 165 - No Horse With a Name

keep up, puny human

Jazz and I went on a mission to find Frankie this evening. 

It seems to have been raining for several days now, and it's been wet and damp for a few weeks, so we haven't been over to where Frankie was pastured.   But I've been asked for news of "the horse" a few times now, and my conscience was pricking at me a little. 

So we girded our loins and headed off to the woods on the hill behind us.  I wasn't sure how far Jazz would get, but as we started up the hill in the woods he became lively and excited.

He even cantered past me at one point - the first time he's done that in months!

Four legs are much better than two on difficult terrain...claws help in mud too!  This path is on a steady incline, rising gently up the hillside through the woods.  It's really boggy at the moment, welly-sucking wet, and I struggled to keep pace with the old dog.

We got to the Orchard and I scanned the field for signs of Frankie.

Frankie?

There was no sign of him down the field, or even any signs of recent activity, and nothing higher up the meadow either.

Fraaaaaaaan-kie??

On the Manorial estate there is an old Coach House, with a central courtyard surrounded by stables.   I've only stuck my nose in there a couple of times, and it always looks used, but there's never been any horses in there when I've looked.  

I didn't think that the shepherd would have the option of stabling Frankie there, but figured we'd go and have a look, just to remove doubt. 

On the way we passed one of the old sheep fields, with these glorious trees with dark pink blossom:

no Frankies

I don't know what they are (I expect Anna will tell me), but these photo's don't do them justice...when Anna brings the DSLR back I'll head over and try for something better, whilst they're so beautifully in bloom. 

Anyway, Frankie wasn't in with the sheep either.   I wandered over to the coach house and as there was nobody about, I sidled closer to see what I could see.   I'm not sure if I'm trespassing, or whether I'm allowed access because I live in one of the estate cottages...but what the heck, nobody was looking so I snuck in there. 

Sadly the stables are empty, as usual.

sans Frankie

The "Lord of the Manor" lives elsewhere, but his daughter and her family live in the main house on the estate...they have a couple of horses, and I suspect they use the stables...but their horses will be outside at this time of year.  

Frankie must be convalescing elsewhere...I will look out for the shepherd and ask him what's happening when I see him...I'll let you know.

As this is a photo-heavy blog post, I'll round it out with this nice shot I took on the way back, of the little ornamental canal just over the road. 

can't lead a horse...

Not the greatest photo, I know, but it's a pretty place, even in the rain...

The good news is that Jazz managed the walk ok - that was the furthest he's walked for a while, and he coped reasonably well.   

Of course, he's sparko and snoring on the floor behind me now...

That's my boy...

:-)

Day 144 - Je Ne Sais Quoi

je sais. c'est un pommier

Twelve squared - get in!  

I only need to do this for around n-n-n-nineteen squared days, so I'm well over half way...aren't I?!

Anyway, dubious logic and maths aside, I've been feeling bad about not checking up on Frankie lately.  Life's been hectic, and somehow I just haven't gotten around to it.  

Shame on me!

This evening I resolved to make the effort, despite getting home late from work, very tired, with a bazillion (maybe even as many as a gajillion) things to do.

Maybe I saw Pinocchio one too many times as a child (although that seems unlikely - seeing a movie was quite the special occasion), but regardless, Jiminy Cricket somehow had a lasting effect on me.

Always let your conscience be your guide

That's what he said, I can distinctly recall...well, it's what someone said...or maybe I just made it up, I don't know...in any case, I remember it clearly, and for whatever reason have proceeded to do just that for most of my life. 

Consequently, by this evening, when my own personal little Jiminy Cricket was fair shouting at me, even poking me in the eye now and again for emphasis, I could ignore him no longer...

So I took Jazz out in the cold wind (what's that about?  It's May, for god's sake!), and we wandered over to the orchard to see how young Frankie was doing. 

He wasn't there! 

Now, two obvious possibilities immediately spring to mind; maybe he's been stabled whilst he gets on top of the laminitis; or the laminitis got the better of him, and he's gone to gallop over the grassy plains in the sky...

On the information available to me at this time, I have no reason to favour one explanation over the other...but I have a clear preference.

Therefore, I'm choosing to believe that he's in a warm, comfortable stable, with a soft bed of hay, plenty to eat and some good drugs, and in a couple of months time he'll be back in the orchard, trotting excitedly about.   

I will of course check with the shepherd at the earliest opportunity, and report my findings here.

As Frankie wasn't there, I took a few snaps of the trees in the orchard.  I just love this photo of an apple tree with the pale sunset behind, and I'm not really sure why...but that doesn't matter, I like it, and I hope one or two of you lot might like it too.   

It has a certain je ne sais quoi about it, don't you think?

As a bonus, here's another photo that I like (hey it's my blog, I can post whatever I want!). 

This looks kind of swampy to me, as though it could be somewhere in the North American Deep South...but it is in fact just over the road from where we live, maybe no more than 40 yards from where I'm sitting typing this.

by the bayou?

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a little over exposed...I'm just a bumbling amateur photographer, only just beginning to get to grips with the basics...gimme a break, huh?   I get distracted by framing and composition, and often forget to check the technical details such as exposure levels...oops!

Check this out though...the tree sneaking into the top left corner of the photo is an Ash, which I wouldn't have been able to identify until Anna told me how, not two days ago!

I bet you hadn't even noticed the tree, had you?

Honestly, pearls before swine...

:-p

Day 133 - No Man Went to Mow

green grow the rushes-oh

I spent most of today waiting to see if the weather would dry up long enough to mow the lawns.  

It didn't, which I'm somewhat conflicted about...on the one hand, yay, I didn't have to mow the lawns!  On the other, damn, those lawns still need mowing!

The venerable JazzyB is on a new drug regime for his ongoing lameness...he's now on Metacam, an NSAID (like ibuprofen), Tramadol, an opioid analgesic, and Symmetrel, which is a drug used to treat Influenza and Parkinsons Disease, but can be used in dogs to increase the effectiveness of other painkillers. 

So far he's doing ok, and this evening he isn't limping much, considering he's been out for a walk today (which is encouraging...). 

We went to see Frankie, who was lying down in his field, somewhat worryingly.  When he saw me, he struggled to his feet and started to hobble over.  I jumped over the fence and went to meet him, to save him walking all the way to me. 

I gave him a couple of apples and a bit of a fuss, but then left him fairly quickly, to save him following me.  

Later on, I phoned the shepherd (whose sheep were in with Frankie the other day), and he said the horse was his, and he hadn't noticed anything when he'd been there earlier, or through the week!   Clearly, he doesn't pay attention. 

When I asked the horse's name, he said "the kids call him Toffee", which I thought was a curious response (not to mention a bit of a rubbish name).   He'll always be Frankie (or occasionally Ol' Blue Eyes) to me.

I explained that the horse appears to have laminitis, and probably needs to be stabled and treated.   I'm not sure how seriously he took it - he said that the farrier was due to visit next week...to which I thought, well that won't be soon enough, and he needs to see a vet!

Anyway he said he was going up there shortly and would take a look, so we'll see what happens.  I'll try to check on Frankie again tomorrow. 

Following that, we wandered over to this little artificial pond, which is only about 30-40m from our house.   It's referred to as a canal on some old maps, and I guess this is strictly true, as it's straight and narrow, and man made. 

The pond always looks lovely at this time of year, and as far as my blog goes, it's another reminder of the gorgeous verdant green I seem to surround myself with in the Spring.

There are a pair of mallards that seem to be in residence.   I've seen them a few times in recent weeks, and you can spot them at the far end of the pond in this photo (click on it to view it full size, on a PC at least - smartphone users will have to make the best of their teeny screen).

Having said that, as we were leaving in the car earlier this evening (heading to the local pub), we saw the pair of them wandering down our lane...I've not seen them do that before.

Anyway, our new camera hasn't arrived yet (although, frustratingly, one of the lenses has) , so this is a standard smartphone photo.   

Speaking of which, Anna is getting a new (work) smartphone on Monday, a Samsung Galaxy S5, which apparently is capable of recording 4K video!!!

Can't wait to give that a trial run...although first I have to get over feeling peeved that she has a phone two generations newer than mine, when I love my funky gadgets, and she really couldn't give a toss... 

That shit ain't right! 

Hmph...

}:-\

Day 131 - Curious Creatures

like a crowd of people...

Sheep are curious creatures. 

I'd gone over to see Frankie, to take him some carrots, but found these sheep there instead. As I walked slowly towards the gate, they all started to move away.  When I got to the gate, they all stopped...then started hesitantly back towards me.

The two heavily pregnant sheep in the middle of the photo were alternating the lead.  The one on the left would take a slow couple of steps forward and then stop.  The one on the right, now half a metre behind, would then tentatively take a few steps, then stop...and so, en flock, they crept towards me.

I was hoping that they'd come all the way to me, if I just stood there and let them...but then the one on the front right of this group looked away to her left, then after a moment, turned that way.  The one on her right immediately followed, and within a couple of seconds they were all skipping away across the field. 

Curious creatures...

I suppose you have flock/herd/shoal species (which are always prey) at one end of the spectrum, and lone hunter species (always predators) at the other.   Man is somewhere in the middle, I guess...we have some herding instincts, and some hunting instincts.  

Politicians and marketing people know how to tap into the herding instinct, fully understanding the power of peer pressure...hence the term sheeple, meaning the unthinking masses, people behaving like sheep. 

Perhaps most of us unwittingly choose one or other of these mindsets...or perhaps our pre-existing mindset determines whether or not we will be drawn along with the crowd.  The current can be powerful, with a strong undertow...sometimes you have to pull really hard to get clear of the torrent of mainstream propaganda, and social and cultural conditioning - if that's the course you wish to pursue. 

I'm not sure which road is better - maybe whichever path we choose is by definition the right road for us.

Personally, I do feel strongly the urge not to conform, not to go along with social convention. 

This makes me relatively unsuccessful - by conventional measures.  However, if you measure instead on some kind of subjective criteria such as, oh I don't know, how happy I am, or how happy my home is, or how much I enjoy life?

Well I think I'm doing reasonably well for myself thanks.  ;-)

All that said, I'm a little concerned about Frankie. 

When Jazz and I went down to the bottom of the field, he was standing up on the bank.  He soon started to make his way over, but seemed very uncomfortable on his feet, as he slowly hobbled towards me.

do you remember me?

He seemed interested in carrots, and appeared to be clear eyed...but shifted his weight a lot, often holding one hoof or another off the ground. 

I think Frankie has laminitis, which can be a very serious condition in horses.  Tellingly, it can be brought on by eating lots of fresh new grass...

At the weekend, I will try to find out who owns him and whether he's seen a vet. 

I'll keep you posted...

:-/

Day 128 - Cat in a Bag, Part Deux

cat?  what cat?

After a mostly quiet Bank Holiday Monday, we have at least had a couple of minor successes today. 

Most obviously, we have a brilliant new edition of the ongoing Cat In A Bag series!

Here, Maisie is demonstrating advanced Improvised Disguise bag technique, whereby an everyday plastic Matalan bag can be repurposed to create this instant White Ninja outfit.   This is a very handy skill for a black cat who lives in occasionally snowy climes to possess!

Obviously it's difficult to spot that there even is a cat in this photo, so Maisie insisted I also include the more fundamental Cute Pose technique.   It's a timeless classic, and although this pose is easily performed by any cat, it's not so easy to overcome the clichéd, forced look that so often devalues this sort of shot - it takes a true professional to bring a natural feel to the discipline.

cute pose

Bravo, Maisie!

Our other significant success of the day was that after a mere several months of relentless indecision, we finally managed to order a new DSLR camera!

We'd decided some time ago which camera model we wanted, and thus it was a simple matter of working out which lenses would best suit our needs, whether to buy new or second-hand, whether or not it was cheaper to purchase separately or as a bundle, where to buy from, and so on and so forth.

As we had a relatively free day, we realised the time had come to actually Place the Order. 

We started by changing our mind about everything we'd decided before, forgetting where we had found all the best deals, and failing to remember why we'd chosen one particular lens over another. 

To assist with the process, we started to reread a multitude of reviews, most of which conflicted with each other. 

After several hours, and having been around several loops several times, we came to the crunch, and went back to our original choice.   Anna helpfully resolved the lens quandary by impulsively buying all 3 lenses over which we were deliberating. 

Go Anna!

So we've now actually ordered a new Nikon D90 DSLR camera, with 3 lenses;

35mm fixed - a fixed lens with low f-stop for interesting, arty shots.
18-55mm zoom - for general day to day use, with a bit of flexibility.
55-300mm zoom - predominantly for wildlife and climbing action shots. 

Frustratingly, the fixed lens will be here before the rest of the camera and other bits and bobs...but still, the lens itself might make for a handy Photo of the Day subject!

It will be interesting to see if there's a noticeable improvement of the quality of photo on this blog...

Just to finish up, deliberations deliberated, we popped over to see Frankie.   He was at the bottom of the field, and apparently reluctant to run up to us...in fact, he downright refused to!

We headed down to see him instead, and it seemed to me that his feet were a little sore - he was hesitant to move and walked gingerly towards the carrot and apple I dangled for him...

He was a bit cleaner than he has been though, so I think his owner must have been to see him.  I'll keep my eye on him over the next few days and see how he's getting on. 

Here's a final photo looking up the orchard where he lives.

how do you like them apples?

The orchard used to consist of these six fruit trees, but I see that one of them has now fallen, so there are only five remaining.  It looks like there's fruit on one of them...surely it's far too early in the year for that?

But then the seasons are all over the place now that we've broken the planet so thoroughly...

Lovely old trees, anyway.

Day 126 - Great Expectations

no deer

Well, this is a first...the morning after the night before blog post!  It's now 7.30am on Easter Sunday morning, and I do feel somewhat the worse for wear...plenty of fluids, I think!

To be clear, I both took the photo and started this blog post yesterday, which means it's well within the long standing rules of the 5-oh 1-a-Day blog (which I'm making up as I go along, obviously).

We had friends round last night for deer stalking and a barbecue.  

When I say deer stalking, I don't mean deer hunting, no siree, Bob.  That kind of thing is really not my bag, baby...we were simply trying to catch sight of one.

One of our friends told me he had never seen a deer in the wild.  I boldly claimed that we see them all the time, and told him that if he were to come over for a barbecue, we could go over the woods and see if we can spot the deer that live over there. 

I love the woods up at the top of the hill.  In the photo above, there is a large stand of sycamore trees.  They're tall and slender, and when their foliage comes in, it's all up at the top of the tree.  The wood becomes a calm, natural cathedral, with the leafy canopy creating a green ceiling over the large, airy interior, warmly suffused with dappled sunlight...it's a beautiful, atmospheric space. 

I'll endeavour to get back up there in a few weeks and try to capture the feel of it.

We didn't see the deer up there...but after spending 20 minutes feeding carrots to Ol'e Blue Eyes (now re-christened Frankie), as we wandered down the path towards home, we spotted fresh roe deer prints in the soft mud. 

Sure enough, two minutes later, we saw two deer lying down in the wood, 20yds off the path.  They lay there stock still looking at us for a minute or two, before hesitantly getting to their feet.  After a moment they started to trot, and then run, as they took a wide path around towards where we were coming from.  This is their standard strategy for avoiding predators, and why you can pass them by a dozen times and never see them.  

They know what they're doing!

It's surprising how often your experience reflects your expectations of it...funny how sometimes, when you throw a bold claim out there, the universe responds to your confidence by making it happen.  

Thanks, Universe!

B-)

Day 125 - Ritual Sacrifice

what demonic beast is this?

We were supposed to go climbing today, but when I woke up this morning I felt drained, exhausted even.  I didn't even have the energy to get ready, let alone to drive 100 miles, lug a heavy bag on a difficult scramble up to a crag, then climb.  I'm ashamed to say I had to cry off...really not like me.

I sat around for a couple of hours, then went back to bed and slept like a baby for four hours! I think I might still have the remnants of a lurgy...ho hum.

Anywho, I felt a bit better when I woke up, and have a had a pleasant day since, thanks for asking!  

First, Anna took me snake hunting!

There's an SSSI site owned by the Wildlife Trust nearby, and some of Anna's friends have reptile mats down.  These are simply mats of various types, that are put on the ground in the sun, in environments where there may be reptiles.  Reptiles, being cold blooded, need to warm up in the sun, and it gets warm under the mats, so attracting snakes and lizards.   

It has the side benefit of providing ecologists with somewhere to look where there's a better than average chance of finding any local reptiles.

At the site local to us, there are grass snakes and slow worms, so we hoped to maybe get a photo of something interesting.  

Basically, you wander round the site looking for the mats, then see if there are snakes under them. 

We did get distracted for a while by a bit of a skeleton I came across.  Looking around, we found several bits of bone and some feathers, and part of a wing.   Somewhat disturbingly, we then spent some time reassembling them on top of an anthill.   

If anyone comes across it they'll assume they've disturbed a serial killer's sacrificial altar, complete with grisly souvenirs of his evil deeds.

Maybe we'll get back there later with candles and incense, and have a little midnight ritual, raise some spirits, all that jolly stuff... ;-) 

Anyway, that aside, I can succinctly summarise the two hours we spent doing this with the following two photo's:

any snakes?

nope

Still, it was a good to get some exercise, and a pleasant walk around a peaceful, quiet site. 

And I got this photo of a cool tree:

After that it was time to fulfil my promise to Ol' Blue Eyes, so I took him a juicy apple, which he seemed to enjoy:

He then proceeded to check all of my pockets for any further goodies, getting his muddy snout all over me in the process.  

He was a bit braver today, and he has quite a personality...I like him.

Tomorrow, I shall buy him carrots!

B-)

Day 124 - Ol' Blue Eyes

beyond the fringe

I made a new friend today!

My evening walk up to the woods to retrieve the camera didn't start too well...

When I got there, I discovered that again, I managed to only half switch on the camera again...basically I left it in setup mode overnight...ffs!

Jazz had wandered up to the woods with me, and we were to collect the camera, as it looked like rain...  

Once I'd retrieved the camera and found that I probably had nothing in the can, I simultaneously realised that I had no photo for the day at all...and it was gone 7pm at this point!  Time was of the essence...I scanned the area for possibilities.

The camera had been sited in a small wooded area at the north end of an orchard.  Well, they call it the orchard - it's a huge field with three or four fruit trees at the bottom end, so it's strictly true, if somewhat stretched.

There's been a horse in there for some time, and as I'd approached, I'd found myself searching for him down at the opposite end of the field.   I felt a pang of sorrow and pity for him...he's  a herd animal, not supposed to be on his own!

This came to mind as I saw that Jazz was bimbling around by the fence bordering the orchard, and focussing away down the field, I saw that the horse was looking up towards us, 50 or 60m away.

Now, I'm fascinated by animal psychology and body language.   I can read dogs and cats reasonably well, and I understand a little about predator and prey behaviours, some of which are common across species.   I've read a little about horses from this respect, and I can ride a horse...but I've never had the opportunity to get to know a horse, and my knowledge of their body language is superficial at best. 

This felt like a great opportunity to start feeling my way into horse whispering!

It looked like the horse could see Jazz, and was checking him out.  I walked out of the trees to the fence, so that he could see me, wondering whether that would tempt him to approach.  He just stood there, looking up towards me.  I spread my arms wide as a gesture, which I use with the dogs, meaning "come to me".  The big old horse just stood there, stock still, staring up at me.  I gave him an encouraging whistle...and he immediately start to trot up the field!

Interestingly, he chose a zigzag route so that most of the time he was not running directly towards me.   Predators move directly towards their prey, in a straight line, with eyes and ears facing forwards...the zigzag approach is designed to convey the message, "I am not a predator".  I understood, and in response turned to the side, to convey the same message back to him.

When he got within 10 feet from me, he stopped and stood there, alternately looking away to one side, then back at me.  I stood and waited.

After a minute or two, he walked in a few paces, and again stopped to check me out.   Here he is, giving me the eye (I'm going to call him Blue Eyes...):

you lookin' at me?

Blue Eyes is clearly a skittish old boy, very easily spooked.  I stood sideways, making sure to face away, and not looking at him.  I noticed that when I looked down he seemed to gain a little confidence...worth remembering...  

I then spent a lovely 15 minutes making friends with him.   I just stood and waited, and he gradually came to me.  He sniffed me for at least 5 minutes, tentatively here and there at first, then focussing on my hands, and really sniffing deeply.  He seemed curious of the shutter noise the camera made too.  

After a while Blue Eyes became brave enough to start nibbling at my fingers.  He has this amazing top lip that's a bit like a finger.  It's strong and flexible, and is used to grab and sweep grass in towards the mouth and teeth.  Eventually he was quite insistently trying to grab one of my fingers for a bit of a bite! 

Staying very still and calm with him enabled him to relax, and after 15 minutes or so, he allowed me to stroke his cheeks and rub his nose a little. 

He was quite interested in Jazz, so I encouraged the old dog to come and sit where the old horse could see him.  Jazz was a little excited, but they seemed happy enough, even posing nicely for me when I crept away as slowly as possible (so as not to spook Blue Eyes).

jazz and blue eyes

When I wandered off at last, ol' Blue Eyes trotted to the corner of the field, following as best he could.   I said goodbye, and promised that I would return tomorrow.

I made him an offer of bringing him some tasty treats, and in exchange, would he teach me a little more equine body language?  I didn't quite understand his response, but I'm going to assume he's up for it!

I made a new friend today!

B-)