Spud the dog is in his element. Here he is on his Sunday morning walk.
Not a little girl in a pretty sundress in sight. The early morning mist burnt off for a stunning sunny day.
However Spud did blot his copy book, I was distracted briefly whilst making the sandwiches for lunch and when I returned all that was left was lettuce leaf on the kitchen floor, Tom’s order of ham salad with pesto mayo was no more. Naughty Spud. Just as well I had preselected my beach reading.
Spud the dog has been very, very naughty.
No, I know what you are thinking,thankfully it is not the precious new lounge carpet that has been on the receiving end of his mischief.
It was my brand new, fresh out of the box, girly, suede shoes, my beautiful delphinium blue* shoes, with ribbons and everything; purchased specifically to wear at a wedding this weekend.
The house is littered with shoes, ancient slippers, flip flops, school shoes, fell shoes, Crocs. But no, it was my new shoes that Spud felt he had to make his mark upon by chewing the heel. Grrrrrrr.
I managed to find the strip of leather he’d peeled off on the landing and between us and a tube of glue Mr Uphilldowndale and I managed to mould them back into neatness. We suspect this and Spuds other mischievous acts this week are related to the fact that Tom has been away…
Of course in the grand scheme of things, the tidiness of my shoes made not a spot of difference to what was a lovely wedding, the service was in the chapel at Exeter College in Oxford
( I couldn’t find Inspector Morse anywhere)
the college is steeped in history and the chapel is lit by glorious stained glass.
The reception was in the Fellows garden.
* When I managed to buy shoes and jacket to exactly match my chosen dress, in the space of half an hour in our local market town, everyone said how lucky I was; but of course luck had nothing to do with it, I was simply complying with the fashion worlds yarn buyers agenda.
Mind you looking in the chapel, perhaps yarn buyers have been around for a few centuries, I’ve seen that shade of blue somewhere before.
Spud the dog would like to hand over this Sundays post to Freckle
Freckle is a fire investigation dog, working with Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service
Freckle was out and about today at the Emergency Services Open day which was in the beautiful Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, here are the gardens on a colder day.
Freckle has some dandy little shoes (with Vibram soles to boot) to protect his paws when the going get hot or rough. (Spud would like a set so he doesn’t get friction burns on his pads when playing ball in the yard with Tom)
Though at £75 a set, Spud can just go and play ball in the field, as tennis balls are cheaper to fund.
Freckle was not the only sighting of a Springer spaniel, there were a couple of hungry hounds with the Derbyshire Cave Rescue display,
I don’t imagine they are cave rescue dogs, but I’m happy to be corrected, I suspect they were just in it for a free lunch.
Thank you all for your very kind words on my 5th Anniversary post.
I just wanted to give you the heads-up that ‘Spud on a Sunday’ may be a little delayed tomorrow, Spud is going to a party. He is very excited, especially as he has to share the journey with a rather yummy looking cake and a couple of quiches.
When I collected the cake the lady briefed me on keeping it cool during the journey. She looked a little startled when I told her the cake was going to be ‘travelling in the boot with the dog’. She replied ‘I take it its a little dog?’ I didn’t try to explain.
I’ve been at the Whitworth Centre in Darley Dale today, it is somewhere I’ve driven past hundreds of times, but never given much of a thought to, it is a grand Victorian building (although its website is not so grand).
As I was there in the guise of paid employment I didn’t have my camera, or the time to dawdle around collecting blog fodder. But I did take a few snaps with my phone, of the wonderful polished limestone panels that line the main corridor of the building. It was dimly lit so the quality is poor, so I’ve played about with the images to try show you the fabulous fossils in the limestone.
It’s like gazing into a distant galaxy…
Fossils make me think how
the human race is just a little blip in time.
The Whitworth Centre is hosting part of the Derbyshire Open Arts Festival at the beginning of June, if I can face the bank holiday traffic, I may return for a more leisurely look around.
Lichens growing on a slate grave stone in Capel Curig.
Lichens are formed from green or blue green alga and a fungus- that join together in a mutually beneficial relationship. So says my library book, and who am I to argue, I just think they look amazing
There was really only one day whilst we were away that was a sensible option, weather wise, for climbing Snowdon, so we geared up appropriately and set out. Joe, Mr Uphilldowndale and Spud the dog climbed to the summit, I however wussed out; Tom kindly escorted me from the hill (perhaps he was thinking of my redisposition for wandering off the beaten track in search of a photo opportunity, the nearby Crib Goch isn’t somewhere you’d want to find yourself by accident ).
The Miners track Snowdon, taken from the Pyg track
Tom and I found it no hardship to sit in the cafe back at the summit of Pen-y-Pass and drink hot chocolate, whilst we waited for their return*. There is of course a less arduous way to get to the summit of Snowdon.
Spud brought a collection of ticks back with his as a souvenir ughhhhh.
Continuing with the fungi theme, I found this fairy-tale specimen in a forest in Wales.
We’ve been away for a weeks holiday and very nice it was too (that’s is the holiday was nice, the weather could have been kinder). I’d like to tell you I toiled for hours through the forest to find such a handsome specimen, but I’d be lying, I found it in the car-park whilst Joe and I were waiting,
for Mr Uphilldowndale and Tom to return from a mountain bike excursion on the Marin Trail in the Gwydyr Forest. It was growing from the trunk of a birch tree. I used to know someone who made birch sap wine, and from what I can remember (the memory is a little hazy) the brew was as potent as I suspect this toadstool is (I’ll not try to name the species, I’ll hope a fungi expert passes by the blog with the appropriate knowledge.)
Would you like to see how muddy Tom was on his return?
You can visualise the dirty washing that has returned home with us can’t you?
My favourite work at the Beyond Limits exhibition
Chloe’s World by Jaume Plensa
It seems like a hologram, despite being stone
transient, a grainy TV images of the 1960’s? Or ‘Beam me up Scotty’ of the 1970’s?
I have a need to dash off and see more of Plensa’s work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
