Lost & Found

Some of you may know that husband Jason, Leelu and myself are about to embark on our adventures.  If you would like to know more about what we are up to then here is the link to our new website https://daysaway.wixsite.com/website. As a result we are currently doing some work on our narrowboat that has been outstanding for a few months and also to get her ready for a summer of travelling around the UK canal network.

Last week we decided to replace the floor at the back of the boat.  This means removing everything including our bed, wardrobe, the girl's beds... so we are staying with my parents at the moment, even deeper in the Cheshire countryside.  This means some more varied walks for Leelu, although to be honest, he knows all of the local walks anyway as my Dad often takes him out when we have been at work.  He does pause at every stile that we pass just to see which way we will be going next!

Honestly, this photo was not a set up, he knows that there are lots of good smells through here!

One of our walks takes us through woods.  Recently they have been doing a lot of 'managing' & thinning and so there is now that lovely pine smell and hundreds and hundreds of logs stacked up ready for moving.  The bonus about this is that one of the tennis balls that we lost a couple of months ago at this very point and searched and searched for in the gorse but couldn't find, literally popped out of the gorse when the logs have been stacked...green tennis balls get lost so easy in woodland undergrowth!

We've seen lots of beautiful signs of spring with nature doing her best looking green and everywhere replenishing

Yesterday morning we also found this:

It looks like a buzzards wing I think, there wasn't any other 'bits of bird' lying around!

For the next blog, in 2 weeks time, we will have started our advenutres...before that though, here's what the new floor looks like, now to paint the walls - where's the paintbrush?!

The Cows are back!

The clocks have changed, the birds are singing loudly in the hedgerows, everyone is awake a little bit earlier, the sun is shining more and there is heat in it, the grass is growing and the sound of lawnmowers are evident.

But where are the cows?

On the 1st April every year for the past few years at our permanent moorings, the cows have been let out from their barns, back into the fields, the large fields that are right next to the access track to our narrowboat.  They are normally out until around November, depending on the weather and the saturation of the fields.  This means that, for those precious months, puddles and ponds form on the clay based fields, the ducks move in to wander between the pools and this year we had a flock of redwings make their home there too.  It also means that Leelu has the whole area, more or less to himself, as long as we keep an eye out for others pesky, noisy, playful dogs - or anything else with 4 legs that might scare him!

The cows appeared on Monday - the 3rd of April - maybe they were having a relaxing final weekend indoors.  They are quite dirty from living in a confined area, the rain will soon clean them up.  This year they are a slightly older herd of heifers (young female cows) with a young bull amongst them too.  They are much braver than the first set of cows last year.  This herd have joyfully skipped and cantered their way around the 3 fields, exploring all of the edges of their new freedom.  They have wandered around after the ducks, gently blowing down their nostrils, trying to work out what the strange creatures are.  They are happily munching on the fresh lawn clippings some boat owners have tipped into the field for them...and they don't know what to make of Leelu yet: you see he is also black and white and can move more quickly than them - but wait, he chases around after an orange ball - what a strange calf he is!

Yes, the magical orange ball from 'chuck it' has been brought out again.  Whilst the grass has been short, tennis balls have been easy to see.  Now that the grass has grown, we can no longer see the tennis balls so the orange ball has come out again.  It is a much better ball - no fluffy bits, strong, easy to see - but expensive if you lose one (over £5 each!).  Look after it Leelu!

So back to walking in the bits of field that the cows aren't in and down the towpaths, now that they have dried up a bit.