Posts filed under ‘Observations’
Antarctica.
Last night, or so we’re reliably informed, was the equal coldest night ever recorded in the UK, with temps dipping to minus 22C or thereabouts, the same as at the South Pole. Here in “balmy” Devon we dropped to minus 14C, easily cold enough to have potentially devastating consequences for some of the rare trees, shrubs and bamboos that inhabit our garden….we won’t know what damage has occurred until Spring, but in the meantime our bore-hole fed water supply has frozen and pipes burst, flooding the kitchen. The river has also frozen over (for only the third time in the last 25 years), we’ve had no post delivery for days and none of our cars can make it out of our entrance drive….so clearly the only thing left to do right now is go and play in the snow:
Our Valley.
Gotta Have A Stick.
Then Have a Stick Wrestle.
At the bottom of the garden.
Snow hoover.
Helping Adam to make a Snow bunny.
Finished!
1 flattened Giant Bamboo (foreground) & 12 snowy Redwoods (background)
Hock-deep in the snow.
There’s No Business Like Snow Business.
Phoenix sure does like snuffling, running, chasing and bouncing in the snow. We had the heaviest falls here for decades back in Jan & Feb 09, when she first arrived, so these recent falls must remind her of all the fun and games of her puppydom. These were a few shots taken today, before the heavy falls this of evening that have (surprise, surprise) closed all the roads hereabouts and left a lovely 3 to 4 inch fluffy white blanket over the landscape.
Snow Whiskers.
Point.
Profile.
Bounce - on the path to the woods.
New Year, New Snow.
Yep, winter's here again.
It’s been ages since we’ve updated the blog, largely because there’s not been a huge amount of activity or events to report. Phoenix’ season was on the long side, which put her and us out of action for more than a month, but was otherwise completely uneventful, with no real changes either physically or emotionally. She still seems a little hormonal (at least judging by the reactions of some other dogs) but is otherwise back to business…which lately has been the business of romping through the snow and wading through the icy river whilst balancing giant sticks/logs/entire-small-trees in her muzzle, (all clever stuff, and certainly good for building neck muscles) as the landscape is once again transformed into a winter wonderland.
Ever ambitious.
No log is too big for our gal!
Another new-ishly developed Phoenix hobby is taking the biggest & chunkiest of her beef knuckle bones with her on our hour-long morning walks. These often involve fording the river a few times and going in and out of various woods, but the bone is carried merrily along throughout, with occasional stop-offs for a good old gnaw.
Yummy.
But when the last log has been hauled out of the river, and the last vole has been fruitlessly chased down it’s burrow, there’s still nothing that Phoenix likes more than a good old snuggle on the sofa….
Cuddle.
It's a dog's life.
Bird Dog.
Autumn brings lots of young game bird releases in the woodlands across the river from our garden, and a fair number of these inevitably take up residence amongst our trees and shrubs…or at least they have done in past years.
Prey.
Whilst the adult birds are quite capable of looking after themselves, and, in breeding season, regularly take on all-comers, with Phoenix on patrol the garden is now perhaps a rather less favourable place for a young and naive pheasant.
Predator.
This was borne out today when Phoenix stalked and then caught her first such game bird, delightedly retrieving the still perfectly intact poult back to Tim. Sadly a camera was not to hand to capture the occasion…Does this count as gundog work without a gun we wonder?
Ever Elegant.
Phoenix takes time out from her hectic schedule of shows, training, running-on-the-beach, chasing pheasants, digging, swimming etc. etc. for a moment of quiet reflection.
Showtime!
Result: Reserve Best of Breed.
Today was Phoenix’s long-awaited show debut at the Taunton and District Canine Association Open Show at the Royal Bath and West Showground. It was blisteringly hot and we had to wait the best part of five hours for our class to come around. By this time we were all severely wilting in the heat. Despite this, Phoenix showed admirably and did all that was asked of her without fuss or complaint. We were lucky enough to come away with a reserve best of breed rosette. For some reason (blame the heat and its effect on our brains) we forgot take any pictures…
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 