Another first

 The new normal (so far)

In the early morning gloom, the post breakfast nap (if you are a dog) and the garden patrol (if you are the cat) are well underway.

Yesterday there was a bit of a break through, Willow is beginning to relax - not slowing down ho ho - not slowing down at all! Life is for living at 100 miles an hour but we are definitely finding a new normal.

We managed to get sneak in three decent walks yesterday in between the squalls, the wind and hail. The late afternoon walk was timed to meet up with Himself as he returned from work - it is something we used to do when we had Moss and it was his suggestion to continue it with Willow.

Storm Chandra had more or less passed over by the time we left the house, the sky was a strange palette of washed out blues and greys with dashes of gold and light. The houses on the ridge above the village were bathed in this soft battered glow - almost as if they were celebrating 'weathering the storm' and had survived.

As we climbed out of the valley on to the ridge we too were coated in this pale light but we were also discovered by the still buffeting winds - and they were cold.

The sun as it drops below the last remains of the clouds

Following a track which is locally knows as Ol' Joe's lane, there was some shelter from the stone walls and spindly hedge. The lane briefly opens out to Peter's Meadow then back in to a drovers track where a couple of donkeys occasionally appear in one of the fields. They popped their rather shaggy faces up to see who was walking by but quickly lost interested and disappeared again.

At a steady 'Willow speed' it was not long before we arrived at a small neighbouring village of jumbling houses against a hillside. Over the years I have walked through, I have watched the traditional cottages and houses change hands, get modernised, lose gardens to parking, have trendy doors added, seasonal plastic wreaths and become more expensive to buy. 

Finally, dropping down on to Roslee Road (from the time when wild dog roses grew on the hill side) and into the local nature reserve. We were a little early for Himself and it seemed churlish not to go for a wander around the reserve.

It is not often that the mill pond is entirely devoid of birds but it was today. None on the water and none at the disabled parking waiting to mug unsuspecting visitors for their sandwiches!

There has been sightings of an otter in the pond which is only a few paces from the river which used to feed it when it was a working mill pond but again nothing spotted today. Suddenly we had just enough time to get to our destination and not five minutes later Himself arrived and we bundled ourselves into the van - another first for Willow and she took to it like seasoned (if a little scared) trooper.

So many firsts for this little timid dog - so many more to come. So far she is doing brilliantly.

PS - just discovered that Willow is a snorer! She's asleep in her safe space and snoring like a steam train😆