20 Miles a Day

new puppies

2008-08-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

Bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger! What can I say? I was never very good at keeping a diary.

However, I wanted to stop by to tell you about Neka's new puppies. Want to see them and chart their progress? Go here

Yeah, I'll probably start walking again soon & when I do you'll be the first to know. Promise.

a sailing tale

2008-06-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Litha. I'm celebrating with a walk. Well, a little 2.5-miler anyway.

I haven't been blogging so much myself lately (oh, did you notice?) but I have been checking in on what's been going on elsewhere. One of my favorite blogs is The Adventure Blog - Adventure Junkie never seems to miss a great story and this is not my first reference to one of them.

Well, they've done it again. They have this knack of turning up things that give me a yearning I can hardly name. This one about an American estate agent who sailed solo around the world for years on end brought tears to my eyes. Because of the danger? The people and places? The sunrises and sunsets? The boat and water? No, no, no to all of those - and yes to them all as well. Can I sail? Nope. Would I like to be able to sail? Hell, yes. I can so see myself on the Gypsy Soul sailing around the world from one adventure to the next. If my brother is reading this, I bet this speaks to him as well.

Although I could happily do without the shark bite and the machete-wielding maniac. Obviously.

more puppies & puppies no more

2008-06-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Very happy birthday wishes to Neka's puppies who are one year old today. I remember the terror and worry of that night. Not knowing if everything would be ok, whether Neka would know what to do, whether all the puppies would survive, whether my sofa would survive after Neka decided to make a nest of the cushion stuffing.

The sofa didn't survive, but the puppies all did and now I'm hoping Neka is going to produce another healthy brood in two months or so. Ideally she will have 4 or 5, which is a much more manageable number than the 7 she had last time. I'm very fussy about the future homes of the pups as well, and it's easier to find 4 great families than 7. I was so fortunate to find wonderful homes for the last litter, I don't want to push my luck. There is every chance I could inadvertently end up doubling the number of dogs in my pack. I would rather keep too many (and give myself an impossible life in the process!) rather than let a puppy go to a home I wasn't 100% happy with. But I think there are some lovely people holding their breath for good news about this pregnancy.

And in the news today... I've heard of magic mushrooms, but killer fungus? Who knew gardening could be fatal?

on the mend?

2008-06-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

Dare I say I think my knee is on the mend. I've been on a couple of short walks and survived a couple of long dog shows and ... so far so good. Phew, it's a relief. So, shall I build back up carefully and slowly or jump right in with a 5-miler? Just kidding!

I'm wondering how it will go now after all this time. Will it be like starting over? The helpful callus that formed on the site of my former blister has now disappeared again. *sigh* Someone please tell me this doesn't mean I'm starting from scratch with that blister thing. I will not walk without good socks. I will not walk without good socks. I will not walk without good socks. I will not... you get the idea.

So while Mr J is away for a couple of days and getting the dogs exercised is all down to me, I think I'll take it quite slow and one at a time. I'm pretty sure a large part of my problem was one particular Lapphund's naughty habit of veering off to the side taking my shoulder practically out of it's socket as he went. That could account for a twisted knee, I'm guessing.

nothing whatsoever to do with walking

2008-06-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

So, since you're still around and reading my little blog that I've been neglecting so heinously, go here and check out my friend Jas who has made it to the final of Guitar Idol.

It's too late to influence the outcome of the competition now, as it's all down to the judges on Saturday at the London International Music Show. But we're rooting for him and hoping for the best. He really deserves to win and although it won't be the first such accolade he has won, the judges won't find another guitarist with such a winning combination of talent, good looks and downright nice-ness. Or is that being too twee? Perish the thought I should damn the poor guy with un-cool-ness. Because he's cool. I may not be, but he certainly is. Don't just take my word for it, see for yourself.

Go Jas!

and suddenly it's june

2008-06-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

I'm blue. Much of the time between my last post and now I have spent hobbling with a stick. For the first 2 weeks, I couldn't do much more than get from house to car to work and back. Things have improved but I've only been on 2 very short dog walks in all that time.

And, may I say, my "stick" is not even a stick, not remotely like a cane, even. It is the handle from my trolley/grooming table that I take to dog shows. Mr J very cleverly and helpfully produced it for me to support my poor walking efforts. It's approximately the right height and has been extremely useful.

But when, oh when will I be able to walk normally again? And will I ever go stomping all over the countryside again?

A similar thing happened a couple of years ago, but with my wrist. It suddenly became practically useless for no apparent reason (ok, perhaps the reason was I always used that hand to try to control my then-uncontrollable young Finnish Lapphund). Agony if I so much as tried to lift a plate in that hand. It took months for me to get over that damn non-injury and even now it's a little weaker than my other wrist and I sometimes get twinges. So I worry that I may never properly recover from this knee thing. After all, I was able to strap up my wrist and pretty much stop using it until it got better. But I can't exactly stop using my leg.

So, sorry for disappearing. And, I have to say, I'm touched that you've been reading - I had no idea! Thanks.

grindstone

2008-05-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

This morning I got back to the walking plan after trading my boots for secateurs these sunny, summery days. Only a month ago I was going out at 6am and there was still frost on the grass where the sun hadn't yet reached. Now I'm out in shorts and sleeveless t-shirt, which is chilly at first but as soon as the sun peeks up over the ridge, it's plenty.

Just about as soon as I set out today, though, I managed to hurt my knee. I have no idea how it happened. I don't remember jarring it or twisting or moving awkwardly at all. But just going along normally and something just went ping right behind my kneecap. Ouch. I guess it will be a ligament or tendon or some other such bit of soft tissue that resides in joints. I have iffy joints from time to time, so I figured I could walk the problem off and kept going, keeping my knee bent for support. 4 or 5 more times on the walk I got another increasingly intense twinge, the worst of which happened when I was a good 2 miles from home, so I changed my plan and limped back the shortcut home.

On the bright side, I did find a very good forked stick that was not only useful for beating back nettles on the overgrown paths, but will also be excellent for propping up my fuchsia.

I seem to have made a full recovery now, luckily, so hopefully it's back to business tomorrow. My joints are not great at the best of times, it's true. I suppose I should be getting more cod liver oil. Ugh. Do you suppose poached salmon would do?

Distance - 4.25 miles
Time - 2 hrs
Dog(s) - Keskiyo
Weather - clear
Could I do another 5? - no

cool & classical

2008-05-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

So did you see the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition? The winner is an astonishing 12-year-old trombone player, of all things! Notable enough that at 12, he is the youngest to ever have won this competition in its 30 year history. But how... unexpected... to see a young boy playing a brass instrument. And not even a cool one like, say, a saxophone, but an instrument that I might have once described as fuddyduddy. Or similar.

Mr J and I checked into the show from time to time and were bemused to find what we considered a rather odd selection of finalists. How often does a guitarist get to represent the entire string classification, for example? And the percussionist? Dead cool. Or whatever it is that hip young things say these days to denote a youth possessed of a generous helping of visual and sartorial style and personal panache. Not to mention looking a bit like a hip hop star, which is pretty funky style for a classical musician playing with a full orchestra.

But I do recommend that you try to find the winner, Peter Moore's, performance on YouTube over the next few days as I haven't been able to find it yet. For the next 6 days you can see it on BBCi Player, although apparently that only works in the UK. I wouldn't know about that - perhaps someone could try it from not-UK and let me know. It's also being aired on various BBC radio stations, so that should be available from the BBC website.

Anyway, Peter Moore was truly wonderful and must have a promising future. Who knew how much I liked trombone?

Distance - 2.5 miles
Time - 1 hr
Dog(s) - all
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - probably

Sat

2008-05-10T02:02:00.000-07:00

Having stayed near the showground last night, we drove home this morning. Stopped to collect Annie from our friends and drop off their dog and, of course, spend a little time playing with the 8-week-old puppy. All together now - ahhhh!

Distance - 2.5 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - mainly clear
Could I do another 5? - no

Fri

2008-05-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

After the show, at which Keskiyo most emphatically did not impress the judge but our friend's dog, who we brought to the show with us, most emphatically did, we took all the dogs for a run on the heath. They ran. We strolled.

Distance - 2-ish miles
Time - 1 hr
Dog(s) - all
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - no

Thurs

2008-05-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still spending approximately twice as much time gardening as walking. That means no time for writing blogs either.

Tomorrow before the crack of dawn (i.e. about 5am-ish) I'm off to a dog show with Keskiyo and Neka (who will come for the ride even though she is far too bald to be shown) while Annie stays with friends.

Will be back Saturday afternoon - bye!

Distance - 2.75 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - mainly clear
Could I do another 5? - no

Wed

2008-05-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

Distance - 2.5 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - no

gone fishing

2008-05-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well, actually, gone gardening, to be more precise.

Yes, I know, I know. How quickly the novelty of a new routine wears off, eh?

Eventually I will get back to walking something a bit more impressive than 2 or 3 miles. But summer has landed with a walloping 20 degrees celsius and I'm determined to enjoy it while it lasts. That means more digging in the garden and less stomping around the countryside. This is a necessary evil if I don't want my few precious plants to be completely annihilated by weeds. And I don't. So, a bit of timely garden maintenance is the order of the day.

Walking time - 1 hour; gardening time - 3 hours.

Distance - 2.75 miles
Time - 1 hour
Dog(s) - Neka & Keskiyo
Weather - mainly clear
Could I do another 5? - maybe

dogs vs poles

2008-05-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Life caught up with me today and I begged off my usual routine with a migraine that threatened all day. In the end I spent the afternoon napping it away and a couple of hours either side of that digging and planting in my heinously neglected garden.

On one of my walks this week Neka & I were distracted by the sound of half a horse clip clopping somewhere behind us. I was pretty sure it wasn't actually half a horse, but that's what it sounded like. Eventually we were overtaken by a woman walking along at a very fast past with two walking poles - hence the clipping and clopping. The woman had a good 10 years on me - maybe more - but she looked great. And she motored past us and left us eating her dust.

Now I consider myself a fairly fast walker, being long of leg. I do make a point of trying to maintain a steady pace that I think I could sustain over a long distance. I admit, however, that I occasionally find myself dawdling a bit at about 3 or 3.5 miles into the longer routes. At that point I've done all the climbing and I'm up on the ridge with wonderful views down the fields into the village where I live and then up again to the moors beyond. There is no traffic, seldom any other people, and I get distracted by the lambs in the field next to me, the woodpecker hammering away in the tree over my head, and the buzzard circling over the field on the other side of me, hunting for mice.

And, of course, I'm often trying to control an excited Finnish Lapphund or two who has just spotted a squirrel that she's sure she could catch if only she could break her lead.

But considering this woman who easily covers twice the distance I do in the same time has led me to the conclusion that my daily excursions are currently conducted at about half the pace they could be. In one of my books I read that the "average walker" (whatever that means) does 5 miles in 2 hours. That's approximately what I've been doing, although it should be noted that all but the shortest of my walks involve some pretty fierce hills.

Perhaps my speed will improve with time as I get fitter. Perhaps I need some poles. I can just imagine trying to manage poles and dogs.

yesterday

2008-05-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about that scary El Camino del Rey path in the video that I posted yesterday. I've watched it a few times now and I'm almost starting to feel as if I have done the walk. Which is, perhaps, bonkers. But there you are.

Yesterday I said that I wouldn't do that hike in a million years, but today I think that I might. Under the right circumstances. If I was a bit younger. And had better balance, obviously.

Granted, I wouldn't do it carrying a video camera - or carrying anything at all, except possibly a parachute. Neither would I be scurrying along that narrow ledge like a mountain goat as the guy with the camera seems to. But I can just imagine creeping along, holding that wire in my sweaty hand, peeping over the edge, squinting in the bright sunshine and feeling the breeze lifting my hair. Oh, the exhiliration - what an adventure!

See, it's almost as good as going to Spain and doing the walk myself. I wouldn't be able to take a dog with me, of course. And I'd have to be feeling quite a bit less lazy than I do today.

Distance - 2.5 miles
Time - 1 hour
Dog(s) - all
Weather - mainly cloudy
Could I do another 5? - unlikely

vertigo

2008-05-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the adventurers over at Best Hike for finding this clip.

If you're afraid of heights, then go back to the kittens in my post a few days ago, and don't hit play on this video. Because if it makes your toes curl to imagine creeping along a narrow ledge hundreds of feet up a canyon wall, then you really don't want to be party to this walker's view of the El Camino del Rey (King's Pathway) in Málaga, Spain.

Built in 1901-1905, according to Wikipedia,

The walkway has now gone many years without maintenance, and is in a highly deteriorated and dangerous state. It is one meter (3 ft) in width, and is over 700 feet (200 m) above the river. Nearly all of the path has no handrail. Some parts of the walkway have completely collapsed and have been replaced by a beam and a metallic wire on the wall.

And you get to see every hole, beam and crumbled edge. Phew, what a brave bunch of walkers to take this path. Apparently quite a few people have died on this walk (can't imagine how) and so the authorities have closed the entrances. But not well enough to keep out determined tourists. And I'm delighted the closure was so ineffective because however else would I have got to see it. And I'm so glad I got to see it. I really, really wish that I ... what, could walk that walk? Hell, no! I couldn't do that path in a million years. What I really, really wish is that I had the guts to walk that walk. Having balance that good would be alright too.

If you can watch this clip without holding your breath once, then I want to hear about it. And if you fall off the edge, don't say I didn't warn you.

Distance - 4.25 miles
Time - 1.25
Dog(s) - Neka & Keskiyo
Weather - mainly cloudy
Could I do another 5? - no

sweat, trainers and lip gloss

2008-05-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Being a visually oriented kinda girl, I thought I'd knock up a chart to see the pattern of my walking habits. This is what April looks like, charted from when I started keeping records, somewhere around the middle of the month. Somewhat chaotic, it seems. But I'm quite pleased that there are are at least as many peaks as dips.

It's not a bad record, but not great either. I just can't see where I'll find more time to improve my ratio of long-to-short walks, though, so future graphs are likely to be just as jagged as April's.

One thing I hope to improve, however, is the state of my feet. I've always had good feet. Strong, not ugly, more or less trouble-free. Each summer out would go the shoes & socks and in would come the sandals and flip flops for a few months. It would take a week or two to develop the appropriate callouses and then I'd have no problems the rest of the summer. True, my feet would be somewhat horned in places, but pretty much indestructible. So what do I do about these blasted blisters? I can't seem to get rid of them. I'm hoping the additional good socks acquired today on my shopping trip will do the trick.

Yes, of course I went on my shopping trip. I took the afternoon off work (thanks Mr J for filling in) and met up with my lovely and very good friend Ms X who I haven't seen for a rather long time. We had a terrific afternoon shopping in the sunshine. I spent a little money on socks and a load of money on makeup. Well, what can I say? It ain't all about sweat and trainers.

Distance - 2.5 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - mainly clear
Could I do another 5? - no

are you sure these boots are made for walking?

2008-05-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Beltane.

Tomorrow I'm going shopping (again, Mr J might say). Shopping to celebrate May Day? No, although now that I mention it, that's a good idea too.

Today I got the proof (had I needed any, which I don't think I did) that I have to have a few more pairs of good walking socks. I need at least enough pairs to sustain me over my erratic dedication to keeping on top of the laundry. Because they really do make a difference. They make a difference to the temperature of my feet, the dryness of them and, most importantly, the amount of pain they are in.

Today I limped the entire second half of my walk. On both feet. Ouch.

Distance - 4 miles
Time - 1.40
Dog(s) - Keskiyo
Weather - clear
Could I do another 5? - not even if I had the time

Wed

2008-04-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Distance - 3.25 miles
Time - 1 hour-something
Dog(s) - Neka
Weather - clear
Could I do another 5? - not even if I had the time

no time for titles

2008-04-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is no time to be standing on the ceremony of titles... actually, you guessed it, I don't have time to write a proper post even less to think up a title for a non-post.

So while I'm busy doing my VAT return, you can amuse yourself with these dancing British Shorthair kittens. Make sure you have your sound turned up. And if you're the type who is not entertained by the cute stuff baby animals can be coerced into doing, then go here instead and be amazed by the quality of the low-budget horror film-making of my friend's talented young son.

Distance - 2.5 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - partly sunny
Could I do another 5? - no time

pheasant plucker

2008-04-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

How pleased with himself was Keskiyo this morning on our walk? He caught a pheasant. Poor thing - but I think it might have survived if it didn't have unseen injuries or die later of shock, that is. If only it had stayed still in the undergrowth tucked into the hedge where it was hiding, then I think Keskiyo would never even have noticed it. But, no, it panicked and tried to run away.

What is it with pheasants and running, anyway? They are very bad at it, yet it seems to be one of their favorite pass-times along with sitting on top of hedges or other handy humps to warble. Then again, they are not so great at flying, either, so that leaves them a bit stuck.

Keskiyo grabbed it, then I guess he was so surprised that he dropped it straight away then caught it again before I got to him and got him by the scruff. Needless to say all my screaming "leave" at the top of my voice had no impact on him whatsoever. While he is extremely good at giving up other prizes such as balls, sticks & pine cones, with the live prey he was too excited to even hear me. Anyway, when I grabbed him, he dropped the poor bird and it scrambled up into the hedge out of harm's way.

I know that dogs can be hunters, it's natural, and Lapphunds are particularly good hunters with their speed, agility and cat-like pouncing. But that doesn't mean I encourage it in my dogs. I certainly don't want them to think it's acceptable to chase small creatures because the neighbourhood cats already get a hard enough time from them. Our own cats tolerate them, but then they are not hunting our cats, just pestering them for a game.

They've got good memories, too, so everytime we go through that field forevermore Keskiyo will be looking for his pheasant.

Today my blister really hurts after almost 8 miles on the clock. At what point does it turn into a callous and stop hurting, I wonder? All the literature I read on the subject says that prevention is better than cure. Yeah, not helpful.

Distance - 5.25 + 2.5 miles
Time - 1.43 + 1
Dog(s) - Keskiyo then all
Weather - overcast & foggy
Could I do another 5? - no

more books

2008-04-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

On my last trip to Millets, I spotted a pile of Country Walking magazines on the counter and just had to buy one. I'm a sucker for magazines and find it very difficult to resist the glossy, colourful covers gleaming from newstands. I cut my teeth on Cosmopolitan, Company, Glamour and the like and graduated to, er, House & Home. Nah, just kidding.

But I can sit and enjoy a magazine on many subjects. I like the photos, the short and to-the-point articles. Relaxation reading, easy on the eye and on the brain. I draw the line at Hello and that ilk, but even that I will devour shamelessly while, say, I'm waiting at the dentist for instance. But I did grow rather tired of women's glossies after 20 years of reading them and now I can't remember the last time I bought one. I just don't think they have anything new to tell me.

Country Walking is a different matter altogether. That has plenty to tell me - where to walk, how to walk, what to wear when I walk and what to take with me, who to walk with (or not). I think they covered everything I needed to know in that one issue - so now I can't wait for next month's to find out what else I don't know.

At £3.70 I thought the price was a bit steep for a monthly, though. That's 4.68 Euro, 7.46 Canadian and, what, about 15 American.

Okay, okay, so that's a slight exaggeration. But, hell, I never thought I'd see the day the American dollar was roughly on par with a Canadian one. When did the American dollar become so worthless? Must ring my broker - buy, buy! Oh, I don't have a broker? That's a shame, perhaps I should get one for my birthday.

But seriously, folks...

Another fantastic book (if you happen to live in Southwest England) and not at all over-priced is one that is often advertised on the Google ads that appear on this blog (see bottom right). Toby's Dog Friendly Walks. It's a book of walks in this area written "by dogs for dogs". Cute. And I think the book is turning into a series of books, which is even better.

There seems to be no end to the number of books giving details of walks all over the country & the world. But the ones that tell you the important stuff from a dog's point of view are more rare. Things like where the wooded path you are following suddenly comes out onto a road so that you need to put your dog back on a lead, where you might round a corner and come upon livestock. And, most importantly, where all the good sticks are. So, big shout out to Toby for a job well done. What a clever Dalmatian you are. My Finnish Lapphunds applaud you.

Distance - 6.25 miles
Time - 2.12
Dog(s) - Neka
Weather - mainly cloudy
Could I do another 5? - unlikely

named & shamed

2008-04-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

All day I've been trying to find time to write a good old rant about what a terrible week I've had thanks to some truly appalling customer service. I was going to name and shame, I was going to lay out all the gory details, the rotten attitudes, the poor workmanship, the trials & tribulations. Take that, Audi - and take THAT, Citroen.

And as for HSBC bank, don't even get me started! Why? Because they are so bad? Actually, no. Actually, after I had a little tantrum at them about my complaints, they did everything they could to keep my business. And so they did keep it.

The other shining light in my week was the service I had from Enterprise-Rent-a-Car. On the coffee table in their waiting area was a couple of copies of a book called Exceeding Customer Expectations which was written about the success of Enterprise and their terrific people-orientated policies. Well, let me just say, I concur. Great service, guys, thanks. And in a week when I really needed it.

It's very telling that in most large British companies, when you phone the so-called "customer services" department, you reach a call centre on the other side of the planet staffed by polite but clueless computer operators. Need to save money? Put 5000 miles between you and your pesky customers. Gosh, if it weren't for our customers, wouldn't our jobs be so much easier?

So, yeah, I was going to do all that in great detail. But I'm just too tired.

Suffice to say I've had a tough week, made tougher by some awful news from a friend. Here is something that made me smile:

Now THAT guy is an adventurer!

Distance - 4.75 miles
Time - 1.45
Dog(s) - Neka & Keskiyo
Weather - mainly sunny
Could I do another 5? - no

bionic eyes

2008-04-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

I'm now officially car-less, which is a real pain since the only way to get to work from home is a bus that takes almost as long as it would to walk the distance. Either way, it would be time to turn around and go back home by the time I arrived.

The car-less-ness meant a short walk this morning before my lovely and helpful neighbour gave me a lift to the city where I collected a hire car for the second time in less than a week. And my car is only a year old. I thought when you bought a new car that what you were getting for paying so much over the odds was the peace of mind that comes from knowing nothing will go wrong. Hmmm. It went in for it's one-year service 3 weeks ago and has never been the same since. One problem after another, and every one eating into my scarce time.

But I'm enjoying the Honda Jazz I've rented. It's the same one I had from the car rental place a few days ago, and it's beginning to feel like my own personal second car. Annie & Neka ride on the back seat and Keskiyo is loving the views out the back window from his spot in the boot.

On another topic, check this out. According to the BBC, "US and German scientists have designed a bionic eye to allow blind people to see again." How amazing is that? I can sort of get my head around something the size of a mechanical eye recording a moving picture - that's just like a tiny camcorder. But I just cannot comprehend how the mechanics are connected to the human tissue and how the information gets from the machine to the human brain for interpretation and understanding. It truly boggles. Isn't it funny the way technology develops from ideas born in science fiction.

Distance - 3.5 miles
Time - 1.10
Dog(s) - Keskiyo
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - yes

stile style

2008-04-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

So on yesterday's walk I was wearing a serviceable jacket but my sweatpants soaked through pretty quick and were really uncomfortable. However, I was willing to suffer a bit in honour of my first 5-mile drenching. I was wearing my old boots and it was very slippery underfoot, so I was careful through the paths and fields. I really notice it now in comparison to my wonderful new boots, which have terrific traction.

Neka & I took a footpath along a hedge through some farmer's fields that I've not taken before. It started with a stile, which was fine because the gaps between the horizontal wooden slats was large enough for Neka to hop through. We have a few stiles on our various walks and there's always a doggie way through - whether it's through, under or that ingenious contraption some stiles have of a loose vertical board that you lift up to create a kind of dog-flap. For bigger dogs, lift higher. Very clever. Just need to be careful not to drop the board prematurely because then you have a kind of primitive & blunt guillotine.

Anyway, in spite of the rain hammering down at times, I was enjoying the new path and the sheep & their lambs were staying out of our way. Neka was a model of good behaviour with them, looking but not alarming them in any way. Then we came to another stile. This one had been reinforced with barbed wire and so there was no way through for Neka. There was a small space underneath that might have been hollowed out by a fox or something. Big enough for, say, a Westie, but although she tried a few times, too small for Neka. It was pretty high, too, so I couldn't lift her over - at 16.5 kilos, she's a bit too heavy to lift anyway.

So I tried to get her to climb over by jumping up on the step, but she kept just hopping from side to side over the step, which is what I've trained her to do previously with other obstacles - jump over them. Of course, all the while she was getting more and more excited and barking her head off. I think she was worried I would leave without her. For about 15 minutes I tried to get Neka to jump over that stile some which way. She's a clever girl, and very fit and agile, so I'm sure she would figure it out eventually. But we were getting wetter and wetter, and the bottoms of my sweat pants were starting to drag on the ground they were so soaked. The sheep were getting more and more worried about all the barking. Although the noise had nothing to do with the sheep, I had visions of a farmer storming down the field waving his shotgun.

So I gave up. We turned around and retraced our steps. Dejected, soaked, under-target with the mileage but behind schedule, we just returned home.

Just about wherever we walk in the countryside we are going to come across stiles. There's some walking on back roads and country lanes, but let's face it, the best walking is through woods and wilderness. Where there's woods and wilderness there's fields and where there are fields, there are stiles - and they are many and varied in design. Remind me one day to tell you the story of the 6-foot stone wall.

In the meantime, I need to teach Neka to climb a stile. That's going to take some time. And patience.

And possibly earplugs.

I was going to supplement the morning walk with another few miles this evening, but now my car is dead and I have to wait for the recovery people to come and recover it. So this morning, we took all the dogs on the usual backroads-fields-stream-home route and the weather was positively glorious. If I'm not very much mistaken, spring has definitely arrived and with a little bit of summer thrown in for good measure. Is that just asking for it to start raining again?

Distance - 2.5 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - yes

rounded

2008-04-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

A couple of times now I've walked something in the region of 5.85 or 5.90 miles, according to my pedometer. I rounded both these down to 5.75, which seems uncommonly mean, really. After all, 5.90 in particular surely qualifies as 6 miles? But the way I figure it, I want to make sure when I set out to walk 20 miles, I know what 20 miles actually feels like - not 19.85 on a flat road. Also, I'm guessing my pedometer counts steps based on the 'average' stride I input at the beginning. Well, when I'm huffing and puffing up those steep hills my steps are considerably smaller than 'average' and if they are all counted as normal, then I'm not actually covering the full distance recorded by my pedometer. Make sense? It's also true that when I'm walking on a flat, level surface, my strides stretch out, but I'd rather under-estimate than over-estimate. So, I've decided to just round every distance I walk down to the nearest quarter mile. So for several of my 5.75s, you can read 'actually-closer-to-6'.

For every rule, there is an exception and today is it. My pedometer actually said 3.48, but it was such an unpleasant 3.48 that I made a gift to myself of the extra 0.02 of a mile. I deserved it.

Horrible weather on the walk today, but my old waterproof jacket was sufficient for the job, if a trifle heavy compared to my newer, outrageously expensive breathable, wicking, waterproof Berghaus jacket which can be rolled down into a bag the approximate size of a Coke can. Why don't I wear this wondrous example of modern outerwear engineering, you may ask? Because when it was about a week old and Keskiyo was about 16 weeks old he pulled it through the bars of his crate in the back of the car and chewed holes in it, including a half-inch chunk of the zipper. I still wear it, but its capacity for being waterproof is quite severely compromised. To say the least.

Distance - 3.5 miles
Time - 1.05
Dog(s) - Neka
Weather - moderate rain
Could I do another 5? - nope

melting

2008-04-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm back, having missed a couple of days. Friday it was raining so badly & we were shattered after a busy week so the walk was minimal. Yesterday we were up before the blackbirds to drive to Builth Wells in the Wye valley in mid-Wales, an area I like very much. The Royal Welsh Showground is there and we had a championship dog show.

Neka is almost finished her moult now and looks as if she's been dragged through a hedge, so she stayed in the car to keep Annie company. Keskiyo won his class of 5, which was very good but went no further than that. I thought the judge liked him a lot, but he's much less mature than the dogs awarded Best Dog and Reserve Best Dog. Also, he too has just finished his moult and we're waiting patiently for his coat to come back.

Most exciting was seeing 2 of Keskiyo's puppies for the first time at their first show. They were adorable and I really fell in love with the boy, Ripa, and would have taken him home immediately! His ears are not up yet, but he has a gorgeous head with a wonderful expression. His breeder tells me he has a terrific temperment, too. Apparently he's a real sweetie, and he sure looks it.

We stayed in the vicinity last night because after 3 hours driving to the show followed by 5 or 6 hours at the show, I just cannot face the 3-hour drive home again. Too tiring. And Mr J doesn't drive. So we got back this morning and immediately set off for a walk. Mr J and Annie turned back after the first leg and the Lappies & I carried on up the ridge. By the time we got to the top the sun was out and I was melting. Had to walk most of the way with my layers tied around various parts of my body.

When we got back home Mr J had almost finished cooking lunch. What great teamwork, huh?

And, yes, I did figure out how to work my thing. Apparently in order for the inner metronome to work properly, the pedometer has to be correctly positioned. The day it failed it was hooked to the very loose waistband of my track suit bottoms and so I guess it kept slipping. Today it was clipped securely back onto the pocket of my jeans. Problem solved.

Distance - 5.75 miles
Time - 1.50
Dog(s) - Neka & Keskiyo
Weather - hazy/sunny
Could I do another 5? - in different clothing maybe

technology failure

2008-04-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

So my pedometer stopped working today. It said I did 1.95 miles, but then it also said I had done 1.90 miles about a mile from home. What's that all about? How unhelpful. So I'm back to guesswork again until I find out how to get my equipment functional.

This is so typical of me, actually. Seemingly all I have to do is glance in the general direction of a piece of equipment of any kind to render it useless - or at least damage it in some way. I used to think it was just electrical goods but apparently my aura interferes even with battery operated items. Yes, I put it down to my aura - what would you blame?

No time to sit around blogging, I need to find out how to work my thing, so to speak. And do you suppose I kept the instructions that came with it? Don't be silly.

Distance - 4.5-ish miles
Time - 1.5 hours
Dog(s) - Neka
Weather - sunny/windy
Could I do another 5? - maybe

gear list and

2008-04-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start a gear wishlist as a kind of aide memoire for my plans. I'm keeping it close to hand (i.e. here on my blog - see right) so that I can keep referring to it and add links when I find an example of each item that I like. When I get the item, I put a tick mark next to it, as I've done with the pedometer. Admittedly, it's a pretty poor example of a tick mark, but it will serve its purpose nonetheless.

You can see I've not yet got very far in my collection.

And I haven't even begun to add clothing - what a minefield that is! I've researched the socks issue and now am very pleased with what I have. But the everything-else issue is a very different matter. The books say don't wear denim jeans because they are quick to soak, slow to dry, you can get chilled in them, and they chafe. Well, I've been pretty lucky with the weather thus far as far as rain goes, but I can certainly vouch for the discomfort factor nonetheless. I've done a few of my walks in jeans since I've not been walking very far, and it really isn't to be advised. Having said that, it is better than walking in loose, stretchy trousers like I did today. Chafing. Not good. Ouch.

At this rate I'll be walking in cycling shorts. Er, or maybe not. I think some proper walking trousers will have to be my next investment. I like the look of these. They're made from a terrific quick-drying, lightweight fabric, they've got handy pockets and best of all, they convert into shorts. Just unzip the legs, roll them up and stuff them in your rucksack. Cool. And there are some similar ones that actually convert in two places so you can have shorts or just short trousers, a sort of cropped look. Stylish and practical - nice.

Distance - 5.75 miles
Time - 2 hours
Dog(s) - Keskiyo
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - maybe

marathon

2008-04-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

So the London Marathon has come and gone for another year. Suddenly the village is full of huffing & puffing folk inspired into starting to train for next year. Not me. I'm all for walking, but running is definitely outside my area of expertise. Even in my extreme youth when I was fit and played sports at school I struggled with running. Wrong ankles, wrong lungs, wrong attitude. So the London Marathon is safe from me - like climbing Everest, it will remain forever outside the scope of my ambition.

Besides, I'd surely get horribly claustrophobic in such a crush of people. Give me solitude in the wide open spaces over that any day.

The big story from the Marathon this year was the Maasai warriors running to raise money for a well for their village. Doesn't that just kill you? I think it's amazing, and I'm not even sure why it affected me so deeply. So many of the thousands of people who do the Marathon raise money for charity, and that's a wonderful and generous reason to run. But there is something poignant and special about tribal elders doing the same thing not for a distant, impersonal charity but to improve the lives of their own people in an immediate and direct way.

And have you seen the diary of the Chief printed in the Guardian? It's interesting and entertaining & you can read here.

Distance - 2 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - Probably

springs in your feet

2008-04-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Keskiyo threw a right old strop at 5:45 this morning when I was trying to leave ... without him. I woke up at 4:30am and couldn't get back to sleep so after tossing and turning and barely dozing for a while I decided to get up earlier than usual in the hope of getting a bit longer for my walk. But apparently a 2-year-old dog can throw a temper tantrum to rival a 2-year-old human in terms of volume and embarrassment to care-giver. Normally when he has a little fit about something I try to ignore him and so not reward the unwanted behaviour. I know he will grow out of his demanding little puppy-ish ways... eventually. Patience, patience. But, like every mother of a toddler has learned, there are times when you just cannot ignore the beloved little one's outburst. Like on a Monday morning before the sun is up - before the birds have even started properly. My poor neighbours.

Anyway, I managed to shut him up and convince him he was being left behind today and finally got out of the house 11 minutes earlier than I usually do. Yep, after getting up 40 minutes earlier than usual.

I definitely need to be Cesar'ed. Perhaps we all do.

After punching in a day at work, we all wandered out for another leisurely stroll of 1.5 miles or so in the sunshine. After all, the tantrum-throwing baby and grand dame of the family needed their walks too. And so did Mr J too, of course, being neither baby nor dame.

And while I'm feeling lazy as can be, I leave you with this, about which I have nothing to say except, possibly, does that boy have springs in his feet? Now wouldn't that be cool!

Distance - 5 miles + 1.5
Time - 1:40
Dog(s) - Neka
Weather - sunny
Could I do another 5? - Unlikely

and i put some new shoes on

2008-04-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

I had a great
time shopping yesterday and, as promised, I got myself some new boots. So, out go the old ones and here they are, my beloved Peter Storms, waterproof (well, mainly), once grey and pink. They served me well for a year or 2. Granted I didn't do more than your average and garden-variety dog walking in them, but apparently I did plenty of that and here is the proof.

In these boots I learned one very important lesson: don't shove your feet in without loosening the laces properly! Very early on I crushed the rear ankle support on one of these boots with my heel and it never recovered so they were never quite as comfortable as they should have been.

Another problem with these boots was the size. Well, the problem was more with my feet, really. I seem to fall between sizes no matter what brand I try. I had a similar problem yesterday. When I was trying on boots I fell in love with a pink suede pair that were snug and perfectly comfortable. Then I put on my extra pair of walking socks with them and they were a bit too snug. It was disappointing - and, yes, I do know they wouldn't be pink for long, but they were cute, I loved them. However, they weren't available in a larger size so here are my new boots.

Chocolate brown suede Hi-Tecs. They've got big, chunky soles and feel great, although I'm a bit concerned that in terms of size they're a little on the generous side. So what's better? A tiny bit too snug so that my big toe feels somewhat bruised after a downhill walk or a little too big so that my foot moves inside them? After having the former in my old boots, I went for the latter with the new ones. I figure I can fill up with socks if necessary. So I'm now feeling great in my new super-soft walking socks (as recommended by one of my books) and my new, roomy boots. My blisters feel better already too.

So I was wearing my boots around the house to begin to break them in. I had them on with 2 layers of socks - a thin "liner" sock under a heavier wood mid-weight walking sock. This is a very comfy trick I read about in one of my books. They suggested it helps with cushioning and comfort and also with wicking away moisture. And I do like it. So, in my two pairs of socks and new boots I was vacuuming the house this morning when Mr J and I suddenly decided to take all the dogs out for their walk before the threatened rain arrived. In our haste I forgot to change into my old boots. And now I've got the beginnings of rubbed spots on my heels. *sigh* Such a rookie mistake! Anyway, we cut short the 7.5 miles I had planned for today and just did our normal circular walk along the back roads and through farmers fields where the Lappies get a good run.

And now I think I'll strategically place some plasters on my feet so that I can wear my new boots for doing the laundry later. Do you suppose that's what Mr Hi-Tec intended?

Distance - 2 miles
Time - 45 mins
Dog(s) - all
Weather - mainly sunny
Could I do another 5? - In my old boots, yes

good record keeping

2008-04-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

When I got my books, I also bought a pedometer so that I can stop guessing at how I'm progressing. Today I finally got it working because in order to accurately record how far I'm walking, I had to input my average stride. In order to determine my average stride, I needed something with which to measure. Yes, you can guess how many days it took to remember to bring a tape measure home from work. So, yesterday we finally did the measuring thing and guess what. My stride is the same as the default entry on the pedometer. Ha.

So I now know that what I've been calling my standard 5-mile walk is actually a shade over 5.75 miles. That's great news - I've been punching in an extra 3/4 of a mile each day more than I thought. And it takes me exactly 2 hours. 20 miles a day, here I come.

Now that I can track my distances properly, it's time I started to keep records, I guess. Hmmm, what is need is some kind of diary. Oh yeah, I've got one.

Today's entry:
Distance - 5.75 miles
Time - 2 hours
Dog - Keskiyo
Weather - mainly sunny
Could I do another 5? - probably

Next I'm scheduled to go into work for a couple of hours and then I'm off to have a poke around some outdoor outfitters shops in town. Please, Millets shop staff, no sniggering behind your hands when I start asking for advice, ok? My, how times have changed since my Saturday shop of choice was Harvey Nicks. There was a time in my life when I used to hurt my feet with 4-inch heels. Today I've got a blister on my foot and I'm gonna be needing some new boots for all these extra 3/4 miles.

now where was I

2008-04-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

I don't have a lot of time today, so here's my other book: Walk Britain, which is the handbook of the Ramblers' Association. There's a fairly large proportion of the book referring the reader to the various chapters and local groups of Ramblers. But it also has all the stuff about accommodation as well as recommending some inner-city walks.

There is a good section on what to wear for a long walk. It explains about the "wicking" strategy of dress - i.e. wearing quick-drying fabrics that draw sweat off your body and out through the fabric to evaporate and leave your clothing dry. And it even gives details of the best gear available, as voted for by readers of the guide. I find info like this very helpful because, who knew about smart fabric? Well maybe you did, but I didn't. And now I do.

What makes this book indispensable to me, however, is the bit about maps and compasses. It even teaches you how to use a compass. I'm not sure I would trust my ability just from what I pick up from a book, though. I'm beginning to think I'll be needing a course. But probably not for my first walk.

read a good book lately?

2008-04-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

I'm big on books. I read a lot and I read everyday, and I'm not even all that fussy about what it is I'm reading, just so long as I have something to read. I think it comes from a childhood of having to be satisfied with whatever I could find in a town with no library. I start to panic if I don't have a book.

So, when I started thinking about putting some serious time into walking, I started to look at books on the subject. So far, I've only purchased two because I think I ought to get to grips with them before getting even more. No point in having a mountain of unread books to climb figuratively when I'm supposed to be busy literally climbing... well, hills anyway.

The first one is the 2008 guide to the South West Coast Path which is produced annually by the folks at the South West Coast Path Association. At first I was disappointed by the lack of photos, especially as this book covers the longest national trail in the country and along it some pretty spectacular scenery. But then, with a bit of a blush, I realized that the point is to walk the trail, take your own photos - doh!

This book is terrific, covering each section of the path with all the details you might expect like distance in miles & kms, level of difficulty, how long it might take, worthwhile detours and pitstops along the way. There's also information about public transport to and from each section of the walk, ferry and tide times and a whole two-thirds of a page on travelling with dogs.

There's also a section on campsites and youth hostels along the way plus more than 50 pages listing B&Bs all along the trail that have been recommended by walkers. Each entry gives full details of the services they offer - pickup & drop-off, laundry drying facilities, kit transfer, etc. And the best bit? There's absolutely loads in the list where dogs are welcome. Now that's more like it.

dogs not welcome

2008-04-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Huh. Well I am most assuredly un-impressed with the results of my initial investigation into the availability of dog-friendly accommodation on walks.

I figured a good way to dip my toe in the water (or footpath, as the case may be) would be to take one of those walks where you pay a premium and all your practicalities are taken care of. The company will find your accommodation & book you in. They carry your luggage from place to place. They provide maps and handy checklists of things you should remember to pack. Ideal for a newbie travelling alone but for one small, friendly dog. So I contacted this company about one of their short breaks fairly near home.

This particular company had a good website with plenty of information and photos. They suggested if you wanted to travel with a dog you should email, so I did. A couple of days later I got a reply listing the packages they offer on which a dog is welcome. There were 15 choices from all over Great Britain, out of a total of 63 packages that they offer. In addition, there were 3 short breaks out of the 37 they list. I suppose it goes without saying that the one I wanted to do was not included.

Do we really live in such a anti-dog world? Or maybe it's just an anti-dog country. Or maybe just an anti-dog company that I was unlucky enough to happen upon in my first attempt. Don't get me wrong, I know that dogs can get muddy, they have hair that - eek! - occasionally comes off, that they might bark and disturb someone for, oh, 5 seconds or so. But I'm pretty sure we pride ourselves on being a nation of animal lovers, don't we? According to the BBC

With 55,000 adult members, the RSCPA remains one of the UK's most popular charities. It collects some £28.5m each year in legacies alone.

Wow. Apparently we do love animals, we just want someone else to take care of them.

I'm told, and my own experience supports the idea, that dogs are much more welcome in Europe generally than in the UK. Hotels routinely welcome dogs and they even provide bowls, dog towels and treats. Go on a cheap package holiday to a Mediterranean country and see how the stray dogs are treated. Without the benefit of dog wardens or the RSPCA, dogs live quietly in the streets, visiting restaurants where they are tolerated by the owners and where soft-hearted tourists slip them morsels to eat. By and large they don't even seem to slink around with the expectation of being mistreated or even shoo'ed away.

However, I'm going to be walking in Britain, not Europe (at least for now) so I need to find a way to go where I want to go and keep my faithful friend with me. I guess I'll just have to keep looking.

Frankly, if I were running a guesthouse, I'd be more concerned about the people who stayed with me, rather than the dogs. But that's just me. As in all things, if a dog's presence is in some way disagreeable enough to warrant a ban, then it's probably owned by someone who needs to be banned too.

tired today

2008-04-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I am weary today. I think everything is catching up with me and now I'm ready for a day or so of really slobbing out and doing nothing. I'm pretty good at maintaining quite a frenetic pace for a while - getting up early, keeping busy all day and most of the evening before falling into bed. I can and do live like this week after week. But now and then I just have to stop. One morning I will just not get up (usually a particularly grey, rainy unpleasant morning) and I inform Mr J that all the morning canine routine that I usually do (being first up) is his problem. Then I'll spend most of the day in bed with a book with occasional forays for food and water - and by that I mean meals and a bath.

Mr J, being the supportive wonderman that he is, just delivers a cup of coffee to my bedside and takes care of everything. I am lucky. I do know.

On second thought, I'm not all that lucky today. Not because Mr J is turning over a new, mean leaf or anything. It's just that I could really do with one of those lazy days but there is just way too much to do. We're still playing catch-up at work, and that's going to take some time.

Besides, I have walking to do. The Lappies and I set off in the pre-dawn, blue-sky frost this morning with good intentions but we made less than 5 miles. I really must get my pedometer up and running (pardon the pun) so I can actually keep a record of how far I'm going. Driving the length of my walk in the car is a particularly inefficient and eco-unfriendly way to track my progress. And guessing at my improvement - or otherwise - is not really very useful in terms of hard, cold facts. And it's cold, hard facts I'll be needing to plan my way up to 20 miles a day from my current 20-ish miles a week.

The dogs were both unusually naughty this morning and I was more than usually tired. The worrying thing is that the dogs are getting fitter far more quickly than I am. This means their energy levels on our walks are increasing which makes things tough for me when, for example, I have to keep them on a lead as they try to career down the hillside. And, yes, I do need to keep them on a lead. Most of the fields we trek through are full of sheep & their lambs at this time of year. I don't think they need to have my dogs practising herding skills on them. And I'm quite sure their farmer would not be impressed if my dogs attempted to inspire a game with one of his sheep.

I'm thinking maybe I'll take one dog a day, alternating between Neka and Keskiyo. That way they both keep getting the longer-distance practise without feeling increasingly like I'm holding them back from fulfilling their potential. At least until I decide who's coming on the hike, anyway. It should also improve my downhill traction considerably.

and speaking of surviving

2008-04-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

This post originally had a different title: kayaking... or hell, where did that orca come from

Many thanks to The Adventurist for finding the following absolutely priceless video.

You have to wonder what the three kayakers were doing out there in water deep enough for orcas to be throwing themselves about. And why were they being filmed, anyway?

I can't help but be skeptical about the veracity of this video. With the editing technology available to anyone with a computer, a video can be produced of any event with professionally realistic results, however unlikely. Like the April fool's day video of flying penguins that the BBC ran to promote their new iplayer (which, can I just interject here, has the fabulous tag-line "making the unmissable, unmissable." How great is that?) Anyway, if you missed the video, go watch it here because it's great.

If you don't have time to watch it, or you just prefer my inimitable prose, the video is a David Attenborough-style presentation of a newly-discovered species of penguin that can fly. It's a lovely piece of film and the penguins are so beautiful that you so want it to be real. Like Fox Mulder, I want to believe! The video did manage to fool a few people, and I was tempted by it until it got to the bit where the penguins fly south for the winter and into the tropical jungle while bemused toucans look on. I guess there was a big clue in the fact that the presenter was Terry Jones of the legendary Monty Python team.

But back to the orca. There are so many things I love about the video. Here are these creatures swimming around the people in a sociable kind of way and then one leaps up to participate in the fun. By accident or design - either way it's astonishingly precise aim - the kayak is not directly hit, but just dragged under with the force of the orca's impact. If it had been hit, the guy would surely have been killed. But, no, he's just being involved in a game. And isn't it great the way he disappears for a few seconds and then bobs back up to the surface like a corked bottle. He quite literally must not have known what hit him.

But can you imagine how his companions were feeling? I'd like to have been one of them.

So, video footage of a real event or fabricated? I think real. Perhaps the setup was staged, like for a tv show, for example. You know, 3 intrepid kayakers go off with a camera following their every move into waters known to be full of playful orcas. Roll film and just see what happens. Or maybe it was filmed in a water park where the organisers knew exactly what would happen. If anyone knows how this film came about, please come find my blog and let me know. You may call me an idealist, or naive, or a sucker, but to be honest I don't really care how it was made, I love it anyway.

And here's a PS to those pesky Brits who insist on calling kayaks canoes - they're kayaks. What you call a 'Canadian canoe'? That's just a canoe.

surviving

2008-04-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well I managed to get through last week, apparently, because here I am. Mr J is now on his feet too, if still somewhat fragile. Although he still has to be careful, today he's back in the kitchen cooking lunch. Mmmm. I'm smiling, rubbing my tummy and knocking on wood all at the same time. I'm a multi-tasking genius.

The financial year-end at work has come and gone and we got most things done that we needed to. There only remains to finish straightening the books and get them off to the accountant and then it's back to the normal levels of frenzy that constitute an average day at the office.

Yesterday we had our club's spring dog show which requires a minimum in the way of advance planning for me but a great deal of stamina for setting up the evening before and then getting through the long, tiring day with it's various crises of greater or smaller proportion. Just being on your feet on a concrete floor for 8 hours is hard going, before you even factor in the running around, crowds, rush & stress. Not to mention the interminable cleaning up at the end. Under normal circumstances it's tough, but rewarding. This year, with everything else that has been going on, I thought it would be impossible and I've been so dreading those two days. However, today I seem to be enjoying a kind of mild euphoria now that it's over - it was a success and we can pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. Phew.

Today was earmarked for making sure the dogs got a good run after having their normal levels of daily exercise pretty much neglected for two days. Apart from that, we thought we would eat, sleep and recover from the week. And hopefully recharge a bit for next week. After a gloriously sunny day yesterday, the weather forecast was not good for today, so it was a pleasant surprise to wake up (only little later than usual) to a bright blue sky. What a shock when we got outside, though - it started to snow! Now, we just don't get snow in southwest England. We have a couple of weeks of frosty days in December, a couple of months of frosty nights, and occasional flurries of snow but it almost never stays. In fact, that's one the great things about the weather here. But today turned out to be one of those perfect mornings. Snow had fallen quickly, but without wind, so that it settled not only on the ground but also on every branch and twig. The forest where we went for our walk was frosted with the most delicate powdering. The ground was carpeted with fluffy mounds interspersed with wet, bare patches where it had already started to melt. The sky was clear with puffy clouds and the sun sparkled through the winter branches.

Did I mention the dogs are Finnish? Well, their parents are from Finland, anyway - my dogs are actually from Surrey, which is a very different circumstance entirely. At any rate, these dogs were traditionally bred to herd reindeer and with their long, thick double coat, they are designed to live in very cold conditions. Much colder than they ever experience in England - or, indeed, anywhere in Britain. They are so well suited to surviving the cold that they are one of only two breeds that are permitted to live outdoors year-round in Finland. I often say that the worse the weather gets the better our dogs like it.

So you can imagine their thrill at being let loose from the car into a snowy wood. It even had an energising effect on the old girl Annie, who is neither Finnish nor from Surrey, and conducts herself with a great deal of dignity at almost all times. She snuffled around in the mounds on the verges, picking up the pace from time to time to catch up if we got too far ahead. In the meantime, the Lapphunds raced each through the wood, throwing up curtains of glittering powder. They pounced, cat-like, on imagined creatures under the tussocks and came galloping back with big smiles, tongues hanging out sideways and snowy noses.

So, I must have taken loads of fantastic photos, right? Er, well, in the haste to get out while the sun was still shining and the snow was still on the ground, I managed to forget the camera. So, I will forever have the memory of this lovely morning and you will have to make do with my description of it all.

But, oh, we had a great walk. We were out for well over an hour, but we didn't cover much in the way of distance. Hopefully I'll get back to racking up the miles in the course of the coming week.

back soon

2008-04-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

Dear blog, I'm not ignoring you on purpose, truly. It's just I'm drowning in end-of-year work stuff. Oh how I wish I was a Sage whizz... perhaps this time next year...

Back soon, when I hopefully have some actual walking to report on.

meet the dogs 2

2008-04-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

This is my youngest dog, Finnish Lapphund Keskiyö (Elbereth Keskiyö to be precise). His name means 'midnight' in Finnish and was so named because - you guessed it - he was born at midnight almost 2 years ago. Which makes him still very much a youth in terms of his behaviour, which is naughty and still very puppy-ish at times.

This is a photo of him doing his thing in the show ring, where he has distinguished himself many times and in many ways, winning so much that he now holds several records for the breed in the UK. Am I sounding like a stage mother yet? No? I must not be trying hard enough.

Keskiyö is far more sensitive than Neka; where she is pretty much bomb-proof and fearless, he is easily frightened and his feelings get hurt if you tell him off. So he's very much the baby of the family... and quite spoiled I'm told. I'm sure I don't know what those folks are talking about.

Here's another one of him at 10 weeks old. So adorable I could take bites out of him! OK, perhaps just the tiniest bit spoiled, then.

And this dignified old lady is my Akita, Annie.
Mr J & I got her from the RSPCA when Neka was about 6 months old. We weren't actually looking for another dog at the time, having our hands well and truly full already. However, we met Annie completely by chance and she stole our hearts away so we just had to have her.

I believe that Annie coming to live with us was definitely meant to be and that our meeting her was orchestrated by a power greater than us. She is about 10 years old now and we know nothing about her past, although I can't help but guess. She has lived for 31/2 years with us and we are grateful for every day we have with her.

She's not so keen on her walks, though, so I'm usually gritting my teeth and muttering unflattering things as I drag her around the village.

meet the dogs 1

2008-03-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

This is Neka, my 4-year-old Finnish Lapphund. Her proper kennel name is Elbereth Onnekas ('onnekas' means 'lucky' in Finnish.) But Onnekas was a bit of a mouthful, so we settled on just Neka. I've been mad about animals all my life but she was my first ever dog and one of the best things that I've ever done is to bring her into my life.

Finnish Lapphunds are rare in England and typically you will have to wait several months to get one - and that's after you've jumped through a few hoops and proven you will give one of these great dogs a great home.

Four years ago they were even harder to come by and and before we had met one in the flesh, we actually struck them off our shortlist of breeds we liked because we thought we would have to wait too long to get one. I'm a bit of an instant gratification kinda girl and the idea of waiting upwards of 18 months for a dog once I had finally made up my mind the time was right to get one was just out of the question. So with open minds Mr J and I went off to the huge dog show Crufts for the first time to see some breeds and find out about them from the people who know and love them.

As far as looks were concerned, we were leaning towards Spitz types, and mostly quite rare breeds as well. In addition to Shetland Sheepdogs, we liked Chow Chows, Eurasiers, and Norwegian Buhunds. We wanted something fairly small and portable and quite strong emotionally in order to fit in with our rather chaotic lifestyle. Mr J was working part-time in the day and we were also performing in a musical duo 2 or 3 times a week. We could take a little-ish dog with us most places we went, so long as it was going to be happy staying in the van for a couple of hours at night. Dogs respond best to routine, but the only routine we could offer was a complete absence of one.

So we wandered around and around Crufts, wide-eyed at the crowds and the surreal sight of, for example, 100 Samoyeds all in one place. Then, without planning it, we rounded a corner and found the rows of Finnish Lapphunds. They were so engaging, meeting our eyes and eager to say hello. They were smaller than we had expected too. It only took one look and we made up our minds straight away to wait as long as necessary.

Well, as it happened we didn't have to wait so long. We got lucky, and 3 months later Neka came to stay. This is what she looked like at 10 weeks old. Cute, huh?

She was quite a handful at first and very demanding. She had so much energy and was very clever. We went to lots of training classes and she was a real star - very quick to learn and enthusiastic. They are a slow-maturing breed and by the time she was 2 years old she was the perfect dog. Happy, loyal, good company and with a great sense of humour. What more could you ask of a best friend?

Last year Neka had 7 puppies of her own. 2 girls, 5 boys - 5 brown and 2 black. How tough was it to part with these little hooligans? Well, frankly, by the time they were ready for their new homes, I was also ready for them to go to their new homes. It was wonderful to have them for the first 7 or 8 weeks of their lives but very hard work!

The puppies are now almost 10 months old and they are so beautiful and have such wonderful temperments that I'm even tempted to do it all again...

But how to fit a litter of puppies in with training for a hike? For both me and Neka!

the week in review

2008-03-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, it's mornings like this that make me love the English spring. Yes, I know. I know.

Sometimes, like today, 24 hours of gale-lashed rain are followed by a still, blue-sky morning. The sun is sitting low in the sky, still a bit weak and watery. Everything has a glittering just-scrubbed clarity. The birds, obviously relieved that it's safe to come out again and get on with the urgent business of finding a mate and building a nest, are chattering up a different kind of storm in the trees. That's what it's like today. Ahhh, life is good on a morning like this. Other times, you wake the next day to find the rain is running in rivers along the streets, and you don't know if it's ever going to stop.

I haven't been out with the dogs yet, and I was hoping to get at least one longer walk in this weekend. I started out a few days ago, having made up my mind to Walk, with an early-morning trek up and down the hills, through muddy fields and around the back roads of our town. It was further than I'd ever walked in this area before and I had no idea how far I'd gone, but I thought it must be at least 5 miles. And I was feeling pretty smug, too, because when I got home I was still feeling quite fresh as though I could do that distance again without too much strain. After work I drove the approximate route I had walked and found out it was, in fact, just under 5 miles (which is a sniff over 8 km, for you metric types). So it just goes to show that 5 miles is further than you think. Well, further than I thought, anyway.

I followed that with a busy day, a night-time meeting of my dog club, and quite late to bed (well, late for me). The next morning I woke again at 5:30am with good intentions but I was so tired I couldn't move. No, cynics, not from my little 5 mile stroll, just from a long day - I am a girl who needs my sleep. So that day I only did the normal dog route, which is about 2-2.5 miles. The next day I retraced my 5-mile route and added a loop to the beginning and the end to make sure it was a bit more than 5. Then my partner - let's call him Mr J - hurt his back and ended up immobile in bed so my walking timetable has been well and truly knocked askew for the time being. I'm getting pretty much all the exercise I can stand from running up and down the stairs fetching and carrying for my poor afflicted sweetheart.

So this week I've done 2 longer walks, which is really not good enough in terms of reaching 20 miles a day. Did I say it was a tricky time at work too?

rain...rain...more rain

2008-03-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

You see, this is the kind of day that really makes me loathe English weather. Yeah, yeah, I know April showers and all that, but give me a break. All day and evening sheets of rain have been driven horizontal by a wind gusting hard enough to bend trees sideways. If you have to go outside, you're drenched in seconds. The rain hits your skin like ice needles, runs across your cheeks and down your neck. It hits your body like marbles that explode on impact, soaking your clothes and weighing you down. Instantly.

How do serious walkers do days like this? I need to know, because if I was cuddled up in some cozy b&b halfway up a mountain and looked out the window to a horizon obscured by rain, fog and low cloud, I can't imagine what it would take to drag me outside. Does that make me a fair weather walker? Maybe. And if so, then I'm definitely in the wrong country, because, let's face it, the English countryside is practically synonymous with rich, well-watered greenery. Frankly, it's the weather that brought me to September as the ideal month for a hike - neither too hot nor too cold, and usually the most reliable in terms of dry days.

I think we're getting spoiled here, to be honest. I haven't actually done any research on this, but I'm pretty sure the past two years have been unusually dry in Britain. For which I am unspeakably grateful. My dream climate is to be found in California. I have never experienced a SoCal July, but I sure do appreciate the Januarys there.

I'm not a native Brit and where I come from the weather is much more dramatic than here and, in most cases, even worse than here - hotter, colder, snowier, wetter and windier. Where I come from, the weather helps to define the culture. Where I come from the weather can kill you. So I can't help but be weather-obsessed, it was born into my genetic make up along with a love of boats and a preference between cod tongues and cheeks.

I am frequently accused of being a right old wuss, coming from that kind of climate and then having the gall to complain about British weather. But, hey, I came here to get away from all that. That's my excuse, anyway.

Lucky me, today I took the dogs out at 7am and was back about an hour before armageddon commenced. But what do I do when I'm halfway up that mountain?

busy with other things

2008-03-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

So my timing is not great, I admit. I'm self-employed in a young company which means I could very easily be (and some might argue, should be) working every hour not dedicated to sleeping. To add to the pressure, our financial end of year is coming up next week and I'm the one responsible for keeping the paperwork in some sort of order. Unfortunately, most of the time my paperwork is in an appalling state of disorder. It's been a busy year, I keep getting behind with stuff and now here I am a few days away from having to catch up on a year's worth of numbers. Ugh.

Into this morass I drop my need for an adventure. Anyone reading this might think I just want to escape the pressure of work. Hell, yeah! But there's also the part of me that knows that life is what happens while you're busy with other things, to mis-quote John Lennon. I find it too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day minutaie of life and, man, does time fly when you're busy. Even if it's busy scrubbing out the bath. (And can I just confirm that I don't dedicate many of my precious minutes and hours to cleaning house, as anyone who knows me or has visited my house can attest.)

Somewhere in my days between getting orders out to customers so that we can pay our staff and (not) scrubbing out the bath I need to find 2 hours to do some serious walking. Usually I have to find 1 hour to do some moderate walking. My partner and I do have 3 dogs, after all, and they need exercise and stimulation every day. But the kind of preparation I need to do is going to require something extra. I am still quite some way behind being able to manage the 20 miles a day goal. But that's a story for another day...

Do Something

2008-03-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was gripped by the need to do something. Something beyond the usual humdrum daily grind of walk the dogs, work, work, work, cook, clean, eat, read, sleep. I decided I needed an adventure, a challenge to work towards that I would enjoy and get a real sense of accomplishment from.

It's spring in southwest England, and the mornings are, by and large, glorious. Those early walks with the dogs are really special and the further we go and the longer the walks last, the happier the dogs are. And I am too.

So I started to look into walking. Long walks covering vast distances over many days. I pored over internet images and stories of the Southern Upland Way. Do you know it? It's a 212-mile hike from Portpatrick on the southwest coast of Scotland to Cockburnspath on the east coast. Oh, I could see myself trekking up hill and down dale - or whatever it is the Scottish call dales. A 10-14 day hike. Wow.

I started to plan when I could fit such an event into my busy year and picked September as an ideal month for an outdoor adventure. But 212 miles divided by 14 days is more than 15 miles a day. And to do the Upland Way in 10 days (which I thought a nice round number) would mean at least 20 miles a day. 20 miles a day! Have you ever walked 20 miles? Well I have, but not for many years, and I'm not sure I would have chosen to repeat the experience at the time.

You know what's coming, don't you? There is no way I'm going to be walking the Southern Upland Way in 10 or any other number of days by September. That would give me less than 6 months to get ready, and believe me there's lots of ready I need to get. So the Upland Way is more a bit of a vague dream for next spring, maybe. In the meantime, I've got a plan!