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Bonfire update

The public bonfire display is starting to take shape.   It looks like a stage like structure made of wood and many wooden pallets.

After the recent rain the field is really starting to churn up now as the workmen build the great bonfire.

This seems like a good time to ask humans to think of us animals as bonfire night approaches.  We don’t like loud, unexpected noises and can get quite scared.

Please don’t lock us into a dark room alone, leave a light on for us and maybe the radio if you are going out.  More advice can be found on the RSPCA website.

The RSPCA recommends the Sounds Scary! CD therapy pack. This includes two CDs of firework, gunshot and thunder noises, together with a comprehensive information booklet and easy to follow instructions.

Get the CD
To purchase the CD at a special RSPCA discounted price, here is a link www.soundtherapy4pets.com/rspca 

 

Colder weather

What a change in the weather. One day it is very soggy, the next very cool but dry.  

 

On our walk today I managed to go trampling through the fallen leaves.  They crunched under my paws and put a white dusty stuff on my tummy.  Mum says this is something called ice.  I liked it and it it made my tongue cold.

 

We extended our walk today and visited a garden.  We had to walk near a busy road, but it did not worry me on my lead.

 

Mum has written all about  on Heritageandhistory.   She needed a few more pictures before some renovation work takes place.

A quick update tonight.  So untill next time

Charlie and Buster

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Piles of leaves

Yesterday we managed to get to the park once more for a walk and a sniff.  Many leaves have fallen from the trees in recent days and the park staff have started to gather them ready for moving them to compost heaps.

Buster spent many minutes inspecting these piles.  Maybe he could smell hedgehogs trying to keep warm beneath the leaf cover or maybe he was just being nosey.  

Heaps of leaves are a popular place for hedgehogs and other animals looking for places to hibernate at this time of year. Buster and I would like to ask gardeners to please check for animals before leaves are moved to bonfires or into the compost piles.  

On the subject of bonfires we notice that the main public bonfire display has started to be assembled.

Loads of wooden pallets are being collected ready for the bonfire and firework display on the evening of 1st November 2008.

The field still looks very wet.  Maybe the fire will help dry it out.:-)

Work still continues on the flood defences nearby. 

Concrete walls and earth bankings have been installed to help protect this area of the city.  

Other News

Following our mention of the hydrotherapy centre near us the other week we spotted a mobile massage service in Worcestershire.

The Canine Massage Therapy Centre offers massage and manipulation services for us pooches to ease aching muscles and bones out of alignment.

Get in touch

If you know of any services or products we should know about then let us know via the contact us page.

 

 

Thats all for now

Charlie and Buster

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Bonkers for conkers

Another showery day but we managed to get to the park for a quick walk.

Autumn has certainly arrived and the trees have turned from green to a multitude of colours or red, orange and everything in between.

Charlie ran through the leaves wondering why they kept falling onto him as he ran around the base of the trees.

One of the trees we came across was one with prickly round green balls around it’s trunk.

Mum said these were the fruits from the horse chestnut. She added that it was unusual to see them on the ground because when she was at school children would find hundreds of them and play a game called conkers using the nut inside held on a short length of  string.

For many years the game of conkers has been played in schools throughout the UK.  

The first recorded game of Conkers using horse chestnuts was on the Isle of Wight in 1848. Until then, children used snail shells or hazelnuts.

The game of conkers came to the attention of many newspaper editors in the last few years when safety concerns were raised.

The World Conker championships are to be held on the village green of the small village of Ashton in East Northamptonshire in 2009.

Thats all for now

Until next time

Charlie and Buster

 

Books – Playground games

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cycle and walking map

A free pocket-sized walking and cycling guide for Carlisle was launched recently.

Funded by Cumbria County Council, Carlisle City Council, Friends of the Lake District, Capita, the Environment Agency and Carlisle Renaissance, the map is aimed at encouraging people to walk and cycle both as a way of getting to work, school, the shops and for leisure purposes.

 

Targeting people of all ages from young children to pensioners, it focuses on the health and financial benefits of choosing pedal and foot power over the car.

As well as featuring a map of the city, with cycling provision around the centre and suburbs of Carlisle, it provides hints and tips for safe cycling and useful contacts including local bike shops.

The map is available through schools, doctors’ surgeries, libraries, local community centres, the tourist information centre and leisure centres.

And in addition to being beneficial to existing walkers and cyclists, it is aimed at those who want to start leading a healthier and more active life.

It highlights just how quickly people will start to feel the benefits of getting out of the car with a series of facts, including:

• New cyclists travelling short distances can reduce the risk of suffering heart attacks or strokes by up to 22 per cent.
• Walking for 30 minutes five days a week burns off 2,000 calories.
• Car drivers suffer four times higher levels of air pollution than walkers.

Cllr Reg Watson, chairman of Carlisle Highways and Transport Working Group, said: “This handy pocket-sized map will encourage local residents and visitors to Carlisle to make more of their journeys on foot and by bike.

“Reducing the use of the car for the many short trips undertaken in the city will benefit people’s health and help improve the local environment of Carlisle.

“The map is easy to use and I’m sure plenty of people are going to benefit from it.”

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Wreay update

 

Following on from our walk, and after another drink, we got into the car whilst mum and dad went around the local church.

St Mary’s Church Wreay  is a gem according to Mum.   It has recently undergone some thorough renovations and is a fantastic place to visit, she says.

St Mary’s was built between 1840 and 1842 under the personal direction of Sara Losh.  

The BBC programme Songs of Praise recently visited the church.  We can easily see this building being used as a film set or in period drama.

You can read all about her visit on our other website Heritage and History .

Comments others have made about their visits.

Pebbles From Heaven

All about Wreay

Have you visited Wreay ? Let us know and we can add your site to those above.

Until next time

Charlie and Buster

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A Path to Newbiggin

Traveling along the A6 from Carlisle to Penrith you come across a sign to your right indicating Wreay.

So not sure what lies ahead, it maybe the road to nowhere!

After about 2 miles we come across a village green with a church to the right and a pub. 

Parking the car we all get out and go for a run on the village green.

A quick drink before we go exploring and then we set off heading further along the road we came in on.

We join a firm path past some nice houses and onto a tarmac lane leading down a hill.

It looks like this lane has been here for many many years as it is green with slippy moss in the middle.

The hill is not too steep and is shaded by old stone walls on either side.  

A small garden fire was burning behind one of the walls.  The smoke from it highlighted the sun breaking through the overhanging trees and filled the air with a comforting warm smell of hot wood.

Mum looked at the assorted hedges along our route beyond the wall. Holly seemed to be the basic hedging material with gaps filled with metal netting to stop the sheep and cattle escaping.

Continuing down the path, eager to sniff every smell and explore every gap in the fence or wall, the path opened out and we came upon a open view with no trees either side.

Metal railings indicated the approach to a bridge  and we were eager to peer through.

Below us was a big drop to some shiny brown snake like objects which mum called railway tracks. She said that trains use them to ride upon and that they should not be approached as they are dangerous. So we both ran over the bridge to get away and continue our walk.

As we left the bridge mum spotted an apple tree on the side of the embankment.  She wondered how it came to be there and how long it had been in residence.  Was it a discarded apple core from one of the early settlers many hundreds of years ago, she pondered?

The path led on past some allotments and we said hello to one of the gardeners.  He was eating his lunch whilst in his car listening to the radio,  maybe after a hard day harvesting from the smallholding.

The public footpath continued down a banking and to the rivers edge.  But first you had to use this very unusual contraption to get into the field.

A quick look at the steps and we all thought that we would give this a miss today as it had been raining and looked slippy and a little fragile.  So we continued along the solid road up the hill.

We have mentioned on a number of occasions that we love to paddle in water and Buster was the first to discover the stream.

Running alongside the road the trickle of fresh water cooled our paws and refilled our tummies, and you guessed it, made for two soggy doggies. 

Beyond the hedges on this bit of track were animals and crops.  To our left were cows munching on very green grass whilst to our right were soggy fields of corn.

Rustling in the wind the corn stood about 2m tall and if Buster had wanted to play hide and seek we would never have found him amongst it.

The ground, despite being on a hill, looked quite soggy and maybe was why this crop had not yet been harvested.

Dad says that we shouldn’t eat corn as it is bad for us.  Oh joy, another thing we can’t do.

Buster was starting to slow as we climbed the hill so we decided that we should start to make our return back the way we came.  At least it is downhill.

More information

Go to the Heritage & History site to find out more about Wreay

Leaflet about our walk and others in the area

 

Until next time and the rest of our adventures in Wreay.

Charlie and Buster

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Soggy grass

The weather still continues to be strange with warm sunshine for a few hours then cold and damp.

Our local park is very soggy.  A recent pop concert has left a few bare patches in the grass which have filled with water.

River levels around the area remain high which can not be good for the arrival of winter. 

The weather got me searching the web to see what was available for us to help keep us dry.

Here are a few of my discoveries.

Dog Coat Pac-A-Mac - Ever been enjoying a beautiful stroll when all of a sudden the skies turn grey and the heaven’s open? Now you can enjoy a lovely stroll without the worries of taking home a soggy dog! The black pac-a-mac folds into it’s own backpocket, then opens out as soon as you need it. It’s a must have for any style-conscious pooch!

The All-in Trouser Suit - A wonderful dog trouser suit availble in showerproof nylon and in two colours. Very practical and ideal for dogs that like getting wet & muddy. It has a full length zip runnung from the head to the tail, elastic cuffs around the legs and is easy to put on your dog. 

And the ultimate pet umbrella - Features include a clear oblong arc trimmed with classic plaid waterproof fabric and ergonomic, angled handle with padded comfort grip. An umbrella leash with hook attaches easily and quickly to your pet’s collar or harness. Clear umbrella body allows full view of pet.

Flood defence work

 

This work is continuing and starting to show shape.

It looks like reinforced concrete walls are being constructed here to contain any flood waters.

The £24m project comprises the construction of reinforced concrete and sheet piled defence walls, as well as new embankments at critical locations along the Caldew and Eden rivers. 

 

Share worries

Listening to the news over the past few weeks you can not fail to notice that billions of pounds are slooshing around the world looking for safe havens and investments.

But did you know that some shares are called dogs. Here is a bit of a techie explanation. Dogs are units with low market share in a mature, slow-growing industry. 

They depress a profitable company’s return on assets ratio, used by many investors to judge how well a company is being managed. Dogs, it is thought, should be sold off.

So now you know.

More next time

Charlie and Buster

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Friday fun

On a Friday we start to look forward to walks and spending time with mum and dad.

It is also when dad takes a look around the web for things to raise morale  and spirits.  Here are a few of his discoveries.  

Wordia  - A video dictionary. Harpercollins, the national literacy trust and the open university have joined forces with others to create a next-generation online dictionary; a ‘visual dictionary’ video repository that encourages members of the public to contribute to a collective pool of produced and user-generated video dictionary definitions.

MagCloud – Have you ever wanted to publish your own magazine ?  It costs you nothing to publish a magazine on MagCloud. To buy a magazine costs 20¢ per page, plus shipping.  US postage only but according to their site international postage is coming.

Zigo – Is it a child buggy, a bike, a pushchair or a child transporting bike.  Well it seems as it is all three. No UK distributors as yet… unless you know otherwise?

Loc8tor - Have you ever misplaced your keys or even the children ?  Loc8tor has a maximum range of 183 metres / 600 feet with clear line of sight and can be used to try and find all your lost belongings.  Loc8tor’s versatility means it can be used in almost any situation by simply attaching the tag to any item you want to protect. It can even be used to find a lost radio controlled aircraft that may have ditched or a computer being removed from an office.  I wonder if we could be tagged whilst we are out for a walk ?  

Thats all for now.

 If you would like to suggest some gadgets or websites then let us know via email admin at ablogfrommydog.com or via the comments form below

Charlie and Buster.

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Our big adventure

It has been a few days since we last updated our blog, but we have a very good excuse.

Last Friday we started a grand adventure to the countryside and got to sleep away from home.

All started as any normal day does but something seemed a little unusual.  Mum was packing a bag with our things. Towels, food, bowl, a few toys and a couple of chews.

This is not normally done for a walk so Buster and I started to get excited but puzzled.  

The car was loaded with our bag and a few for mum and dad and we headed off through the city and past our normal walking places and off into the countryside.

After about what seemed to be an hour mum checked her pockets and pulled out a piece of paper. Ah we thought, we are lost.

Dad pulled the car into a farm entrance and looked at the map and directions scribbled on the well folded paper.  As always seems to happen we needed to retrace our path around a mile to a junction to our right.

In the distance we could here the sounds of farm machinery which as we drove along the road became louder.

Finally we come across a direction sign on the roadside that dad says we should follow. I didn’t get chance to read it but it had a picture of a dog on it I think.

After a few hundred meters the car slowed and we approached quite a solid looking gate with a button just asking to be pressed. Mum did the honours and the gates swung upon like in the films.  

I must make a note that we could do with one of those special buttons for our gates.

Dad drove through the gap and parked up in a yard.  We were very excited and eager to explore and couldn’t wait to get out of the car.

Mum got out first and after putting the lead on Buster they both went through a doorway opposite. I followed with Dad a few minutes later.

A very nice lady greeted us. She smelt nice and gave us both a stroke and, being the flirt that I am, I got a cuddle as well.

Our own bed

We were led down a tiled passageway past a few doors and into a room.  Wow, it had a tv, a radio, our own small bed and a chair.  

Opposite the doorway was a yard area where we could stretch our legs and speak to other companions nearby.

The room was very posh and although I had to share with Buster the adventure would be fun.

Three sleeps

Mum and dad left us to get on with talking to our neighbours and finding our way around for three sleeps.

We were well looked after despite Buster being quite defensive and not letting anyone near.  He seemed a little scared of being away from his normal comforts but I managed to bound around and keep his spirits up.

We could run around in the big compound in turn with the other guests and I went for a walk every day. I even got a brush and a wash. Buster wasn’t up for a pampering, so I tried to ask for double… I’m not sure if the groomer understood though

Around the country club

The country club for animals even has it’s own pool.  Situated not far from our room is a 5m long 3m wide indoor pool kept nice and warm for us to play in.  

 

We didn’t manage to go for a swim this time but we have asked mum if we can come back and play.  

 

It has murials on the walls and a washing area –  just like the humans swimming pools I have seen in pictures.

This pool is used mainly for Hydrotherapy. This is the use of warm water as a controlled form of weightless exercise. 

It is an ideal aid to the recovery and rehabilitation of injured animals or simply a great form of exercise for healthy dogs.

The pool is fitted with jets to provide variable swim resistance and massage.

I think Buster will enjoy getting his first swim and easing those aching bones. All the time I have known him he has not gone into water deeper than his middle.  His feet have always stayed on the bottom.

Going home

On the morning of the fourth day mum and dad came back for us.  We were glad to see them and have a hug. 

I managed to stand in something rather pongy though on the way to the car and I stunk the car out all the way home.

This resulted in the obligatory bath for both of us and a frantic run around the house to get dry.

Since returning home and back to the daily routines I have needed my cuddles topping up. I did like my holiday and really do want to go for a swim. Will let you know how we get on.

Mum says she will be writing more about the Posh Pets Country Club on the other site Keep Trade Local in the next few weeks.

Thats all for now

Charlie and Buster