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Funny image from Cockermouth

Any visit to a town that is trying to recover from a major incident always makes you wonder if you could do more to help and in many ways also slightly depressed.

So it was when we visited Cockermouth over the weekend.

Background

Just in case you are unaware of the hours of news footage towards the end of 2009,  Cockermouth and the surrounding area had severe flooding following heavy rain during November.

The Main Street in the town had torrents of water cascading down it, over a metre deep.

As a result many town centre businesses are displaced and the builders and drying contractors have moved in.

Open for business

Away from the skips and florescent safety gear clad workmen, life continues and Cockermouth, like many other areas affected in the storms, is open for business and is welcoming trade.

Our walk took us through the middle of the town and at the far end, feeling quite helpless, our spirits were raised, well at least mum and dad had a giggle, when they came across this financial institution.

As we have mentioned many businesses have moved from their normal premises and have sought alternative accommodation.

It would seem that this pension trust service, Wensley Mackay, now offer more than just financial support.

Flood recovery fund

Set up immediately after the flooding the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund has now raised in excess of £2m to help individuals and families suffering financial hardship and to support community projects recover.

Update 17 Feb 4pm – Flood fund now closed – BBC News

Until next time,

Buster and Charlie

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Happy New Year 2010 from a blog from my dog

Despite our best efforts last night mum and dad insisted on staying up way past their bedtimes and saw in something they call the new year.

In what has become an annual ritual dad gets his coat and shoes on and leaves the house just before midnight, clutching a small bag of salt, a cork with a coin in it and a candle.

This year things were a little different as the candle had been replaced by a very bright and shiny lamp filled with oil. Earlier in the day dad was seen feeding the lamp a stinky water through a hole in the base.

Dad brought this lamp into the house a few weeks ago.  It had been bought for him as a gift by his mum and dad.

As midnight approached the bang pop things could be heard from the garden and we went out to see what all the commotion was about. A few well timed woofs soon sorted them out and silence was restored.

A short while later, with mum pacing around the house dad returned and knocking on the door mum lets him in. He had lit the lamp and it shone really brightly but did smell a bit stinky.

Mum does not see the point in any fuss with new year and always gets a bit frumpy with dad as he goes about his ritual. However, she had prepared the cake and a bottle of some fizzy pink stuff on a table.  One final ritual and dad and mum hold the cake knife and make something dad calls a wish as they slice into the new cake. Again mum not really amused but she puts up with it with a grump and a smile.

At last we can go to bed.

Charlie is first to wake earlier this morning and he seems a bit excited. Dad lets him out into the garden and he starts woofing and running around.

Dad takes a look at what is causing all the commotion and finds that it has been snowing again overnight. Charlie is loving it running round and round the garden like something possessed.

Not even allowing mum and dad to have their breakfast we encourage them, in the unique way that we can, to take us out for a walk.  We wanted to play.

Given it was cold we all got wrapped up for a walk around the local field.

The paths, just recently cleared of ice, now had a new layer of white dust on them.

Footprints from all sorts of animals could be seen. Birds and the moggy from next door were some we spotted.

Interestingly this puddle in the field had not frozen although it was surrounded snow and the temperature was below zero.

Maybe we have a hot spring or maybe some new kind of un-feezing water has just been discovered.

New sport

Dad thought that it would be great to invent a new sport, the cold must have got to him  and Charlie was to be key to his ambitions.

Waiting until Charlie was almost out at full lead length dad assumed the crouch position and waited for the slack in the lead to be taken up.

Dog snow skiing was to be the title and charlie was the substitute for a powerboat.   Sadly for dad,  Charlie only pulled him 2cm before he stopped and sat down.

I don’t think this sport will make it to the Olympics.

Happy New Year

2010 has started with snow and the discovery of un-freezing water.  What more could we want ?

Let us hope 2010 is not as wet as 2009 and we can get out into the big world for more adventures.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie.

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Frosty Carlisle but no snow yet.

Frosty ground and brilliant sunshine – just perfect for an early morning walk and that is exactly how we started the day.

Mum and dad promised that we would get out today ahead of the forcasted snow, which as yet has not arrived.

Buster has taken to wearing his fleecy jacket at this time of the year to try and keep his hip warm.  For an old man he does very well on our expeditions.

The frost over the last two nights had made the ground all firm and non-splodgy so we were in for a long walk as we would stay dry and above all clean.

Dad did not fancy getting the car out today as he didn’t want to de-ice it or face the busy roads full of Christmas shoppers so instead we walked to the starting point for todays walk.

Engine Lonning was once a busy rail yard for the  London & North Eastern Railway.  The rail yard closed in the early sixties and nature has been swift to reclaim the area.

Recent renovation work in this area has improved the major paths through the site and on a frosty day like today it is fantastic.

Wooden steps lead down towards the former Waverley Bridge where we come across some naturally made ice pops.

Water, dripping from underneath the bridge arches, has frozen to form clear icicles which are glinting in the sunshine.

Dad takes some pictures then breaks one off for us to lick.  For some reason they don’t smell right so we decline a cool drink.

He now has wet paws which start to get really cold in the fresh air.

One the other side of the  River Eden, mum notices that what appears to be hundreds of trees that have been recently planted.

It also looks as if the river bank has been taken away to allow the river to flood onto this area.

Resetting the food chain

After all the recent rain, this spell of dry hard frost is great to seal the arrival of winter and to reset all of the natural rhythms of nature.

Bugs and plants will especially benefit from the cold as it will ensure that the food chain is kept in check and that plants get their winter rest.

Recent warm winters have kept many plants awake and bugs and other insects have not been knocked back by what should be natures leveller, the cold icy UK winter.

Mum had noticed that in our garden the daffodil bulbs had already started to peek through the soil and that many of the bushes had started to grow new green buds.

Sunlight

Clear, fresh sunlight this morning made some of the plants shout out to be photographed.

Golden cones on this Larch tree twinkled with frost and almost seemed to glow as the low sunlight shone through the branches.

Our walk continued along the path past the river monitoring station and towards the Sheepmount Stadium.

Passing straight in front of the stadium we  entered onto the playing fields beyond the astro-turf all weather pitches.

Footprints could be seen on the frozen grass where animals and people had been before us. Sunshine flooded the very tops of the trees and in the calm still air we took a moment to look around.

Monster

Nothing was moving on the fields. In the bushes to our left blackbirds scurried amongst the undergrowth in search of beetles whilst above them could be seen the occasional flashes of red as a robin stood guard.

Across the field and onto the lower field we tramped, our footprints left on flattened grass testament to our passage.

Through the ground came a monster rumbling towards us. Breaking the silence a DRS train thundered on the tracks across the bridge which we had walked under about 40 minutes ago.

Direct Rail Services (DRS) is based about a mile up the tracks from here and has recently been in the news helping communities in West Cumbria after the floods.

Working on behalf of  Northern Rail, DRS are providing additional capacity between Maryport, Flimby, Workington North and Workington to help residents of these areas move around after many bridges were washed away in the bad weather.

Brick

Whilst we watched the train, and to avoid mum getting scared of being under the bridge as the train went overhead we waited, and looking to the ground dad spotted a brick peeping through the low grass and mud.

Unusually this brick had the words ‘Phorpres Electricity’ stamped into it.

Searching the web when we came home seems to indicate that this brick may have been made in London at the London Brick Company works.

Further research by dad possibly reveals that Phorpres was a trade name which came about due to the number of times they were pressed ,four times = four press = Phorpres.

All dad can think of is that the brick came from an electricity building at some point in it’s history. Maybe you know more about this brick?  Let us know via the comments area below.

Thats all for now.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

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Calm sea at Silloth after Cumbrian storms

Sunshine and a bit of frost greeted us this morning so Charlie ensured mum and dad were up early because we wanted a good walk, no excuses.

Floods, gales and horrid weather has kept us close to home for too long and today it was time for Silloth.

Over the last week we have seen dreadful weather with many of the rivers and streams bursting banks and cascading down main streets in towns like Cockermouth.

Many humans have switched on the flickery light show in the corner of the soft room and seen heroic rescues of some of us from flood waters.

Distressed

Specialist rescue teams from an organisation called the RSPCA have helped look after our colleagues who became stranded or split up from their humans.

More than 60 RSPCA staff  came to West Cumbria and working alongside the usual emergency services cared for dogs, cats, horses and many farm animals who became distressed or lost as conditions became dangerous.

Although the flood waters have gone away,  many friends may be spending time away from the normal routines and possibly their humans due to homes being waterlogged. Good luck to you all.

Thankfully our town was spared any real damage and it seems the recently installed flood defences have worked.

Some localised flooding did occur and dad made a video of it for Naturearoundme.com. You can also see the video at the bottom of this post.

Silloth

We have visited Silloth many times, as regular readers will know but today was the best.

Mum and dad had both wrapped up well against the expected sea breeze but it was calm and still.  Even the sea hardly rippled as it ebbed and flowed.

Many pockets of water lay on the path and we just could not resist the temptation to go for the occasional paddle.

Charlie spent quite a bit of time on the sea side of the flood defences today and let me be king of the castle by walking on the proper top path. We kept meeting up at the steps every few hundred meters and exchanged information using our inbuilt moist nose technology.

We have heard mum talk about something similar for humans when she uses bluetooth on her mobile talky thing.  It sounds very primitive and way behind what we have.

Penguins

As we walked along the path we noticed a lack of the usual seagulls but did see a number of these black and white birds.

Dad commented that they must be penguins as it was cold and they were  the same colour as a penguin.

Mum replied, in a jokey sort of way,  that she thought penguins were blue with a yellow tummy.  It was going to be one of those days.

White dots

Our walk took the usual route up past the lighthouse on the path then passing through the gap in the sea defences at the landing stage and onto the grass.

Wide open space all to ourselves, quite an achievement on a Saturday morning.

Here our noses went into the air as we could smell the unmistakable odour of cooking bacon.

Maybe it was from the nearby care home or from one of the many hotels or houses on the street. That is just a cruel game to play without letting us share.

Just beyond the tennis courts is a small wood with what seems to be something mysterious going on.  Many of the trees here look as if they have been marked with white dots of paint. Could they be for the chop ?

Our attention was soon drawn to a rustling coming from the undergrowth and a pair of wide eyes looking at us.

Mosaic

It is so frustrating that we are on our leads.

Silloth on Solway is the official title for this area and this is proudly displayed in this circular mosaic at the edge of the main green grass space.

Charlie is not really interested but I take a good look  and check out the sniffs.

Walking on the grass is not too bad as the main green area seems well drained and is not muddy at all.

Overhead hundreds of birds are flying past in a column hundreds of meters long.

They are too far away to see what they are.

Christmas

Christmas is now only a few weeks away and it looks as if Silloth will have a splendid focus for the festivities.

Planted firmly into a plastic trough with wooden wedges rammed home to stop any movement, is the giant Christmas tree.

Cake

Standing many meters high the fir tree still needs the lighting and other decorations added.

Dad spots a bakery and cake shop on the other side of the road called Berry and Sons.

Mum is dispatched to get some provisions, clutching a couple of pound coins from dads pocket. The earlier smell of bacon just had our taste buds all a tingle.

One small paper bag is what she returns with a few minutes later and it smells sticky.

Sitting on a nearby bench the wrapping is removed and two vanilla slices are revealed.

We helped mum and dad eat them. It would have been a shame not to help.

Tummies full and circular walk completed we returned to the lifeboat station car park and  the start of our journey home.

That’s all for now, until next time

Buster and Charlie

Carlisle floods video

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Flood alerts in Cumbria

Flood alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency for all of the local area after heavy overnight rain.

We were woken up at one point during the sleep time,  so we thought we should go and investigate where all the rain goes, so we headed to Bitts Park and the River Eden.

We are pleased to report that although the river is quite high it is not dangerously high and is not at risk of causing much damage in this area as yet.

The river was a muddy bubbling torrent of water trundling downhill towards the sea.

Flood level

Water has broken over the natural River Eden banks opposite the Carlisle Cricket Club but is being contained by the second line of defence, the raised pathways through the park.

Flood water would have to rise another metre or so to overtop these.

Carved in to one the bricks is a previous high water mark.  Today the water is well below the 1852 mark.

More rain is due overnight so maybe this mark maybe reached.  That sounds like an excuse to come for another walk.

Walking under the bridge we could see into Rickerby Park.  At the far end of this park is where the Cumberland Show used to be held.

This year the show was cancelled due to high river levels. Next year the show will be held at Carlisle Racecource.

Just a quick update today as we now need a bath to get cleaned up.  It is muddy work this investigation work.

Take care tonight and tomorrow morning just incase you get flooded or scared by the rain.

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

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A new walk at Kingmoor

With an air temperature of 13 degrees and white fluffy clouds in the sky we escaped the confines of the house for another expedition, this time to the north of Carlisle.

Our destination was to be the Kingmoor North Nature Reserve on the side of the former 14 Maintainance Unit (14MU) depot.

This is a part of the nature reserve we have not yet visited and will be subject to quite a bit of disruption in the next few years as the Northern Relief road bulldozes through.

We parked the car near to the Parcelforce depot and set off on our walk, eager to get our noses into some new smells.

Sheltered from the slight cool breeze by the high hedges we soon became warm under the strong sunshine.

Our walk was on firm dry ground ideal for buggies and wheelchairs, although it was a bit narrow in places.

Signs of autumn were all around and mum spotted many oak trees with ripening acorns.

Green acorn growth was turning to a rich golden brown in the late summer sunshine.

The last few days of cooler weather had certainly had an impact on some of the trees and bushes.

Lush green vegetation was making way for golden brown colours and the path was covered with the first falling leaves.

All along the edge of the path you could smell that we were not the first to pass this way.

Evidence of other animals included the occasional mole hill, the flattened grass and well worn route leading under a fence and the footprint left in the soft verge.

I spotted a few of the smells however Charlie is the expert and he scurried down many a small track to investigate.

Mum was not too bothered with the smells but was interested in the assorted berries still available to the sides of the path.

Elderberries, brambles, rosehips and hawthorn berries were all to be found and like yesterday mum started collecting.

She did say that we should not eat any of them as they could be bad for us.

Overhead mum spotted a big bird circling as if looking for lunch.

We kept to the undergrowth so to be out of sight and hoped that maybe a mouse would make a better Sunday dinner.

Could it be an eagle, a buzzard or maybe a big hawk?

The bright sky silhouetted the gigantic wingspan against the sky so we could not get a good view and we didn’t want to get any closer to it.

When dad looked at the photographs when we got back home it seems as if the underside of the wings is white and the tail feathers are like those of a hawk.

Our path emerged by the side of the entrance to the Kingmoor Park Industrial Estate but not before we had past some large concrete posts with the letters MOD on them.

This area was the site of the former 14MU military base and dad wondered if these were left over from that time.

Maybe they had been the outer boundary markers to the base or maybe MOD stands for something else like ‘Mind Out Dachshunds’.

With the path ending by the side of the busy road we decided it was best to return to the car via the path we had just come along.

It is always interesting how you spot somethings when walking along a path oneway however spot different things when travelling in the opposite direction.

This was the story when mum spotted this big red toadstool, or fungi.

With a bright coloured top it looked quite scary so we kept our distance whilst dad, careful not to touch it in case it was nasty, took the photograph.

Given that this path was well made and fairly flat, mum and dad discussed if it may have once been a railway line. They did not know however from where to where… The research continues.

The woodland felt very ancient and indeed we could have been in Middle Earth, especially as a Medieval ring, known as the Kingmoor or Greymoor Ring had been found here in the 19th Century, which is thought to have inspired the Lord of The Ring Stories.  However, mum said that the only ‘tricksy Hobbits’ in the wood would be us two….still, we kept a keen eye open for Gollum and Orcs.

Enough for now as we need a bit of a sleep after our expedition

Buster and Charlie.

Other articles of interest

Kingmoor Nature Reserve visited, Carlisle

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Rain affects crops & stops our walks

When will the rain ever stop and we can get out for a good long walk? Over the last several days we must have had many centimeters of rain and we are now starting to get bored of it.

Running around and sulking is all we seem to be doing recently and it is also very dark…. Actually we are just miserable.

Dad has just suggested a big pot of stew and dumplings for dinner, so he must also be feeling the weather in his old bones also…

Outside the garden is struggling as the tomato’s are failing to ripen and the shrubs, once full of flower and wildlife, are rotting in the damp conditions.

Mum has even gone as far as to suggest not growing tomato plants next year and is consulting the books as to what to do with the greenhouse growing season which seems to be only 3 months long, May, June and July.

We are hearing a lot of discussions about chutney this week. Maybe it will be an excuse for the cooker to be on and at least one room in the house to be warmed up.

Earlier in the year you may have read about the canopy thing in the garden mum put up so she could do some of the web work outside.

Well this is now being put to great use by us to avoid us getting wet when we go outside to play.

All the rain however has started to make it look a little black so we don’t think it will be long before it is washed and packed away for the winter.

Apples and soft fruit seem to have had a great growing season this year.

To the left is the apple tree, Lustre Elstar, at our  grandad’s in Lancaster. He says that he came about this tree after saving tokens from one of the national newspapers.

The label on it says that is is a heavy cropper, however the weight of the fruit is starting to bend the branches and may even snap one or two of them if some supports are not rigged soon.

Soft fruit also seems to have done very well despite the horrible weather and mum has been busy over the last few days sorting out some damsons and plums given to them from a friend. Keep an eye over on Food on a budget for harvest updates.

Other news.

Mum and dad continue to add stuff to Spirit-of-orkney.  Highlights this week include some desktop wallpapers and some graphic banners to help people link to the site.

Mum has also contributed by writing an article about the wild fuchsia seen in many places on the mainland.

You may have noticed a few tweaks also on this site.  You can now Twitter articles direct from the page using the new green buttons at the top of every article.  Go on –  follow what we do on the social microblogging site. Our username is ablogfrommydog.

Did you know you can now print out any of our expeditions or web posts?   Thanks to a new bit of software dad has installed on this web thingy a print button has now appeared at the top left of every post.  Clicking here formats the page so it prints out ok on most printers.

Darker nights mean early chews.

Finally for this update we should make you aware of the change in the clocks.

Usually we get a chew at 8pm human time,  after we have been on night time garden patrol.  However,  recently we are asking for our chews a little bit too early, at around 7.30pm human time.

So either our internal clocks are a little out or something else is going on.  Can anyone explain?

That is all for now

Buster and Charlie.

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Hot weather and summer produce …

Gosh it has been hot for the last few days.  So hot we have been staying outside to try and keep cool as the house has been unbearable.  Even the tiled kitchen floor didn’t cool us down.

Mum purchased earlier this year an indoor –  outdoor room for the garden.  This has allowed us to keep cool in what breeze there has been away from the harsh sun outside.

It is a great gadget and with the lights dad put up a few days ago allows mum and dad also to enjoy the outdoors into the late evening.

Today the temperatures have dropped to be a manageable 23 degrees and to celebrate dad is playing music by Dire Straits and other tracks from iTunes.

We can see that his help is going to be limited as the occasional air guitar is played and the pencil drumsticks are used.  It is going to be a long afternoon…

Let us hope he doesn’t start mixing song titles into our blog or we will have to carry out a Private Investigation and remind him who are the Local Hero’s.

A cool river dip

Last night we travelled to Dalston.  We went the long way around as it gave us a chance to cool off in the air conditioning.

First stop was the river where we both got some welcome relief from the heat in the cool water.

Here we met up with another friend who had an interesting twist on the searching for stones game we often play.

She ran into the water and popped her head under the water gathering up a stone from the river bottom and bringing it to the waters edge.  She then ran back into the water and got another and another.

Summer fruits

Mum has started the annual harvest.  First crop has been some of the many gooseberries from the allotment.

The red and green fruits have been topped and tailed and put in bags for the freezer.

We are not allowed them as mum thought they would be bad for us but dad tells us they are great in a crumble during the winter.

Mum thought she was working an a Chain Gang as she worked her way through hundreds of berries.

The many hanging baskets full of strawberry plants are dripping with fruit it being Wimbledon Tennis Season.

The hot sunshine has really ripened the fruit and mum has started going to the garden on a morning, picking some of the fruit which she then slices for her breakfast on top of some yoghurt.

You can not get fruit fresher than that and with no transport costs.

One harvest we have been able to try has been the Sugar Snap Peas mum was processing this week.

Again from the allotment, they were very crunchy and fantastic to throw around before we eventually ate them.

Again another big bag full went into the freezer after a few were lightly steamed for an evening meal.

Finally we just had to share a photograph of the water lilly flower in our pond.  It was lapping up the hot conditions during the daytime only to close in the cooler evenings.  it is quite clever for a plant.

Thats all for now as it is now not Too Hot for Dancing in the Street as gardeners start Singing in The Rain as the heavens open with a welcome Downpour….

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

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Time for a walk …

We are very confused this week as Mum and dad seem to be getting up in the dark and going to bed in the dark …. but we are still getting a walk and it is light.

After weeks of Dad waking up on a morning and the sunlight coming through the curtains he did something to his alarm clock at the weekend and now he wants to get up in the dark.  He tried to tell us it was something called British Summer Time but we know it as ‘DWT’ or daylight walking time.

The chew time clock changed by one hour at the weekend and this has thrown out all of our routines. Late night ‘chase me time’ is at tea time and go to bed time now seems so late.  

One advantage is that our afternoon walk now takes place in the light .  Today was no exception when we went to the park. 

It is a while since we have been, mainly due to mum doing things in her see through house in the garden.  This has involved loads of pots and soil that needs regular watering. She says she is growing seedlings but after a few weeks we can only see wet soil.

The bright yellow daffodils have taken full advantage of the recent warmer weather and are almost all displaying their bright sunny colour on the green bankings and roadsides around the city.  

They are a sure sign that the plants are waking up after the cold, dark winter months.

Spring bedding plants are also looking great in the formal gardens of Victoria Park. Red, white and yellow flowers look great in the many floral beds.  The plants are just our height so we can take a sniff of any scent given off.

All of the nearby tennis courts were busy today with loads of people, including little people, taking part in hitting a yellow ball over a net.

Sometimes we wish we could get in to play and chase the ball around.  I bet it would be great fun.

The grass has not regrown

We have mentioned on a few occasions the state of the grassed area near to where we dad parks the car when we come for a walk.

The areas where the pop concert and the bonfire display were held last year can still be clearly seen from some distance.

Lets hope that we have a good summer and the grass returns otherwise it will maybe need new grass seeds sprinkled on it.

The local newspaper is saying that a concert is not planned for this year on this site so this should help.

 

Tidy up

Take your rubbish home and do not leave it for us animals to get stuck in, caught on or killed by.  

Today we noticed that after some humans had enjoyed a bit of a party in the park they had left litter behind.

This picture was taken by the tennis blister dome.  Food wrappers and bottles had been discarded only 10m from a dustbin.

Litter, whilst it looks a mess, could kill or injure us if we tread on a broken bottle or get a bit of plastic stuck in our throats.  

So please tidy up.  

We enjoy the park as much as you do so, as we pick up our waste, so should you.  Bins are provided for all of us.

April Fools Day

With the first day of April comes the tradition of playing a practical joke on someone.  Let us know if you were caught out via the comments box below.

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Thick snow up to our tummies…

Big excitement this morning as we ventured into the garden for our morning constitutional as all our sniffs had disappeared under a blanket of white stuff.

Charlie chased the floaty flakes trying to grab them on his tongue whilst I tried to talk to it with a few well directed woofs.

The flakes made no sound as they came to earth in the garden, unlike the yellow and black floaty things in the summer that buzz.

As the aliens invaded our garden, they seemed to gather together and form a cold wet barrier on the ground hiding all our sniffs.

The leaves on the trees got covered, the fence and even mums greenhouse, all white.  

Mum called the stuff snow and it was great fun to play in.

Our paws got cold and it stuck to our legs.

When we came inside we left soggy footprints and the snow vanished leaving something like we find in our water bowl.

The snow was so deep in places around the garden that it reached our tummies and it seemed like our legs just vanished.

As we moved around the garden we left paw prints in the snow. This was great fun as we could create paths and see where we had been. 

Charlie noticed that if he snuffled in the snow and had a good sniff , his nose reappeared all white with snow.

 He played a game trying to see how much he could balance on the end of his nose before it melted.

Here are a few other friends that have been out in the snow today.

Simba at PopDogBlog enjoying the snow recently
Snow Dogs in south-east England

and spare a thought for the rescue dogs who go out onto the fells in all weathers.

Thats all for now.  Here is a gallery of the day

Buster and Charlie

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