A Walk along the Canal.

Making the most of the lovely weather and also the last day before half term school holidays start we decided to go for a canal walk from Ware to Hertford.  

The dogs came with us as they are always keen for a nice long walk.

The light was shimmering off the water.

Some swans were keeping out of the way in the heat of the day.

Dotted along the canal are various boats that people live in.

So lovely to see a blue sky.

The walk was nice and quiet generally, a few cyclists biked past on occasion.

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These swans had some cygnets. 

This house was well placed, although there was a lot of building work going on beside it, so not as peaceful as it may have at first appeared.

Feildes Lock.  Lovely lock-keepers cottage situated on the River Lee.

More canal boats.

Some relatively new 'town houses/flats' built alongside the river.

Not the best of photos, I had my Sigma Lens on my camera today and it is not so good at focusing close up, plus has a tendency of  'lens creep' which can be frustrating.  

We had our lunch in this lovely little Cafe outside in the courtyard.  

I wish they wouldn't bring their 'gadgets' with them though...it seems they are always looking at them!  If I had my way I would have thrown them all in the river.

I saw this Great Crested Grebe fishing in the river on the way back.

I believe this is a Cormorant.

The dappling of the light on the path was very pretty.

The swans close up.

She was telling me not to get too close!

Cute little things.

A very lovely day out after a slightly 'rocky' start to the day.  Plus a good 6 - 7 mile walk.

A New Boy in Town

There is a new boy in town... Little Jeremy has joined us at Takaro Cavies to keep Sylvester company.

He weighs 1 pound 4 ounces and I am guessing he is probably about 12 - 16 weeks old.

He was another 'rescue' pig and was on his own which seemed rather sad,  he seems to have settled in well with Sylvester.  

He is a very calm and friendly boy so hopefully he might add a calming influence to Sylvester who is still rather a 'wild thing' 

I have a feeling there might quite a lot of photos of this guinea pig!

My other two rescue boars have also settled down nicely.

Bailey is very affectionate and likes to have under his chin tickled.  

He is rather partial to dandelion leaves.

Felix - yes I think I have finally settled on a name for him, Scott just didn't seem to 'work'..  

He is a bit more cheeky and slightly more reserved than Bailey, but is getting used to me and will also let his chin be tickled.

As for Sylvester - he is a lot more resistant to my attentions...he always has been.

Farm Cottage - Bideford

We've just come back from a week in Devon...I won't say 'a lovely week' as the weather was pretty dire most of the time, although we did have a couple of nice days, with Friday being the best day and the one I enjoyed the most.

We stayed in a lovely farm cottage which was very private and yet close to amenities which was handy.

The photos of the cottage with the blue sky background were taken on the Thursday - one of the two nice afternoons we had!

It was pretty grey the afternoon we arrived - after what seemed to be a very long journey to get there. 

Inside - a nice bright and airy kitchen, although why they put the sink in the corner beats me, why not put it in front of the window so you get the lovely view?  Plus it was awkward, fiddly and nearly every time I washed the dishes I bumped my elbow on the wall that separated it from the space where the microwave was - not good for someone with chronic pain!  But apart from that niggle, it was lovely and clean and very well equipped.

Lovely cakes awaited our arrival, along with a small bottle of milk and a bottle of wine.

We enjoyed our meals together here.

The hallway (or front entrance)

Lounge

Lounge.

Nice bathroom.

The room I slept in.

The room the Sailor and his Fiancee slept in

The room for anyone that was in the 'dog house'. 

Fields surrounded the property and I enjoyed taking the dogs for a walk each day across them.

I can't wait until we too live in the countryside.

A close up of the rose at the front door.