A walk around Oakhill

Today it was Daisy’s turn to visit the dog groomer.  Michelle, our new groomer, is a very lovely lady, but I cannot pretend that the Newfies are very impressed with the idea of being clean, fragrant and fluffy!  Ben had his turn earlier this week so while Daisy was being tortured beautified(!) I took him on one of his new favourite walks around the village.  We went up the bridlepath past the old Dower House.  I’d love to see inside ….

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Such a pretty old house!  But Ben wasn’t in the slightest bit interested in local architecture – so he carried on ahead …

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Until the path became very narrow when he turned back to hurry me along!  You can see just how wet it’s been – and how cold it is now!  The churned up mud had frozen solid which made for slightly tricky walking …

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It would have been all to easy to trip and twist an ankle. But luckily we both negotiated the tricky part without coming to harm.  Then the path opens out into a large grassy meadow…blog05

Where usually the Newfies love to run and play.  I was glad Daisy wasn’t with us though as the ground was frozen solid – see the frost in the shade of the trees … and gambolling around in their usual fashion would not have been good for Ben’s slightly arthritic joints.  Instead, struck by how low the sun was in the sky, even though this was late morning, we stopped to take a photograph …

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See how long our shadows are!  Then we went through the gate at the end of the meadow and turned for home along the narrow lane.  The daffodils against the old stone wall are well advanced ….

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I don’t think it will be too long before they flower, though this cold snap will have set them back a bit.  By now Ben was beginning to tire – he is very fit for his age, but at nearly nine he is definitely a senior newfie who can’t walk as far as he used to.  Luckily we weren’t too far from home ….

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Just half a mile – and downhill all the way!  It was a lovely walk, though Ben has been fast asleep for the whole afternoon, just waking briefly to wave a welcoming paw towards Daisy upon her return from the groomers – oh and he did manage to stay awake long enough to eat his tea of course!

8 Comments

Thank you for the virtual walk. After being beautified I’m sure Daisy would not have wanted to get her fur all muddy. The Dower house does look lovely, is it open to the public?
Julie xxxxxxx

Reply

You are quite wrong I am afraid Julie. Daisy’s main post-grooming ambition is to make herself as dirty as possible again as quickly as possible, including rolling in various unmentionable substances if not spotted and stopped instantly! The Dower House is lovely, but no it’s a private dwelling. xx

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Such a beautiful walk. I love crisp, sunny winter days and such a pleasant change from all the rain we’ve had recently.

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Thanks so much for the lovely walk throughout your village! Oak Hill seems a very charming area…as does the old Dower House.
XX Linda

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Hi Helen,

Our two black Alsatian girls are just the same as Daisy – they’d much rather be smelling of ‘eau de fox’! Yuk! But, like you, we love them just the same.
Thanks for showing us your walk with Ben round your new home. Ben looks like a big, handsome black bear – more huggable though!

Love,
Diana.

Reply

He is definitely very huggable – in fact that is his favourite activity!! And our naughty girls are very lucky that we love them!! xx

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