dog walk

Spring - what spring? (A bit late!)

28 May 2018

The seasons can be a bit bonkers.

I am tippety tapping this in late May - here in Milton Keynes we are having a bit of a heat wave punctuated by dramatic thunder storms.

But I am having a little photo sort out and edit and remembered that back in April I saved a few photos under the title " Spring - what spring?"

And back then the cold and the wet seemed interminable - would it ever end?

Spring flowers did their best, but dog walks seemed to be a constant battle with the mud.

Even the monk at Bradwell Abbey was beyond saturated. I think he was beginning to get wet rot!

Mind you, my daffs were a joy. They flowered for weeks on end. They love it a bit chillsome.

And my tulips were showing signs of promise and delight (Oh - I do love a tulip!)

And as the days got longer we enjoyed some lovely dog walks. This little corner is at a local graveyard at Bradwell Village.

And then, down by the railway line - just look at that blossom. Hawthorn, I think.

A very short while later the tulips did their wonderful thing! Did you tell you how much I love a tulip?

That is a lavender behind. Looks a bit grey but I forgive it because the bees just love the flowers.

Spring seemed long and wet and grey. But now my tulips seem but a distant memory.

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Battleship grey Sunday

27 January 2018

Sometimes January can be so grey it feels as though you are in a battleship!

The penultimate weekend in January took grey to a completely different level. It rained or sleeted continuously all weekend. The sky was like a solid, unrelenting slab or concrete.

Walking the dog was not really particularly enjoyable. It is very rare that I feel that the dog walk is a chore but in all honesty, I cannot say I really relished the walk on either the Saturday or the Sunday.

It was sleeting while I took the picture below, but catkins are a cheerful reminder that no matter how oppressive the weather seems, spring is just around the corner.

And we cut back through the churchyard at Bradwell Village.

This was almost the same walk recorded here, when there was snow on the ground.

Here is the church with the plum tree (I am guessing at that, but I am not sure what else this fruit can be) on the left hand side.

The birds were feasting on these golden baubles.

But look at that same tree now - just a few weeks later!

We have had strong winds but I am amazed that the winds managed to uproot this tree.

The birds will miss it.

But someone enjoyed the walk (and the warm shower at the end of the walk - honestly she was so covered in mud it was as if we were bringing half on Milton Keynes inside).

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A wintery walk through Milton Keynes

13 December 2017

We woke on Sunday to a garden full of snow! Now looking back we haven't had snow like this for quite a few years.

The initial response was to go back to bed (which indeed I did, with a hot cup of coffee and my laptop to do a bit of writing and photo organising etc.)

But then we ventured out because dogs need walking whatever the weather (though I did wonder if Brandy would refuse to come. As far as I knew this was her first snow and she might have thought better of the idea.)

Brandy a little hesitant for a fraction of second but then she decided snow offered all sort of opportunities for hi jinks.

We met doggy friends out.

This is my regular morning dog walk. It takes on a completely different atmosphere when covered in snow.

This is a little river that runs right through the middle of Milton Keynes. It links a number of lakes. I have seen Kingfisher but never been able to photograph one. There are plenty of ducks, heron and small white heron and rumour has it there are otters.

Below is Bradwell Abbey - this was a medieval abbey that was never one of the great abbeys of England. It actually shut before the reformation when the crown seized much church land. More recently it was a farm and this was the farmhouse. The end you see in the photo below really is an old part of the abbey. The little chapel (out of shot of this photo) was used as the tool shed for years. Now its a listed monument because of the rare wall paintings on the wall. Not that I have ever seen them. They chapel is kept locked.

And here is the other side of the farmhouse.

The scaffolding on the end is a permanent fixture. I think the place needs a lot of work to make it useable again. It is a long time since it was a house. More recently it was used as offices though i suspect not very good ones.

Then onto the concrete cows. Oh I do love the concrete cows. These in Bancroft are not the originals. Instead they are replicas, but this does not mean they have lost any charm. After all, they are concrete too!

Some ingenious takes on the traditional snowman.

I think the one below is supposed to be a snow rabbit.

Then back through Bradwell Village. This is one of the original villages of MK. Bradwell was listed in the Domesday book and actually predates the neighbouring Abbey,which was founded in the 1100s.

There are some victorian cottages in the village as well as some older stone cottages.

Very picturesque.

Once, Bradwell even had a castle. Nothing grand, really. Just a mott and bailey, but nevertheless a castle. Consequently, there is not a lot to see now. Just a lump in the ground really.

But Bradwell has a lovely church.

And this tree was in the churchyard. I think it is a sort of plum. Whatever, the birds were having a feast. And it was like a tree bedecked with golden jewels.

Through the churchyard and you see these little houses, that are right against a wood. So much so that the one at the end feels as though it is in the wood.