More woodland dog walks

Took Tilly to one of the UK's ancient woodlands today, Wentwood Forest. It's not a new experience for us, but we don't walk there that often. Wentwood is an excellent place for dogs to go ramble though.

There are footpaths, bridleways and off-road trails to wander along and of course lots of things to sniff! Didn't see any deer today, but Tilly did chase off after a fox so the walk certainly wasn't wasted!

Woodland Walks

Autumn is a wonderful time for woodland walks if, like me, you enjoy the browns, golds and reds of this time of year.

I never tire of walking between the trees on carpets of leaves...

Especially when there are so many wonderful colours to enjoy.

Of course Tilly is always happy to visit our local wood because there is always something new to explore.

Left to her own devices she'll lead you this way and that sniffing for signs of rodents and foxes.

Just occasionally a bird call will stop her in her tracks...

Autumn is also the peak time for collecting fungi. Always be sure you know what you're picking though.

These wood blewits are safe to eat even if they have gone a little past their best.

Newport on a damp, grey Monday morning

Spent a few hours trudging around the old home town yesterday, from necessity not from choice. Had a camera with me so took a few images of the greyness.

The Riverfront, Newport City Footbridge, University City Campus - mid-tide

Near the city centre, the residential east bank of the River Usk overlooks (near to far) the University of South Wales, Newport City Campus, Newport's City Footbridge, office block and Riverside Arts Centre.

Newport City Footbridge

A welcome addition for pedestrians and cyclists, the City Footbridge offers convenient access to both banks of the river.

Transporter Bridge - near high tide

Newport's famous Transported Bridge, designed by the French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin to provide a river crossing and still allow high masted ships access to the town's riverside wharves was built and opened in 1906.

The towers stand 241 feet 5 inches tall (73.6 metres) and the span is 644 feet 9 inches (196.56 metres). The distance between the centres of the anchorage caissons is 1,545 feet 5 inches (471.06 metres). Power to propel the transporter platform or gondola is provided by two 35 hp (26.1 kW) electric motors, which in turn drive a large winch, situated in an elevated winding house at the eastern end of the bridge. This winch is sufficient to drive the gondola through its 196.56 metre total travel at a speed of 3 metres per second.

This is the oldest and largest of the three historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain, and also the largest of eight such bridges which remain worldwide.

Looking back into the city from the SDR - near high tide

The Southern Distributor Road bridge offers a good vantage point to look back along the tidal River Usk towards the centre of the city, the view is very different at low tide.

Typical British Summer!

It's been horribly wet and windy here the last 24 hours or so and Tilly is less than impressed... she really does hate the wind and rain... consequently we haven't been out walking, or even outdoors other than for her to perform the necessary tasks. So given the weather I've been denied the opportunity to get outside and further explore the features of my new toy, but I have played around a little with it indoors. It's dry now though and the sun has broken through the clouds so we're off out and I hope to capture something interesting before the rain reappears. Before we leave and in true Blue Peter style, here's a little something I prepared earlier....

Arty Grass

Dog Roses

I thought it was appropriate to grab a few images of one of my favourite wild flowers while out walking the dog...

Dog Rose - rosa canina

 I've always found the humble Dog Rose attractive, I think because of their simple beauty.

Whether white or pink these little flowers always bring me pleasure and that's especially true of the 'in bud' form.

The stems can hide some vicious thorns, but the flowers pose no danger to the myriad of insects that visit on a daily basis.

High Chroma Levels

Tilly and I became the temporary focal point for a group of cattle while we were out walking this morning and since the cattle took such interest in us I decided to take a little interest in them too...

Who Will Watch the Watchers?

I only had my 'phone with me so my images are simple grabs from the handset's built-in camera. What I hadn't realised was I had inadvertently switched on the High Chroma function, which is something I haven't actually played with so the results are a little startling. The full frame shot is probably quite acceptable, although the green of the grass is a bit dense and the 'red' tinge to the beef's coat is a bit hard. However the zoomed group shot (below) I think is completely over the top and something I wouldn't be happy with.

So here's the thing... having realised my mistake I have been looking for a way to adjust the 'phone's settings to 'turn down' the chrominance and guess what? I can't find one!

More snowdrops

Spotted these on my morning walk with Tilly today. They're so lovely, I just couldn't resist...

Galanthus nivalis - better known as 'Snowdrops'

A walk in the woods

Took Tilly for a romp in the woods this morning, which she thoroughly enjoyed. No surprises there, she always seems to have fun running in and out among the trees.

I enjoyed it up there today too, despite it being very wet and muddy after all the rain. At least it was dry this morning and there was even some watery sunshine. Fortunately you can avoid the worst of the mud if you venture off the trails and pathways and walk between the trees.

Walking 'off-track' between the trees

For me the only downside of being 'off track' means you are walking on and damaging small plants, in my local wood this means mosses and ferns.

Mossy Growth

I'm sure this kind of moss has a proper name, but I've no idea what that might be. What I do know is I really like delicate little fronds and try not to crush too many plants while I'm walking.

All the fresh green growth reminds me too that Spring is on its way and it will only be a few more weeks before the ground is covered in wood anemone, celandine and  the first of the year's orchids. 😃

The Selfie Thing

I'm not much given to being photographed, I much prefer to be behind the camera than in front of the lens. As a consequence I've avoided taking 'Selfies'... until today that is when I grabbed a couple on my morning walk with Tilly.

I read recently that over 24 billion selfies had been uploaded by Google in 2015. 24 billion? Eh? What the heck's the matter with people? Why do they feel the need to publicly display themselves? It's not something I understand. Perhaps that's because I'm not one of those out-going, self-promoting, photogenic types?

Well anyway I posted a very rare selfie on my blog earlier today and thought I'd treat you lucky people to another... you'd better look quick though, before I destroy the evidence!

See? Told you I wasn't photogenic!

Anyone would think it was cold!

Feeling just a little over-dressed on my morning walk with Tilly...

Anyone would think it was cold!

Turned out to be much warmer than I'd anticipated this morning. Of course the beautiful mid-morning sunshine helped a lot. 😎

Life Behind Bars

I'm forever surprised by the things I spot when I'm out walking Tilly, like this child's doll who had obviously been extremely naughty for instance:

Incarceration?

Me and my shadow

Walking Tilly and found it hard to resist capturing this image...

Mez follow ewe everwhere Grand Dad!

I'm not actually convinced Tilly would follow me everywhere if I didn't have pieces of doggy sausage in my pocket!

The grass really is always greener it seems

Yesterday I walked here...

Newport Beach

...and today I didn't. :(

We'd parked at Parrog and walked some of the coastal path, thoroughly enjoyed it too.

By contrast, this morning we walked in Canaston Wood before driving back to Monmouthshire and this afternoon we walked in the fields surrounding our home. Also enjoyable, but not a patch on the coastal scenery.

1600 miles = Great Barrier Reef

Since I started wearing my free Fitbit Flex fitness band back in July last year it seems I've clocked up something over 1600 miles just walking... that's the same as walking the Great Barrier Reef from end to end apparently, not that you can actually do that of course... wouldn't mind swimming along some of it though.

Anyway to commemorate my 1600 miles Fitbit have awarded me this badge:

Great Barrier Reef badge

Am I supposed to be the fish d'you think?

A pig in a poke?

Tilly had an encounter she really wasn't too sure about earlier and it had to do with one of her favourite food groups... sausages! Oh yes dear reader we really do love a nice sausage, especially those of the pork variety. So anyway we were walking along enjoying some all too rare sunshine when we came across this lady sunbathing in her wallow.

Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

At first sight Tilly was somewhat less than impressed, but the very mention of Old Spot sausages soon gained her attention! There was a wire fence between us and the pig, which Tilly poked her nose though to get a better sniff of this slumbering lady. I suggested to her she may want to move back, but no... Tilly had a little growl at which point Pepper Pig woke up and did a little 'growling' of her own.

I'm awake, but you can't see my piggy-eyes

The snuffly growl followed by a couple of loud grunts soon had Tilly running for cover... well you can't really blame her, Pepper Pig was at least 50 times Tilly's size. I have to say if I'd had a length of rope I might have been tempted to take Old Spotty for walkies... straight into my backyard where I'd unleash my Great Uncle Sid's pig-sticker... after all, I like pork sausages too!

Doing the doggy-paddle

The sun shone for a while yesterday so Tilly took me for a walk down one of her favourite farm tracks... this track runs beside two reens and gives access to farm land between Magor and Redwick and Tilly usually loves it because there is always plenty to sniff and small rodents to chase.

Usually a favourite walk

Poor Tilly didn't so much walk as 'doggy-paddle' along the mile long track. She still managed to enjoy herself, but the expression on her little face when she realised the track was water covered was so sad...

It's going to take a while to dry out!

And of course the sunshine didn't exactly last long although we did manage to get home again before the rain started. Still it's dry again right now so we'll be going out for another 'paddle' shortly!

Think we'll give this track a miss today

Walking through the 'Rain Window'

It stopped raining this morning, the clouds parted and for a brief period the sun shone so I donned my boots and hit the roads for a six mile pre-lunch walk. Sadly the sunshine didn't last too long and there were a couple of showers, but for most of my walk it remained dry.

I considered branching out and crossing the fields though the deep mud and amount of water laying on the grass convinced me to stick to the tarmac. Even the roads were pretty wet in places and I ended up having a paddle on a couple of occasions. The worst flood I had to negotiate was through the hamlet of St. Brides on my route back toward Magor.

Flood Water at St Brides

No problem getting through this, especially if you happen to be driving a 4 x 4 or a truck. You need to be a little careful walking though if you don't want the water overflowing into your boots.

Bubbling Water

We've had so much rain the drains and sewers simply can't cope with the extra water flow... some of the excess water bubbles up through the manholes adding to the rainfall already laying on the roads.

Leaky Manholes

I wonder if the ducks approve of the extra thoroughfares? None around to ask today.

This is a Road not a Canal!

Italy Badge Earned

I started wearing a Fitbit Flex that I got free back in June and religiously recording my activities from June 22nd. I was actually quite surprised to find how far I walked each week, mostly with Tilly of course although I do walk for both exercise and pleasure. Anyway I had a bit of a shock yesterday when Fitbit awarded me the Italy Badge for having walked 736 miles... that's the whole length of Italy apparently.

Italy Badge - 736 miles walked

Go me, eh? Of course since Fitbit awarded me this badge I must've walked at least another 15 miles, so right now I'm either high up in the Alps or deep under the Mediterranean Sea! lol

Come out come out whatever you are

Walking with Tilly across one of the local fields yesterday when something small and furry scampered through the grass and disappeared down a hole. No idea whether it was a mouse or a vole and I don't think Tilly really cared, she just wanted to stick her nose into the orifice and snuffle lol

Come out! I know you're in there...

Early morning exercise

I found sleep hard to come by on Saturday night so I finally gave up and got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and went for a walk.

The dark doesn't trouble me, but I wouldn't recommend everyone to get up and go out while it is still dark, which it very much is at that time of day here. Still the world is a quiet place in this neck of the woods and once outside the bounds of the village I enjoyed the solitude and night noises of the small animals going about their daily lives.

Night Sky

The moon peeking through the broken cloud gave a hint of the promise of the day to come. I found it surprisingly warm as I walked and about an hour into my route I began to wish I hadn't work two layers under my jacket.

One or two lights shone from farm house windows as I strode on and by 6:30 a.m. the odd motorist had appeared on the road meaning I'd have to take a little more care in the half-light since the country lane I was walking on is barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other and motorists tend to drive on the crown of the road. The early morning travellers do provide some interesting visuals though.

Streamed Head & Tail lights

All in all I enjoyed my early morning exercise and with almost nine miles under my belt by the time I arrived home I was certainly ready for a hearty breakfast!