Sticks and bones ...

Well this time last year my blog was titled "SAD times are over", about the lengthening out of the days and its relation to seasonal affective disorder (please keep up at the back, this is educational). Himself was only reminding me about this the other day as we played find a stick/ fetch a stick on our walk, and explaining that this was why I seemed to be much livelier than I had been a few weeks ago. I however put it down to the better class of stick one can find at this time of year. What with the hedge cutting/ field boundary maintenance that has been going on around the village I can get into the bottom of Hawthorn hedges to break out dead branches – himself thinks they must have a certain scent but I'll let you into a secret, they are easier to snap off than the living ones! Having risked my paws and eyes to get the stick out and present it to himself, he takes his glove off and tosses it away for me to fetch (the stick, not the glove, I did ask you to keep up!).

Anyway don't get him started on hedge cutting because he'll go and on and bore you about the effect on wild bird food sources at this time of year, ground compaction from heavy agricultural vehicles and so on. Me, I'm more concerned about the hawthorn fragments that spike my foot but its good to see him kneel down in the mud, take off his gloves and gently massage the paw that I limply hold out towards him. Who's the mug now?

So what about the "bones" of sticks and bones? I found a HUGE one in the field behind Village Farm the other day when I was playing chase with my pal Baxter. To be honest I don't think he knew what it was (his Mum told himself that he wasn't allowed them – perhaps some interesting incident to discover there?), but I knew what bones were about! It was about as heavy as even I could carry and must have come from something large like a bull. What it was doing in the middle of the field I have no idea, but it had clearly been there a long time as there were no tasty decaying bits on it. Himself kept his gloves on for some reason, but I will compliment him on his throwing skills as the bone went right into the middle of the huge bramble thicket by the concrete base of the old shippon at village farm, where as far as I'm concerned it can stay.Sometimes things just don't live up to expectations.

Anyway the next time I write to you we will be coming up to Easter, so before I go here is a picture of what I thought about having to share my car seat with the Christmas tree.

Madai, your rovering reporter

PS also next time I'll be able to tell you about our drains. We've been having some trouble and they are going to be fixed. At least that's what themselves are hoping. As for me I just go in the field, so what do I care!