Enjoying the river, amongst other things

Now it’s cooled down a little, it’s been far more enjoyable getting out and about.

Wood pigeon chicks are rarely seen until they have fully fledged, so it’s lovely getting to see so many in the trees this year.

I’m struggling to identify this beautiful day flying moth, my closest guess is that it’s some type of lutestring. Any ideas?

 Lots of these have been enjoyed.

While cycling recently, I noticed several pheasant chicks running around. Many were white so I suspect they’ve escaped from the coups they are reared in by local landowners. I do hope they can feed themselves and manage to survive. It appalls me to think they are only bred to be shot. How anyone can enjoy this baffles me. Shooters are often at it outside the rescue; it’s truly awful hearing those gunshots while waiting for the first casualties to arrive. They get to shoot them for pleasure and we get to treat them at great expense and observe their suffering.  

It’s been perfect weather for cycling, so hubs and I have cycled to the River Alt most evenings. This area is a little paradise, teeming with wildlife.

It’s just so peaceful. How we enjoy observing the many butterflies and birds, listening to birdsong, while the swifts and house martins dart around us like bats.

These sheep always come over, hoping for hay. They don’t seem interested in the long grass we throw over.

We time our bike rides to coincide with the arrival of a pair of swans. Each day they glide into sight at exactly five thirty.

Hubs and I take a chilled bottle of cider along on our bike rides and settle down to share it on the bridge each evening. Recently we were discussing the possibility of Buddy having been stung by a wasp, and hubs revealed he’d never been stung by a bee or a wasp so wondered if he could be allergic too.

Yesterday, hubs took a swig of the cider and gagged! He had a wasp in his mouth which had stung his inner lip. He pulled it out, sting and all, then sat there looking horrified, all the while waiting to burst into hives. Thankfully, apart from a swollen, numb lip, all was well. Fancy being bitten inside the mouth. How horrible!

Introducing Helena.

This gal is blind, and has been running around her crate in the rescue during the day, so I’ve been asked to assess her for a few months in a rabbit hutch to see if she’s a suitable candidate for a walled garden. Initially she ran around in the daylight, so I stopped leaving dry food out all day and just fed her each evening.

As soon as I stopped putting food out in the daytime, Helena adjusted and took to her bed each day. What wonderful news. I’ll keep her for a few months, then she can move to pastures new where someone else will maintain a similar routine.

It’s good to know she will now get to enjoy more freedom.

And Finally….

Boys will be boys I suppose…

what is it about footballs?

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH!

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42 Comments

  1. It really is such a sweet peaceful spot. It’s not often to get a little oasis to yourself! Oh….those boys! Thanks Anne.xxx

  2. Those views. THOSE VIEWS of the River Alt! Just so lovely. As is your unidentified moth. I love its dusty grey with a touch of blue.

    Grin. Those are fantastic shots of John entertaining the dogs 😉

  3. Oh, Helena is lovely… being blind isn’t easy for these poor animals. Into Nature, they easily would be preyed or die from accidents.
    Is such tenderness to have people like you to take care of them.
    Hugs and love, dearest Dina
    :-)c

    • Being blind isn’t easy, but I have to say I’m amazed how well that little hog is doing. Animals are so resilient, they get on with it and survive, so admirable! She does need a sheltered environment though, and there are many prepared to provide that. Thanks Claudine, love and hugs always. xxx

  4. Love the pictures!!!
    Thanks for sharing 🙂

  5. Beautiful!! What a great place to spend the day. I’d never make it back to the house to get anything done!

  6. I love your little river with its grassy shores, ducks and swans.

  7. It baffles me too how anyone can be so unfeeling and think it is an enjoyable sport. Reading about your cycling adventures make me feel like having some myself. I enjoyed reading your posts very much. Always have lots of fun and nteresting pictures and stories. I can’t imagine how fearful and painful it would be to be stung by a wasp inside the mouth! That’s horrible indeed!

    • It is bewildering how some people find pleasure is such barbaric activities. I do you get a little free time to cycle, although I can imagine it may be difficult in your climate! Yes…poor hubs eh! Thanks Jade.xxx

  8. Beautiful photographs and yes…isn’t the cooler weather wonderful. Sleeping is a dream (literally) after all that heat.
    Yes, boys will be boys….give them a ball and they are happy.
    As for shooters, I would like to shoot the lot of them:)

    Have a wonderful weekend. Janet xxxx

    • Thanks Janet. Oh….I too am loving it a little cooler, I’m really looking forward to Autumn now, my favourite season.You and me both re the shooters. What a waste of a life. xxx

  9. They shoot?!
    Oh, my. Big outch. I got stung by a bee once and that hurt already!
    Poor blind fella, luckily Helena is taken care of so well!
    Love the last pics (well as long as I´m not invovled ;-)…)

    • Hi Iris, welcome to the blog. Oh yes, lots of hunters in these parts. Ahhh yes…..dogs aren’t your thing!!! Mine are pretty harmless.xxx

  10. It souds as if you are enjoying your summer days. Biking is the best. I agree about hunting and am baffled what pleasure people get from killing animals. For the first time in years I keep seeing hares around this year so hopefully their numbers are increasing since the ban on barbaric hare coursing.
    Another lovely hedgehog. I wish we still had them here. Someone told me that badgers eat them, is that true? It would explain why we never seet them here.

    • I’m with you on the biking! Blood sports are horrendous, I simply can’t understand how anyone gets pleasure from killing…..how wonderful to hear you have hares, that has to be a result of the ban. I hear fox hunters are after badgers now and are blocking sets…..sighs….it never seems to end!
      Oh yes…..I left a comment a while ago on your blog about badgers, it suddenly struck me why you had no hogs in such a large wildlife friendly garden. The hedgehog only has one predator which is the badger, they use their strong claws to uncurl them. xxx

  11. I’m like you and can’t understand those who maim, injure of kill for pleasure. Unlike you I don’t see an explosion of wood pigeon chicks to be a good thing.

    As for the wasp sting, that could have been far worse although bad enough. I guess eating and drinking was painful for a while

    • Well said Sue! Hahahaha….sorry about the woody chicks, at least your allotment is miles away! Yeah, hubs struggled for a while there. xxx

  12. Dear Dina, I believe that the most difficult mammal to get to know well, or to live with in peace is man. And though loving our neighbor is considered one of the most important rules of both Judaism and Christianity, we have been terrible failures at that. It’s heartbreaking to watch a cat playing with a living creature that he has caught, and we poor humans, try to stop it if it happens in front of us. But we can’t change the nature of other species, no matter how we try. Unfortunately, we can’t change the terrible things that are a part of our own nature either. I share your horror of killing for sport and know no consolation.

    • How I agree with you, man is the hardest animal to get along with and understand! Each one of us seems to have a different level of conscience….some none at all. I often wonder why this is, is it environmental, genetic or maybe just that some have very young souls.
      Horror is the right word when it comes to blood sports. Thanks Shimon.xxx

  13. It’s truly amazing that the swans appear with such precision – I think there is still such a lot we don’t understand about nature. I love the look of your evening outing, it reminds me of the nature haven not far from my parents’ house – but what a shame about the wasp sting and how lucky that Mike isn’t allergic after all. A close shave, there. Your new hedgie is adorable! Won’t you become very attached to her over the next months? Also, the last three pics are fab, really made me smile!
    PS. I’d be very happy if all guns and gunsports were banned.

    • I agree with you about how little we know of nature or the natural world, animals are far more complex than we think they are. I’m glad hubs isn’t allergic, but what an awful way to find out! I do get attached to the creatures I care for but love seeing them get as much freedom as they possibly can, Good to have you smiling…totally agree re blood sports. Thanks Caro. xxx

  14. Good post and pictures. Your moth looks like a Silver Y.
    I hope that Helena does okay and you find a suitable new home for her.
    My sympathies on the wasp sting, they’re especially painful in the mouth. xx

    • Oh….good to have that moth identified, thanks Flighty, I haven’t seen one of those around before, such a beauty! xxx

  15. What a lovely place to sit and enjoy your surroundings, apart from the wasps that is. What a place for your hubby to have his first wasp sting, I’m glad he didn’t break out in hives. I can’t understand how anyone can enjoy blood sports either, it turns my stomach. These people can’t see the beauty in life, they’re missing out. Welcome to Helena, she looks very healthy, no reason for her not to have a happy life if there’s someone to care for her.

    • Hanging around the river is lovely, it’s utterly deserted too, so just us and the wildlife. Good for dog walking also. It’s good to know hubs isn’t allergic, what a way to find out though!!! I’m with you on blood sports turning the stomach…..baffling isn’t it? Thanks Jo.xxx

  16. That’s some beautiful countryside you’re touring. It’s so interesting that the swans come in at the same time very day. Of course, my Dixie Rose always wanted her evening treat at exactly 10 p.m. If she was asleep when the time came, she’d rouse herself, and come over to beg.

    Tell hubs he has my sympathy. I was working on a boat down the coast a few years back, and refreshing myself with a Coke. What I didn’t realize until I took a drink was that a bee had flown into it, attracted by the sugar. Lucky for me I didn’t swallow it! It did sting me on my lower lip, and I certainly was attractive for a while. That was the end of drinking from cans — now, I always use a bottle where I can replace the lid, and I always carry benadryl. Always.

    • What is it with animals and their routines??? I was just saying how so many people must be stung in the mouth by wasps….maybe it’s fairly common as the wasps gravitate to the drinks. It certainly is awful though, you have my sympathy!!Thanks Linda.xxx

  17. veggiemummy

    What a lovely post. I can’t understand blood ‘sports’ either. Poor Hubs getting stung in the mouth – has it put him off his evening cider?! My nephew suffered the same thing when he bit on a piece of toast and jam; luckily he wasn’t allergic either. Helena is adorable – I hope she finds a loving family with a nice walled garden soon. Love the photos of the boys playing football. xx

    • Thanks Veggiemummy. It’s baffling why people want to kill for pleasure….some strange folk out there. Hubs now always replaces the bottle cap on the cider….once bitten and all that!!! Your poor nephew, there must be lots of people getting stung on the mouth, who knew though? xxx

  18. Lovely summer post & great to see your countryside & animals grazing peacefully… We are in drought here & the poor animals look very sad despite being hand fed with hay.
    I agree with you about shooting animals and birds, you could hardly call that a sport. Bad luck your poor hubs getting stung by a wasp. Some wasps recently settled and made a nest near our front door, we had to move it… Just too close to us.
    Helena looks very cute and so glad she worked out that night time is her time.
    Really enjoyed your post & the photos of the river are lovely.

    • Your drought sounds awful, the weather has been downright extreme worldwide this year. I do pity the animals, poor things, so many don’t have any shelter.
      Gosh….how brave of you moving a wasps nest, I wouldn’t have the nerve!!! Thanks Gerrie.xxx

  19. lowcarbdiabeticJan

    Lovely to see all of your photographs, especially the pair of swans … amazing that they glide into sight at exactly five thirty each day!

    How horrible to read about the wasp sting! We seem to have quite a few wasps around at the moment … I really don’t like them!

    Love the football photo’s, they made me smile.
    Keep well and keep enjoying the cooler weather.

    All the best Jan

    • Thanks Jan, there is something about swans isn’t there? Such beautiful creatures, I am enjoying their routine, it’s good always being able to see them. This is the time of the year when wasps become a problem, the queens have gone and they no longer have a purpose, they’ll all die over the next few weeks. They do hone in on fruit or sugary drinks! xxx

  20. Great Post and beautifully detailed pics.

    Who won the football, the biped, or, the quadrupeds?

    Helena is an interesting character and seems to be a fast learner.

    ‘Your’ sheep are nicely normal coloured, they wear their own coats, naturally coloured. Not like those woolly pretend Belisha beacons I saw at the agricultural show.

    xxx

    • Thanks Menhir. The quadrupeds won, they always do!
      Helena has outdone herself, she’s a fighter all right. I’ve updated on her. It is good seeing sheep just being sheep!xxx

  21. Yes temperatures have returned to something like normal.

    I hear gunshot regularly in the fields around here. I loathe it. My imagination always runs away with me. I had pheasant in the garden a few years back. The were feeding on the pheasant bush (hence the name)

    Wasp sting, gosh that scared me. I am allergic to wasp stings, so one in the mouth is my worst nightmare.

    Lovely little hedgehog. I am feeding them in the garden at the moment.
    Sadly one has been run over. I hat it when that happens.

    Enjoy the lower temperatures.
    BTW beautiful river shots.

    • I know exactly what you mean about hearing gunshot, it makes me cringe too, how it ruins a lovely day! We had a pheasant visit once, it hung around for months then vanished. I’ve only ever seen the one here.
      Being allergic to wasps is a problem at this time of the year when they are so restless with nothing to do, I can’t imagine being stung in the mouth either….poor hubs!
      Wonderful to know you have and are feeding the hogs, they sure need all the help they can get. Thanks Cheryl.xxx

  22. Such a lovely, fun post, Dina!

    Your evening adventures cycling and cidering sound wonderful! The swans are the cherry on top, I’d say. But what a horrible adventure for your dear one, getting stung like that. So glad it didn’t prove more dangerous. But ouch.

    Helena certainly is a sweetheart! How smart of you to get her on a decent schedule. I hope she’ll find the loving home she deserves and will be accustomed to after her time with you.

    I’m with you on shooting living things of any kind. No need for it. Not a sport since sides are scarcely evenly matched. Horrid, and how sad that the rescue has to deal with the sports’ victims.

    And yes, boys and their balls: still, what wonderful shots you captured! Pure joy!

    Sending love from Full Moon Cottage. xxoo

    • Hi Kitty, the river is lovely, we seem to be addicted to it at the moment, lovely being able to cycle there too. Hubs certainly has it in for wasps now, every time he sees one he’s hopping about and mumbling under his breath!
      Helena has done brilliantly, I’ve just posted an update on her.
      Isn’t it horrible hearing gunshots? I simply can’t fathom these types out, you’d think there was enough suffering in the world without adding to it, for pleasure! Thanks Kitty, lots of you right back at you all.xxx

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