Walking the Dog

The last two evenings, I've walked Polly for much further than I normally walk her. I am doing this for two reasons. 1. She needs the exercise. 2. I need the exercise.

We've gone two miles on the other side of the village. This makes it a walk that is about five miles in total. I don't know how long I can keep this up or how long the weather will hold. The weather has been fairly decent this past week.

There are a few blackberries ripe enough to pick in the hedges along the road, but the berries aren't very sweet this year. In our family, when things are a bit sour, we call them "blinky". The berries are a bit blinky this year.

The sun has been setting while Polly and I are on the way back to the house. We watch the bats come out and hear the day birds saying good night. I always keep an eye out for the big white barn owl that has been hanging around our place this summer. He can be seen perched on top of the house or in the big beech trees nearby. I love to watch him hunt in the fields next to the house.

There are a lot of owls around here, not just barn owls. We have lots of tawny owls and a smattering of short eared owls.