Wednesday 30 October 2013

29th October - An Autumn Walk, An Impromptu Trip to the Vets and An Evening Sitting Starstruck!

Yesterday started well, had a scary blip in the middle and ended on a superb note.

My Auntie had come to stay because it was half term for her, and we headed out for a walk, to enjoy the bright and sunny autumnal weather. We drove to Victory wood, which is one of our favourite dog walking places now. Not only is there plenty of space for Bracken to have a good run around - there are also fabulous views, stretching miles.



We made our way swiftly past the sheep, with Bracken safely on the lead (being a collie cross and not wanting him to try herding sheep for the first time) and made our way to the entrance of Ellenden wood. It had a doggy gate too, to save our pup trying to jump the style and inevitably hurting himself. There were a few trees down, illustrating the effects of, the ever so hyped up, St Jude's Storm. The wood has a lovely little stream running through it, which alongside the orange, ochre and yellow fallen leaves made for a wonderful woodland scene.


The blue sky peeping through the green leaves reminded us of the glorious weather!




We hopped over the stream and tried to make our way in the direction of where we thought the other entrance was... we weren't lost - just exploring!

There were a few fungi to be seen. Whilst admiring - Bracken thought it would make a tasty snack and ran off with a small chunk of one... we hoped and hoped he would spit it out - or it would be a harmless one!

Possibly an old dry specimen of Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystina)

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

We found a well trodden path through lovely beech tree woodland.


What seemed like an orange spiders web inside this hollow



We eventually found the bridleway which led us back to a point we recognised. We made our way up to the highest point of the walk and down the other side. Glancing back, it seemed like we hadn't walked that far, but after 2 hours of navigating through woodland with no paths we certainly felt like we'd walked miles.



We arrived back at the car - all bundled in and looked forward to a nice cup of coffee and some lunch.

Lunch was put on hold. Bracken appeared to be in some discomfort when we got home. He was pawing at his ears and face, and trying with all his might to scratch an invisible itch. After attempting to see what was causing the problem his muzzle and eyes started swelling. We immediately called the vets and they urged us to get him to them straight away. What had been a lovely day so far, quickly turned into a nightmare. Bracken dislikes the vets, but it was necessary. The vet thought he had probably been stung or bitten by something, rather than ingested a nasty, as that would have resulted in vomiting. We were relieved that his earlier possible fungi eating wasn't the cause. He was prescribed steroids for a couple of days and human piriton - obviously in the correct dose. You should never give pets human tablets unless a vet has prescribed them.

Anyway we got him home and the puffiness quickly went down and he had a snooze for the rest of the afternoon.

On a different and more exciting note... in the evening we took ourselves down to one of the schools in Canterbury, where the local rspb group were hosting a talk by the One and only Mike Dilger!

We were early (for once) and had a browse of the small photographic exhibition and other bits on show. Mum and I then found ourselves seats in the front row because mum had forgotten her glasses! Mike got a little held up due to traffic, but he greeted us with a cheery wave when he arrived.

In the first half he talked about how he got into nature, wildlife and consequently his path to TV fame. After the break he read some extracts from his new book 'My Garden and Other Animals' and answered any questions people had. He was enthusiastic, very funny and a joy to listen to! During the break we got a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Mum persuaded me to go and get a copy of his book  and have a chat. Now I'm not one to get excited about celebrities of the film and television world, but when it comes to wildlife TV presenters, it's another story all together! Not that I have ever spoken to a wildlife TV presenter before. Even Mike talked about being starstruck when sat next to David Attenborough - but then who wouldn't be! Anyway I chatted to him for a few minutes and I told him I save moths from the pub kitchen (relates to the title of one of the chapters of his book) and that I volunteer etc and he signed a lovely message in my book :)

I also gave Mike my blog address just in case he got time to look at it, so HI! if you are reading this Mike!!

I have started reading Mike's book and am already hooked. After 1 chapter I would already recommend it! Very down to earth and humorous!

Right I have gone on for long enough. Hope all my blogging friends are well and you enjoyed my post!!

20 comments:

  1. What a beautiful woodsy stroll !
    Glad Bracken is going to be fine.

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    1. It was indeed Willow! I love going exploring! Bracken is certainly back to his mischievous ways!

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  2. A great post as always, the countryside around your home looks so pretty and you have captured the woodland scenes perfectly, especially the Beech woodland. I think you are right about the Amethyst Deceiver, though as always my fungi ID skills are not to be relied upon !

    It must have been wonderful meeting Mr. Dilger and it seems a good evening was enjoyed by one and all :-)

    PS. I hope Bracken has continued to mend after his mysterious bite &/or sting.

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    1. Thanks David, we are lucky to live in an area where we are close to the beach, grassland, woodland and other habitats! Glad you agree with the fungi ID :) Bracken is much better thank you!

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  3. So glad Bracken is recovering - not a nice experience for you all :(

    A lovely post and I did enjoy reading about your woodland walk - such beautiful photos as always :)

    So glad you had such a lovely evening listening to Mr Dilger and got the chance to meet him :)

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    1. We are glad he is better too Caroline and thank you for your kind comment!

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  4. Lovely photos of your woodland walk. Sorry to hear that Bracken became suddenly ill like that - it must have been very worrying - hope he's OK now.
    Glad you had a good evening listening to Mr Dilger!

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    1. Pets cause so much worry, but all the wonderful and happy times make up for it! He is much better now - being a naughty munchkin again!

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  5. You have to be so careful in woodlands until about the end of November with dogs, so much to sting and nip, from ticks,hornets and wasps but also in some regions, really prevelent in the east, is canine seasonal illness which is lethargy,diarohea and general sickness which seems to be affecting dogs walking through woods it's worth googling if you happen to walk through woods a lot, I hope Bracken is none the worse and bounces back to it's normal hyperactive self
    It did seem the biggest storm this week came from the media storm it seemed to pass us by here in Northants, luckily.
    Great images too

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    1. That was the first thing that came to mind when we got home, but I was pretty sure that sickness and lethargy etc were the main symptoms. He has recovered now luckily! Glad you weren't affected by the storm :)

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    2. what a horrid shock and glad he is ok now. lovely photos as always lou. Glad you enjoyed listening to mr d. I foresee a wildlife man for you.... CT :-)

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    3. Thanks CT :) He is fully recovered!

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  6. Great photos of beautiful woodland. Good to hear Bracken recovered quickly. How lovely to get out to a wildlife talk.

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    1. Thanks Suzie! A lot of people turned up which was encouraging!

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  7. how fantastic meeting Mr Dilger. I've been trying to secure Johnny Kingdom for a talk but he's difficult to get hold of. No replies yet to my letters. Great post Lou Mary

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    1. It was a great evening! I hope you get a reply soon!

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  8. So glad Bracken is okay. Lovely set of photos and really interesting too....quite a feat!

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    1. Thanks Em! My cards arrived today, so thank you for getting them to me so quickly! I love them!

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  9. Beautifully written Lou Mary. I enjoyed the walk through those woods with the photographs along the way. By the way the fungi I was going to show you have gone all into soggy mess after all the rain we've had but I'll be keeping one birding eye open from now on.

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    1. Thank you Phil! Fungi definitely have a best before date! Nice fresh ones are more appealing for photographers!

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