Flop

Barney, giving his fluffy old paws a break during a walk up the hills, April 24th 2014.

10 years ago today.

Apparently, I also joined Tumblr 10 years ago this week!

Time flies.

A meander through the woods with Flynn... I always forget how magical the woods are in spring, when the wildflowers reappear & new leaves are growing on the trees. Amazingly, despite it being the weekend - & also not raining, we had the place to ourselves too, we didn't pass anyone else at all. Our only company were squirrels, songbirds, bees & butterflies. Bliss!

woods in springtime

A dull, grey day in mid-April of 2013, but Barney was having a wonderful time, out on the hill. He was a dog who was full of wild, joyful energy, he lived to run free & play... Nevertheless, whenever Barney noticed me sitting down on the grass for a rest, he'd merrily bound over to me & sit at my side, or on my lap, to keep me company. Dear dog.

Spring, in the apple orchards

A collie & a cloud, crossing paths...

Flynn was heading west, the cloud was heading east.

I love watching rain clouds sweep across the countryside - as long as they're not coming in our direction! This one missed us... but Flynn & I were already soggy, thanks to another cloud, which briskly passed right over us, a quarter of an hour before. Ah well. That's spring, I suppose!

It's still horrendously wet most days & disgustingly muddy everywhere but spring has sprung. We got out during a brief dry spell on Friday afternoon & took some pics. Suddenly the countryside is vibrantly green & wildflowers are showing all along the hedgerows & down in the fields. The last of wild daffodils, violets, wood anenomes, cowslips, forget me nots, celandines & even the bluebells are starting to make their appearance.

Oh & in non-spring related happenings, we also spotted this big old brown owl, carved out of an old tree! It watches over a country road leading into town... must make visiting drivers jump from time to time!

Flynn, stalking me through the woods...

It's horrendously MUDDY at the moment. Ick! Can't wait for dryer weather. Ha, although I do enjoy finding all the little tracks left behind by various passing creatures. Here we have some nice prints left behind by some local dinosaurs: ducks & pheasants. Seems they were heading opposite directions. I like how the webbed feet of the duck left such shallow marks, compared to the pointy toes of the pheasant. Also, Flynn left his own prints!

A peaceful moment with Flynn

Treasure!

I LOVE it when people create & leave little things like this, for others to find. Made my day when I came upon this wonderful painted pebble, while out with Flynn yesterday :) So cute!

6 year old Barney having a fabulous time racing around on the lower slopes of the Malvern Hills, after a rare late snowfall at the end of March 2013.

Visit to Deer Park with Flynn, March 20th '24. The trees there still look wintery but it feels like spring. A warm breeze in the air, all the little song birds were singing away in the hedgerows, lambs out & about, soft green grass growing & flowers beginning to appear as well.

Flynn got very excited about the prospect of going to a stream & the pond, which you can see in the background of the pic below. In his hurry to go have a paddle, he ran far ahead. A bit too far! However, despite the distance between us & the temptation of nearby water to play in, when I called Flynn's name, he immediately stopped & when asked to sit, he sat nicely & then recalled happily.

Spring flowers, plus a sneaky collie in the background... lying in wait.

Flynn inspects the spring flowers, planted just outside the main entrance to our town's old church.

Pic below is from a few years ago but look at that doorway, it's so pretty:

hi! is barney the dog from the Dear Polly: I'm the loneliest person in the world! article? In that article, there's a picture of a dog that looks like barney atop a hill, and the countryside looks so similar to a picture that barney was in <3 i was convinced i'd never find the dog

Hi!

From a quick search, I think this must be the photo from the article you mentioned? -

I'm afraid Barney isn't the dog from that image, no! Barney was a border collie & the one in the pic looks like a smaller terrier type dog.

The photo of my Barney sleeping on the hill top was taken on the Malvern Hills, in Worcestershire, England. The scenery there is definitely similar to the article photo :)

The article picture is a lovely one - I do hope one day you find out who the dog is & where it was taken :)

Aw, Flynn loves playing keep-away too & it makes me laugh so much. He clearly thinks it's hilarious to trick the human. Sounds like his version is similar to Louis'. Flynn mostly plays by making a big deal of carefully positioning the toy somewhere tempting on the path, letting me get really close to it, before he dives back in & snatches it away again, at the last moment. He will repeat the game over & over. Flynn doesn't play growl during keep-away but he's very dramatic when pouncing on - & then prancing away with - the toy. You can practically hear him: "Haha, fooled you! You're too slow!". The more I pretend to be frustrated at not managing to grab the toy for myself, the more delighted Flynn is.

He will take pity on me eventually & let me "win" though. Flynn's developed a very particular ritual to communicate when he's stopped playing keep-away & is genuinely offering me the prize. He carefully positions the toy, like usual. He then backs up once, stops, briefly makes eye contact, backs up a 2nd time, stops, looks at me again, backs up a THIRD time & final time, makes eye contact, then looks at the toy & just waits.

You cannot trust Flynn if he backs up three paces all at once. He has to back up, stop, make eye contact & repeat 2 more times! You also cannot trust him if he only backs up twice in total - even if he does pause & make eye contact both times. In either case, he may still be plotting to swoop in & commit theft! But if Flynn has backed up 3 separate times, well, then you can be 100% certain he isn't playing a cunning trick & he will allow you to pick the ball up this time, no funny business. I've never known break his own rules on that.

Come get the toy, you know you want to!

Love dogs, they're so much fun.

keep-away is such a funny game - louis will bring his toy, drop it at my feet, stare at me and as soon as i reach for the toy, he’ll growl and pounce and run away with his precious prize. sometimes he’ll hold the toy in his mouth and stand in the middle of the room, softly play-growling until i make a move to chase him. he then leaps away full of delight and that’s it. that’s the game.

Avebury! I thought I recognised it from the photo... My aunt lives nearby, so old Barney & I went there a couple of times. Enjoyed it more than Stonehenge. The main circle is absolutely huge, amazing place.

Still got sheep.

Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire, England, ca. 1941 - by Bill Brandt (1904 – 1983), German/English