A Sunday Walk, Accompanied by Thirteen Dogs

Our good friends Gill and Dave host a mid-winter walk for all their friends after Christmas every year.  We’re invited, and we’re never sure why.  We’re not known for showing much interest in horses, and we don’t own a dog.  As you can see from this shot taken just as we set forth, fortified by bacon sandwiches and coffee, having a dog in tow is pretty much expected.

Boots, wellies and dogs organised.

We love this post-Christmas event, and this year I was especially keen.  I’ve not been able to go on a decent hike for six months now because of a knee condition, but today was the day to begin to put all that behind me.

So here we all are.  Here are the dogs, here is the mud, here are the woods and the local views – understated, pleasant good old rolling English countryside.  I’ve deliberately overstated the mud for dramatic effect – it really wasn’t bad at all, and with enjoyable company we didn’t notice it anyway.

Back home with Gill and Dave, we ate and drank, laughed and talked for most of the afternoon.

The human friends are all inside eating, drinking and making merry. It’s a dog’s life.

And on the way home, this was the sunset.

Another entry for Jo’s Monday Walk.  It’s been such a long time since I’ve had the chance…

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

42 thoughts on “A Sunday Walk, Accompanied by Thirteen Dogs”

  1. Ahem! That is more mud than I care to squidge through, Margaret 🙂 🙂 But I love the barn shot! And I’m glad you enjoyed the romp. 🙂 We usually have a New Year’s Day one but I’m not sure if it’s happening this year. 😦

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    1. I promise you, we went through almost no deep mud – my trousers are clean. David chose a good route. I famously refuse to walk through mud – very un-British of me, I know. Yes, this particular walk is normally a New Year’s Day one, but so long as it happens, the day doesn’t really matter.

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  6. Wow – what a wonderful, moody sunset. That’s the kind of sky that ought, by rights, to bring 2019 to an end. I’m glad your knee was up to the task. It must have been so frustrating for you not to be able to walk as much as you want to. I have to respectfully disagree with Peter – that looks muddy enough to me!

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    1. There speaks a True British Walker! Oddly, Peter obviously shared our sunset from a hundred miles away, but you didn’t. What a shame. It was apocalyptic!

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  7. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Benafim to Alte | restlessjo

  8. It’s time for a dog. Everybody needs a dog…. 😉
    Lovely, hopeful post. Thank you.

    Have tons of posts to read – When? I don’t know. But I will.

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      1. I talked stictly about yours, Margaret!!!! I have woefully neglected you because I’d like to take my time to communicate with the FEW bloggers I follow. But time is NOT on my side and won’t be for a longer period to come. The good thing however is that those posts don’t go anywhere and if you’ll let me, I’ll still be able to comment much later on.

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  10. Sounds like a perfect walk to me and all the better as your first return to hiking. I hadn’t realised you have been hampered by a knee problem; I can imagine how frustrating it must have been. Hope 2020 brings you many more exhilarating tramps across the muddy countryside 🙂

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  11. Hah! What’s a winter walk without mud? I seem to have been padding through various states of mud and wet for about 3 months now…thankfully Maggie (chocolate lab) is abnormal and doesn’t like water and wet and mud! Suits me I must say 🙂 Looks like a nice walk and the sky is dramatically wonderful…makes it all worth getting out and about, doesn’t it?. Happy New Year.

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    1. And to you, Al. Our friends in France quite simply refused to walk when it was muddy, and I’m pleased to know your Maggie is of the same mind. Now. I really should sluice those boots …..

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  12. I think we are the only people in Cornwall who go for a walk without a dog! And our favourite hill walk is a tad muddy at the moment, but I bought myself some wellies for Christmas so now I can squidge along 😊 sorry to hear about your knee. I’ve struggled with a painful foot for a couple of years which can hamper walking. Getting older sucks. The body is definitely wearing out!

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  14. Lovely to see all the sociable dogs together. Well it looks like significant mud to me, but the landscapes are lovely and that sky is truly spectacular. I do hope that the knee stays improved enough to go on walks into the New Year.

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    1. I hope so too. And I went to a lot of trouble to make the mud look as gruesome as possible to attract the sympathy vote. I guess you’d welcome some more mud at the moment though ….

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      1. Certainly got my sympathy! We are in the eastern side of the country and we are so very lucky to be getting some rain – albeit interspersed with temps in the 40s. Not enough for mud and the dams are still low, but our rainwater tanks are full and the mildew in the house is blooming 🙂 However, the drought ravaged areas of the country have had no relief whatsoever …

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  15. It’s lovely to see a sociable event, people, dogs and all experiencing the countryside and yet absolutely no requirement to be chasing and killing foxes. What a civilised way to spend a winter’s day.

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