Doggone!

 Saturday. 6.30 a.m. It's really strange, waking up as usual, but not having a small dog to take out. Alfie has been such a central part of my life, and then to suddenly lose him is a shock.

We got Alfie after we went to Crufts. Carol was spontaneous, and we often did things on the spur of the moment. So, we got tickets and went. It was at the NEC near Birmingham (National Exhibition Centre). We watched some agility displays, and one of the dogs was a Yorkshire Terrier, so afterwards, Carol said, 'Shall we get a Yorkshire Terrier?' I said 'Okay.' So we got Alfie from a breeder near March in Cambridgeshire. We already had Poppy, who was a schitzu/Westie cross. Carol had her before we met in 2006. Then we had some rather difficult situations when Alfie was brought home and introduced to Poppy. All went fine for a day or two, but then Poppy was very clear on what Alfie's place was in the house. A lot of growling and 'I'm the boss' type behaviour. But it soon settled down. There were some really amusing situations, usually in the evening. The two dogs would charge around the house, through the kitchen, then the front hall and then into the lounge, and round and round, jumping on the sofa, over our legs if they were in the way. It was just crazy and funny.

Alfie was easy to house train. There really were no problems in that area. We took both dogs out for lots of walks. One of our favourite places was Rushmere Country Park, which is near Leighton Buzzard, a short journey south on the A5. We took Alfie with us during the Autumn and, walking along one of the paths, which were covered with leaves, Alfie got some caught in his coat. He kept stopping to pull them out with his mouth. It was hilarious. On another occasion, we took both dogs for a walk along the Grand Union Canal, which runs through Milton Keynes.. We let them off their leads, and they ran about. There was a low wall, which Alfie decided to jump over, and as a result, he landed in the canal! I had to drag him out, sopping wet, and he looked like a drowned rat!

Tuesday. 8.40 a.m. It's a bright and sunny morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 23ºc. 

I have been tidying the flat. I got around half of the floor mopped. It's a complex process, because I have to move furniture before I can get to some areas. I've had to move the sofa, so I can move my office chair so I can sweep and then mop under the desk. The television had to move to allow me to sweep and mop behind it. I have done the floor in front of the television. I will leave the other half of the room for another day.

11.45 a.m. I have now planted the remaining daffodil bulbs in the garden at Dexter House.

My writing continues. The sequence is not yet complete, but it is getting there.

Walking Alfie At Stockgrove Park

A pleasant sunny Saturday morning, so what better way to spend the time than walking Alfie at Stockgrove Country Park? We've been many times over the years. Quite sad in some ways, as it's the first time we've visited since our other dog, Poppy, died. It's near Leighton Buzzard, and around a 15-minute drive down the A5. Rushmere Park is part of the same area and was joined to Stockgrove Park  few years ago, making a larger area to explore. I had to get the cage out of the house before Alfie got the least inkling that we intended taking him out in the car. Carol had to keep him in the bedroom whilst I got the cage out of the spare room, but it didn't take him very long to catch on. Most of the neighbourhood was treated to the sound of him barking noisily as we got him into the cage in the back of the car. 

When I first visited Stockgrove Park (I don't exactly remember how many years ago now, but certainly quite a few) you drove into the carpark and then there was a voluntary payment scheme. You could put a £1 coin in the box on the wall, and if there wasn't room to park within the carpark you could always park along the roadside. I notice that now they have put posts all along the road side which would be to stop people parking there and using the carpark.  Now you have to drive in and use the barrier. All well and good. Then, on leaving, you have to pay £2 to get out. I have no problem with this, as long as the cash raised is used to keep the carpark and surrounding area maintained.

It was busy when we got there this morning. Lots of cars parked, people getting out of cars and others wandering about. We saw lots of families, children and dogs. It seems to be a very popular spot for dog-walking. You are supposed to keep your dog on it's lead. All very well, but Alfie expects to be let off his lead and run. He's sort of pent-up, a bit like a coiled spring, and the moment he's let off, he'll run off, but doesn't go too far and will return to you when you call. Anyway, as soon as we drew up in the carpark, Alfie was barking excitedly. Whenever we go out with him in the car and we arrive home, he seems to know exactly where we are and starts yapping and barking. Even  when we're out with him in the back of the car in the cage, and he quite clearly can't see out, as soon as we stop, at traffic lights or at the petrol station, he starts off barking. I think he has an idea we're at the destination and he'll be let out. He's a sharp little dog and knows exactly that when the car stops we're more than likely going to let him out of the back of the car.

We began walking round the park, walking along the path towards the lake. If we'd had Poppy with us we'd have had to avoid the lake or, indeed, any area of water, because she'd have been in it and swimming. No sort of fear of water. Also, the muddier and smellier the better, a good excuse to dive in, up to her tummy, and covered in the worst mud she could find, definitely the smellier the better. As she had a very thick coat, any mud took some time to get out and more likely we'd have to shove her in the bath to get the mud out of her coat. And taking her home in the car and covering the seats in the mud. Never mind. It was part of her personality. Just try keeping her out of water. Quite impossible and it was better to keep her on her lead and as far away from the water! She's be chasing the ducks on the lake and causing havoc! Alfie, on the other hand, has no interest in water, thank goodness. I think he's got more sense than to get wet and cold! He's been in water before, and he didn't like it, particularly the time we went down to the canal and he jumped over a small, low wall, not realising that there was water on the other side! Carol fished him out, cold and wet, and he had to endure walking home very miserable, so I think he learned his lesson not to get in water when we're out and about.

The first time we took Alfie to Stockgrove, when he was but a small puppy, he didn't enjoy it that much, because he got leaves caught in his coat. It was amusing watching him, stopping every now and again to sit down on the patch and attempt to pull twigs and leaves out of his coat. Even today he managed to get bits of twig caught in his coat. Not quite so particular about this, but he ran back to me to pulls the twigs out of his coat.

We did a circuit of the lake and met several dogs. one large labrador with it's master, chasing a ball he threw into the lake. Alfie just has no manners when he meets other dogs, running about madly. I'm not sure what these dogs think of him,  he moves so fast. We got back to the carpark and Carol suggested we have ice creams, which sounded a good idea. There was an ice-cream van set up in the carpark, engine running, but when we attempted to buy ice-cream the man wasn't there to sell them, so we decided to have bacon baguettes from the café which has a sort of window opening onto the area where there are tables to sit at. Very tasty and just what we needed after our walk around the park. Alfie sat under the table and was very good, no doubt exhausted after the exertions of his running around the lake. Incidentally, we were somewhat surprised to notice an almost complete absence of ducks on the lake. There are notices around telling you to 'Please do not feed the ducks.' I know why, as bread isn't actually the right sort of thing to feed ducks and bits of old bread left in the water goes mouldy. But why no more than a handful of ducks? Probably set up home elsewhere on another stretch of water. Lots of trees have been felled and new growth where the light has got in. Also, other managed coppice and a reed-bed system to deal with the water at the visitor centre.

It was a pleasant morning and definitely a good spot to visit with even more places to walk the other side of the road from the main carpark. We drove home and will return for another trip sometime over the long summer holiday period.

A Walk In The Forest

It's been quite a pleasant morning. It was about time we took Alfie out for a walk. It was a toss-up between Salcey Forest or Rushmere Country Park. We decided on Salcey. Both about the same sort of distance from Milton Keynes. It's up the A5 towards Stony Stratford and out into the  Northamptonshire countryside. It was actually quite nice to get away from Milton Keynes for a couple of hours. Apart from anything, Alfie needed an outing, since Poppy died two weeks ago. He's an energetic little dog and really enjoys going out with us. I had to put the cage in the back of the car because he's a bit of a handful if he sits on your lap. He won't and as we've attempted this, it's better for us and better for him. He'll only get his lead tied up with the gear stick and it's frankly a safety issue. I had to sneak the cage out to the car without him noticing, as he soon picks up somehow or other that we're intending to go out and take him with us. I don't remember when we last visited this favourite dog-walking site, but it's probably a couple of years ago. Last time we went they were in the process of building new facilities such as toilets and the area around the café. Also, it seems they've managed to resurface a lot of the roads in and out and some of the paths have better surfaces, tarmac, which is probably better for wheeled things such as bicycles, baby buggies, prams and wheelchairs. The new toilet block is a vast improvement. We took Alfie for quite a long walk through the forest, meeting a lot of people with dogs. To be let off his lead and to run free was what Alfie enjoys most of all. We walk along at our own pace but he insists on running ahead and discovering all manner of nice smells and weeing up against virtually every tree and tuft of grass he encounters. Then he runs back to us and trots along at our heels and then shoots off again. It was quite muddy, which is to be expected, considering the time of year. If we'd had Poppy with us she'd have found the most smelly, gooey and thick mud to wade through. Alfie isn't so keen on water, thankfully. Poppy had a propensity for diving in to the nearest piece of water, be it lake, pond, river, canal or whatever. if it was smelly mud it meant we had to contend with not only cleaning her after an outing but it would lead to a muddy house, carpets, furniture, beds and so on. We walked into the forest, having parked the car, avoiding the most muddy places. Carol found a place in the carpark, but I saw that there was a large muddy puddle her side of the car, as it would mean, when she got out of the car, she'd have to walk in this mud. We'd come here a couple of years ago and parked the other side of the carpark and when we'd returned to the car to go home we found we couldn't move the car because we'd got stuck in the mud. It was quite some time before we could drive away. Funny looking back, but not so funny at the time.

Further into the forest we came to the tree-top walk. I'm not good with heights. Never have been, unfortunately. We have walked right to the top of this structure, but I wasn't too keen today. It's quite a height at it's furthest extent. I'm not sure how high, but around the same height as some of the trees. We heard a rather off-putting creaking sound, coming I think from one of the trees nearby. They were swaying in the breeze. There wasn't the wind we had during the week, thankfully. I think the treetop walk would have been closed for health and safety concerns. We walked back to the car and I used the newly built toilets, a vast improvement on the somewhat primitive facilities that used to be here. We had hot chocolate, cream and marshmallows which was an ideal end to our walk and then returned home in the car. We had been covered very generously in mud, thanks to Alfie insisting on sitting on both our laps when we sat on a bench by the path in the forest. But it really didn't matter because everything can go in the washing machine.

Sunny Summer Sunday

A bright and fairly dry Sunday. I say 'dry' because it makes a change to actually get a summer's day without rain. Carol has broken up from Milton Keynes Academy. We decide fairly early today to take the dogs for a walk. I had suggested taking them to Rushmere, a place we've been with them on quite a few occasions. But we have the problem of Alfie, who, as soon as he realizes we are going out for a walk, even if we don't actually mention the word 'walk', begins to change considerably, barking and running around the house. If you so much as go near the dog's leads, which hang on a hook in the kitchen, he will be more than ever excited and may even try to bite the lead you pick up for him. If we had gone to Rushmere it would mean I would have to put the cage in the back of the car and that is upstairs in the spare bedroom, so he would have to be kept away from being able to see me go out with it. So we abandon that idea so Carol suggests taking them along the Redway towards the Grand Union Canal, about a mile or so's walk. The process of putting both dogs on their leads goes relatively painlessly, even though Alfie makes a considerable amount of noise. Once out onto the Redway behind our house we let the dogs off their leads and they can enjoy their freedom. Poppy ambles along while Alfie runs ahead. We get down to the road near the canal, going under the Marlborough  Street underpass, noting the interesting comments some clever graffiti artist has written along the walls. We have to put the dogs back on their leads briefly. Walking up the incline which leads to the bridge over the canal we have to step aside as a group of cyclists ride past, giving us barely time to get out of the way. I'm not impressed by their behaviour. I think they might at least been a bit more considerate and if we hadn't stepped aside the dogs would have got run over or at least there might have been a nasty accident. We walk on and come out on Woughton Green and see a running approaching. It seems that the place is over-run with people either running or cycling. We then take the path off the road across the green to the left and walk towards the canal. We bought a bag of bread with us and Carol puts the contents on the top of a drain cover and we sit at a picnic table. A large group of geese had gathered in the grassy space under the trees and walk off and swim away along the canal. We sit and watch as a crow comes down and takes a piece of the bread we put down. Several other crows appear and eat the bread. We have sat for ten minutes or so and then walk on along the towpath beside the canal and back to the bridge over the canal and then back along the Redway and home. Both dogs are exhausted by their walk and as it so happens, so are we.

After we have some lunch Carol decides she'd like some icecream as by now it has become quite sunny. It appears that the next few days are going to become quite sunny. A mini heatwave or that was what we were told on the Breakfast weather forecast. We decide to drive to Willen Lake. We had forgotten that for the next ten days or so Milton Keynes will be hosting the annual I.F. (Milton Keynes International Festival of Arts.) and we discover that the carpark at Willen Lake is extremely busy because there is a sort of festival village set up with a wide range of artistic exhibitions to look at. The place is teeming with people wandering about. We walk along the lakeside and find a gym which has a swimming pool attached. As we are currently looking for a new gym with a swimming pool to join since we ended our membership of D.W. Fitness, we enquire. We may or may not join. We find a cafe to buy ice creams and when we finish eating them we return to the car and drive home. As we come out of the carpark Carol mentions Nuffield Health, who has a site at Kent's Hill and I am reminded that I think that was a place I used to take one of the people I used to look after when I was a carer. Indeed it is, and it seems a very suitable place to join and use for swimming. We might join after we've done more research into other facilities around Milton Keynes.

Boiler Dies . . What Next?

It was no good believing it was going to last for long. The boiler had been on for most of yesterday, and by the time we went to bed it had given up and there was the red light flashing away and the confounded thing wouldn't re-start. I have telephoned the engineer who came out yesterday, but unfortunately, he can do nothing without the landlord's permission! So the house is once colder and no sign of it being warmed up until things are resolved with the boiler. I have left a message on the landlord's voicemail and I don't expect to get any sort of answer until he comes into work later this afternoon. We drove over to Bicester this morning. Carol had been looking at cameras after the Olympus she had was damaged some while ago. We went back to the camera shop and have bought a camera for her birthday (which is at the beginning of March.) It's a Ricoh camera along with a bright orange case for it and it seems rugged and should withstand fairly rough treatment, but I suggest she doesn't use it when we are out with the dogs because it was Alfie, our Yorkshire Terrier, who caused the other camera to get dropped when we went to Rushmere country park some while ago. He does get quite excited and jumped up when he saw the strap on the Olympus camera, no doubt thinking it was his lead.

The weather has been really cold and wet as we drove out towards Bicester. After buying the camera, we went into Costa for hot chocolate and then into Sainsbury's in Pioneer shopping centre for some shopping before heading back to the car and home to Milton Keynes via Buckingham.

At around 4.30 I got a telephone call from our landlord to inform us that he is going to have to replace the boiler. He has someone coming tomorrow to have a look at the old model so that he can give a quote for a new boiler. He now tells me that we're not likely to have any hot water and heating again until at least Monday at the earliest as it will take until then to have a new boiler installed. So we are shivering and doing without baths, showers and being able to wash up, making do with a very small electric heater on in the lounge. Oh well, at least, it is being dealt with and we should eventually have a better, newer boiler to replace the clapped-out model we currently have to contend with.

A Bad Day For Alfie

We woke this morning to discover it was exceptionally cold and icy outside. Infact, almost cold enough for snow. Alfie insisted on being let out into the garden, but at the exact time I opened the sliding patio door one of next door's cats appeared in the gap in the garden fence. Alfie flew across the garden and ran on top of the remains of the fence which was lying in the gap and would have followed the cat if I hadn't bellowed at him at the top of my voice. He came back, fortunately, with his tail between his legs and looking very crest-fallen. You can always tell when he's unhappy as his ears lay back on his head instead of being upright. He flew into the house and back onto the bed and got near to Carol. I think he was somewhat surprised that I had shouted at him, but it was either that or else he would have followed the cat out onto the Redway behind the house, and landed up goodness knows where. He isn't particularly brave and may well have come back when he realised he wasn't in familiar surroundings, when I recall the incident a few weeks ago when he got out and landed up in the garden shed. We still don't know how he got in there. Presumably there's a hole somewhere at the back which opens through the fence-side.

We haven't been out with the dogs for quite a while so this morning we decided to take them to Rushmere Country Park, where we've been with them on several occasions. No sooner as he gets an idea that we're going out with both our dogs, Alfie becomes really excited and it's quite a job to get him into his harness, his lead on and safely ensconced in the cage in the back of the car. I had removed the cage and it was in one of the spare bedrooms so I had to retrieve it without Alfie seeing and managed to get it into the back of the car.  Poppy was put inside the car and is easy enough as she sits quite happily on the back seat. Alfie, on the other hand, becomes a sort of Tasmanian Devil. Quite amazingly schitzophrenic. I can't believe a little dog who is usually so timid and quiet can become this mad little character who can get into such a froth whenever there's a mention of being taken out for a walk. Goodness knows what our neighbours think when he starts barking and getting over-wrought. We did eventually get him into the cage, but before hand I had to de-ice the car with hot water and we drove out of Milton Keynes and onto the A5 towards Rushmere. We got to the carpark, making sure we had £2 in coins for the exit machine when we left (you get in and out through an entrance which has a barrier which lifts when you enter and you need £2 to put in the machine which lifts the barrier when you exit.) The dogs loved being let off their leads and ran around enjoying their freedom. Quite a lot of other people there and loads with dogs. We strolled through the woods and Carol had bought one of our digital camera with her, the handy Olympus which is great as you can easily put it in your pocket and it's simple to operate. She took several photographs, and a couple with each of us sitting on a couple of seats which are scattered throughout the woods, and Alfie insisted on sitting on my knee for mine! Whenever people were met during our walk both dogs have a habit of running up to them and ingratiating themselves with them. Poppy is the worst, regardless of whether the people want a small dog to stroke and pat. Alfie just rushes up and runs round and round, and there's no fear with him when there's a considerably larger dog in the group. I think his antics are too much for some large dogs such as labradors.

Me sitting on carved chair in Rushmere Country Park with Alfie sitting on my knee.

Alfie insisted in being in this photo with Carol. 

On the way back to the car we had to get the dogs back on their leads. Unfortunately Alfie's nice leather lead got left behind somewhere in the woods, what with dealing with the camera and keeping him under control. A pity as it was a really nice lead, but we decided that both dogs need new leads so it will be a good excuse to buy them new ones. No sooner did Alfie realised we were putting him back on his lead than he started barking and putting him on his lead with somewhat difficult and during this Carol unfortunately dropped the Olympus camera and the glass of the L.E.D. viewfinder got smashed. I don't think it can be repaired. Annoying, to say the least, as it's such a good little camera. We bought it a few years ago in a sale and got it for a really good discount. It looks as if we'll need to replace that, but considering how the technology of these cameras has developed, a new model will probably be an improvement on the old model. So Alfie was in disgrace and was put in the back of the car.  We drove out of the carpark and back home along the A5 back into Milton Keynes. We have two Fuji digital cameras. They have thick shoulder straps which you use to carry them around when you go out. If Alfie sees them he seems to think that they are dog leads and this sets him off yapping, barking and doing his mad act. I think when he saw Carol with the small Olympus camera with it's own carry-strap he thought it was his lead which led to him yapping and barking and then the camera getting dropped and damaged.

Dog-Walking at Rushmere and TV Location for Sky TV Gameshow 'Wild Thing"

We went swimming at D.W. Fitness early this morning, getting there a little after they opened at 8 a.m. The place was virtually empty which means we had the pool fairly free which was great. Only problem was it was exceptionally cold which didn't help as one of my arms ached and so I didn't do that many lengths of the pool. We spent most of the time in the jacuzzi and I went into the hot room which seemed to relieve the pain in my arm. 

It is beginning to become quite cold early-morning. Fairly misty as we left the house but it soon warmed up as the morning progressed and so much so that by the time we left D.W. the sun was almost out. We drove to Morrison's at Westcroft to do some shopping. Really tired when we got home. We had something to eat and had a rest and then Carol suggested taking the dogs out as it seemed a waste to let such a pleasant day go without going out somewhere and the two dogs deserved an outing of some sort. It took some considerable effort and subterfuge to get Alfie's cage out of the house and into the back of the car, and then get both dogs into their harnesses. As I've mentioned on several occasions on here this can be quite a trial as Alfie becomes like the Tasmanian Devil whenever he gets even the slightest hint that we're going out. But eventually they were both harnessed and Alfie jumped into the back of the car and settled into the cage  like a good little dog. He now seems to accept it  quite happily as he knows he is going out for a walk.

As we went down the A5 (we were on our way toe Rushmere Country Park.) we saw signs up which showed 'WT VOC' which suggested to me that there must be a filming location somewhere nearby. From experience of doing walk-on work for television (as mentioned in earlier posts, on such things as 'Lovejoy', 'Middlemarch,' ''Allo, 'Allo' etc etc.) I am used to having to find locations and following these signs which are usually disguised by using cryptic codes such as this 'WT VOC'which ae often used to deter members of the public and press discovering the locations.

We were more than surprised when we found that this location was actually where we were going at Rushmere and on arrival at the carpark we saw the bandwagon that was set up for the television crew and posters put up which mentioned that the county park was being used for filming a Sky TV gameshow called "Wild Thing." We then discovered that we couldn't let the dogs off their leads and that some of the woodland paths which we usually use when we visit Rushmere were closed off, presumably because the production company making this programmed did not want members of the public getting too close to the set.  There appeared to be no shooting that we could see when we were there, as presumably they don't shoot over the weekend.

Wheels, Woods, Wags, Walkies and Water

We cycled around the estate yesterday. I'm fine on my new Muddyfox bike, but Carol had been having problems with her new bike. She couldn't fathom the gears, which admittedly is quite difficult as with something like 21 gears and two levers one on each handlebar, it can be quite tricky getting the right gear for the correct speed and pedalling. We went round the estate several times. I just want to ride along the Redway for a distance to get myself fully conversant with the machine. Great as it is, I haven't cycled for quite a while. Also, I have never ever owned a brand new bicycle before. The one I did own and I used to cycle to school on (a good many years ago now, forsooth!) was a machine handed down from my eldest brother, James. It was later stolen from outside a house I lived in many years ago in Tyne Crescent, Bedford. Which was a pity, as it was a good machine. A bright blue Rudge. Amazing that I remember the brand.

The weather has been unsettled which is why we haven't been out too much recently. No good going out in pouring rain. I must buy a bike lock so that when I park at various locations, such as the local shops or even church, there is no chance that somebody can even attempt to steal the new machine, which would be both annoying and a great shame. It's appalling that you can't trust people to leave your property alone, but never mind. Also, I think I need to buy a helmet as there have been far too many accidents with people falling off their machines and hitting their heads.

Earlier this morning we went to D.W. Fitness. It opened at 8 a.m. so we must have been amongst the first customers through the door. It was great that there were very few people in the pool. Why do people who exercise always look so miserable? Why do they almost all seem so humourless? We did around 20 lengths of the pool. I spent some time in what I call the 'hot cupboard,' the steam room. Very hot and steamy (!) and does you a power of good, sweating out all those toxins etc etc. We sat in the jacuzzi for a good 20 minutes and then back in the pool for a further four lengths. Then one of the swimming instructors came in along with a few parents with children which decided us on getting out and dressed as it gets really crowded and noisy when the children are doing their swimming lessons. All very well, but it doesn't do my motivation much good. We went home and had toasted buns to eat and tea and coffee. There is always the temptation to have food in the cafe at D.W. but it can be quite expensive. It's a good year at least since we signed up. 

Later, when we'd looked at the situation regarding the weather, we decided to take the dogs out for a walk at Rushmere Park, near Leighton Buzzard. Getting Alfie, our little Yorkshire Terrier, into his harness and then into the car is a real problem. We take him out in a cage which is in the back of the car and I had to make sure it was installed within the car before he came out and that he didn't see me doing this as he gets so over-excited. We managed to get him in the lounge on his own while Carol got Poppy into her harness in the kitchen. Alfie became like a demon-possessed creature and I could hear him attacking the doors and making the most appalling noise. Goodness knows what the neighbours must have thought if they could hear his commotion. They must have done, as he was really loud. We eventually managed to get him harnessed and into the back on the car in the cage and we gingerly drove out of Milton Keynes and onto the A5 towards Leighton Buzzard and the country park at Rushmere. 

The dogs had a great time when we let them off their leads. Alfie runs ahead of us and approaches any people he sees along the path, regardless of whether they want to be assaulted by a small terrier. Poppy just ambles along and it was very pleasant with the sun shining through the trees. 

They have made some improvements since we were last there, with a new cafe just opened and a brand new toilet block near the visitors centre. I have to admit that the old toilets there were somewhat unsavoury to say the least.

We were going to have ice creams from the cafe, but Carol found that there wasn't much of a choice and they were somewhat over-priced so we didn't partake. We left and drove out of the carpark and through the barrier where you have to pay £2 to get the barrier to open so you can exit.

It was at this point that Carol decided she wanted chocolate cake (as you do!) so we went to Dobbie's garden centre which is just off the A5 at the roundabout near Fenny Stratford. No sooner had we parked the car than Alfie started yapping. He had been quiet up until this point, but we had to leave the dogs in the car when we went inside the garden centre and into the food hall to find suitable cake. I did think £4.50 for a small chocolate cake somewhat over-priced, but, on getting home and after unloading the dogs, I made tea and we ate some of, what turned out to be very tasty and moreish chocolate cake!

Walking The Dogs At Rushmere Park

It was a bright and sunny morning yesterday, although quite chilly. So we decided to wrap up warm and take the dogs for a walk at Rushmere Park near Leighton Buzzard. Saying merely 'let's take the dogs for a walk' isn't as simple as you might think. Just saying the word  'walk' and both our dogs, Poppy and Alfie, know what we have planned. Merely touching their leads, which live on a shelf in the kitchen, and all hell breaks loose. So we have to plan things carefully and not mention the word 'walk' in their presence. Alfie becomes like the Tasmanian Devil in all those Warner Brothers animation shorts. We can't take him out in the car without first putting the cage in the back first. I had to go out with this as it's been parked in the front hall for months whilst Carol side-tracks Alfie by going to get dressed in the bedroom upstairs with the door closed. Once the cage is installed in the back of the car I pick up Poppy, or at least I attempt to as she seems to be under the impression that she's done something wrong. She shoots upstairs to be with Carol but I eventually manage to pick her up and put her on the front seat of the car and leave her there. She is not as excitable as Alfie at the mention of a walk. Meanwhile . . .  Getting Alfie to settle down enough in order to get his harness on is a real nightmare as by now he's become a barking and wriggling mass of hair, tail and teeth. He keeps wanting to bite at the lead, so we have come up with the technique of avoiding eye-contact and walking away from him when he starts barking. This has the effect of calming him down so we can get his harness and lead on. We bought both dogs harnesses recently which means if they pull when on their leads they don't put so much strain on their necks.

Alfie jumps into the back off the car and into the cage without any bother, thankfully. He seems to enjoy the ride in the back of the car, perhaps realising that he's going to enjoy the walk when we eventually get to our destination, around a 15-minute drive down the A5. Poppy, meanwhile, sits on the back seat and watches the world go by outside with a real air of enjoyment. Alfie makes a rather feeble whimpering sound from the back of the car, almost as if he's singing to himself. It's rather sad and pathetic, but none the less better than having him spinning round inside the body of the car and getting knotted up in his lead and maybe causing real havoc with our driving of the car. It's certainly   a good deal safer and on long journeys he can fall asleep in the cage.

It's really busy at Rushmere. We haven't seen so many cars parked or people about, many of them walking dogs like ourselves. You have to pay £2 at the barrier as you leave. I presume a barrier prevents large vehicles entering the car park and hopefully paying the charge to park pays for the up-keep of the facilities and probably goes towards the wages of the staff such as the wardens that work there.

We manage to get the dogs out of the car, although Alfie makes so much noise that everyone will be aware of his arrival in the car park. It's a good place to walk dogs as there's plenty of paths, not too muddy as it's on the Greensand Ridge so it's mostly sandy, but there are some patches of mud which attract Poppy as for some unaccountable reason she simply has to wade in and get herself covered. We let both dogs off their leads. Poppy just meanders along besides us as we walk along, but Alfie races ahead and simply loves the fact that he can run free. He doesn't walk straight ahead but runs backwards and forwards, cocking his leg against every available tree and kicking up leaves and loose earth as a sort of sign of excitement of it all. We meet up with quite a few other people who have dogs with them. Poppy just approaches, wagging her tail and being friendly, but Alfie dashes around like an animated mop, and causing hilarity amongst those we meet along the patch. He isn't in the least bit daunted by the size of some of the dogs he encounters. He may be small but he's a brave little dog and everyone seems to love him. It's easy to see why. Poppy also has some admirers but she has the habit of jumping up when she meets someone and it can cause problems when she's plastered in the smelliest and stickiest mud which she will unfortunately leave on people's clothes.

There is a cafe which we had considered going into to have a drink of coffee, also toilets which we use, but we decide that we'll go home and have coffee there to save money. But it's good to have all these facilities and so load the dogs back into the car and drive back home  to Milton Keynes.

Outing To Bicester Avenue

Yesterday had been a relatively mild day, and we haven't been out all that much for a while. We took both dogs to Rushmere Park, a few days ago which is very near somewhere else we take them for walks, Stockgrove Country Park, a 20-minute drive down the A5 near Woburn. We discovered this relatively 'new' place almost by accident, as we knew that there was a car park nearby where we usually go at Stockgrove as the last time we discovered that they'd installed a barrier across the entrance and you could only get in by paying at the machine.I realise these places have to be paid for, to maintain the buildings, car parks and other facilities and that cash is tight due to the current financial situation, particularly anything which is Council run and probably has had it's funding cut. But it seems a pity that so much of this sort of thing is putting off people who would otherwise use these facilities and might not do so due to these additional costs.

Anyway, this time we didn't take the dogs. It can be a real effort to load the cage in the back of the car for Alfie and then go through the process of getting their leads on, particularly as Alfie gets so wound up and the noise he makes, so we decided to leave them at home this time. Also, it would have meant, had they come with us, they would most likely have spent the whole time in the car, as where we went wasn't exactly dog-friendly.

We drove west. On the way we went through Buckingham, where we often go on our way to Stowe Landscape Gardens which is one of our  favourite National Trust properties. There are definite signs of spring which we can see as we drive along, not least how green everything is looking, as well as newly-born lambs in the fields and no end of daffodills and crocuses at last daring to make an appearance after what seemed like endless weeks of snow and ice. It must be one of the latest springs on record.

So, dear reader, where is all this leading, you may very well ask? We really just wanted to get away from Milton Keynes, because the weather had warmed up, and we have had such a cold winter, and Carol is on holiday, so it seemed a good idea to get out for a short while. We were heading towards Bicester, and had an idea that there was a garden centre we knew was opening somewhere nearby, so, when there was a choice of which road to follow, the left to Bicester, or the right, to Oxford, we chose Bicester. There is an outlet shopping centre in Bicester, or rather, just outside, imaginatively called Bicester Village, which we have visited on several occasions, and we decided that, if we didn't find the elusive garden centre, we'd go to Bicester Village.We always seem to end up somewhere that has either a restauraunt or tea or coffee shop, which was what we wanted to find right now, as we had been driving just over an hour. It's amazing how so many of the places we visit have a very convenient restaurant or other outlet that has food or drink! The National Trust properties we go to, art galleries or museums, all have excellent facilities serving good food. Generally speaking, of course, there are very few that have poor food outlets, but most are good. Also, it's amazing how, once you've completed you visit, and are about to leave, you end up in either a restaurant or in the gift shop. It seems that the lay-out of these places is such that you are magnetically drawn into these places so as to spend as much of your cash as possible! Well, on visiting National Trust properties we end up buying something from the gift shop, usually the guidebook, unless we've been there before. As a result we've amassed quite a collection over the years.

We saw signs for 'Bicester Outlet Village' and followed the route, but went past. It was a mile or two later on that we saw 'Bicester Avenue' advertised and Wyvale Garden centre so we drove in and found the carpark. This place is similar to Bicester Village in that it has a shopping mall with outlet or factory shops for some well known highstreet brands, such as Cotswold, Cotton Traders etc. The main shopping area is a very big Wyvale Garden Centre, which not only sells garden-orientated items such as plants, spades, pots, planters etc, but furniture, books, barbeques as well as housing a really large restaurant where we eventually landed up and having tea and toasted sandwiches. We did spend some time wandering around looking in the shops, but we decided that we'd come back, probably in the summer, as some of the shops were still not open, were as-yet unlet or were being fitted out. It would appear that the whole complex can't have been open very long.

We left soon after our tea and toasted sandwiches and drove back towards Milton Keynes and stopped at Tesco's in Buckingham and bought some salad and bits and pieces for our evening meal.