quick catch up

Nearly a month since my last posting on here... I'm not sure if that's a good sign or a bad sign! The upside is that it's not lack of inclination, rather the dearth of time to do so - the down side is that all writing time has been squeezed to snatched moments here and there.
There have been many long walks, though. The photo above is taken from the Crow's Nest, which is on the way to Tintern Abbey. The 365 steps up to the Crow's Nest through the trees made me think of wooded Nepalese slopes - and Fangorn Forest! A little unsettling as I was reading Stephen King's 'Lisey's Story' at the time...
An overactive imagination is both a blessing and a curse.
I have an ambivalent relationship to all the significant things in my life, though - which I've no doubt mentioned before.

More sedately - this shot was taken from the highest point of the Malverns; a leisurely upward stroll with Kit to work off our Sunday lunch...

Deciding to commit to a spot of 'dog fostering' is probably the main reason I've been pushed for blogging time. Ath would love to have a dog - so I thought, what better way to give him an inkling of what looking after a dog really entails than to look after one for a while...
Great idea in principle.
In practice?
Well - funnily enough, so far, I've been doing the majority of the walking...

Jack Russells are not my canine of choice, so I hadn't anticipated becoming so enamoured with our guest.
He's not only extremely cute, but highly intelligent and very entertaining - an irresisible mix! (in spite of the risk of the canine equivalent of the pub brawl if we meet a dog who's bigger than he is - little dogs are prone to 'little dog syndrome' just as much as their human counterparts succumb to 'size irritability').
There isn't much that can get me out of bed earlier than usual (not even the prospect of a longer writing session). But for this little chap, I'm up and out along the fields with no complaint at all.
Admittedly, the weather has changed dramatically - we've had no rain since he arrived, so it will be interesting to see how we feel on grey, wet days.
On these misty September morning and sundrenched evenings, his joy as he bounces ecstatically through the second growth of clover makes my smile a mile wide.

Lucy and I have now finalised most of the 'bookable details' of our sojourn to Rum. Travel and accommodation all sorted - at last! Something really worth blogging about coming up...

Life changes afoot, too - and that, too, is responsible for my virtual absence; lots to process privately.
The dog needs a walk, so I'm going to head off into the soft September afternoon.