Fun in the Foam

In times of extreme weather, the sea produces large amounts of foam which gathers on the beach in huge jelly-like piles.  Some of these piles can be deeper than me, and diving in to them is a rare treat!

 

 

It looks like snow, but when the wind catches it it flies off into the sky and begs to be chased and pounced upon. 

 

I could spend hours playing in the foam it's so much fun.  After only a matter of minutes I looked like I'd been in an explosion of a fairy liquid factory, so imagine just how good I'd look after hours of foamy playtime!! However, as always, mum and dad spoil my plans and I'm taken home!!



A watery Christmas

My home town of Helston was in the news a matter of days before Christmas for severe flooding.  The relentless rain caused the River Cober, which runs though my beloved Lowertown, to swell to the point where it burst its banks and flooded the houses in its path. 

My walks over Christmas involved investigating the floods. 

My first walk was supposed to be walking beside the River Cober, but as soon as we got out of the carpark, we found that the path was no where to be seen!!

 



 

We then tried to walk through the woodland and found that that had turned in to a lake!!

Determined not to be out done by the floods, Dad tried to wade on through the flood water to get to a passable path.  I however found that I had to swim to cross the path, and in the end Dad had to give up and return to dry land. 

Trying to find another walk close by we met more signs of flood with in-passable roads, and even a goat which had taken the wise decision to move up on to the roof to avoid rising water. 

 

And still the rain keeps coming.......even I am hoping it's a dry new year!!

My Christmas Message

To all my fellow tail waggers and mud wallowers I hope that you have had a fun and fulfilling year. 

When I think back on the year, I think of the summer swims, the picnics I've bounced through, the flooded fields I've dug in, and the horse poo I've rolled in. There have also been numerous coats which regretfully I have had to tolerate, much like the bow I was encouraged to wear for Christmas Day!

I am looking forward to my adventures in 2013 and hope to share many of them with you.

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. 

Racing The Tide At Perranuthnoe

Walk length: 30mins

Muddy Rating: Summer-dry/Winter-moderate

I love Perranuthnoe and its surrounding walks.  It has a great beach, with lots of smaller often deserted coves near by.  There are great views of St Michaels Mount, it has a pub and a seaside cafe. 

From the church at the top of the village you can head west along a foot path towards St Michaels Mount.  Along the path there are several points of interest.  There is usually a field with pigs to one side which is worth a sniff and there is a second field with chickens.  I'm a lover of all animals so I often sit and watch as the pigs and chickens go about their daily business. 

You can keep following the path towards St Michaels Mount and end up in Marazion, but we cut down another footpath and head back towards Perranuthnoe along side the sea.  That way we pass the small rocky coves where I go and paddle all year round. 

I had my first ever swim on one of the coves on this walk when I was only a few months old.  I've been a lover of water ever since.  I thought you might like to see me as a puppy after my first swim so have included an old photo!

 

Once back at Perranuthnoe you can go on to the beach (winter and summer evenings only).  Todays run on the beach was rather a short one.  The tide comes in quick at Perranuthnoe.  One minute I was chasing a ball across the sand, and the next I was chest deep in water.  Some nice people with a baby in a pushchair had to run to dry ground but the wave caught up with them and the pushchair got very wet.  Lucky mum and dad had our little person in a carrier! 

Here Dad and I are running to safety on the higher beach.  But Mum got wet taking the photo!

What a lot of water!

It seems like it's been raining forever!! I love water as everybody knows, but the problem with all this rain is that I only get a short walk because mum and dad don't like getting drenched! It also means I have to wear my silly coat all the time!

The field opposite our house is currently chest deep with water and the piles of daffodil bulbs the farmer left down at the bottom of the field are just floating away.  In other places we've walked, the water has run off fields like waterfalls and carved deep grooves in the paths where we walk. 

I hope it stops raining soon so I can have a lovely long walk, and the coat stays at home! 

Bogs and Boulders at Carn Brea

Walk Length: 20 minutes
Muddy rating: Moderate

In between the torrental rain, we ventured out for a very breezy run on Carn Brea. Carn Brea, with its mock castle and monument, can be seen from just about anywhere in mid Cornwall, which means in return the views from Carn Brea are particularly brilliant. 

Other than the castle and the monument, there are several things that make Carn Brea an interesting walk.  Firstly, and most importantly, Carn Brea has a vast selection of bogs to choose from.  You can find these bogs filled with a deep delicious gloopy mud just about all year round.  The bogs are fairly easy to find as they're right beside some of the main paths and sit underneath the only scrubby trees to be found on this windswept hill.  I usually only manage a few moments of complete pleasure in the bogs before I am found and asked by mum or dad to remove myself.  However, by that stage I'm good and smelly and the bog has done its job! 

 

The second great thing about Carn Brea are the boulders.  These weathered pieces of granite perch above the hillside creating spaces that are dying to be explored.  The rocks create dens, tunnels, jumps, and hold smells which have to be searched out.  Dad climbed up one of the big boulders while I watched to make sure he was safe, then I climbed up with him and the view from up there was fantastic. 

There are lots of little routes and paths around Carn Brea so I recommend trying them all as every direction you walk there's a slightly different spectactular view of Cornwall, and probably a great bog too!!!!

Of course the down side to bogs......is the hose off afterwards. 

Slipping and sliding from Mawnan Church to Helford River

Walk Length: 40mins

Muddy Rating: Winter = very muddy / Summer = not very

We do lots of walks on different sections of the Helford River, but the walk from Mawnan Church down to the river is the one we do most often. 

This walk is stunning, especially when the sun is shining.  However, it's been so wet lately that instead of walking to the river we slid our way down. 

 

 

 

Once down by the river there's lots of fun to be had.  The river is great for swimming and there's lots of seaweed to chew.  Dad skims stones and I chase after them. 

 

 

The walk back up to the church takes you through several fields of cows.  The cows have made the stream that runs through their field into a massive wallow.  For the mud lover this is heaven, but mum and dad have got wise to my plan and stopped me getting anywhere near the stream!  

 



A run on Church Cove, The Lizard

Walk Length: 5 mins to as long as you want!

Muddy Rating: Not very

I should probably start by saying that dogs aren't allowed all year round on church cove, but between October 1st and Easter you can run and play on this beautiful beach.

It's only a quick bounce from the car park to the sand dunes and sea.  Due to today's sunshine and showers the beach was almost empty. 

 

There are lots of nice walks from Church Cove following along the coastline, however I love just running on the beach.  Dad throws balls for me and I run around collecting them.  I generally pick them up, then drop them and run off.  I think they want me to bring the ball back to them but there are far to many other things to do like chew seaweed and bounce in the waves. 

Choosing our Christmas tree

Every winter mum and dad bring a great big tree into the house and put lots of pretty decorations on it.  This year for the first time mum and dad took me to choose the tree. 

The trees are all growing on a farm, waiting for the day when mum and dad are ready to cut it down and bring it into the house.  I ran up and down sniffing for the perfect tree, although I wasn't allowed to mark the ones I liked!!!

Here we are with our tree......minus dad who is taking the photo! 

Digging for gold

 

Over the past few days there's been a lot of rain turning all the fields around my house into muddy rivers. 

When walking yesterday I saw a rainbow over head.  I hear that there's gold at the end of rainbows.  I'm guessing that this means when a rainbow appears, one of my relatives is hiding for me to find.

Although I didn't find any relatives on this occasion, I was able to get extreemly muddy digging to find them......

Sand dunes and furry hats

Walk legnth: 5 minutes to hours!!

Muddy rating: Not very

The walk along the sand dunes that run behind Gwithian beach might not contain much mud but this does not mean this is a boring walk.  To start with there is loads and loads of space to run.  The dunes stretch for about seven miles which means if you have lots of energy you can run for hours.  There's also lots of places to dig great big holes.  If you're a fan of rabbits there are plenty of rabbit holes and you might find the odd rabbit to chase, if not there is plenty of rabbit poo to eat (when your mums and dads aren't looking). 

Because of its windswept beauty, in the winter months it can get chilly for humans.  Being the end of October, mum decided to wear a sort of animal on her head to keep her warm.  When we stopped for a quick rest, I thought it my duty to investigate the animal on her head. Mum wasn't very impressed with me slobbering all over her, and I wasn't very impressed that the animal turned out to be nothing but synthetic fluff!!

To my canine friends.....a word of caution!

After a great deal of observation of other dogs in puddles, I feel it is my duty to warn my canine friends of the dangers that they are all to often putting themselves in.  Many dogs simply asume one puddle is just the same as another.  It actually takes an eye such as mine to understand the subtle differences between puddles.  

There are two types of puddles.  There are those which can be dived in to, dug in, rolled in etc.  And then there are those which should be approached with much more caution.  The latter is identifiable by an object being present, either in the puddle (such as a rock) or an object floating on the surface which was not placed there by yourself.  These hazzardous puddles usually warrant a bark, and turning your back on them is generally not advised in case the object decides to chase after you. 

The below video illustrates what to do upon finding a hazzardous puddle. 

For further information about spotting the differences between these puddles, please contact me via the blog!

A race to the mud at Great Flat Lode

Walk Length: 20 minutes

Muddy Rating: Not very

For a quick walk in proper Cornish mining country we usually head to the Great Flat Lode near Pool/Camborne.  As part of the mineral tramway which runs from Cornwall's North to South Coast, the mine buildings and pathways between them are all maintained.  There are maps and information boards around the Lode with lots of information about the mining in this area. 

This is quite a busy walk with lots of other dogs around.  It's all off the lead which I love and there's a great big field in the middle where I can run and run.  However, there is not much mud on this walk, that is except one MASSIVE puddle.  Usually mum manages to stop me running in to the puddle on the start of our walk.  However, I have this fantastic strategy that works every time with out fail.  Towards the end of my walk I speed up so I appear to be just out of ear shot.  Of course I can hear mum shouting at me to 'come back' or 'wait', but I pretend I can't, and before she knows it, I'm round the corner and in the glorious murk of the puddle!!!!



Selective hearing is a muddy dogs greatest asset!!



 

 

 



Dodging thunder storms at Degibna woods

Walk Length: 40 Minutes

Muddy Rating: Moderate

 

Degibna woods run alongside Loe Pool near Helston.  It's one of a number of walks around the Loe, which is the largest freshwater lake in Cornwall.  The Loe was once the estuary for the River Cober, but for over 700 years a shingle bank, known as Loe Bar, has blocked the estuary creating the beautiful lake.  The Loe is teeming with wildlife and the National Trust are responsible for ensuring that continues. 



It was in the Loe that I had my very first swim.  I didn't particularly enjoy my first swim because going out of my depth sent me into a state of panic.  These days I'm a much more confident swimmer and love to swim for sticks.  I have to be careful swimming here though because swans lurk behind bullrushes ready to attack me if I get too close!

This walk turned out to be a race against time as thunder clouds loomed over the sea.  The first half of the walk is under woodland canapy that lines the Loe.  As you get closer to the sea, the woods give way to large fields.  Watching the storm rolling in, swimming had to be cut short and we made a quick dash for home.