Raptors

I seem to remember an old house with a cedar tree in the front garden ? That wasn't a pub but just round the corner from where we stayed
 
Funny you should mention the bins, Jon - I am planning on getting a pair & getting a book to study the local bird of prey a bit more as they fascinate me. To be honest, the other birds don't really interest me that much (although watching the birds that sit on the cattle picking ticks off them is very amusing) but I am fascinated by birds of prey. What really struck me about the whole incident is how amazingly effective nature is without us interfering with it. Horse dies - carrion crows go in - vultures feed. Nothing goes to waste, local populations are sustained & the body does not need to be disposed of. Nature at it's most brilliantly efficient.

I love the English countryside, indeed it is my home, I love spending time wandering through woods or up on the Ridgeway, it is so peaceful and beautiful. I can sit in my mum's garden and watch the kites & buzzards circling overhead too, it is lovely. White Horse Hill in Uffington is another favourite of mine, I used to live 5 mins away from there & I would often go up there, either alone with my dog, or with lambournlass & we would just wander around, or play games with the dogs, throwing balls & stuff, or just sitting & contemplating. I find the Spanish countryside beautiful in a completely different way; apart from anything else it is awesome, rugged; somehow it makes you feel that you are just one tiny, tiny part of it as it seems so incredibly vast. Not only that, although you are in the heart of the country it is only 25 kms from the most incredible beaches, like Bolonia, shown here -

beach_tarifa_bolonia_1.jpg


Brian, I love the photo - taken in Spain, was it? I say that as the horse looks almost certainly andalucian, in fact he looks very much like an andalucian I ride a lot, owned byt he great man, my boss!! :D

Some lovely pics there too, DG - another lovely part of the world. I have fond memories of holidays in Boscastle, Combe Martin, St Mawes, Ilfracombe amongst others as a child.
 
Know what you mean, Shads. I used to love taking my dear old gee-gee or pony out into the bush when I was in Zambia - you'd see the cattle egrets perching on the backs of roaming cattle, and the oxpeckers also at work, neatly nipping ticks from even the most private parts of the animals, without retribution! The sound of cicadas, grasshoppers, and the soft shooshing sound of bush grass as we walked through it on those many blue-sky days was so peaceful. Like you, I could imagine I was just the one little dot left alive in the world for a while. I could certainly do with a revival of those lovely hours.
 
It's beginning to wear just a teensy-weeny bit thin, even for someone of my almost infinite patience with obsessives...
 
... I shall be pouring the Blossom Hill red into old Chateau Kirwan bottles for your next visit if you persist in this wanton vilification of 'the beige'...


... now, if THAT horror doesn't keep him quiet for a bit, I'll have to revert to the old family recipe of hemlock 'n' tonic.
 
Ah, I won't be able to get away with it then, as you've prior knowledge of what it tastes like. And there was I, thinking you were such a class act. <_<
 
You must have lived near Kingston Lisle SL?

Your description just about sums up the place, beautifuly peaceful. Going pt time at the end of the month, so spending time breaking in the Appy. Looking forward to some nice long rides along the Ridgeway (just have to hope for the weather to match - one of the positives for Spain!)
 
Yup, LE - I lived in Sparsholt for a while, lovely area. Mum lives in Compton now, which is where I'm based when I'm in the UK. The Ridgeway is just at the top of her road (which is a no-through road) so it's great to take Mols up there, it's very peaceful. Last time I took her up there I acquired another dog, realised I had a strange dog following me so it got walked too & dropped off back at it's home on my way back!!

Good luck with breaking in the youngster, Ali. I'd love to be able to go part time! As it is, I end up riding on my days off - tomorrow myself & my friend are in charge of running the yard to give Maria a day off - I must be mad!!! They're still trying to persuade me to get on a mare that hasn't been ridden for 2 years & when I lunged her a couple of weeks ago she took most of the skin off my fingers, pulled off a shoe (she had only just been shod) and kept rearing bolt upright or bucking & cow kicking.....as she's also the best part of 17 hands & a stroppy old mare I'm not overly keen, to be honest.... <_< :lol:
 
Back
Top