Just come back to Galloway after a week in England and while we were away this came for me through the post. If anything could sum up my life right now this is it. 😂🤣

In the future if I ever say anything about moving house will somebody please have me taken out and shot? It is ridiculously, stupidly, overwhelmingly stressful. Especially when the last time you did it was only 12 months ago. 😭

Morning

Trying to walk down the high street in town with this dog is taking longer and longer. She has now worked out how to blag treats from the hardware shop, the estate agents, the Emporium, the baguette shop and the dog rescue charity shop. 😳

SWIFTS !!!! SWIFTS !!!! @maudiestokes.bsky.social WE HAVE SWIFTS!

I think Woodster has been listening to the election results.

Morning dog walk. The early hour finds the town silent except for a chorus of birdsong. A lone fisherman heads for the river as a swallow darts to and fro over the water. A pair of flowering sycamores suspend their panicles beneath fresh green leaves and the verge beneath overflows with comfrey.

Went to the beach. There was nobody there 😁

Just been standing in the supermarket behind a young woman who was wearing a sweatshirt. On the back it said “To the person standing behind me. The world is a better place with you in it.” I felt as if it was a moment of kindness directed at me and I was touched. 🥲😁

Such sad news. RIP Ted #GoneFishing

Morning dog walk. As we pass beneath a flowering cherry a breeze causes it to shower us with pink blossom like confetti. Overnight a driver doing doughnuts in the car park has stopped long enough to declare his love for Jayne in blue chalk. Three mallards fly in hasty formation along the river.

Husband and I have just seen an advert on television that mentioned people fitting a mold. Me - Do I fit a mold? Husband - F*ck me no! Any mold you were even close to was broken years ago. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 The perfect answer.

We went to the beach. The tide was out further than I’ve ever seen it 😳

We have been to Wigtown harbour. It was full of peace and wildness and skylarks. It fed my soul.

#MorningDogWalk A mysterious bird, obscured by the branches of a riverside tree, sings a loud, beautiful song I don’t recognise. A dog loving passer-by tells me how much sofa space her lurcher claims. Untroubled by my presence an Orange Tip butterfly feeds gently but persistently on Lady’s Smock.

Morning.

This is a bit spectacular isn’t it? I can’t take any credit, it’s in our neighbours garden but we definitely get the benefit of it. 😁

Got a message from my friend while I was out with the dogs saying she’d been sorting out their books and did I want to look through them before they went to the charity shop? This was in my porch when I got home 😃 🥳 💃

#MorningDogWalk In the garden of the library a dove & a wood pigeon alternate their ‘similar but different’ calls. Blackbird chicks hide in a nest along the river walk while an adult bird searches for food beneath the hedge. Spring is accentuating nature’s colonisation of the long abandoned pub.

Morning

#MorningDogWalk The beautiful, sunny Sunday morning promises a fine walk. We meet old Rab who invites me to sit and chat in the town hall square. Our conversation is loud until he retrieves his hearing aids from his trouser pocket. The river sparkles in the morning sun and looks almost inviting.

#MorningDogWalk An owner laughs as her aging collie mistakes my small dog for a cat and anticipates a chase before disappointedly realising his mistake. The newly mended church clock chimes reassuringly as we pass. A neighbour’s Amelanchier tree flaunts its blossom in preparation for later berries

Just had an offer accepted on a house! 🏡 🥳 💃

The linnet is back! (Right hand corner of the table)

@soberalmu.bsky.social @jacqui-smudger.bsky.social I have intel. Garry is fine. Just taking a break.

There is a pair of Linnets on my bird table !!!! I have never seen a Linnet before!

#MorningDogWalk A blackbird takes a noisy bath in a puddle left by yesterday’s rain while a wood pigeon sits relaxed on an overhead wire. Nearby a sparrow finds a white down feather to add to its nest. A large Magnolia spreads over the hard stone wall as if to accentuate the beauty of its blossom

Morning

#MorningDogWalk After our six days away the thrush serenades us with his loud, pure song as if to welcome us back. The first blackcap of the year calls cheerfully from a dense hedge by the river. I wonder how many footsteps over the decades have shaped the timeworn steps by the derelict house.

It’s amazing how many houses you can cross off your potential purchase list just by doing drive-by viewings. We erased 5 yesterday and 3 today. One was on a busy road, one had a new estate being built in the field opposite and one was near an intensive chicken farm. 😢 🐓 🍗

Just been to view a house in a town I’ve never been to before so obviously we did a bit of a recce. I was pleasantly surprised. It is a small Shropshire market town and pretty old ✅ It has a cafe/bar called the Warbling Tit ✅ 😂 It has a second hand book shop ✅ ✅

We are in the caravan by the canal in Shropshire and there is a SWALLOW! Just one but I’m told more are expected in the next few days. 😍

At Tebay services - normally the only bright spot on the M6. It is HEAVING. It’s like Glastonbury on steroids.

#Morningdogwalk. The leaves of a holly hedge gleam in the bright morning sun as a pair of blackbirds search for food beneath it. The groundsman at the bowling club stands outside the pavilion door and searches his pockets for keys. An abandoned pair of false eyelashes wink up from the pavement.

Morning.

Morning dog walk. From neighbouring trees a thrush and a blackbird perform a duet, their distinct songs pure and melodious. A carrion crow pulls nesting material from the old flood debris caught in a bush on the riverbank. Outside the closed church door a large floral cross celebrates Easter.

Morning.

Morning dog walk. The river races urgently towards the bay in contrast to the slow, peaceful Sunday morning atmosphere of the town. A wagtail keeps pace with us along the bank before rising to a rooftop to further broadcast his song. In an unkempt verge a single windblown Honesty stands proud.

I have bought the Woodster a fleecy jumper from Aldi. It’s a bit big. I think I’m going to have to alter it 🙄

@imcmillan.bsky.social Morning dog walk. An occasional series.

Morning dog walk. A tourist stands contentedly outside his motorhome and gazes at the river as he eats a bakery breakfast from a white paper bag. A man both surprises and pleases me when he tips his hat in vintage greeting. The morning sun transforms an unexpected frost to diamonds in the grass.

Morning.

Morning dog walk. A man plays ball with an enthusiastic Papillon and I fondly remember when my dog, now 14 and arthritic, enjoyed the game as much. We meet old Rab, whose forgotten hearing aid causes our chat to be loud and public. A row of trees by the river fill my eye with their pink blossom.

Just come home to find this little chap on the steps by the patio doors. He’s not very well is he? I don’t know whether he’s ill or flown into the glass. Does anyone know what he is? I’m guessing greenfinch chick but I could well be wrong.

Morning dog walk. A delivery driver whistles as he unloads cages behind the convenience store. A pair of doves coo affectionately in the Rowan tree by the library. Squabbling sparrows simultaneously fall silent as we approach a hedge. An Amazon box smiles up from beneath the river water.

Some interesting clouds this morning.

Morning

So far today we’ve had bright sunshine, torrential rain, hailstones and snow. I’m beginning to wonder what’s coming next. 😳

The sky outside this train is pale blue. The morning is no longer dark. Our beautiful earth tries every day to get our attention. Sometimes we humans make it so hard to notice her.

Woody the Woodster has been sedated for a visit to the vet’s earlier. He is completely stoned. He was a Very Good Boy.