This walk started by the Kennet canal. On the walk description it warned that it can get quite busy but surprisingly it wasn't at all. On our way back we saw some people by the canal but it was tolerable.
The walks by the canal are easy, as it is flat ground. But it didn't last that way very long. Soon we left the canal behind and walked through fields and forests. This walk wasn't very hilly but I chose a little bit longer walk than we usually do. It ended up being even longer but I will come back to this subject a bit later.
We had two "wildlife" encounters on this walk. The first one was this dove, who was obviously tame as she wasn't scared of us at all. I couldn't get a better picture cause there were some people behind us who were kindly waiting while I was taking pictures. I didn't want to keep them waiting forever.
The second encounter was a bit sadder. This little fellow had probably been hit by the car and was lying next to the road. If I'm correct, this bat is called Common Pipistrelle. They weigh only 5 grams, same as 20pence coin but during one nigh they can eat around 3000 insects! We thought it best to remove him from the side of the road and lifted him to the bushes. He was so cute clinging on to the paper with his little paws. Hopefully he made it.....
And of course there were cows! But this time we were quite lucky - we didn't have to go through them. Well we did, but we were able to walk on the next field right next to them, where the original footpath was.
Autumn is coming! Forests are full of mushrooms. I've never seen these before. I like autumn, especially when it's a nice sunny one. At the moment the hedgerows are full of blackberries so you're able to have a little snack any time.
I took this picture for my sister who is crazy for Christmas. I just calculated it and we have 16 weekends left! Not long! This year's Christmas will be extra special as my daughter will be coming home from uni. So I guess I will be counting days too, like my sister.
Life is full of decisions. And if you make a wrong one, you can carry on thinking everything is good. But eventually you come to the point where you realise that all that time you have been on the wrong path so to speak. That's what happened to us on this walk. I should probably use more map and compass. But if I tell you honestly, I don't think I'm very good with those. So I have a description of the walk. I do have a map but if I really go wrong, I mostly rely on the Viewranger app which is brilliant or Google map. So we were walking as we were and there was supposed to be an abandoned house but there wasn't. I knew something was wrong. We sat down, I was trying to figure out what's going on and decided to carry on. I'm not sure how long we walked for before I took out my phone to check and realised we have gone completely wrong. So we traced our way back when my son realised he had lost his little ball. He lost it on our holiday to France - dropped it into a fast river and I had only just replaced it. As he discovered that he'd lost it noticed the ball (it's neon yellow) a bit further ahead of us at the spot where we had sat earlier! Would that apply to life too? I need to think about that!
Maurice managed to lose his ball second time too when he dropped it into a ditch which was difficult to access. So I sent the dog in. It took her a while to find it cause in the water the ball looses the smell but eventually she found it and brought it out. Then it was decided that the ball stays in backpack.
These two pillars looked from the distance like the statues on Easter Island - we both thought that. Do you agree? This part of the walk we had done before and it was like meeting an old friend. Maurice was interacting with the sheep on the field whom he calls his brothers. Is that strange?
We finished off by the canal like we started. With my little detour we had walked 14 km - nearly 9 miles. Considering we normally do only 6, it was quite a bit more. I know for some people it's probably nothing. But you should never compare yourself with others! We did really well and I'm hoping to keep up with our walks and blogging - mainly for myself.
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