tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post7596932673217810176..comments2024-02-28T22:43:49.960+00:00Comments on Asia Vu: Life in the UK: Walking the DogMsCarolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03623997911568143459noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-41273127438392544802015-06-16T16:12:45.293+01:002015-06-16T16:12:45.293+01:00Wow! I hadn't realised you had been so blesse...Wow! I hadn't realised you had been so blessed with company. We get similar phases when we have people in the house or in the holiday cottage and it is lovely that people want to come but does leave you with no time for the more ordinary bits of life. Hope you have a lovely summer lined up!Elizabeth Musgravehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09473705107636868753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-64468489224881101662015-06-13T12:05:26.943+01:002015-06-13T12:05:26.943+01:00Circles: Thank you so much, although there have b...Circles: Thank you so much, although there have been quite a few cold days in the last few months when I would have given anything to trade places with you!<br /><br />Trish - Thank you - but I should point out that, whilst Jacob's Ladder looks charming, it is a brruuuutal climb! I have only done it 2 or 3 times, even though I keep saying that doing it daily would be an excellent workout.<br /><br />Emma - Merlot is terrified of the gates, but she tolerates them because they usually mean an off-lead experience. ; ) You're right about dog ownership being social, though; I have met so many lovely, lovely people in my rambles. I was worried since this is our first move when I didn't have a child in school (and the built-in social connections that come with that) but having a dog has taken care of that problem!<br /><br />Elizabeth - oh yes, I am enjoying the UK, and haven't got a single 'stalkerish' vibe yet - never fear, will be heading north(northwest?) as soon as our schedule permits, and I am positive I will like it. We've had nonstop company (well, with a 2-week break in there) almost since moving in - and more on the way. Whilst it's lovely that everyone wants to visit us, I have to say it's been a bit draining. This is our first weekend NOT spent out of town in 5 weeks! MsCarolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623997911568143459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-29947617178784125442015-06-12T22:09:42.754+01:002015-06-12T22:09:42.754+01:00I am so glad you are enjoying life in the UK (most...I am so glad you are enjoying life in the UK (most of the time I hope!). I do really want you to come up here and I know I am at the risk of sounding stalkerish or boring. I just think you would like it. Elizabeth Musgravehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09473705107636868753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-71474203521248299172015-05-13T19:48:32.819+01:002015-05-13T19:48:32.819+01:00Lovely post C. Beautiful pictures too - love the...Lovely post C. Beautiful pictures too - love the kissing gate! Owning a dog is such a social thing too isn't it? My aunt has a dog in London, within a year of owning it, she had a firm circle of friends who she holidays with years later! :D BavarianSojournhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12701272367912860549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-48477450704756474312015-05-10T20:42:51.326+01:002015-05-10T20:42:51.326+01:00Thanks for sharing your dog walk - just lovely. I ...Thanks for sharing your dog walk - just lovely. I adore the photo of Jacob's Ladder too.Trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00119443727504215312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-16202674336925319742015-05-07T12:19:01.977+01:002015-05-07T12:19:01.977+01:00What lovely photos! I feel like I've just been...What lovely photos! I feel like I've just been for a walk through the English countryside, when in reality I haven't left my chair, at my desk, at the top of a tower, overlooking the desert! Circles in the Sandhttp://dubaiunveiled.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-13628582867032701742015-05-05T20:11:23.761+01:002015-05-05T20:11:23.761+01:00EM: I'm surprised there aren't any dog pa...EM: I'm surprised there aren't any dog parks near you! They were becoming quite a thing in the US when we left - at least in the south and southwest. I have to say, I'm trying to appreciate this as much as possible while I can, because it's not likely that the next place we move (whether back to the US or somewhere else overseas) will provide this sort of doggie paradise. MsCarolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623997911568143459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-12632782310221199172015-05-05T15:29:49.732+01:002015-05-05T15:29:49.732+01:00How gorgeous. I'm so jealous. Here in Chicago,...How gorgeous. I'm so jealous. Here in Chicago, although we have lots of big parks, dogs aren't allowed off the leash. I have to have my dog go to a doggy day care three times a week to get her run around in.Expat mumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17798190669591053390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-13858211474646880532015-05-05T15:10:53.795+01:002015-05-05T15:10:53.795+01:00Nance - oh, good, I would hate to ever come across...Nance - oh, good, I would hate to ever come across that way (smug and smirky, I mean.) And I seriously doubt I will ever be jaded with any of this. I am constantly stumbling across things that just blow me away, and I do, occasionally, have to suppress the desire to grab people and shake them, while screaming, " appreciate this!!!" If frequent moving does nothing else for you, it definitely makes you appreciate things around you - I'm always very conscious of the fact that everything around me is temporary. I like the term, "Tourist Eyes' - because that's exactly what they are - and will probably remain, because I think I'd have to live here for a lifetime to get complacent about any of it! As far as Merlot is concerned, it is largely due to her that my rambles take me so far and wide. She is a ball of energy (young Bosties, at least, tend to be quite active) and would probably drive me crazy if I didn't walk her a few miles every day. The one you know must be a little older and calmer - I can only look forward to that day!MsCarolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623997911568143459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-60717808021028493742015-05-05T14:52:01.974+01:002015-05-05T14:52:01.974+01:00Bless your heart! I am so glad that this wasn'...Bless your heart! I am so glad that this wasn't a sort of jaded, smug, smirky, "Here is my dog walk now, Poor Americans. Because England, you know."<br /><br />(Not that you are ever snotty.)<br /><br />I am glad that you are in awe and thrilled and still wearing Tourist Eyes when you write these posts. There is no way that anyone could not be impressed, coming there as a stranger and seeing all of that ancient beauty, and being able to walk amid it as a daily routine. I could feel your identical emotion immediately.<br /><br />Merlot must be quite hale and hearty to walk such a distance and on such terrain! The other Boston I know would have been tuckered less than halfway. Her short legs just can't go very long.Nancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17627214346956206283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-73370862463806017332015-05-05T13:36:36.574+01:002015-05-05T13:36:36.574+01:00Stacy- oh, I'm glad. I'm not a very good ...Stacy- oh, I'm glad. I'm not a very good photographer, but whenever I take that walk, it kills me that I can't share it with other people - so I did! I will definitely keep the brambles in mind as the season progresses - we used to pick wild blackberries when I lived in VA, and I thought of them immediately when I saw these bushes!<br /><br />NVG- Thanks for the link! Actually, it was watching a BBC documentary on the Pennine way a couple weeks ago that got me thinking about the whole public footpath thing. My neighbor had even told me about how some of the people he knows always kept a pair of wire cutters in their pockets to cut fences as they came across them. What strikes me is that there seems to be something of a social covenant whereby everyone in England agrees to live in a more compressed space so that there is more open land for everyone to enjoy together. Or at least it seems that way compared to the US! When I see all this 'empty' space I walk through with the dog, all I can think is that in the US they would have turned it into car parks or Wal Marts or single-family houses with enormous backyards. I love the idea that there's all this gorgeous countryside for everyone to enjoy!MsCarolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623997911568143459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-67323818453446797022015-05-05T13:23:32.417+01:002015-05-05T13:23:32.417+01:00Beautiful photos.
It wasn't always this way yo...Beautiful photos.<br />It wasn't always this way you know - we have something called the Right to Roam which came in 10 years ago or so and expanded the amount of land that people are allowed to walk on, including private land.<br /><br />here's an article on it:<br /><br />http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/rambling-revolution-how-people-power-won-the-right-to-roam-9773740.html<br /><br />But there have always been lots of public footpaths, bridleways etc as well in the country. Unlike the US where it only tends to be in parks that you can walk freely around. <br />nappy valley girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788949037047084412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4551977354338403876.post-90763104437035864222015-05-05T13:15:06.458+01:002015-05-05T13:15:06.458+01:00Oh, delightful! I feel like I have just accompanie...Oh, delightful! I feel like I have just accompanied you and Merlot on a jaunty walk across the countryside! Glad you are taking advantage of all the public footpaths! Make sure to head back that way as summer progresses to pick some brambles. They make the best pie! Some years in Jersey we don't get as many, depending on rain/sun in the growing season, so I mix them with apples for an apple bramble pie. Serve with double cream! Divine. Stacy Rushtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008030206240908911noreply@blogger.com