horse bothering

The naughty ponies legged it once again, Classic signs gave it away, lack of pooh on the yard, uneaten breakfast and empty stable.

Hence the seek and return mission.

Luckily a fine day with great views

so it was good fun rather than a chore.

Even RRMK2 managed to stop talking and smile at times.

Summit reached and ponies spotted

we decided to take 5 and have a snack under the ever vigilant K9s. 

Will.I.Am was easy to catch hold of whereas Pronto 

he took a bot of persuading 

to follow us down.

In the end only Will.I.Am was recovered as the call of the wild ponies was just too alluring for Pronto.

We shall return.......and so will he.
 

Big lad

 Not me, the dog, he's a big lad at 6 months Roscoe is filling out mightily. 

a new way

Even after all this time at Rock HQ

we are still discovering new to us paths 

this one linking the Bonsai Mountain 

to Worzel wood 

a path 

with new obstacles to negotiate

but ultimately leading to the ford

where we can play in the river 

play pooh sticks 

take selfies 

before finding the usual way home via the broken swing. 
 

Yes indeedy.....

 Yours truly was lucky enough to be invited into the studio of Sunshine Radio where DJ Nick Davies conducted a live interview about the joys of fostering and how to make it a merry Christmas for children in care. Thankfully despite being live I didn't freeze, sneeze or swear and survived the experience  with credibility intact. 

Fire Proof

 Well it works :)

Also does social work

The woodburner broke, broke the day after the heating oil ran out, the weekend of storm Arwen which was coincidently the coldest weekend of the year. While our woes were a mere trifle compared to those who have been without electricity for 11 days since the storm, it was none the less a tad chilly in HQ.

MBAOSPW managed to remember what sort of wood burner we had, contact the manufacturer, get a parts list and within 48 hours new baffle, fire bricks and fire rope had arrived and all that was needed was a few spare hours to take the old one apart and carefully  rebuild it. We had the technology. 

Ta dah!!! First person to say its too hot can sleep outside. 

Meanwhile. Yours truly dressed as a jolly fat man to raise money for local charity and was very surprised at how little padding was needed to fill the suit. Ahem. 
 

Bless them

The K9s went mental last night prompting a cursory glance into the darkness to find out what was the cause of the cacophony. As luck would have it Trevor and Benjy were bored with playing hide and seek and had found their way in the dark back to their hot and cold running hay 

where they settled to a quite night behind a Will.I.Am proof gate. 
 

Hide and seek again

This mornings routine was disturbed somewhat by the realisation that Will.I.Am had let all the other ponies out of the corral. Which was why yours truly set off around the Bonsai Mountain looking for the Rock HQ hide and seek champions. The ghost house has now doubled in size, still work in progress but looking a lot different.

Fiveways, no sign of Trevor or Benjy, Benjy managed to hide for over 8 months last escape. 

Upper Hanter, no sign, so yours truly was feeling confident that the little rascals had not in fact gone too far as there were no fresh horse lumps or trotter marks on the soft ground.

But as I headed home for the school run

it was clear that this was to no avail, the ponies were too good at hiding and the horse food I was carrying lacked the allure of a blue bucket.  

So unless I have walked past them in the dark and they were close to the house,  tomorrow looks like its going to be a longer walk day 
 

Dirty boy

Will.I.Am our free range horse decided that it would be a great idea to go for a synchronised 

mud bath with his best mate Pronto.

He now wants a brush down. This may take some time!
 

True colours

It has been a sunny couple of days which meant a short walk to the river 

with the boys

and Spotty2

who is a stunning dog

much like his namesake Spotty, here seen on the summit of Glyder Fawr five years ago (RIP Spotty)

The colours this autumn have been simply superb. 

Spotty leads the way

while RRMK2 makes use of the trees for some extra PT.

Dens have to be made 

Spotty didn't want a kennel though.

In all a great way to spend a relaxed afternoon 

taking in the sights, sounds and smells of nature.