just over a month to go......

The countdown has begun, with less than 6 weeks to go, here is a quick update on the training that has been going on.
Last weekend was the Marbury beagle walk which was attended by many many many mad beagle owners and their beagles. Organised by Dawn Briggs who managed to raise an incredible £2500+ for Beagle Welfare.
The fab 4 were at large for a bit of impromptu training, and fooling around by the looks of things

I think it must have been a bit chilly judging by Kenny's headgear! ...just in Kenny has just told me that this is the latest in "anti midgeeeeeee head gear and is a must!

Individually, the girls have been more "active" than the boys. Clare C has had a very busy time getting in lots of training over the last few days.

This must have been Clare working out her walking strategy and just planning her signing repertoire for the 5 days.

On the other hand this was Claire B on a walk of about 6 miles with all three of her beagles but I think Alfie must have found his own way home, as at this point Claire was lost having to use her phone to work out where she was in this picture.

It does not bode well for the WHW walk, as these were field where Claire grew up and played as a child. Thank heavens Kenny and Neil will be on hand to do the navigational work, lucky for claire that she had the Iphone map app, as she got stung and walked through rape fields enroute!

At least stinging nettles are good for the circulation if you do get stung!
Looks like you can have senior moments in your 30's now.

Training for me last week was lacking, we did get to the beach for Alfie and Freddie to do their bit for the environment eating everyone's rubbish

Then Alfie tried his best to get some paddling in, but since they were on a split lead and Freddie detests the water, he was having none of that!

On arrival home after this walk, I found the we had no power and then had to wait in for a power man to come round and check things out, so didn't get any really long walks in last weekend. 

With less than six weeks to go until the big event, if anyone is considering sponsoring please feel free to part with some readies - links to our Just Giving page and our Virgin Money Giving page can be found at the top of this blog.

Lost beagle and Turmeric

Training for me this week has been a little light. partly because I think that Alfie has been suffering with a bit of arthritis in his back legs. We have some steps down to our bottom garden where he likes to go and tease the chickens and poke his paws through to drag some of their poo towards him for his pudding! (yuk) Anyway, a couple of times, I have had to look for him after calling and he was just standing at the bottom of the steps with his back legs shaking a little and waiting for me to carry him up the steps, also he has been very reluctant to jump onto the bed at night. I did think it was maybe because Freddie was giving him the evils - (they did have a full on fight at 3am the other week when Freddie decided to assert his dominance one morning)
Anyway, I spoke to my dog sitter and she mentioned that she thought he was looking a little stiff with his walking and was also reluctant to get up and move about when she popped in to let them out.
So onto Facebook to my raw feeding rebels group I went as I had heard that lots of dog owners use turmeric paste to help with arthritis.Recipe found!
Turmeric and additional coconut oil purchased I quickly whipped up a jar of the paste and have been giving it to both the boys for a few meals now - they dont seem to keen on it, but have so far managed to hide the paste in minced up meat and offal. I think it is helping, as Alfie has been down to tease the chickens a few times and not needed me to carry him up the steps each time.I did also give him some Reiki so that too may have helped! Time will tell.

My weekend was not going to be one of long walks due to Alfie being a little under the weather, however, following a post on Lost Dog and Team Beagle Lost and Found about a missing beagle, we did end up heading down to Plymbridge Woods for a walk and a scout around to see if we could find the missing beagle.

We didn't find him, but happily, he has since turned up back at home after being found last night by a kind person who took him in and then contacted the owner today to re-unite him with his family. I remebered to take my purse this trip and I ended up with icecream and the ice cream van sold frozen yoghurt treats which Alfie and Freddie wolfed down!
Social Media is a truly amazing thing in some ways, as without it, poor Milo and his family might have been apart for a lot longer.
Milo is currently at home receiving lots and lots of extra cuddles, although he may be subject to lead walks for a while following his little adventure!

Have not had much in the way of training updates from the others, but Neil I think is obsessed with blisters, as he seems to share pictures of the most gruesome ones I have ever seen. Kenny is suffering with his feet, so I think they will all deserve a medal if they actually get through it in August especially if Clare does sing the whole way!
I thankfully have no injuries, although my walking boots have developed a hole and now let the water in - that's what happens when you live in them. Another pair have been purchased so now I will hopefully get them worn in just in time for my August challenge!

Exmouth and Jellyfish

Today Alfie, Freddie and I embarked on our first training session for our South West version of the West Highland Way. The great thing about doing this walk close to home is that the beagles can come too - well that's the plan, they will probably have other ideas!
This morning I got up and it was a beautiful sunny day so I got my map out and had a look at the route we would take. I made a sandwich and a smoothie and packed some water, carrots and snacks for the boys grabbed leads and headed up towards Exmouth.
I have never been to Exmouth, to my knowledge (maybe as a child - but that was a very long time ago!) I didn't really know where I was going to park or walk, although the idea was to follow the coastline.
About three quarters of the way to Exmouth, I realised I had left my purse at home, what a pain, did I go back? Thinking quickly I checked my change pot that I keep in the car for parking hmmm 35 pence, that was not going to help. Maybe I could find somewhere free to leave the car. Actually not such a great idea, since a few years ago I cycled the London to Brighton and got my friend to meet me and drive me back and they could not remember where they parked the car, so we ended up walking round Brighton for a good hour until we stumbled upon it (He's was not very bright and I was not very happy!)
Anyway I thought a car park would be my best bet, then it came to me, Mobile phone parking - it was bound to work, so I carried on to Exmouth.
I came up to the train station and there was a huge car park there so I drove in, only to find that there was not a text to park but you had to register with a website then load up credit card details. hmmmm could I remember the number and expiry date. Sadly, I do actually know the number of my credit card and took a punt at the expiry date - success! (just goes to show how much I must use online shopping!!)
So parked - legally - we all got out and wandered towards the sea.
It was truly a beautiful day, although a bit breezy right on the coast. Just a few puffy clouds in the sky.

Alfie, Freddie and I walked along the coastline taking in the sea air, that smell just a hint of seaweed, the kind as a child you used to get when just arriving at the seaside ready for a day on the beach with bucket & spade, I still love that smell to this day.
Wandering along the quayside I was amazed to see a huge Jellyfish in the shallow water, it must have been dead as it was not moving but it was huge.

I was glad I didn't have the urge to go for a paddle, since this would have put me off straight away.

We wandered at a leisurely pace along past the marina which looks an amazing place to live the apartments all smart and pristine very clean with no litter and so many boats.

Carrying on our walk took us along the esplanade where there is a dog friendly beach all year round and plenty of ice cream vendors. I am partial to an ice cream but having had my senior moment forgetting my purse, I had to just look today.
The beach at Exmouth stretches for seemingly miles and past the dog friendly section there were kite surfers taking advantage of the breeze and beach volley ball nets up ready for play to begin.

So much has changed since my childhood at the beach, I do recall donkey rides, but no organised games or surfers of any description.

We had travelled about 3 miles so I thought it was time for a snack stop, Alfie and Freddie - ever ready for food demolished their carrots pretty quickly and were ready to head off again. We headed back across the scrub land the other side of the road from the beach, a huge expanse where people were picnicking and playing and running around with dogs.
Our route took us towards the town, and before we knew it we were back near the car park where we first started.
The beags didn't look ready to head home, so we headed off in the opposite direction towards Lympstone along the coast path. It was pretty warm by now I had taken off my sweatshirt as the sun was burning down - even with the sea breeze.
As we headed further along, the tide had gone out and we saw probably around 10 to 15 huge dead jellyfish along the shore line. I thought the boys would be all over them but thankfully they steered clear of them. Very strange.

My beagles don't really like water but Alfie will have a paddle if the weather is warm. Freddie hates water so does his best to avoid it at all costs. Being on a split lead they often have a bit of a tug of war when Alfie wants to go in the water. Luckily I did bring a separate lead for Freddie so Alfie was able to splash about whilst Freddie stayed on dry land pretty much.

We headed back towards the car and completed around 7 miles all in all.

The beags slept all the way back home and pretty much all afternoon, although were quite happy to go out for a more local short stroll later on.

News from the WHW contingent, sadly, Suzanne has had to pull out, as she has a damaged ankle and has been advised not to walk much on it. That's not really that helpful when you have a 96 mile walk planned! She will be missed by all.
Claire and Clare have been planning what to take and getting lists together. No surprises that Clare's list contains tweezers and Claire's contains ear defenders - I wonder why?
No noise from either of the boys, I'm sure they are going to be fighting fit and ready to take on the girls!