Stop the press! News sensation! Read all about it! Your intrepid correspondent has been for another walk!
Yesterday I parked Clint in the peaceful hamlet of Oxton Rakes west of Chesterfield. There are only five house there but each one is substantial - built of stone and they enjoy big gardens, driveways with gates and various outbuildings.
One of the first things I noticed was two creamy white alpacas in a meadow. I always find this an odd sight as alpacas belong in the foothills of the Andes mountains in South America. These two had recently been shorn so with winter approaching I felt a little sorry for them and wondered why the shears had not been used in the middle of our gorgeous summer.
Then the plodding began and your intrepid correspondent moved across the landscape like a beetle. I had a circular route in mind and at first the light was splendid but soon a massive grey cloud eased westwards from Chesterfield and an hour into the walk I found myself sheltering beneath a hawthorn tree as sheets of cold rain stabbed downwards like mini-stilettos. And I swear there were icy beads in that rain shower too.
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| The southern suburbs of Sheffield were visible on the horizon |
It only lasted ten minutes but as the grey blanket moved on, I looked at my watch, thought about how far I had travelled and decided to alter my planned route - knocking off a little more than a mile.
When I got to the head of an old track called Oxton Rakes Road, I noticed a stone in the middle of a grassy field and climbed over a nearby gate to investigate. It was a parish boundary stone defining the limit of the parish of Brampton. I waited for another pesky cloud to drift away - thereby allowing sunshine to illuminate this ancient stone.
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| Mauricio the Alpaca |
Of course Oxton Rakes Road leads to Oxton Rakes and as I passed the alpaca field the creatures came to greet me as if I was a long lost friend or another alpaca. It was probably the highlight of their day and a welcome relief from their constant grazing.
Unusually, I stopped at a nearby pub for a pint of "Black Sheep" and a bag of "Mini Cheddars". I read my book in the empty pub warmth before saddling up Clint once again and riding home into the sunset that was arriving an hour too early. Changing the clocks twice a year is very stupid.
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| Selfie - I am waving to you. |
I am with you on the stupidity of changing clocks - like we can dictate to Mother Nature how to run things!
ReplyDeleteChanging the clocks puts people about. It interferes with the natural rhythm of life and besides I have seven clocks and a wristwatch to change eac time. Why?
DeleteAlpacas are crazy beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLike you Ms Moon. Like you.
DeleteI agree with the stupidity of still changing the clocks.
ReplyDeleteI went to change my watch to the new time and the winder pulled right out and cannot be put back, therefore my watch will now always have the old time, it must have known I was reluctant to change, lol
Luckily it has not stopped the watch from still working.
Briony
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I bet that appointments are missed and confusion happens but I would like to grow into dark winter nights slowly... not all of a sudden.
DeleteMaybe the alpaca WAS shorn in the summer and its fleece is just taking a long time to grow. I googled shearing alpaca and found that their coats are extremely warm and they do not shed them naturally so must be shorn annually. "Annual" suggests their coats are slow-growing. Anyway, they have funny sweet faces and I hope, as you do, that they are warm enough this winter.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that you have unusually long legs? Like, REALLY REALLY LONG legs?
That's because I am a Daddy Longlegs!
DeleteActually, the time we are at now is the "proper" time, and summertime the "wrong" one. But never mind which way, I could live very well without the change twice a year.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures, as always. Like Jenny said, you do have long legs. That must make it a lot easier to take pictures of great landscape views, as if you were always standing on a tower.
Yes - there are advantages in having such long legs but it's a long way to fall and I hate tying my bootlaces.
DeleteWe change the time on the 4th, I believe. I think it should be daylight savings time all the time. If there ever was a reason to change, it has long since been forgotten. Maybe Donald will issue one of his executive orders with the signature that is almost as large as the page of paper!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Alpaca's . Until one of 'em spits on you!!
Thanks for the lovely walk in the sunshine!
I thought that alpacas only spat at Trump supporters. As for changing the time I wish that silly habit could be stopped all over the world. There are good reasons for sticking with the same time and not changing it.
DeleteI too dislike the changing of the clocks twice each year. We change ours this coming weekend. It always takes me a bit to adjust to the new time.
ReplyDeleteJudging by your last picture I see you must now be taking your walks on stilts! You are a man of many talents!
They are not stilts Bonnie! They are my legs. Very handy for looking in upstairs windows - I have seen some naughty things!
DeleteThat's such a good photo of Mauricio.
ReplyDeleteHe was posing for me.
DeleteI'm missing something with your title? But you did have a good walk even if there was a squall that caught you.
ReplyDeleteThe alpaca was called Mauricio Red.
Delete"Daylight saving time" as we call it splits the east coast of Australia into two different time zones as we Queenslanders refuse to change our clocks. Those that want more daylight hours can get up early and do stuff then. We are happy to have night time and relief from the sun !
ReplyDeleteI gather you just plan your walks on a map and tramp over people's property as you are allowed in the UK??
I follow public footpaths that will often cross people's land.
DeleteAs for daylight savings time. hurrah for Queensland!
I don't usually see a "path" in your photos though I know from our walks that often you just have to look ahead to find the next style. Love the way you can do this all over England. do the other countries of the UK also have public footpaths?
DeleteThere are quite a number of alpacas here in Australia...and their numbers are growing constantly.
ReplyDeleteThere is an alpaca farm down at Canungra....Canungra is approximately 12kms from here where I live...down off this mountain to the west.
They are such a pretty animal.
I'm not a fan of daylight saving time...and I hated it when it was trialed here in Queensland in the early 90s. I was living in far north Qld at the time. It was and is not needed here, in my opinion.
Another array of lovely photos, Yorkie. :)
Screw Daylight Savings Time! One of the worst human inventions!
DeleteHear! Hear! Yorkie...and, worse still...it fades the curtains!!! ;)
DeleteSounds like a delightful walk. With you on Daylight saving I wish we could have another vote to repeal the first one back in the 60's - reckon it would be a landslide
ReplyDeleteWe have two alpacas - they are guard animals and even have the kangaroos trained. We have seen foxes go around our boundary to avoid the alpacas. Our black is the older and wiser boy and his name is Addidas and the younger one we rescued from a chap that loved to use a piece of rubber pipe to persuade him to move one way or the other. He was terrified for months and used to 'cush' if you went near him. We called him Louie. Addidas taught Louie how to spit!! They had slinging matches across the fence as each had their own group of sheep (the previous owners told us Addidas was not a social boy.
We soon found that was not the case and nowadays they like to be together and do a great job - Louie is the scout and Addidas the defender, they are fascinating characters.
Is it possible to ride on an alpacas back? Maybe you should try it Elle!
DeleteAlpacas are probably unaffected by daylight saving time
ReplyDelete...But if their owner comes into the field with food supplements then they probably have to wait an hour longer.
DeleteHello! (waving back)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got a picture of the alpaca. And I agree -- I'm not crazy about these time changes.