We have some real characters in our village ...

Hound and gulls sharing the treats

My rambles make my world brighter ..... they allow me to focus on others and, for that moment in time, forget about the challenges I’m facing. Not everyone has the luxury of starting their day like I do ... and not everyone would want to ... but I consider myself extremely blessed to have these few hours every day to put my world in order.

Golden glows over my world ...

I meet so many people on my daily rambles ... especially later in the morning when I’m with Carol. There are the few early morning souls that I see when I head out to meet Julia .... the elderly lady who pushes her equally elderly hound in the pushchair, the Retriever who lives at the top of our road and the Border Collie who I always see heading towards Glover Park. If I’m a few minutes late, I miss them all!

This is Indy's zinger toy ... that she likes ...

Role reversal ... Indy's now got it.

The regularity with which I see them is what village life is all about. It’s a small community where everyone knows nearly everyone else and, whilst it can be frustrating for some people, I love the camaraderie of it all and the genuine interest people have in one another.

We have some real characters in our village and I hope, that if any of them read my blog, they won’t be offended by me calling them characters ... but they are .... all larger than life and an integral part of my day!

... and he doesn't intend giving it back.

She wants it back ...

There’s good ole Pete ... he of Village Co-op fame .... where would we be if Pete didn’t provide our daily fix and often a mix of humour too. I got told this morning that, compared to Carol, I lower the tone of the place. Carol looks pristine in her walking clothes ... I on the other hand, am often wet - almost as wet as my hound and covered in sand - as is my hound. Anyone would think Pete goes out and sweeps the pavement in front of the Co-op each morning as I got told, tongue-in-cheek today, that my hound and I leave sand everywhere ... yeah right .... isn’t that what happens when you’ve been on the beach!!

... so she tried taking it out of his mouth.

She pulled ....

Pete employs the most delightful young girls in the Co-op ... they always have a smile and a cheerful greeting for us despite the early hour that they start. I get to see them just as they’ve opened when Julia and I grab our addiction fixing caffeine shot ... and again later when I return to the beach with Carol.

..... and Indy pulled back ...

so she pulled EVEN harder!

We often chat to Jenny who lives across the road from the beach. She gets to keep an eye on the village from her little perch and is a mine of information on the goings on in our village. If you want to know who someone is or what they do, Jenny’s the person to ask ... she has a heart of gold and is everyone’s friend. 

... then barked at him till he barked back and dropped it!

Then there’s the regular Humans with Hounds who faithfully tread the boardwalk with their hounds everyday. There’s Moira and Fergus, the West Highland Terrier - Fergus, that is. Apart from Carol, Moira must be one of the fittest ladies of her age in St. Heliers .... Fergus is a lucky lad, he gets walked several times a day. 

Harry, learning to retrieve rugby balls

Denise and Abi - a Springer Spaniel - drive to our neck of the woods to walk most days too. Abi is as besotted with balls as my hound, though her ball of choice is a tennis ball. She was quite disconcerted a few days ago when my hound pinched her ball and buried it in the sand.

Yep ... there it is ... the SQUABBLE of seagulls!

Max, the black Labrador, also gets walked by his human everyday - they always stop to pass the time of day with Carol and I. Max is quite an elderly Labrador and walks at a very slow pace - I do wonder sometimes if he’s ever in his life been able to walk any faster.

Awesome reflections!

We see several Golden Retrievers ... Tim and Amanda walk their two on the beach everyday too. Tim was walking them on his own this morning and had lost Mia’s rubber ball - the expensive one! We couldn’t see it anywhere. Sonny, one of the other Retrievers we see seldom gets to walk on the sand ... his humans live in an apartment just up from the Co-op and I think that’s why he’s not allowed to swim - it would be a bit of a mission washing him down and drying him everyday ... such a long coat! 

A recent arrival to our beach is Harry, another black Lab and only 7 months old. He comes to the beach with Becky and is fast learning that chasing rugby balls into the waves is such fun!

I guess no village would be complete without the trouble-makers and that’s where the GOP’s come in (Grumpy Old People) ... and yes our GOM is one of them ... a grumpy old fart ... who needs to learn how to smile!

Hmmmm .... I wonder if my friend’s blonde moment today would have made him smile! Nothing is sacred when you’re my friend and this particular friend knows that ... she’s not blonde but had a spectacular blonde moment earlier!! 

She phoned me to say she couldn’t get  the “Bubble” car her husband had left for her to drive today into gear ... it was making lots of grating noises but wouldn’t engage. She normally drives an automatic car and this one was manual. I offered to go round and see if I could help, not that I know that much about cars but two heads are generally better than one .... unless they’re both blonde. I arrive there only to find that after speaking to her Dad, she’s resolved the problem. Her father had reminded her that whilst automatic cars only have two pedals, manual cars have a third pedal for a reason!

I guess me rolling on the floor laughing didn’t help her feel any better.