Phil splashes out.

Phil was very happy to see me today, so after a nice welcome we headed off. I wasn’t quite sure where we’d end up, but we managed to get to a spot in the river that was very pleasant. Phil even had a paddle about. It’s always nice to get the paws wet on a Sunday!

We set off with a bang today as we were no more than maybe 20 metres from home when we saw some pigeons, so the excitement level was pretty high from the get-go. We hadn’t been the way I was planning to go, for a while now, so it was good to head off in a different direction. Though, the route we took meant that we had a nice climb to get home. I was sure Phil would be up to it… as for me…? I wasn’t so sure, but we’d deal with that when the time came!

We did settle in to the walk pretty quickly and we even had a fur-friend fan who wanted to say hello to Phil. Phil was polite, but he was keen to keep going, so our little friend followed us for a little while, but our pace was a little too daunting for such little legs!

Phil and I did a back street shuffle, and of course Phil was interested in a few gardens and open gates, but we pretty much kept on task. We did see a fair few pigeons along the way, so of course we ran after the ones we saw. Once again, Phils keen eye found them before I did, but a few took us by surprise when we inadvertently walked up to some.

We made it to one of the parks by the river and I thought I’d check the river access from there. If the “road” was blocked by tall grass we would just follow the river, maybe see som horses and head home again. But we were in luck and the path was well worn, so we dashed to have a splash in the water.

Phil went in and had a paddle, he looked like he was happy to cool the paws, so we stayed walking about in the riffles and a small eddy. Phil likes to stir up the gravelly sand. I’m sure it has a great earthy / watery smell, as Phil always seems to like a bit of a dig in the water.

So that was pretty nice really. I pleasant surprise, as I didn’t think we’d end up by the river today. We spent a little more time at the water than planned but that’s ok. So we headed home again to tackle the big hill. As usual Phil looked like he just cruised up it…he was definitely walking me into the ground… but by the time we got home he was a pretty pooped boy judging by the big drinks he had.

It was thirsty work out there today Phil. Big effort!