October Dog Walking Challenge for Dementia UK: Week One
I'm really happy to be taking part in Dementia UK's, October Dog Walking Challenge. Over the course of the month, Willow and I will walk 75 miles. If you know me well, you'll know I'm a very early riser and this serves us well during spring and summer, when we catch gorgeous sunrises and truly wake up with nature.
At this time of year, our morning walks are mainly in the dark, although we do have some daylight ones, when I'm not at one of my other jobs! And those are the ones I'll be sharing with you here on the blog.
Both of my grandmothers passed away with Dementia. The thing that has really stuck with me is how the strong, vivacious women they were just completely disappeared and how incredibly difficult that was for everyone. The work that Dementia UK do supporting sufferers and their families makes a real difference. If you would like to sponsor Willow and I, you can do so here. And you can watch our progress right here on the blog, which I'll be updating every Sunday from now until the end of the month.
Thank you so much for your support in advance and we hope you enjoy walking with us!
October 1st was an absolutely wonderful morning to kick off this challenge! The skies were clear and the sunrise a beautiful, fiery one. Willow was not in the mood for posing - she rarely is to be honest - and this picture, was a lucky, mid-walking-away capture.
I must have hundreds of photos of giant teasels on my phone by now! I find them endlessly fascinating and love their interesting silhouettes in the morning light.
At some point during our walk, I managed to accidentally hit an unfamiliar setting on my phones camera and my photos started to look a little spooky and atmospheric. I really like how it makes these Hawthorn berries pop against the backdrop of a strip of sunlight and otherwise pale sky. Maybe I'll try and figure out what I did!
Thursday is Willow's off-lead adventure day, so I'm the creature being walked as she quite literally runs circles around me. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's already completed her 75 miles for the month and I'm just playing catch up! Doesn't she look pleased with herself?
This morning (Sunday), under a beautiful, golden sky we managed to watch two deer a while. We see this pair most mornings, whenever we walk this way. Willow is always on the lead and of course they don't like us being too close but they don't give us a huge berth either. Seemingly quite happy to get on with their deer business (grazing on grass and hedges), whilst we wander by.
That brings the end of our first week to a close and it does look like there is some nice, dry weather in the forecast next week, so come back next Sunday to see where week two has taken us!