River walk

A good day!

Up early.. Fletch was raring to go and the sun was shining .Its so peaceful here too. Such a lovely vista from the front door,  a sweeping lawn down to a river.  Fletch was ambling along when a squirrel shot across the grass and he was off like a bullet  after it. Needless to say the squirrel shot up a tree  and the chase was off.

The grounds are so extensive ( 46 acres) so after breakfast we decided to follow one of the paths down river. There are some wonderful old oak trees 100s of years old. A walk across the field and back through a rather dark wood (lots of very large yew) . There is a small hut somewhere which was the hermitage of Robert Burns the poet. He lived nearby. We didnt find it. 

Back to the car and off to Thornhill to the bakers to buy buns and cake for our picnic. 

Up to the Drumlanrigg estate  ( car running smoothly !) 

Another woodland walk above the river. Some quite big drops 150 +feet, so Fletch was on the lead untill it got safer. We found the old seat we used to picnic on years earlier, It used to have a fantastic view across one of the many mini waterfalls but the trees have thickened out. We walked on till we were finally level with the river before turning back.  

We sat on one of the benches listening to the sound of the water, the call of a raptor. ( not sure what , hard to catch sight of it ) and drinking in the peace. It had been cloudy but as I looked over my shoulder the sun came out and I caught this view. 

Back to the car and we sat on a bench in the warm sun to picnic. ( Fletch scoffed all his ) For an oldish dog with short legs he has been amazing. Hes enjoyed his walks as much as we have.

It's still  light enough to have a pleasant after dinner walk with Fletch. As we walked through the grounds we noticed some Guinea fowl.  They only seemed to appear in the evening. Fletch was interested but we were a good distance away and he was on the lead... but suddenly he yanked hard pulling the lead out if Ms hand and Fletch was off! Those birds were not happy!  They flew up into the trees making a big commotion as we ran to catch up with Fletch.  ( interestingly, fresh Guinea fowl was on the menu tonight..