Cardboard Box?....Priceless!

When you've finished hiding in them, biting at them, attacking your friends in them...you can snooze in the sun on top of them.

Yesterday I left the words to Philip Larkin as I was exhausted and in pain after the adventures of the day. In the morning I met up with my friend Sally and her Kelpie Bramble up at Wittenham Clumps (where else). I didn't really feel up to going much beyond the car park but it was such a beautiful day I couldn't resist the pull of the place and so, with a few stops we made a slow and painful progress to the beech wood at the crest of Round Hill and down to the little medieval church of Saint Peter at Little Wittenham where we sat and I recovered. On the way I thought I had got my blip of the day when Jake was accosted by a "Mini Me puppy version of himself. It was very keen on him....in fact a bit too keen. When we arrived at the church though Jake went off to inspect the churchyard and the light and shadow demanded a picture - hence yesterday's blip.

By the time we set off back to the cars Jake was looking almost as old and worn out as me, so much so that he even made his excuses to a young bouncy Labrador who was ever so anxious to play, consequently I relaxed my attention even though I knew we were approaching the place where, in our glory days, we'd race down the slope to the Thames and then climb back up through Little Wittenham Wood. While I was failing to keep an eye on him he vanished. Sally went down the hill looking for him and I heard her voice calling from further and further away while I clambered down and checked all he mud holes he might have got himself stuck in. Eventually Sally found him about half a mile away sitting by a gate talking to a complete stranger....female of course, that's my boy. By this time I was back up on the hill checking the spring and the mud holes up there in case he hadn't come down at all when I got a call to say he'd been found and they were making their way back. I set off back towards the cars and after less than three minutes got another call telling me he'd just jumped into the Thames and got stuck in the mud where I'd just checked to see he hadn't done that exact thing (again!). So it was back down the hill again and with Sally in the river and pushing his back end and me pulling at the other end we got him back on dry land. Honestly sometimes his one remaining brain cell disconnects completely.

Later on, still caked in mud, acting like butter wouldn't melt he got blipped by my ex.

After all that I can barely move today so here's a cat in the sun on a cardboard box.