Out again with Rusty.

I usually increase my fitness levels a little when Rusty stays with us. Instead of one walk a day I get three, and one of them is a really long walk. Actually Rusty has slowed down a little and today I noticed he slept really well after our mid-afternoon walk!
The stream in the picture is usually a tiny brook at the bottom of the ditch but the warm weather has melted a lot of snow rather quickly and water levels are high!
This is the beaver stream, currently without any beaver dams after they irritated the farmer a few years back. But there were lots of signs of beaver so they are now on the way back, even if they haven't constructed anything too obvious yet.
We also watched a badger snuffling around in a field on our walk today. I saw it first and got a lead onto Rusty so he couldn't chase it. I was watching it for about 10 minutes before Rusty even noticed it. Eventually we walked down the field towards it and it moved off to the edge of the forest and disappeared into the trees. It didn't seem too worried though, so I was glad I had Rusty in hand. I think badgers are fairly tough and have a strong bite so it's better for all concerned that dog/badger peace is maintained. It's the first time I've seen a badger out in the wild!
Local elections in England today. My sister (London) and Jan's brother (Blackurn) are both working hard, hoping things go well for Labour. I'm hoping the same. It's all a long way from our part of the world but family and lots of friends live in the UK so I want things to go well there!