Its’s not all about the sheep in the Lakes.

Shadow is getting older and better behaved, but just not all the time. However she has perfected that hang-dog Labrador expression that melds seemlessly together with the “it wasn’t me, but if it was I am so cute, just forgive me now”.

I am coming to the conclusion that dogs are more manipulative than children. I am also sure that if I was single, buying a puppy and taking it for a walk is an excellent way to meet people. We get stopped all the time, everyone is really interested in the dog, but it starts off a conversation and you know you already have a mutual interest: finding an effective way to stop said dog, eating your shoes, fingers, the furniture, her bedding etc and worst of all eating anything unmentionable that she founds littered in the environment.

I decided to take Shadow out for a bit of training, a bit of fun time with her squeaky toy. Then I came across this lovely budleia encrusted with butterflies and bees.  There seemed to be mainly red admirals and one or two peacock butterflies, but I’m no expert. Sometimes I see tortoiseshell ones too. There was an accompanying musical soundtrack and so I thought what a lovely time of year this is, the end of summer.

Autumn is coming, still in it’s infancy, yet to really get going as there are no leaves on th turn and they are still clinging on valiantly to the trees. We have had a few days of good weather and now perhaps the weather is changing and becoming fresher. The butterflies and bees frantically feeding remind us of warmer times, or is that my imagination as this year’s summer seems to have been made up of a warm spell in May? Nonetheless the scenery is all the more atmospheric when the mists come down and the sky is bruised.