A Walk Along the River Itchen ...

Hello there! On Sunday the weather was pretty gloomy but it wasn't raining. As KP had a friend round on Saturday the dogs had missed out on their walk.  What better therefore than to go for a long walk to compensate for the one that they'd missed out on. The question was where to go. Last week we had been to Twyford Lock and although it was very tempting to go back there we decided against it. If you keep going back to the same places you don't get to see somewhere new.

We eventually agreed to a walk along the river from Winchester. When we arrived we found it difficult to park - the town was heaving. We later discovered that there was a St. George's Day Parade. KP joked that it was a Parade for George, our spaniel who was born on the 23rd April!

These houses face on to the river. The photos were taken with my longer lens. I actually took it out with me and used it for the very first time. The zoom on it is fabulous - you can get so much closer than with my other lens. It does have its downside as when you want to get an entire building into a shot and you're relatively close - you have to stand a long distance away! I therefore found myself alternating the two lenses, which to be honest was a bit of a faff and although the lens is good I think I would only take it out when visiting places like Marwell Zoo where the animals are sometimes quite some distance away.

I did like the way that the longer lens seemed to blur the background far better than the smaller lens.

As we walked along we passed many old buildings. Winchester is a very old city and used to be the capital of England.

On our walk we came across many dogs. This is where the longer lens came in handy as I could snap away without being noticed. This made me think how many sick people are out there though taking photos of children etc without us knowing. I remember when we were on holiday in Mousehole in Cornwall when KP was very small and two men started taking an interest in her. They looked very creepy and shifty and I noticed that they had a camcorder concealed in a bag and seemed to be recording. I just grabbed KP and made a dash for it. Perhaps I should have phoned the Police but I was more concerned about just getting away.

We admired the tree house. I would have loved something like this to play in as a kid.

Just to show how effective the zoom on the longer lens is - we were the other side of the river!

George and his ball. He will chase it anywhere but not after Sunday - as he lost the ball! The OH threw it and he chased after it, caught it and then he dropped it and it rolled down an embankment and into some undergrowth - despite our best efforts and his, it couldn't be found. He was whimpering and sniffing the ground. We eventually had to drag him away otherwise he'd still be there!

I always find it amazing how animals can swim without ever having any lessons. George just dives in, no matter how deep the water is. Charlie, on the other hand, likes to be on dry land. He doesn't even like his feet getting wet.

We had brought a picnic with us and this was our view from the picnic area.

We came across a lady with this dog - a Petite Bassett Griffon Vendeen. The breed that won Crufts this year. The OH has always wanted one and in truth, Charlie, is a substitute for one - he looks similar. We got talking and the dog's owner said that he was stubborn - quite similar to Charlie then!

He isn't looking at me, he's looking at a dog that's coming our direction.

The swan poked its tongue at me! This seems to be a habit - last week, it was the red panda at Marwell Zoo.

I was trying to capture the drips but the swan didn't really want to play ball.

At the end of our walk we came across an ice cream van! An ice cream with all the trimmings! I tried some, and have to say it was one of the nicest ice creams I've tasted.

We were now back in Winchester and decided to have a quick trip looking at some of the sights. As this post is already rather long I will place the rest of what we got up to and what we saw in another post.

Last week I had been admiring the tenacity of a female blackbird in our garden, determinedly pulling at a worm in the lawn. This morning I opened the back door to see a dead female blackbird - no injury to it whatsoever. Sometimes, I just dislike cats. I know it's in their nature and that nature is often cruel, it's just so sad and pointless. The sparrows from my previous post are still alive and becoming more and more noisy. I just hope they don't attract the cats attention.

I have been tidying up the garden and now that all the weeds are gone, it's looking a bit bare with just a few new shoots popping through. We have lost some plants due to the harsh weather. In a few weeks time, when the risk of frost is less likely, I can see a trip to the garden centre.

Until next time,

June.