Pigs in Mud

The weather has taken a turn here in the UK and the gorgeous colours of Autumn have arrived, there's a constant chill in the air that you can feel on even  the sunniest of days, although it's not yet cold enough for coats, just a thin jumper is enough

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel out on the common, he's hold a twig of Oak leaves displaying the range of autumn colours from a yellowing green to the oranges of the leaves before they fall from the trees, behind Boris is a wall of dead bracken, now changed from its vibrant green of summer to the orangey brown of Autumn as it dies off ready to regrow again in the Spring 

Autumn and Spring are my two favourite seasons, they're neither too hot nor too cold and there are so many changes in colour and circle of life as the Toadstools and Fungi take over as the vibrant flowers of Autumn

Photo Description - Ground level view of a toadstool with the red and white spotted cap that's often depicted in fairytales, it's nestled amongst the damp dead bracken with a few blades of green grass poking through 

Here in the UK there are many edible types of fungi that people forage for, but equally there are also many types that can either make you seriously ill or worst case scenario kill you

I personally don't know the difference between the edible and poisonous fungi, apart from the fact that you shouldn't eat the red ones

Photo Description - A ground level view of  approx 10-15 brown mushroom type fungi in a field of grass covered in morning dew

There are courses where you can learn the difference about which can be eaten and which to leave alone, but for me I'll give the foraging of wild fungi a wide berth and just stick to buying my mushrooms from the green grocers

I'm more than happy to just admire the beauty of our natural fungi in situ and leave them alone

Photo Description - A downward view of two toadstools side by side with the red and white spotted cap that's often depicted in fairytales, they're nestled amongst the damp dead bracken with a few blades of green grass poking through 

 Along with Autumn comes the rain and what a week we've had of it, it's been practically non stop which means lots of puddles for the boys to enjoy **inwardly groans**

Since the Boris injured himself way back in June after playing out on the marshes with his friends, then his subsequent surgery when we discovered he had a hairline fracture in his elbow and hadn't just strained himself really badly, Boris hasn't been near water or puddles since he's been on restricted exercise in what feels like forever

So yesterday the boys and I braved the rain and headed up to the common to see what puddles we could find, Eko spotted one first which wasn't very big but Boris proceeded to drag me towards it in anticipation, Boris was so happy to be a muddy spaniel once more and I'm so glad I managed to capture his joy on camera

Video Description - Boris enjoying a muddy puddle so much he just has to lay down in it to get as dirty as he can, towards the end his Flexi lead gets tangled in the bracken as I pull it free

Boris has such a passion for getting muddy out on walks, I admit I've not missed grooming mud out of him one bit these past few months, whilst Boris was busy enjoying the puddle I noticed just how loose his harness has become, he's not lost any weight so I'm assuming he's lost a lot of muscle mass which will need building back up again with physio

Photo Description -Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying in a filthy muddy puddle out in the woods with a look of pure joy on his face as he looks up at me

Watching Boris in the mud brought joy to my heart, I hadn't realised just how much I missed watching the boys loving the simple things in life because I've been so wrapped up in everything else going on with my parents

It even made the mammoth grooming session afterwards so worthwhile as it's a special time spent individually with the boys

Image Description - A cartoon character of a very happy pig laying in mud which looks similar to the photo I took of Boris

We're heading to Lumbry Park on the 24th to see the specialist vet for Boris's 6 week post surgery check up, all fingers and paws crossed everything is healed up and Boris can start to enjoy his off lead freedom once more

Dawn xxx

This Post is linked too

1) Brian's Thankfully Thursday 

2) Katherine's Corner TFT

3) Ten Things of Thankful

4) The LLB Life Nature Friday