I’ve been in London for the past few days and when I took the dogs out when I got back everything I looked at seemed to be so much greener and opulent than a few days previously.  You look at nature with refreshed eyes, noticing things that you haven’t noticed before.  I caught sight of a view across the valley down to the Solent and across to the Isle of Wight which I hadn’t seen before – probably because the beech leaves still aren’t out, allowing great vistas of the South Downs.  You really have to go away to appreciate what you’ve got on your doorstep.  It so easy to take it all for granted.

The bluebells, wood anemones and wild garlic are continuing to decorate the woodland floor, scenting the air.  But there’s a dark side to spring air.  At this time of the year, the dogs seem to perfume themselves with “eau de fox” – there’s hardly a morning walk when they don’t come back with something revolting smearing on their shoulders and face.  Don’t they realise that it means a cold wash when they get home – they hate it, yet they can’t resist the chance to change their odour.  Oh, at times it really makes your stomach turn – enough said!

Smells must be really strong in the Spring as walks are punctuated with one of the boys bringing back a gift, usually a dismembered part of a deer.  I feel that I’m becoming quite an expert on recognising which animal they’ve found, let alone which part of the body.  Another confession – we’ve got quite a collection of deer skulls at the bottom of the garden, thanks to Massey’s keen nose.