Upper-Body Workout

This little garden spider wove an elaborate web among the purple heart plants just inside our back door. I felt a little bad for it, because surely there won't be many passing insects there. (I hope not, anyway!) I was going to move it outside but the next time I looked it was gone. Maybe it made the move on its own. Either that or the dog ate it.

Speaking of the dog, Bailey and I had more adventures on the Heath yesterday, including swimming in the duckweed pond on Sandy Heath. (Well, I didn't -- she did.) That black dot by the big clump of irises in the distance is a labrador retriever who was swimming toward us. As you can see Bailey is on full alert and ready to plunge toward the other dog -- I held her back on her long lead.

Walking her with that lead is a workout. I've been musing lately about going back to the gym, because even though I walk a lot I want to keep my upper body in shape. After yesterday, I'm thinking I don't need the gym at all! I am seriously sore this morning from managing Bailey on that leash!

We visited the old Pitt House gate, also on Sandy Heath...

...and Bailey was constantly patrolling and lunging after squirrels. Things get a bit dicey when she runs into copses like the one above -- the lead can easily get tangled in the trees. When she ran into one especially dense thicket, I took her off the lead for a moment in order to untangle it -- and like a rocket she was gone, chasing squirrels with wild abandon. I ran after her thinking I would never catch her, calling her name (which she ignored), and caught up with her only when she paused at the base of a tree containing a terrified squirrel.

Now we know that she does not come when her name is called -- at least not when there are squirrels around.