MEET LUCY

After a pleasant morning yesterday then a good family evening - spent eating and then playing bagatelle - I was quite tired, so was a little late getting up.  However, as the sun was shining, we decided to go for a walk.  

It was still very frosty so we decided to do our usual circular walk, which takes in Badbury Park, a new housing estate close by.  There was a great deal of controversy before this estate was built and many local people still don’t like the fact that large swathes of countryside around a nearby local beauty spot have been swallowed up by houses.  There are still some houses left on a small lane and two in particular, built in 1902 will probably be knocked down because they are not in keeping with the new houses.  Such a shame.

Mr. HCB and I stopped to look at these two houses and were soon joined by a couple and their dog, Lucy, a golden retriever.  We passed the time of day with them while Lucy sat patiently, so I took a quick photograph and after explaining about Blip said she would probably be my Blip for the day.  She is rather sweet and has very soulful eyes.  Perhaps she felt as sad as we all did about the loss of part of our heritage.

“If a man walks in the woods 
     for love of them half of each day, 
          he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; 
but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, 
     shearing off those woods 
          and making the earth bald before her time, 
               he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.” 
Henry David Thoreau
1817-1862

P.S.  I apologise for not commenting much over the Christmas/birthday period, but do appreciate all your kind comments and good wishes.  For those who asked, I now have a Canon G7X camera - still shooting on auto, but am going to sit and read the manual - or parts of it - later today.