A busy day

Today was beautifully sunny but quite chilly. I have been very keen to go up to Bushy Park to see the stags, and ideally I should go very early in the morning but I can't as it won't suit Xena's schedule (she only wakes up at 8.30 every morning!) However I decided to go after breakfast and take her with me for a walk, although it would have to be a lead walk due to the bird life and deer. I think it is not fair on the deer to have dogs running free amongst them.

I could not really concentrate on photography with Xena on the lead next to me (as she pulls!) but I managed to get a few shots of some swans and other birds. She has never seen water birds before and her pointer instincts kicked in, I think if she was not on a lead she would have leapt into the water to get at the ducks!  As we were finishing our walk I heard a stag roaring nearby, so we went closer and found this large stag lying in the shadow of the trees making an awful noise! Xena was very apprehensive of the noise but we were not close enough to be at any risk.

On the way home I stopped off at the cafe where Thomas is working, as he was working a double shift today and as they allow dogs inside we went for a coffee. When Thomas took her to the cafe the other day the staff made such a fuss of her and she even featured on their Instagram account. They were pleased to see her again today.

At lunchtime Adam sent me a message to say he was playing a university rugby match and he did not realise the venue of the sports grounds was so close to home - as it was less than 15 minutes from home I went up with Xena to watch his match. I took a few photos and you can see Adam playing 8th man in the extra. They won 66 - 0. It was a rather embarrassing score and in the last 20 minutes of the match they took one player off to try and help the opposition team. There were quite a few parents watching, and it was very pleasant in the warm sunshine.

Adam has just phoned to say that on the way back to Cambridge the coach broke down and they were stuck on the motorway waiting for a replacement coach. Not a good end to his day.