Hedgehogs and hound dogs

This little internet space of mine has been a bit neglected of late. I’ve been working on a few projects and well, life has kind of taken over and now I find myself in the middle of October already. Time seems, simultaneously, to have sped up and slowed down, in this year that none of us will forget in a hurry. I do hope you are keeping safe and well.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will know that our beloved basset hound Boris has been a little unwell of late. After a few trips to the vet, it turned out he had suffered a major trauma to his jaw (we have no idea how) which ultimately resulted in him having a tooth removed. I’m hopeful we have resolved the issue. A third (and fingers crossed) final trip to the vet in two weeks time should confirm it although I doubt Boris is keen on returning to the vet any time soon. I have to say he’s been very stoic about the whole thing, a well behaved patient, although a never ending supply of sausages has no doubt eased his discomfort !

In other news, we have a new nightly ritual….waiting for hedgehogs to visit our garden. Over the past few weeks, sometime between 9pm and 10pm each evening, a hedgehog has been coming out to the lawn to feast on the hedgehog food we’ve left out for him. It’s been an absolute joy to watch him from the kitchen window, as he sits happily munching away before waddling off again to the safety of the hedge in our back garden. This past week, as the days have shortened further, he’s been out there at 8:30pm and to our total surprise, there were two hedgehogs last night – the sight of them together just made my heart soar.

In July of this year, hedgehogs were officially classified as vulnerable to extinction, so to try and do a bit more to help them, we’ve bought a hedgehog house in the hope they might find shelter there over the coming winter. We’ve put it at the far corner of the garden, right beside the hedge and surrounded it with leaves and twigs. It really looks quite cosy and I do hope the hedgehog(s) choose to move in, although this robin was very quick to check it out too !

In light of the hedgehog’s plight, a petition has been launched to request more legal protection for them. You can sign the petition here:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550379

Apart from hedgehogs and hound dogs, autumn is settling in nicely in this neck of the woods. It’s my favourite time of year and I’m looking forward to maybe slowing down a little and fully embracing this gorgeous season. The garden is quietening down now too, although the cosmos, hydrangea and roses are still providing welcome pops of pink.

Finally, and back to the projects I mentioned earlier…

I’ve had a small print run done of a 2021 wall calendar. It’s called ‘Wildflowers and Wanderings’ and features twelve seasonal images in a palette of blues, browns and greens. All photographs taken locally by me. It’s 20cm x 20cm in size and printed on standard matt FSC certified paper. I’m secretly quite chuffed at how it has turned out .

Given all the lovely comments I’ve had, both here and on Instagram about my photographs, I’m giving away one of my calendars as a little thank you. If you’d like to take part in this giveaway, all you have to do is

1.Follow this blog

2. Like this post.

It’s that easy.

I’ll select one winner at random from all the combined entries from my blog and Instagram account and the winner will be announced on Sunday 25th October on both platforms. The giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where you live in the world ! And even if you aren’t the lucky winner, I will be putting a few copies up for sale on the blog in a few weeks’ time.

*Please note this giveaway is not sponsored by Instagram or WordPress in any way. It’s just a little thank you from me.

Until then, have a lovely Sunday and take care,

Paula x