Because Apparently Being a Poodle Just isn't Quite Humiliating Enough

Read this today and experienced that very special burn you get when orange juice comes out of your nose while laughing......Poodle Cuts

My Plumb is Most Definitely Tuckered

Get a load of me...in the last week I have covered at least 25 miles along the coast to a wetland nature reserve, north to an Iron age hill fort, an ancient yew tree forests and burial grounds and now today, as once again the sun most certainly had his hat on, the very picture postcard town of Arundel.

The 11th Century Castle....used as a filming location for The Young Victoria, The Madness of King George, The Prince and the Pauper and...um....Bargin Hunt

I wandered past the boating lake and into the downland park and took on the circular route over the hills, dodging grazing sheep and the inevitable by product of grazing sheep...

Returned to the lake area which I pitched up on a hillside whilst eating sarnies and watching the world go by....and the boaters go, mainly, in circles

Then I ambled along the River Arun a spell for some cracking views of the castle

before returning to the town centre where an open air festival was being held...


And did some vole spotting on the river bank while waiting for my lift home....In all a most enjoyable day...

I did however miss John Barrowman (oh yes, Captain Jack himself) who was at the castle last night in concert...so close and yet so far.....and when I finally returned home my poor trainers, which were already rubbing through at the sole, had completely worn through at the seam also creating some much needed air-conditioning...hey-ho, they have served me well....best buy some new ones before the rains from tropical storm Bill reach us since I'm not too keen to experience trench foot.

#You're Gonna Find Me......

Out in the country, la,la,la,la#......ahem

A summer person I definitely am....I love the heat, love the sunshine and love the fact that I can get out and about and explore. Since Sunday I have covered over 20 miles...yesterday I wandered to Pagham Harbour and lolled in a meadow reading Harry Potter from the beginning, being dived bombed by Swallows and hopefully sweating off a pound or two.

Spotted this canoodling pair just before I set off yesterday

Today, thanks to a high pressure, the temps shot up to mini-heatwave status...pushing 30, so I was dropped off....not at the beach as EVERYONE else seem to be doing, but to Kingley Vale once more. It is the most beautiful place and though some folk may think I'm utterly mad to take on the rather steep climb to the top....an amazing cool summer breeze meant it was perfect conditions....the 2 3/4 litres of water which I took along also came in useful. Most wildlife choose to stay well hidden in the shade of the woodland...smarter buggers than I...and so I periodically swapped between the continuing adventures in the wizarding world and my own muggle daydreams absorbing the scenery.

The view from the top.....I could see the Isle of Wight...though it was a tad hazy

A Rabbit, most probably hiding from.....

A Sparrowhawk...it's there honest

There was in fact three swooping and riding the thermals...very difficult to snap a decent pic though

This little Jiminy landed on my foot then decided to rest a while on my....ahem.... "free" American Airlines blanket

A Walk Through History

So, it's August, it's Summer (some of the time), it's the weekend and my bestest bud invited me over for some chatter, dvd watching and a picnic to celebrate turning the big 3-0h....who am I to argue...It was in fact a joint celebration as Chloe's birthday is just four days after my own and we've known each other pretty much since the dawn of time so it's kinda tradition to have some quality Leo time.

I tootled over to Worthing-Town and Chloe's new digs since moving from clan Valencia....a great little place nearer the town centre, with a bathroom without damp, an actual kitchen, a back garden and a cute, but somewhat soppy, cat who sleeps on top of the recycle bin on the front path.

After an evening of Top Gun (had forgotten just how cheesy that film is) and Overboard (love Goldie Hawn) we fell asleep to the dulcet tones of a neighbour "singing" kari-oke....around 2am they finished up with a Take That medley which would've made Simon Cowell's toes curl.

In the a.m we sorted our pic-a-nick baskets (aka we nipped to the nearby Tesco express for sarnies) for an excursion to a local iron age hill fort.....Cissbury Ring....here be an aerial shot from Google Earth:


It's about a 6 1/2 mile round trip to the second largest hill fort in England, and the ring itself is a little over a mile around the ramparts....so it's lucky I had on my most comfy walking shoes...and before you ask, no I didn't fall on my arse on this occasion.....I'm on a roll...or not as the case may be......anyhoo

It's a nice walk....once you get away from Worthing and the busy main roads we had to walk alongside....you sort of turn into what looks like someones driveway then straight into some woodland. A very long and steady climb along a stony track takes you through the middle of a golf course and up into the downland and the National Trust park to Cissbury....where there's some of the most amazing panoramic views.


Cissbury Ring was part of the whole Neolithic flint mining thing of some 6,000 years ago and many of the pits can still be found, though now largely filled with chalk and quite often used by youths for campfires and late night partying...the area was fortified some when around 750-500 BC to protect against Saxon marauders, some 60,000 tons of chalk is thought to have been used to build the ramparts...though apparently there's no evidence of any battles or siege in the area and apparently the Fort was abandoned for some time until the Romans rocked up and took over...possibly used as a mint when they moved on as Saxon coins have been found dotted about the place....The area was used as a beacon/lookout during various invasion attempts, notably that of the Spanish Armada in the 1500's and was a place for rifle training and gun placement in both the first and second WW.....It was apparently a no go area for locals until the late 1940's due to unexploded materials and the heavy anti-tank defences set up.

The entrance to the ramparts

The South entrance, the dug out part due to the placement of a rather large gun for WWII defence

Crossing through the middle of Cissbury...

Cattle graze freely across the site...this particular cow looking a tad grumpy so I decided to give it a wide birth....thank god for 4x zoom

Some of the other wildlife sighted around Cissbury

A Speckled Wood



A Small Copper


A Painted Lady


A Fairy Toadstool....okay so not an actual fairy toadstool.....but it could be, right?


And some of the feathers from some ex-wildlife......quite the massacre


Some of the views from the top.....

To the north the South Downs.

To the South, Worthing and the sea

To the East Brighton and as far away as Beachy Head cliffs...which is a distance of about 30 miles

And most impressively to the West where beyond Bognor and Selsey Bill the actual Isle of Wight could be seen....a distance of 35 miles as the crow flies.....it's there if you squint

The place is an interesting one with so much history and fantastical tales attached....more than one body has been found during excavations in the 1800's...skeletal remains of ancient murders, a highwayman who was caught, hung and buried in the road which passes through the middle vowed to return and has apparently been seen on occasion, in 1975 an orange ball was seen to hover for some time over the Ring before disappearing at great speed toward Chanctonbury Ring to the north....one of many UFO sightings in the area and of course Cissbury, Chanctonbury and Clapham woods (to the west) make up the notorious "Triangle" which, according to some, can give that Bermuda one a run for it's money.