Nature

The lovely woods

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

With three dogs, one of whom can’t walk far and who prefers flat paths without stones (it’s the paws)

 we have been looking for and discovering new places to explore

Here an unexpected wood, near Samalus, full of natural arches and interesting smells.

 ‘All experience is an arch wherethrough gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades forever and forever when I move’   Alfred, Lord Tennyson’

I love walking the paths here where wild herbs are abundant. It reminds me I am in the Mediterranean!

‘There’s Rosemary, that’s for remembrance’

A Flock of Sheep in Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

Un Ramat d’Ovelles en Granollers
Today I walked to the New Park as usual with Duna and Bonnie.
As we did some training of Wait and Sit / Espera y Seu  (it’s all bilingual) they both got very restless and I couldn’t see why

But their ears were better than mine and soon out of the distance came the sound of sheep bells and a shepherds call.
It was the flock of sheep that I sometimes see around this edge of Granollers.
They seem so incongruous against the urban backdrop but in fact it is the park and the buildings and the traffic and the rubbish that shouldn’t be there!  Granollers is in the countryside!

I filmed them passing while Duna watched intently

and Bonnie, forgetting her shepherd genes, got on with eating something horrible behind the wall!
If you are a Duna or Bonnie fan – wait till the end of the film and you’ll see them!


HERE it is  – apologies for any wiggling but Duna was on the other end of the lead.

Walks round Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

We went for a beautiful walk on Saturday. It wasn’t far away – just up the hill past the hospital and then through the industrial estate and suddenly there was the countryside. When you get to the edge of Granollers or somewhere up high, you realise it isn’t so huge really.
We took the car so Blue could come too and after parking she walked up the hill in fine fettle (what is fettle I wonder?)

In the distance that’s Montseny crested in snow

On the top of the ridge there is a mirador, a sort of folly which was build in the early 20th century. There were wonderful views all around – Montseny on one side and Montserrat on the other.

It was the end of the day and the moon had risen – here visible through the bare branches of this tree.

A figuera, fig tree – such a stout strong tree which is resistant to both dry and salty conditions.
I love discovering these new walks and this one although too far for Blue, could be reached entirely on foot. We had a phone call while up there asking if we wanted some last minute tickets for a Barça game. Somehow I didn’t feel like starting to rush home after this lovely walk so we decided to wait for another time. Also, the cold was beginning to bite and home and the sofa began to seem very tempting.

We discover how velcro was invented.

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

We are staying in a bungalow by the sea at Santa Susanna.

There were lots of burrs on the beach this morning.  Attached to many of them were soft fabric-like materials.  Apparently it was after examining these plants that George de Mestral invented velcro. The name comes from the French words velour and croquet and was used because it looks like velour and uses a hook and loop system sort of like croquet (?)

The burrs we found on the beach have little hooks which attach easily to anything with loops, like soft fabrics or the little hairs between the pads under Blue’s paws!

Today we found some more around the New Park in Granollers and Blue became suddenly lame as they nestled in between her soft pads.  Once removed, she set off at a trot once again!

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Walking three dogs is a bit like painting the Forth Road Bridge. No sooner have you finished than you have to start again. I am experimenting with taking a longer walk in the morning with the two agile ones while Blue sleeps at home after her shorter trip to the square. Hoping to gain some time for myself after lunch

As I said yesterday Granollers is spread along the banks of the Congost – not a great rushing river but a good enough stream of water to have ducks and today – a heron

You can walk upriver – away from Barcelona and towards La Garriga – then cross the bridge and come back down on the other side. Today we went via what we call the New Park which we have been visiting since it was under construction. It is still mostly doggy people who know about it and those mystery rubbish dumpers haven’t yet started to do their worst.
Further upstream we crossed over to return on the road side which is much used by runners and cyclists and has signs marking the kilometers and strange contraptions for exercising along the way

I saw a charm of goldfinches.

A lone duck sitting on an island in the stream.

And a little bit further away a grey heron balancing on one leg in the shallows.
There are some new cultivated parts.

People seem to claim a little patch and then clean it up and plant vegetables

These hortas suddenly appear, seemingly without effort as I have never seen anyone doing anything more strenuous than a casual sweep around of leaves. I’m sure these allotments are not official but they are tolerated and create a lovely garden feel to this industrial landscape.
We also bumped into Lolita and her owner – he also has an horta with chickens and ducks. My first border collie friend in Granollers was walking free and came over to see me – then her master too arrived to ask in Spanish how I am getting on. Bonnie and Lolita greeted each other with a collie kiss. It’s really all very lovely down there by the river.
I always wish I had taken binoculars and that I could find a bird expert here to help me identify all the birds I see.  I have the feeling there are lots of species living in this long snakey un-peopled belt of water and greenery, so close to industry and commerce but a little world of its own.