Snakes in the grass?

Glorious sunshine for the second day running -
and it is September!

We rarely go out on a weekend these days. Now that we're at leisure seven days a week, it is so much better to go out visiting places during the week when people are at work and kids are at school. The difference we notice during the school holidays is enormous!
But we did drive up to Kielder Forest on Saturday, thinking it might be the last fine day of the year. As we drove north and west, the sunshine got fainter and the clouds grew bigger, and by the time we arrived, it was a warm, grey day. The big advantage was few people, and Tim scampered along the trails in great delight, sniffing here, there and everywhere. He even went down to the water and plodged, but we thought he probably shouldn't as it is a reservoir and we all drink the water in it. As usual, there was plenty and the water was being released on a slow and steady spume. They do say that Kielder is the wettest place in England. A good place to build a reservoir, then.

Tim has a talent for the dramatic. As we turned for home, he bounced into the undergrowth and must have stood on a dead thistle, for he yelped, sat down and held out his injured paw. I couldn't find anything - no cuts, no thorns, no stones wedged - but while I was  examining his paw - difficult at the best of times, and not easy when said paw is covered in wet grit and mud - he flopped down on his side in the long grass and moaned. For a moment or two I wondered if an adder had bitten him, but had seen no sign of anything whipping away into the grass. He got up and limped  for a while, complaining bitterly, but his paw didn't swell, and he didn't look sick. Then suddenly an interesting smell caught his attention, and he forgot to limp. within  fifty yards he was trotting along normally. Sighs of relief all round.