It's time

In fact, it's high time the Boss bought himself a new pair of wellies and stopped complaining about his foot getting wet when it rains.

Progress

Looks as though part of the next stand at the new stadium is being hoisted into position.

Ready to open

I don't quite understand what he means when the Boss says he's rather see a snow drop than a snow fall.

Blue sky

We saw a little bit of blue sky yesterday afternoon - at last!

Roadworks

The roadworks near the entrance to the park don't look any better in the rain.

Rain

It may not improve the view, but I still want to get out of the car and go for a walk.

Walk or paddle?

Despite having two sunny days last week, there has been so much rain recently that the ground is waterlogged.

Sheep

 

We get a lot of sheep brought to the Downs for the winter, presumably from more exposed places like Romney Marsh. The Boss won't take me into any fields where they are, not even on a lead.

Water feature

This tree root with its little pool looks almost like a garden water feature.

Definitely a one-finger salute

A crane on the new stadium construction site.

A one-finger salute?

Or are there two fingers raised?

A distant view

Just after leaving Old Boat Corner we get a distant view of Firle Beacon, one of the higher points of the South Downs. Standing just 217 metres (712 feet) high, it is classified as a "Marilyn", a type of hill with a relative height of at least 150 metres (492 feet).

Safe

Now why would anyone fasten a miniature safe to a tree trunk in the woods near Old Boat Corner? It's presumably for the fairly recent occupation called geocaching. This is actually the back of a tree stump that we have seen before.

No entry

I didn't want to go that way anyway.

Mordor?

This old, rotting tree stump looks almost as though it could have been used as a model for one of the mountains of Mordor in Lord of the Rings.

Pond life

There are two ponds in Stanmer, one at each end of the village. This is the one beside the church (some of the gravestones are visible at the right edge of the picture) and just across the green from Stanmer House. The only visible life when we were there was a solitary moorhen which ducked (pardon the pun) behind some weeds before the photo was taken.

Oranges and lemons

A little way along from the back of the house, facing south across the garden, is what used to be the orangery. At one time, there were orange and lemon trees growing inside, complete with fruit. No doubt funds were too limited for the Council to keep up the maintenance and it is now in this sorry state.

If we are going to buy it

we'd better at least look round the back - which is a sight less impressive than the front.

On the market

Go on, Boss! You know you'd love to live here, and think how good it would be for me. Out of the back door and straight into the woods.

From the Boss: It seems I was wrong about the current occupier leasing Stanmer House from the Council. He bought it - for £1. Yes, just one pound. Now it's up for sale and he is expecting six or seven million pounds. Mind you, he has spent two or three million renovating the place.

Going up

As we were coming down, we were passed by a lone runner going up - and he seemed to be making heavy weather of it. I wonder how far he had run?

Coming down again

The village church can be seen through the leafless branches of a small copse.

Cor, stone the crows!

A close-up shot of the seat we saw yesterday showing the crows carved into the tree trunk.

The seat

At the top of the hill, right beside the wood, is a fallen tree which has been turned into a seat so that humans can sit and get their breath back. Of course, we dogs don't need such things.

From the Boss: You might just be able to make out that there are various creatures carved in relief on the front of the tree - two foxes, two crows and several butterflies. We'll take a closer look tomorrow.

Still building

The university buildings are gradually increasing in number and spreading up the valley.

Student accommodation

On the south-facing slope of the valley are rows of flatlets for students at the university.

University of Sussex

If you climb up the field with the cows in it and look down into the next valley, the buildings of the University of Sussex seem to fill it completely.

I don't do cows!

Hey, Boss, before we go into this field, can you make sure there are no cows near? They are nasty, big brutes - and I don't like them!

Access land

Pretty much all of the downland owned by Brighton & Hove City has been opened up to the public as "access land", possibly as a result of a recent act of Parliament known as the Right to Roam Act. I'm not so sure that farmers are over-keen on the idea.