The end is in sight

Second to last day of the shooting season. Not many in the bag as the remaining pheasants have become very gun wise!
Beautiful day ending with a beautiful sunset

Unconditional love.

Unconditional :: not subject to any conditions;

wholehearted, unqualified, unlimited, unquestioning, complete, total, absolute

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

It's possible that I've written this all before, but it's only because I am totally captured by unconditional love - what it is, how Jesus showed us this love, and how we need to show this love to others. The verses above are from 1 Corinthians 13, some of my favourite verses in the bible. I love the description of what love is (we have a plaque of this in our bathroom, and I make a point of reading it every time I am in there), and I love how it says that love is the greatest.

Just recently I was reading a book called "When God Writes Your Love Story", an incredible book, and through it God opened my eyes and challenged me. I have been single since the day I was born, and it is now something that I am very thankful for, as I have had no heartache and have had the chance to have a love story with my Father in Heaven. Through reading the book God challenged me to start loving unconditionally - family and friends, and most importantly, my future husband. I know some people think I am crazy, but I can honestly say that God has started giving me such a love for the man that I do not yet know; and I am now determined to stay single until I meet him. Why? Because I want to be faithful to him and I want to give him my all. I also want to spend these single years working on my character, letting God prepare me for an important relationship, and spend more time getting to know the heart of God. I read this great quote once (can't remember where, or who said it) and it went something like this "A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man should have to seek Him first in order to find her."

That's pretty awesome. And I want that! Sure it is hard, and God constantly has to help me, because like others, I do have a natural desire to be in a relationship, to have a family, to have that companionship; but I have come to the conclusion (which God always has to remind me of) that I would rather be single my entire life and devote every day and year to God rather than be in a string of relationships that don't work out.

That's my thoughts anyway.

First pheasant day, as told by Skye

Today was the first pheasant day.

I was very excited because mom took with me with her again! It was fun to spend the day with her. She was very proud of me because I wasn't that scared of the other dogs, and I didn't run away from them.

It was very exciting going new places, and sniffing all the new smells. I didn't really like being on the lead, and loved it when she let me off so I could run.

On one of the drives we went through game cover, which was really just a tangle of beans (which mom got in her wellies! I thought it was funny), and it was really hard to get through. So because mom was already walking through it in front of me, I just decided to follow in her footsteps and follow the path she was making.

She told me that she didn't think that's what a gun dog was meant to do, but that she thought I was very smart anyway. I think she was secretly impressed with my cleverness (and to be honest, I think she thought it was cute!)

I'm starting to get the hang of this now, the whole thing about flushing the birds out. It's all so very exciting! And I love watching the birds flying!

On one of the drives, a lot of birds got up right in front of me, but mom wouldn't let me chase them :-( I was a good girl though and listened to the whistle and didn't go running after them. Tony (who has the pointers) told me that if it hadn't been for me, a lot of those birds wouldn't have got up and flown! Everyone kept telling me what a good girl I was and how well behaved I was (even the keeper said I was very good!) I think mom was very proud!

One of the drives went through the woods. I wasn't too keen on the briars in the beginning, but I was a brave girl and tackled the briars just like a good little Spaniel should. I did try and follow mom on this one as well, it made it easier! It was fun though going through the woods with mom.

It was a very exciting day, yet also tiring, and I curled up on the backseat of the car and went to sleep on the way home. I heard mom say something about the final number being 148 birds, which apparently is good. One of the last things I remember is Tony telling me that by the end of the season I was going to be a good little beating dog :-)

Proud mama am I!!!

I am so proud of my little dog today!! Took her along to beating with me, and I couldn't have asked for a better dog. She was absolutely brilliant. She behaved so well, kept close to me, and responded to everything I said. Above all, she enjoyed herself, and kept me company. Everyone commented on how well she had done (which made me so proud). At one point she couldn't see where I was, and was frantically looking for me, and then when she found me, she came racing over :-)
Another thing that I was pleased with, was how she dealt with the other dogs. She was attacked when she was a pup, and is now very wary of other dogs. I was a bit worried about how today would go, but it actually went better than I could have imagined. The other dogs were very quiet with her, and pretty much ignored her, so in the end she relaxed. By the end of the day she was happy to run around the field with the other dogs (having realised that they weren't there to hunt her down!!), and sit right next to them. Such progress was made today, so I'm really happy with that.

On the way home she curled up on the backseat of the car and went to sleep. When we got home and she had had a bath, we both crashed on the bed (it's absolutely exhausting beating whilst working the dog!!)

All in all a really good day.

Last day of the season....

"Shooting is not just about the bag at the end of the day, but also the enduring memories created by the best shot you have ever taken, the jovial chat amongst friends, the fine countryside and the conviction that a good day in the field is second to nothing else".

The end of the season is upon us. Shooting is coming to an end for another year. Today (the last day) was beaters' day. This is where the beaters have a chance to shoot, and the guns do the beating! All but four of the beaters shot, and the rest of us, well, beat! I chose not to shoot as I have not shot for over a year and had wanted to get in some practise on the clays, but as this did not happen, I opted not to shoot today. And whilst I did regret this choice later on, it was still good fun beating with the guns, whom we don't usually mix with a lot. They are really nice bunch of guys (and ladies), and it's great that most of them turn up for beaters' day to give something back to the beaters. After all, if it wasn't for us, they wouldn't have any birds to shoot!!

We had perfect weather today. Blue skies, no wind, and a stronger-than-usual winter sun. It was the perfect day to finish the season with. Although the birds did let us down- I think we ended with 46 birds, a very small bag. None of them wanted to show their faces! They're the lucky ones - they will live to see another year.

After we had finished the morning's shooting, we all (beaters and guns alike) headed over to the shooting lodge where we ended the last day with a buffet lunch.

It was a really good last day, and although I don't want the season to end now, walking through the woods today I noticed bluebell shoots starting to poke their way through the fallen leaves. Spring will soon be upon us, and with that, the season must come to an end.

And it gets colder....

The snow has stuck around for the past few days, and it remains cold and iced over. A lot of the roads aren't getting gritted, so they are just turning into ice rinks that a death trap.

Beating today was miserably cold! I have never felt such pain in my feet and hands from the cold before. Whilst it was incredibly beautiful with all the snow covered fields and blue sky and sun, it was so, so cold! It was one of those days where, while I was in the middle of it, was absolutely miserable, but at the end of the day when I had begun to thaw out and warm up, it was a good day. Which, despite the cold, really was.

Tired though because we had to walk so much. The only time we actually went in the game cart was to get to the location where we were shooting for the day, and then after that it was just walking everywhere. We even had to walk back to the keeper's cottage because the game cart and truck got stuck in the snow!

Got back to the cottage and had cups of tea. Amazing how a cup of tea can warm you right up!

Still haven't thawed out though, even after a hot bath. My hands and feet still feel sore from the cold.

Frozen toes and fingers = 157 in the bag

Today we had 157 birds in the bag at shooting.

All thanks to us beaters I might add! Never mind the fact that the guns shot the birds, if it wasn't for our frozen fingers and toes and countless battles against bramble bushes, there would be no birds to shoot!

Today stayed grey and somewhat misty the entire day, and it was so, so cold! I don't remember having been that cold whilst beating in a very long time!

Week after week us beaters battle against brambles, the cold (and rain), and find ourselves saying 'What on earth are we doing here?! We could be at home in the warmth and dry!'

Yet week after week we still seem to turn up, moaning and laughing about the cold and our craziness, and never really showing any signs of quitting.

Yep, the beating bug is a hard bug to beat!

I tried to upload some pics of today, but my bluetooth didn't seem to want to work :-(

So I had to make do with some pics I found on google of beating.

182. What a great day!!

Today's shooting saw a fine day with blue skies and sunshine. Due to this good weather everyone - beaters, guns and dogs - were in high spirits.

After having had a bit of a slow start to the season with the birds disappearing, or not flying very well (due to windy conditions, etc), or just not being around in the first place!, we certainly made up for it today as the birds seemed to come out in their hundreds and graced us with their presence.

At the end of the day the birds were taken back to the keeper's house where we all warmed our hands with cups of tea and counted 'what was in the bag'.

The total tally was brought to 182 birds!

A good day of shooting.

5 of the 182 birds.

Miserable weather; good company......

Today saw the fourth day of the season with grey skies and a constant drizzle of rain. Dressing up warmly, with wellies and a hat, I met up with the other beaters (we drive the birds towards the guns for them to shoot the birds) and dogs.

The day continued with grey skies and rain, and all of us getting wet.

The fields have now been ploughed, and with the arrival of rain, the soil has now started to turn to a sticky mud. This means that after walking through ploughed field after ploughed field, the mud sticks and builds up on your wellies, so that by the end, you are wearing weighted shoes. It is exhausting and by the end of the day, both humans and dogs are shattered.

We stopped for lunch in one of the farmer's barns, and sat together on hay bales, while the dogs sat around us. It was great to get into the dry for a bit.

Despite the rain and mud, it was a good day spent in good company.

On another note. The clocks are going back this weekend, meaning that days will be getting shorter and darker earlier, bringing with it definite signs of winter.

Time to bring out the jackets and scarves, and fires and smores!!!

Bring on the snow!