It was not raining but Osborne promised us plenty of mud.  It was lovely to see Mismatch again finally over her bout of injuries.  We set off left from the pub and, on the corner, met a White Horse Harrier called Lucia.  Mismatch talked her in to joining us and we hope she will come again.  Boy, she was fast, and keen to check.

We went down the hill to the first footpath on the right, which took us round in a loop to re-join the road a few yards further on.  That was the reason that there was a False marked on a One and On trail!!

Straight across the road and on towards The Hendreds and THAT HILL.  Mismatch checked that way, running straight up the middle.  That knee support was certainly proving its worth.  The rest of the group followed via various routes except St Bernard, Dancing Queen, Lemony and Menstrual who did not move, despite encouragement from the hare, as they had noticed that he was staying put.  Osborne finally set off, choosing a very good route to the far right.  The others followed but something about the way he winked meant they were not surprised when Mismatch continued on along the footpath and found the Fish Hook.  Back down the hill with varying degrees of success!  Lucia ran it, most went back down the safe route but Zorro was encouraged to launch himself into a trot when nearing the bottom.  A disastrous move as he ended up completing the last few meters on his bottom.  He then proceeded to go into the stream to wash off. At the next check he threatened to pick up Lemony but luckily all that extra Christmas weight put him off at the last minute.  Or was it the screaming?

We continued along the edge of the stream to the bridge at the church at West Hendred, up to the road and straight across and on to East Hendred where we did another loop before working our way back across the fields to Ardington.  A few who knew where they were turned left after the On Inn to get to the pub while the majority continued straight on and did an extra loop of the village.

Back in the pub Mismatch said, on returning to her car, she had found the green shorts under the windscreen wipers.  As she was one of the first back and Big Stiffy had not completed the run (blaming a cold) the finger of suspicion only pointed at one person.

The Down Down vest, although hidden under a coat all day, had been worn and was passed on to Dancing Queen for having lost 6lbs over the Christmas period!  How rude!

On On

Date:  5 January 2014

Hare:  Osborne

Hounds:  CS, Menstrual, St Bernard, Zorro, Professional Peach, Dancing Queen, Mismatch, Northern Sole, Rubber Sole's Buddy, Pressganger, Eric, Lemony, Big Stiffy, Rocket Ronnie, Gnome Alone, Qwerty and Sadie, and Lucia

Distance:  5 Miles