Hasn't the weather been dreadful lately? Rain and more rain. Daughter and dog are fed up.

In daughter's case, bad weather at the weekend means she sits herself down on the sofa and channel hops all day while eating bowls of dry cereal.

Sam the dog doesn't watch TV. Instead he pads around the place restlessly, looking beseechingly at everyone in the hope that someone will meet his eye and feel guilty enough to agree to a walk.

Usually it's me who backs down first as he's very good at staring at me until I look at him. He seems to know that I feel guilty if he's stuck indoors all day.

So it's on with the wellies and raincoat and off we go to chase rabbits.

I quite like tramping over the hills and dales as it's therapeutic after being stuck in the office at work all week. Like everyone, our scope for walks has been severely limited by the foot- and-mouth epidemic.

We are lucky in having a huge park nearby, which is a favourite with dog owners. This means Sam gets to meet his friends and I get some much-needed exercise.

There are hundreds of baby rabbits at this time of year and it's fun to watch them hopping about. They look so absurdly sweet.

I saw a fox the other evening so there'll probably be fewer baby rabbits by the end of the week.

It's easy for foxes to do their weekly food shopping. They just nip out of their holes and grab a bunny.

I am lost without my usual supermarket. Since Asda at the Marina has been closed because of a rock fall, I can no longer combine a favourite ritual of an early morning walk for the dog with picking up a French stick and some salad dressing.