Wee Bens Come to Visit

Its been a very quick weekend - mostly due to the arrival of Wee Ben who is going to be staying with us for a few days. My sisters family are taking her MIL up to Brechin for a few days and, owing to covid and everyone waiting to staycation, were unable to get a place that would allow dogs.

I'm working from home full time at the moment so I volunteered to have him. As a thank you, my BIL was round yesterday doing maintenance on some of my windows and the doors (I can now open and unlock the front door without aggressively wiggling the handle, so a definite win for me, though I regret not having it sorted sooner!). Him to-ing and fro-ing and a few dog walks completely filled in my Saturday.

Wont lie, last night was a bit of a challenge - he has seperation anxiety and my hope that Missy being dowstairs with him would mean that he would sleep fine down there didnt prove true. We persisted to ignore the barking and scratching at the bedroom door for an hour (and four trips to return him to his crate) before conceding defeat and putting his crate in our room. Which meant we also had to bring in Missys bed too. I'm a ridiculously light sleeper, so two dogs randomly shaking and turning around just served to keep me up most of the night.

That meant todays plan was to make sure I wore off his little socks so he might give sleeping downstairs a chance (will update you all on the success/failure of that next week!). I'd already organised a girls get together in Perth so Ben got to be an honorary girl for the day. I will say though, an extra dog is a lot of work and it took me ages this morning getting them both organised (thankfully Missys old harness fitted him, or we'd have had to brave putting him alone in the boot) and just simple things like having them both clipped into the car was suddenly a time consuming task.

It was the usual tag team of Brewdog followed by the Brew and Chew with a walk along North Inch in between and South Inch before going home. Missy was on top behaviour, which she is prone to do when with another dog. She's learned somewhere along the way that she gets far more attention by showing up her canine companions than trying to be naughty! For that I am very glad!

The three of us all took turns walking the different dogs and I think I may have convinced one of my friends that she really needs one in her life! It was a really nice day with a lot of chatting, good food (and glorious cake) and nice walking in the good weather. I couldnt have asked for a nicer day.

Both dogs are snoring now - so my objective of wearing them out seems to have been a success! 

Travelling in Time

 

Life is finally feeling like its going back to normal as this weekend saw the first outdoor event of the year - Travelling in Time at Duncarron Medieval Village. Ironically, the last outdoor event we got to was also at Duncarron and was the Viking and Saxon event.

I saw the event, spanning from 1600s to WW2 advertised online, and put out an open invite to the family - my mum was the first to volunteer to join me for the day. My older sister and older niece and nephew decided they would come too, but I wasn't to expect them until later in the day - the difference between her and myself can sometimes really astound me, I was legitimately there for the event opening. One of the bonuses of arriving so early was that there was plenty of time to talk to all the volunteers doing the re-enactments - we were even invited into the Soviet WW2 camp to get some nice photos with Missy! My Rosie the Riveter outfit also got a lot of compliments (which is funny as my mum clearly thought I was bonkers for getting dressed up, then once she realised that lots of the public had also dressed up, was telling anyone who spoke to us that I'd made my outfit myself!).

Firstly, we were lucky with the weather. Dry, but overcast so we didn't burn. Mild, but not too hot. Perfect for a day trip! The event itself was very well organised. Numbers were capped owing to covid, so even at the peak point of the day, it didn't feel particularly busy - but there was still enough people that it felt like an event. There was a central area where there was amongst other things, musket demonstrations, combat demonstrations and story telling. In all the tents, various people from throughout time were displaying their skills and professions - we learned about heraldry, saw a demonstration on Viking coin making and then spoke to a saxon taxman (cue the theatrical hissing).

There was a variety of stalls too; the dress up tent was very popular and we all did that once my sister and co arrived, there was a tent selling period footwear (my mother bought some historian boots and I very nearly took away a pair or beautiful green court shoes, but decided against them as I don't need more excuses for more sewing projects!). Talking of sewing, there was a fabric stall (I was good and only bought 3m of a beautiful herringbone wool), a leatherwork stall; buttons and jewellery and beads. All sorts of lovely things! Oh, and Bacon and Maple Jam - I was under orders from hubby to get another jar if the same folk from the Viking event were there! (and yes, I did get a jar, as well as a Rum Marmalade, hubby is happy).

Axe throwing and Archery were also available to try. The chap doing the axe throwing was brilliant, and after some coaching, managed to land and stick the axe on my third attempt (he joined me in my little victory jump!). I'll confess that I was more confident in the archery having had a lesson before, until I was handed a longbow. It clearly wasn't a real longbow as I managed to successfully draw the string correctly (the strength required on a real on is insane) and landed all three arrows on the target. Yes. I was rather smug about that, but my nephew stuck his second axe, and I had to win at something!

One of the nice things about these events is that they are super dog friendly. Missy was not left out at all. She was greeted by all the volunteers (who didn't bat an eyelid when I asked if they would pose with her for me) and other visitors. I always enjoy meeting other dog owners at these things to gush about how nice it is that the fur babies are welcome. Although I was concerned about Missy being stolen by a Saxon volunteer who was helping at the archery - she insisted she hold Missy for me whilst I was taking photos of the family. A quick glance and she was sat with Missy giving her all the cuddles and attention! A truly lovely day.

I'll part with one of my favourite moments, which was a passing conversation with the boy helping at the axe throwing;

Saxon Boy - "Is she friendly?"

Me - "Of course, your more than welcome to say hi to her - her names Missy."

Saxon Boy - (immediately on his knees giving her ear rubs and kisses) "What breed is she?"

Me - "She's a rescue, so we dont know - but I'm always open to guesses!"

Saxon Boy - "Jack Russel and something big, she looks a bit like a rottie or doberman, but that's too big."

Me - (stunned at Jack Russel, but thinking it would explain her murderous streak at small animals) "A lot of people guess Rottie and Collie."

Saxon Boy - (shrugs and skips to his feet). "Well, it don't matter, I think she's beautiful as she is." (skips away without a backwards glance).

Gotta admit, that warmed my soul quite a bit. Though I think the compliments have gotten to Missys head - she looks a little too comfortable in the Chieftains chair, don't you think?!

A Welsh Getaway

It's the moment we've been waiting for - our first real getaway of the year and my first holiday in Wales!

But let's rewind a little. 

So last year, mid pandemic, my sister was supposed to go to Wales. It was obviously cancelled and (mostly I suspect so they could keep the cash) she was offered a upgrade very cheaply to move the booking to 2021. Said upgrade meant an extra room and a dog friendly option and so we were invited to help with the child wrangling and have a proper chance to hang out and catch up (within guidelines, of course).

Sunday we commenced the 6 hour drive. Missy has recently been upgraded from travelling in the boot to on the back seats these days (safely harnessed, of course). With the heat, that was definitely a good idea as she got to enjoy the AC with us and we started our road trip.

Our main stop on the way down was a small detour to the Wirral

Ren is going to be a big brother to a baby of the human variety, so we were excited to see my friend. Owing to her being pregnant, we kept it very covid safe and stayed outside (thankfully the good weather made that a pleasant experience!). After a nice walk, we were back in the car ready to surprise our neice and nephew (7 and 4).

Llamagedon had begun!

Neice and nephew had figured out we were coming to surprise them, so we had to up our game and launched the alpacalypse for them to wake up to. Needless to say, I think my sister was the most smitten of them all!

Monday was spent enjoying the park facilities. We took neice and nephew swimming whilst Missy got to spend quality time with her aunt and uncle. The evening was rounded up with a good run around on the beach for Missy.

Not a bad first day to ease into things!

Tuesday had been earmarked as a big adventure - tiny trains at Llanberis Railway. Due to Covid they aren't operating the usual hop-on-hop-off, so we had prebooked a coach in advance. On the train ride we clocked a castle in the distance and decided that, after lunch, we'd go for a walk and check it out.

Dolbadarn Castle was an unexpected hidden gem. We had spotted the sign for the castle walk in the car park and decided that a nice stroll in the woodlands was just what we needed. Imagine our surprise when 5 minutes later we found the castle - our earlier sighting was less a castle far in the distance, and more a very small castle in the relatively near distance! 

The kids enjoyed both parts of the day, so I chalk that as a good success! 

Wednesday we took to ourselves as a doggy day. The weather, whilst still very warm, was damp and less sunny, which suited us all better.

I had scoped out Coed Y Brenin before the trip. Part of the Snowdonia National Park, it offered a chance to see some stunning scenery whilst staying in a clearly marked path. We did the red Cain Waterfall walk which, at two hours, was ideal. It was listed as "strenuous" on the board, and I agreed with the description as we climbed up steep slopes and scurried down shale paths.

Afterwards we enjoyed a well deserved cup of tea and some cakes in the cafe. A glorious way to spend a morning. 

We went dragon racing in the afternoon. Our red dragon against my sisters green dragon. My sister can be a little anxious about water, but we managed to talk her into it. The kids had little life preservers, so everyone was quite safe as we set off. 

Missy was quite happy to sit and keep watch for pirates and other dragons. 

There was a bit of drama we had to tow another family off the edge who had managed to beach themselves! 

Our last big adventure was another family day out at Sygun Copper Mine. In preparation for a dark and scary walk, we put Missy in her bright coat and I gave both the kids a torch each. Missy originally took the lead but was defeated by the steep metal stairs mid way through. Hubby resorted to carrying her up and she sulkily conceded defeat. 

There was well deserved Cornish Pasties and tea in the cafe at the end. 

We finished the day with a mooch around Porthmadog and all tried our best to delay the inevitable about the fact that the holiday was over.

A tremendously good week, and we're already putting plans together for another cross over holiday next year.