Keeping Christmas on the Rails

I think, maybe (possibly, hopefully) Missy is starting to cotton on to the whole Christmas thing. We decided not to do a tree this year (the below photo shows the extent of our festive decor) and Missy has been in generally better spirits than in Christmases past; certainly, I haven't had the panicked "omg, your home - you left forever ago!" that I was getting last year, which usually resulted in Missy running and jumping on me whilst trying to pirouette into a cuddle before slowly sliding to the floor to lie there, wagging tail between legs, on her back and whine crying. A phenomenon that only started when the tree went up and ceased when it went down again and, despite how funny the picture sounds, both hubby and I found very distressing. 

The correlation has been proven, no tree, no hyper anxiety, so that's us, no tree anymore. 

Missy got an early Christmas present after staring out her stocking for 20 minutes, and we spent the day doing the rounds. A dog walk with my brother (and of course Maisie in a wonderful Xmas bandana) and mum, and then a visit to the BIL who is doing well considering the year he's had. We then had the evening to ourselves and, after dinner, the three of us all cosied up on the sofa with a Christmas film and munchies. A good day.

I've said before that hubby works retail, so I had a few quiet days post Christmas to get the place back in order whilst he worked. I'd noticed online that the Bo'ness and Kinneil railway were doing a Diesel Gala Day the Saturday and decided that it would be a good way to get out and about again and burn off some of those Christmas chocolates.

Having a season ticket meant I could get one return ride as it was a special event day and I knew I wanted to have a shot on the DMU from the 50s. For those who aren't train nerds (and I certainly wasn't one until I got me annual pass!) a DMU is a diesel multiple unit, basically engine and carriage are one and the same. The one at bo'ness is so old and decrepit that it took the same time to run half of the line and back as the other trains take to do the whole thing. I had missed it at the 50s day in August, so was keen to try again.

My mum came along for the ride (no pun intended) and it was a good distraction from the news of last week when we lost my uncle. It was one of those funny days where everyone seems to want to know what breed of dog Missy is. I think those are the days my mum likes best, she loves talking to random strangers and Missy has raised through the ranks to be her favourite grand-doggy-daughter, so she loves talking about her too.

We had people in the cafe chat to us, and then two separate couples on the train ride itself as well as on the platform. Missy was in full tart mode, cuddling up to the legs of the people we were sat beside and demanding, via nose-nudging, for more pets. The return journey say us with a father and young son (5 yo). The boy was nervous but the father, who told us all about the rotties he used to keep, was quite keen for us to sit with them. Letting the kid give Missy some treats soon cemented that friendship and they were having photos taken together by the end of the ride.

A successful ride! 

We did the harbour walk afterwards and then it was home for homemade steak and ale pie before my mum left as we were losing light. The winter days are certainly too short.

I've been working away on the sewing machine, but this quilt was the last of my Christmas present makes. It's new owner (BILs girlfriend) was very pleased to receive it and I don't think will be parted from it anytime soon! She loves cuddling on the sofa in a duvet almost as much as Harry Potter, so this Hogwarts house themed quilt was a sure win.

We've always done Christmas for family and New Year for friends, so I'm looking forward to next week and will need to have a think in new year resolutions. Missy, after doing so well, broke her no vet visits resolution a few times this month, so I think we need to lower the bar for her! 

I look forward to writing again in the next decade! I'm looking forward to the 20s - I have grand plans for holidays over the next few years, and in a smaller time scale, some fabulous sewing projects (although part of me wants to get some vintage sewing patterns and really embrace the decade).

Until then! Have a wonderful New Year.

Inchmahome Priory revisited

Missy has previously done Inchmahome Priory (back in 2017!), but we weren't going to turn down a puppy play date just because we've been before!

It was my brother and Maisie, my mother, Missy and myself. My brother kindly offered to pick me up from the house and we were soon on the road. He was looking forward to trying Maisie on a boat, as she hadn't been on one yet, and he was hoping she would prefer it to the steam train. 

I just laughed and told him that I would have thought for her first boat he would have done a proper big boat. 

I swear, if he could have stopped on the motorway he would have. I was drilled as to what kind of a boat it was and, thinking he was concerned about Maisie, tried to play it cool by describing it as a rowboat with a motor.

Would we be given life jackets? He asked with some alarm.

Life jackets? For the dogs? Then it clicked. My brother cant swim. 

Yep. Enjoy the irony - I, the scuba diver, has a dog who will actively avoid water whilst my hydrophobic brother has a dog that will find any excuse to leap into it. The more I think of it, the funnier it seems!

Well, I wouldn't be writing the blog if we never made it. So despite his panic, the boat did not sink and even though I insisted I wouldn't judge him, he declined the offer of the life jacket. Maisie enjoyed it more than he did.

We got onto the island with no fuss, got our tickets and stopped for our picnic. Now, like everyone else, I'm trying to reduce plastic and waste and picnics are one place I find myself still seeking some plastic sandwich bags - not anymore:

Tada! A sandwich wrap (more photos on my instagram @missdaisysewing) - just simply put the rolls in the middle and assemble the velcro the right way and voila! I made a few earlier in the week so was pleased to road test it. Missy and Maisie were keen to share the spoils as we all enjoyed the unexpected beautiful weather.

The priory is a complete ruin. The foundations are completely intact and some of the buildings have most of their walls, but there is only one roof and that's the chapter house (Missy went on point in the completely empty, dark and chilly room so we didn't linger, just in case she had spotted a ghost).

What does remain is beautiful. Stone arches and tall plinths which are perfect for having dogs pose on (Missy and Maisie would not cooperate together, I have lots of nice photos of them individually, but they wouldn't sit nicely together!

As with all sites across the central belt, there is a lot of fuss about Mary Queen of Scots (she seems to have visited just about every castle - I'm waiting for the day I find a privvy with a sign stating "Mary Queen of Scots had a wee here") and there is a boxwood bower it is said she planted. My brother isn't a fan of the priory's and abbeys, much preferring the castles, so his highlight was the grounds of the island and its abundant trees. Despite only being half a kilometre long, there is a sizeable portion of 'woodland' which both dogs enjoyed.

Missy made friends on the boat ride back and Maisie decided to nap, a far cry from her excited barking going to the island. I was sat in the back with both dogs (they were harnessed in, Missy normally has the boot to herself) and they both fell asleep on the ride home. Definitely a worthwhile day out.

A Ruby in the Castle

As its the birthday run, the hubby and I took some time off work to go up and visit his parents in Aberdeenshire. We had originally planned on a sneaky trip to the borders, or maybe Oban, but with the stress of the bathroom and that going over budget, we decided that sneaking away to the countryside and being fed cake sounded like a very good plan.

We also got to meet Ruby properly, their now 16 week old puppy Visla. And she is gorgeous, and she knows it!

The weather was too kind. It was bright and sunny the whole visit. We started our trip with us all going to Crathes Castle where Ruby showed off her recall and we got her into the water for the first time. I had to take my socks and shoes off and wade in the river to encourage her to do so, and we had good results. Missy joined in for a paddle too, clearly taking the opportunity to cool off.

We stopped in at the cafe which was very busy and bought drinks and cake and dog-friendly ice cream for the dogs. Missy loves ice cream and, not being allowed dairy, it is a huge treat for her to get anything akin to it. Then we finished the walk and it was good to see them both interacting with one another - Ruby has mostly grown out of the typical bad puppy habits; she isn't jumping on other dogs faces and understands a growl means that the other dog wants space, so the visit in general was much easier than I expected!

The next day we decided to let the puppy rest and the hubby and I took Missy to Dunnattor Castle which has been on the to-do list for a while. Its a half hour drive to Stonehaven where the castle is situated and its impressive from the onset. You have quite a walk to get to the actual castle from the car park, but it does give plenty of opportunity to get some really nice photos!

It was a fairly intact ruin with some fun tid-bits of history. It held off Cromwell and had its fair share of scandals - including the "Whigs Vault" where 167 Covenanters were imprisoned for three months in a tiny vault. Some died whilst others attempted escape or where tortured. Its last Earl was also convicted of treason for supporting the Jacobite rising and the castle was subsequently seized by government. 

It was another glorious day and, whilst at first it was very pleasant, after a few hours it was unfortunately getting too hot. Missy does not do well in the heat despite her short coat and she started to hobble a little so we decided to see if she wanted to cool down by the sea. She dipped a paw in but wasn't interested so we called it quits and headed back so that she could cool down properly and have some sleep.

We finished the evening with a puppy walk at Castle Fraser and, as it had cooled considerably, it was much more enjoyable for everyone! Missy chased rabbits and Ruby delighted us all with some sprinting, although she really does need to grow into her ears! Shes at that really funny stage where she's starting to look like a dog, but isn't quite there. Her legs are too long and gangly and her ears are hysterically too large on her. She takes it all in her stride though and clearly doesn't care what we think.

On our way home, we all stopped at Stonehaven. The hubbys parents had decided to try Ruby in the motorhome (latest update is that she hasn't chewed it to bits yet, but has figured out that its tremendous fun to jump between the seats) and they decided to go with Stonehaven as, if it was a disaster, they could easily get home. We joined them for a walk on the beach and some ice cream before deciding to head home ourselves. Lovely as the visit was, its always nice to go home and sleep in your own bed.

This weekend has been a busy one and I'm aware this post has rambled on long enough, I'll update you all on this weekends adventures later!

Bo'ness and Birkhill Walk

So this was a funny weekend in terms of plans. A puppy play date was always on the cards and there was a list of places my brother and I want to take the dogs to. When asking my mother if she was free and fancied joining us, it was revealed that my aunt (who is undergoing cancer treatment and cant get out much) was coming through with her son, my cousin, and that my mother had already promised them both that we would all be going out and doing something together.

News to me!

Nonetheless, after pointing out that what doggie play dates generally entail is a lot of walking, we bumped heads together and decided on the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. I quite recently took a friend there, so wont go into too much detail about the site itself, but it seemed a good choice as the weather has been particularly unpredictable of late and there wouldn't be much walking about. Owing to Maisie requiring her six weekly spa day and pamper, we agreed on the 2pm train and managed to talk my sister into coming along as well.

 

Anyone who knows me knows that two in the afternoon is a day of adventuring lost, so I decided that, after dropping the hubby off at work, I'd just head off and see what I had time to do in regards to local walks. I'd gotten very keen on the idea of walking from Bo'ness to Blackness Castle (a 4 mile circular) but as it was already hitting 20C and we'd be walking on an exposed coastal path, I decided against it. Coincidentally, as I was purchasing an annual ticket for the railway (there's at least one event I want to do this year, and I'm pretty certain I'll end up along there at least once more after that, so it will have paid itself off before the years out) it came out on the tannoy that there was the Kinneil house walk and the Birkhill walks that could be done as part of a journey.

I'd previously scoped out the Kinniel walk and knew it would be more than an hour, which would be cutting it fine to catch the train on return. A quick query with the station master revealed that the walk at Birkhill was a 20-25 minute amble of a walk and I'd have half an hour to do it in settled that for me. Missy decided to cuddle up to and hug a train spotter who made the mistake of smiling and making eye contact with her and, after assessing the situation where he was rubbing her face and ears and posing for selfies with her, I decided she was clearly causing no bother and got some photos of the train coming into the station.

Both Missy and I had lunch on the train in the 15 minutes it took to get to Birkhill and then disembarked at a scenic little station and found a clearly marked woodland walk sign. I was quite disappointed to realise there used to be a clay mine in the area and that the visitors centre attached was closed to public visitors in 2013. I found some old signs and peered down into the gorge before trundling along the track. With the thought of the return train in the back of my mind we briskly walked the circular route and were done in less than twenty minutes. I ambled about the remnants of the mine information for another five and then headed back to the station. 

As usual when I have time to kill, I had Missy pose about the place for some photos and we quickly gathered a bit of an audience who were all very impressed at her sit and stay abilities. She made friends with a little boy who, after realising they were the same age, begged his mum for a photo of them together. I'm rather enamoured at the thought of Missy making her way into someone else's holiday snaps, and was more than happy to let them have a picture together.

I timed the trip back well as everyone was just arriving as the train pulled into the station. It was good to see my aunt and cousin again and I was pleased that my sister arrived in time as well for the train. She had brought her very elderly MIL with Wee Ben in tow. She's too old and frail now to keep him full time, which is why my sister usually has him, but she has been desperate for some time now to come along on a puppy play date as I always make sure to send her photos of the dogs having fun together.

Tickets were bought, group photos taken and on the train we went. In contrast to the previous train I had gotten this one was mobbed. Clearly the post-lunch train is popular! We made do with what we could and I found myself chatting to my sisters MIL and my nephew. He was perplexed as to why we'd all want to go on a steam train (alas, he's clearly forgotten when I took him to a Thomas day many, many moons ago and he was inconsolably happy) and I joked about a lack of screens and enjoying the scenery.

He did enjoy it once he'd realised that this was his opportunity to rule the conversation and we spent most of it chatting about Pokemon Go. His mother and grandmother clearly thought we were speaking another language, but enjoyed the time all the same. Maisy however, was not happy. She looked miserable on my brothers lap and refused treats, so on the return we moved the dogs to a different car where they could lie down properly and Maisy seemed a bit better but still unsure.

After we disembarked, I mentioned that the tickets were an all day ticket and there was another train still if they wanted to go again. I found a booth in first class and they all crammed in except for my brother and his friend who'd found a roomier space in a different carriage. They messaged me and said they were going to do the Birkhill walk I had done earlier and I offered to take Wee Ben out and agreed to join them.

That's where the day was almost an absolute disaster. 

Missy spotted a deer or a rabbit or something and basically went missing. After ten minutes my somewhat nervous but its-all-ok attitude melted into blind panic and we split up to try and cover more ground to find her. 

After 30 minutes I realised that we were going to end up missing the train. My brother very kindly offered to get the train back, fetch his car and drive back to the station to help with the search. The rest of the family (barring my sister who was driving) had found out that the buffet car served alcohol and would be in no state to help having been left unchaperoned for so long, but he was resolute that they could suck it up and be left at a pub in Bo'ness if it came to that. He was going to come back and help.

40 minutes and I had reached meltdown. I couldnt shout anymore so was on the verge of sobbing out Missys name over and over when my brother called. No sign of the train yet and Missy was on the tracks. 

I've never run so fast in all my life. Missy was soaked through and cried at the sight of me before doing a 360 turning cuddle and whimpering and licking at me as I hugged her. Our guess if that she fell in the gorge, couldn't get back out and had to go downstream, cut across the woods at a distance where she couldn't hear us shouting and then made her way back along the tracks to find us. I have genuinely never been so frightened.

The train pulled in as we were all hugging Missy with an apology from the conductor about being late back (we said nothing, but boy, I was so pleased they'd run late) and we were back on the train. We reconvened at the station and, as my family staggered along and insisted we raid the gift shop, I discovered that the reason the train was late was that my sisters MIL decided to try and chat up the train driver and then stole his hat. There are photos of them all smiling with the driver taking turns in his hat.

For once in my life, I am not cross or embarrassed at them.

On a different note, today (asides from looking at dog trackers on Amazon at great length) I had a go at a craft project that's been on my to-do list for a while. Beeswax wraps!

Ok, not super exciting, but I'm trying to reduce plastic and this is whats being touted as the new clingfilm. I've made a few test sheets in some scrap fabric in different sizes to see what works and will revisit the project on a larger scale if successful.

Missy is asleep on the sofa. After a thorough check, she's non the worse for wear after her misadventure. Not even a broken claw or misplaced hair. 

She's stiff today but, after checking her PitPat activity monitor that doesn't surprise me - those 40 minutes I spent pacing and screaming for her, she ran at full pelt. She was very sorry for herself last night, and had clearly got a bad fright herself as she just velcroed herself to us. Saying that, clearly though she's not sorry, she vanished off after rabbits on her morning walk, but thankfully returned to me within a minute looking a bit sheepish.

Hopefully next weeks adventure will not be so hair raising!

Scottish Seabird Centre

I often start with a weather update, but this time I feel its truly worth commenting on. Thursday was the all time high temperature recorded in Edinburgh (31.6C) and then by Saturday the high was 18 complemented with torrential rain. Saturdays doggy play date with Maisie was downgraded to a pop round for lunch and a shuffle round the park so today I was determined to have a bit more of an adventure.

I always love to find a new dog-friendly day out and the Scottish Seabird Centre has been on my radar for a little while, but I've held off as the good weather meant that the place would probably be rammed. A slightly damp weekend seemed like a good time to try it and we pre-booked the morning boat with fingers crossed for better weather. I also rang them to double check just how dog friendly they were and was pleased to be informed that, apart from the kitchen, Missy was more than welcome anywhere.

The weather was kind - it was still overcast and a bit drizzly, but it was warm enough a light rain coat was all I needed and cool enough that Missy was comfortable to be exploring. We timed our arrival to get checked in for the boat and were surprised to learn it was a full boat. We'd been warned that the skipper had last say about the dog (basically if they were being boisterous they may be asked to leave) so it wasn't until we were on the boat that we breathed a sigh of relief. It was a nice catamaran type boat and we left those with kids to the sheltered bit and sat at the back so Missy could have some space and I could get some nice photos.

A very different perspective of Tantallon Castle

It was a bumpier ride than we are used to! Loch Katrine with tea and cake, easy. An audio tour on Loch Ness with tea and cake, no problem. Windermere with, yep, tea and cake, a breeze. Tea would have been a safety hazard on this boat as we lurched and bounced over the waves and laughed as we were asked continuously if we felt OK. I had a bag to hand just in case Missys travel sickness returned and we all watched as someone made a dash to the privy to lose their breakfast. Missy was a trooper and just cuddled up to us, taking it in her stride as always.

The worst was over as we arrived at Bass Rock and it was certainly worth the rough journey:

So. Many. Ganets. The noise and smell was astounding. I remember fondly doing the same boat ride as a young child and I was surprised at myself that those two things had not left an impact. We made a leisurely sail around the rock and were given its history and had the behaviours of the birds explained to us. It was fun watching them dive into the water by us and see them flying back and forth to the (now very large) chicks. Missy clearly found the smell exciting as she stood up and wagged her tail at all the activity, but she's not daft and showed no inclination to move to the edge of the boat or water.

We then sailed over to another island and watched puffins and shanks in the water. I was pleased to spot a seal before anyone else as we watched the tiny puffins. In a moving boat, it was very hard to get photos of them, so I sat back and just enjoyed watching the little birds. After that it was almost a trundle back to dry land and we decided to grab some lunch before going into the seabird centre proper.

We decided to upgrade to the annual pass as I can definitely see us at the centre again with other family members. The staff were great and seemed genuinely pleased to see Missy and we happily played with all the cameras and read all the information about the conservation projects that were ongoing for the birds.

There was a very nice looking cafe and soft play and we scoped out the play room ad well which had plenty of appropriately themed kids books sat out for parents to read.

We finished with a walk other beach and I was surprised to see the old tide pools in existence. Perhaps next time I'll come prepared with a swimming cosie and go for a paddle - or at the very least a bucket and spade to build some sand castles! A lovely day all round, I'm already planning a repeat trip with the neices and nephews and their fur cousins!

Dalkeith Show

Well, life's been a bit funny the last few weeks - without getting into far too much detail my brother-in-law (hubbys brother) has had to have a large operation, my mother in law is coming to stay with us for an unknown period of time from tomorrow and basically everything is being held together with spit, polish and smiles.

Its not all that bad, its just that by nature I am verging on pedantic about time and whats happening. Not knowing when something is happening, or for how long a thing is happening or even if its going to happen at all puts my heart into unhealthy palpitations. So, being the third wheel getting second hand information on a situation that's very uncertain to begin with really stresses me out but I need to be the calm one and support my hubby and those around me. In short, I had to call time on my family and tell them I had to take a step back and focus on my husband and his, which was hard to do, but as I said to my mother today, the worlds still turning and no ones irreversibly fallen out with anyone, so its all ok. The BILs op went well, it was less invasive than originally planned and he's not had to be tube fed so they're already looking at cutting out the time he's to be in hospital.

With that in mind, I needed to find something for Missy and I to do that was near the hospital as the hubby had promised he was going to visit on Saturday. Little France is an hours drive from me and we agreed it was unfair on Missy to be left on her own for such a long time and that, with it being highly possible that the BIL wouldn't really want company, that it was a long way to go to possibly turn around again. I spotted that the Dalkeith Show was on and, being 15 minutes from the hospital, was ideal. We went for the show starting and then at lunchtime, the hubby headed off to visit his brother whilst Missy and I got to enjoy the rest of the day. We had also organised to see a friend afterwards who lives ten minutes from Dalkeith so it was an absolutely perfect situation.

It was a really good day. I was in a bit of a panic when it was raining in the morning, but by the time we parked up it had stopped and the sun was out. We mooched about the stalls and were very pleased fur-parents when we were told Missy had an ideal body weight at the vet stand. She got a goody bag of treats and various things and then we were off to watch the first event which was the Clydesdale horses judging.

I have a soft spot for the heavy horses. I love their sheer size, their shape and just the way they gracefully and yet stoically get on with things. The foal was a real treat as he followed his mother on his stilt like legs, already stout and stocky but still a little wobbly.

Following on from the foal, the dairy calves and young handlers was a real treat. Dressed in shirts and too long ties, the kids wrangled their unruly calves with the ease of those born in the trade. The hubby and I were much impressed at the shortest lad, a stout wee ginger thing, who simply put up with no nonsense and dragged the calf where it was needed and were genuinely pleased to see him placed first.

As the pipe band played we had an early lunch of jacket potatoes and eagerly awaited the mysteriously billed "Ore Terrier Racing". A barking truck rolled out and a lure was set up and we were treated to watching genuine ratting dogs race after it. I will confess that o was surprised that ratting with dogs is a legitimate thing still - not because I'm squeamish, Missy bringing me back rabbits the size of small cats got that out my system, but because I thought poisons and traps had made it unnecessary. I suppose there are lots of situations where poisons would also be dangerous to human, or protected wildlife, health and can understand the lack of appeal of traps.

It was tremendous fun to watch and, as they offered the watching canines a go, decided to see what Missy would think of it. She was excited at the sight of the lure as it wriggled about but, upon release, hesitated as the other dogs decided to have a barmy and play and then clearly realised it was fake and showed no interest again. A pity as I would have much rather she took an inclination to chasing a lure than a real animal!

Very few dogs chased the lure, in the first or second display, but they all provided some great entertainment. I, and the whole audience, laughed as a little husky puppy would bumble with great purpose after it but then decided he didn't like the tables turned when the lure changed direction towards him and so the puppy ran away from it.

The hubby took that as his time to leave so I walked Missy for half an hour in the woods of the country park after saying goodbye. She had a comfort break and I got some nice photos of her on an old wall with an iron gate that led to nowhere. We managed to catch the end of the vintage tractors before getting to watch the ridden Clydesdale event. Missy enjoyed watching them walk, canter and run around the ring as much as I did before we registered for the dog show and she dozed through the champion of champions. A show horse won that I hadn't seen compete, so I can only assume it was judged before the event started or somewhere Missy was not allowed to go.

Then it was the cattle parade which I was really pleased to see - the livestock area was the only place dogs weren't allowed and so apart from the dairy calves, I hadn't seen any. The commentator stated that there was a Highland cow calf in a different colour to normal (apparently they come in seven colours, I'd only ever seen black and orange before) and I just had to laugh. My initial expectation had been something small and fuzzy. What actually happened was someone, who had to have been an older brother to the wee lad who had won the dairy calf at a stout six foot and ginger, hauling this cow that was nearly the height of him literally over his shoulder. To be fair, it was almost brindle in colour, but the comedy of the moment won over the fact.

We did the dog show (Missy didn't place in loveliest lady so I have decided that we need to learn an obscure trick to see if we could do better in that category next time) and then went for another walk. I messaged the hubby to check all was well (his company was being much appreciated, so all good) and then caught the second round of Terrier racing before the vintage tractors did a victory lap. Missy was getting tired by this point. She has a tendency to get very cuddly when she's tired and, any stranger who smiled at her and made eye contact with her got a cuddle whether they wanted it or not. She simply shuffles in close, sits on the persons foot so they can't escape and leans on them. I make some small talk, apologise about the cuddling dog, get told off for apologising, Missy gets fawned over and petted and clearly wins the arrangement! 

Thankfully the hubby arrived as they were clearing up and we went to see our friend. After chatting and food we played some retro video games on the N64 and laughed as Missy lay in her bed and snored through it all. She was unimpressed to be awoken when it was time to go home - and who says dogs aren't like small children?!

With the MIL due tomorrow, we've been cleaning the house today. She doesn't expect a spotless house, but is renowned for stress cleaning, so we didn't want to provide any targets. Missy still got a nice walk this morning and my friend popped round last minute to join me on the afternoon walk and save me from cleaning.

I have managed, at last, to finish my big project. It should not have taken as long as it did, but I'm happy with it despite everything that's going on:

A lovely three piece suit for the son of my sisters friend who apparently loves tractors but needs to look smart for a christening. Expect some dungarees for my nephew in the same fabric to turn up in the future!

Going to be a bit patchy over the next few weeks, so hopefully will be back soon with more adventures.

A tail of two Abbeys

The weather this year has officially been crazy. After flash floods on Monday, Thursday and Friday were hot enough that my poor tomatoes have heat damage (lots of water and a dose of tomato food should hopefully revive them). That's right, in the space of 8 weeks I've had frost damage and heat damage. I honestly couldn't make this up!

With the good weather set to turn over the weekend (typical) the hubby and I decided to go and follow the sun south to the borders and visit first Jedburgh Abbey and then on the return home, Dryburgh Abbey. There was an ambitious plan about also getting Melrose, but we shelved that as too ambitious the moment we arrived at Jedburgh and were offered the audio tour.

Now, I'm sure I've mentioned before that hubby is quite severely dyslexic and, whilst he refuses to let it stop him or put him into some kind of social box, he really struggles going around anything heavily word based that involves having then having to read with the distractions of a) other people, b) the dog, c) other people's dogs and d) dustmotes. It is one of the reasons we love and advocate the kids quizzes, they give us a nice stop by stop tour of the place, encourage finding the important answers, make sure nothing special gets missed and, most importantly, a sticker for the scrap book upon completion.

Audio tours on the other hand, let him unlock everything about a place. And I mean everything. Not a number shall be skipped, it shall be done in order and all interesting facts will be relayed to me as I'm having far too much fun photographing Missy and skimming the information boards to bother with the tour myself. I do enjoy them, and don't mean to belittle them at all, but for me, having the hubby recite weird and wonderful facts at me is far more enjoyable.

I digress. Long and short of it, once we knew there was an audio tour we knew there was no risk of it being a quick fly by look of the place so decided to scrap off one Abbey from the list. Better to do less well and enjoy it than rush three things and feel like you missed something.

It's unkind to Jedburgh Abbey to assume it would be a quick visit. Barring roof and upper floors, it's remarkably intact and and is huge. Built in the late 1100s with a red stone, it dominates the small town of Jedburgh. They're obviously very proud of it and, after going through an elevated viewing room filled with wonderful and odd little artifacts (loved the comb with Hercules) the place was immaculately well kept. We enjoyed a picnic looking up at the Abbey before exploring (I'm getting worried that Missy is starting to pose on her own accord, she went onto the bench without prompting and sat and smiled at me beside the hamper). The audio tour was a bonus as we found the stone room which had some great information about how they built the place (it took that long that Roman went out of fashion and Gothic came in, which shows in the shape of the vaulted windows)  and enjoyed the views from the viewing platform. Most definitely worth a visit.

Dryburgh, a twenty minutes drive away back north, was an Augustine abbey as well but, unlike Jedburgh which is in the heart of a city, Dryburgh was very isolated and had some woodland to it. A very different atmosphere to effectively the same type of building. 

Built about the same time as Jedburgh, this one is predominantly gothic and, has the added interest of having been bought in the 1700s and done up as a romantic ruin. It felt a very different place to our first abbey and, whilst I couldn't pick a favourite, Missy clearly preferred this one. There was a rabbit to point at and field mice to stalk, important misadventures when getting ones history lessons. 

The trees are huge, and it homes one of Scotlands oldest yew trees (hint, it was ginormous) - they are clearly very proud of the trees as we were eagerly handed a sheet of the important trees to find whilst being given our quiz. Missy was fawned over by the staff and we bought her a Harris Tweed collar from the dog display which had a matching bow. They've also introduced tap water bottle refills (which they kindly did to resupply us with water for Missys return journey) and it's something I'm super pleased to see and want to see more businesses do.

We timed our trip home well, the moment we entered the Edinburgh limits the heavens opened and it poured down with rain.

Missy got to wear her lovely new collar on Sunday as we went to the eagerly anticipated Paws at the Palace at Scone Palace (I really must visit the actual palace sometime - I've done loads of events there now!). 

After the wash out of Dogfest, and a forecast of showers, I was armed with wellies, umbrella, full waterproofs and a rain hat. Guess what? Didn't rain! We spent the whole day avoiding talk of the weather so as not to jinx it, but it was that perfect dog weather of sunny with a cool breeze.

We checked out the stalls and watched the flyball have-a-go as well as the gun dog have-a-go (basically retrieving skills) and had a laugh that whilst Missy would be very good at them, it's such a pity she has no inclination to tennis balls and therefore wouldn't turn her paw to them. We did have a go at agility and she became best buddies with a bonkers collie mix - I'm sure she was somehow leading that dog astray whilst being on impeccably good behaviour herself!

There was a DJ and a dog parade (we didn't bother joining in with the parade, it clashed with prettiest girl and Missy wouldn't have enjoyed being in the rabble)  and the time honoured dog show where she didn't place. I think had there been fourth, she may have gotten something at prettiest eyes, the judges were taken with her and chatted to us which wasn't the case with prettiest girl, but it doesn't matter, she had fun and the entry fee went to a good cause. 

It was the events first year and I think they weren't expecting it to be so successful - there was only three portaloos, and the contest overlapping the parade was a schoolboy error, but overall I was very impressed with it and hope they throw another paw-ty next year.

I have one last announcement before calling it quits for the night - look who has officially joined the family! I can't wait till Ruby has had all her vaccines and we can go visiting!

A Soggy DogFest North

Well, you can't predict the weather! This weekend was the much anticipated DogFest that Missy had won tickets for and we ended up going down just us as the hubby was working and couldn't get out of it.

The plan was to crash at my sisters the Friday and then we'd all go along the Saturday. The weather was forecast for showers, but we're all outdoorsy types and own waterproofs and wellies, so figured it would be fine. The plan was to go for lunchtime owing to my niece having a swimming lesson (for 5, she's doing brilliantly and has managed to get herself up a class so she looks tiny compared to her peers) and then we'd head over and catch the festival. The itinerary showed that the day repeated itself, so we knew we wouldn't miss anything with the later start and, my sister having heard horror stories about Tatton Park and getting parked, was keen to miss the first in barmy.

That's probably where the day went to plan before going all wrong. We parked nice and easy and, as we had our tickets already got to stroll past the massive queue and it was all looking up. Missy got given masses of treats owing to a stall holder taking a shine to my niece (he apologised and said he desperately wanted a girl, having all boys, not that Missy complained) and caught the last song of the dog dancing.

All good so far. Well, the heavens then opened. And it rained. And poured. And heaved it down before, for good measure, chucking it. The promised shelter was inadequate for the number of people and the number of very wet and high strung dogs (sorry, don't care what people say, they don't like being squashed in crowds, I always try and find space for Missy to be able to breathe and not get stepped on). 

We darted and dashed from stall to stall, looking for ones with gazebos and some physical space before there was finally a break in the weather. Some doughnuts and finding the fair ground games (skittles, magnetic fishing and so on) soon brightened the kids up who then decided that they had had enough of standing about and didn't want to watch the dog dancing or agility. I can't blame them, but it put Missy in an awkward position as she also had some energy to burn. We agreed that my sister and I would do the dog walk with the youngest (2) whilst BIL went with the niece and found a proper play park. 

If the sun had stayed out, I think we could have turned the day round and salvaged it, but no, ten minutes into the walk it started pouring again so we abandoned it, relocated the remaining family and called it quits. It wasn't fair on anyone by that point - kids and dog were soaked through and adults tempers were fraying with the want to be polite to one another and not can the day whilst being concerned about everyone's health at being so wet.

I'm gonna be fair to the event and not judge it - we didn't see enough of the activities to gauge the quality of the thing and stalls are stalls at the end of the day. Perhaps next year if the weather is looking better I might give it another shot.

This shoebox counts as shelter, right?

We had scoped out a dog friendly pub and, after showers and fresh clothes (including a early birthday gift for myself from my sister of a gengar jumper which I am tremendously happy with), we ate there and had a pleasant, though tired, dinner. Once kids were in bed we managed to chill out and catch up.

I'm sure once my frustration at the weather being absolutely against me doing anything nice with my sister wears off, I'll find yesterday funny and shrug it off, but at the moment that song comes to mind:

Raindrops are falling on my head

And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed

Nothing seems to fit

Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling

So I just did me some talking to the sun

And I said I didn't like the way he got things done

Sleeping on the job

Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling

Perhaps I need to tell the sun off for being lazy! It's really turning into a wash out of a summer - but I gotta keep looking on the bright side; I got to see my niece at her swimming lessons (an overdue promise), I got to hang out with my sister and her family on their turf, my sister and I are more organised about my mums party later this year and Missy got to hang out with her cat-cousins, one of whom (Dashie) is beginning to figure out that Missy isn't going to chase and murder them all. I do love that cats look of abject horror as the other two are completely disinterested in the dog in the room!

Oh, and I got handed a bag of fabric to add to the stash. Mustn't forget that!

Well, that's all for now, hopefully the weather starts to improve for next weekend!