A Grrr-eat Weekend

It's been a quick weekend. Friday was a belated Xmas trip to the circus with my mum, and then Saturday was a trip to Glasgow to see my cousin before he emigrates to the States.

It was originally Big Sis' who came up with the plan and then I joined in too. Since mum was at mine, I had her stay the night and we hopped aboard the train in the late morning.

We met Big Sis at the station, with Wee Ben in tow. He was immediately pleased to see Missy and gave her his usual shy kisses.

From there it was a quick walk about George Square and then onto another train to my aunts. It was the sort of visit I generally avoid - a gathering in the house were everyone talks over each other, but I was pleased to have made the effort. I went on a dog walk and had a chance to catch up with my cousin properly. 

By the time 5 rolled around, it was time for me to go, so I bailed off and made the journey home myself (big sis and mum were catching the same second train whereas I'm on a different line, and I wanted some space to myself, so it was fine). 

Both cousins walked me to the station for the first train and that was really nice. Missy was much complimented as always, it being the first time they had properly met her as more than an aside on an adventure. Then off I went. 

I knew I'd missed my connecting train pretty much right away. So I took my time getting off the train and got some nice photos of Missy in the station. The train staff were enamoured at her posing and she was much fussed over. And thn it began.

There is a phenomenon I have discovered, in which dogs in general just seem to attract anyone mikdy inebriated in a six mile radius. And Missy is an absolute magnet. Our quick walk to kill time took ages as she stopped and allowed herself to be petted at almost every traffic light and bar.

It got no better on the train, and I found myself making polite small talk to several strangers, all wanting to share dog stories (and ask about my cross stitch, which I hadnt really thought about as an unusual hobby to see out and about these days - my sisters wild knitting has clearly made me immune to the oddness of crafting on the go!).

Then it was home, tea and a bath. Well deserved! 

Today was helping a friend move house. Always an exciting moment, and she kindly treated us to lunch for all the help. I'm really looking forward to seeing how she makes it a home. 

And that's it! The weekend is gone. I got some quick embroidery advice whilst at my friend's and have started the long process of embroidering thistles on my aunts dress for my cousins American wedding. 

One down, 27 to go... 

Seven Lochs Wetland Park

Another busy little weekend! We hosted a long overdue Murder Mystery on Saturday which, between last minute charity shop hunting for a tweed jacket and giving the whole house a deep clean, took over the whole day. It was well worth the effort though and we now have 2 more friends converted.

After much humming and hawing, I studied the COP26 site and determined that there would be no demonstrations and a trip to Glasgow would be safe to pick up our wonderful pottery from a few weeks back. I then had a look at walks near to the area of Glasgow I had to visit and spotted the Seven Lochs Wetland Park.

My mum arrived at mine early with a collar my older sister had bought for Missy. It's not as random as it sounds, it being a poppy collar for Remembrance Day. 

It's unusual to see Missy out of the trademark pink, but she does rather suit the blue. The Seven Lochs Wetland provided a beautiful backdrop for some lovely photos of Missy!

The park itself was easy to find, parking was a bit tight but we found a space and the place was huge. My mother loved the paved paths best though as we spent an hour mooching about and exploring the little side paths. With all the recent rain I had been worried we'd need wellies, but the paths and weather held out for us as we strolled in the Autumnal scenery.

This week I've been busier than one of Father Christmas' elfs sewing and stitching, but I've been enjoying the challenge! I have quite a list to still work through, but I think I'm more than halfway through it! 

However, for now I'm going to take a moment and admire by lovely plate alongside my mums. She did try very hard to sneak off with both, but I held firm to Missys! 

A not-so-Big Dog Walk

 So.... This happened.

Someone was trying for a hat trick of murder this month (one squirrel and one bunny so far, she's clearly offended at being considered an "oldie") and managed to tear her dew claw. Saturday was therefore an anxious write off as we first waited to get to the vets, and then waited for her to be sedated and have the claw cleaned up. Once she was home we cancelled all plans and decided that what she needed was a good cuddle on the sofa bed and to watch a corny monster movie.

(Our October tradition has become a "spoopy movie month" whereby we watch all the kids horrors and the old monster movies. We're on a spree of Ray Harryhousen films after going to the exhibition last week at the Modern Art Gallery, so it was the third Sinbad film we watched).

We were left with a conundrum in the evening on Saturday; we had tickets for the Big Dog Walk Glasgow the following day. We were going on Explorer duties, it was the last social doggy event on the calendar and, even if we wanted to give the tickets away, there was no one who could have made it on the short notice. In my excitement leading up to the day, I'd bought Missy a new collar for the occasion (not the new spotty collar above, but the new tartan one below) and we were all pretty bummed out about it.

We decided on a compromise. Weather was to be fair, that was the most important bit, if it was to be wet it would have been a no-go. Firstly, we'd see how she was in the morning. If all good, then we'd go to the event, do part of the 2km walk (she does need walking, just isn't allowed much), rest a bit, let her bat her eyelashes for biscuits from the stall holders, rest a little more, and see how she was doing before deciding on doing the fun dog show or not. It was as solid a plan as we could come up with.

This morning she was bright eyed and waggy tailed for us getting up. She didn't seem in pain, the nail looked great (I put a new dressing on it to be safe), and she was super excited for breakfast. On went the new collar, and off we went.

We arrived, got our goody bags, and went for the 9.30am walk. Truth be told, Missy wanted to go further (and much faster) than we did. She made friends with a Weimaraner puppy and tried to instigate play a few times but we quickly stopped that. Got back, had a cup of tea and Missy went into full charm offensive mode. After nearly eating out two separate stalls of all their treats, we ended up buying her a new drying coat and some nice boredom busting treat toys for during the week, which I feel will be needed. We sat down again and had some brunch and decided to give the dog show a go.

The show was a bit chaotic as everyone went into the ring at once and you put your hand up for the category you wanted to do. It was a last minute addition to the event (being announced 2 days ago that it was a thing that was going to happen), and it showed a bit. Best Rescue was the last category called and, whilst Missy enjoyed the judges attention, and we were flattered that they decided all the rescues should get a prize bandana, it was time to call it a day.

Missy making friends with the Judge

Its a bit weird to be home from an event before lunchtime, but Missy is the priority. She's dozing away quite happily, I've changed her dressing (everything looks great), and I think we managed it so that we all had a nice day. I'd like to revisit Chatelherault Country Park once Missy is better - the little we saw of it made it look like a nice day out.

This event was much smaller than DogFest (its the same people that run it), and honestly, was smaller than most dog day shows we've done before. Its a start though, I'd love a full sized DogFest closer to home, so fingers crossed for the future. 

In sewing news, this months Sew Darn Sweet sewing subscription box was Halloween themed. I felt these little applique gift bags would make excellent host gifts for our friends (one is hosting a games night next week and the other a movie night tonight) - I've put some sweets and chocolates in them, so they're bound to go down well!

The Christmas sewing is going well. Shant say much more except that one of the gifts would really be more fitting for this month but I dont want to spoil the surprise - you know who you are!

I imagine the next few weeks will be relatively quiet in terms of adventures, we're just going to take things easy and let Missy dictate the pace. Ironically, one thing we do have booked is a Prey Drive Seminar later this month, so Missy has been well warned that she needs to pay attention!

Glasgow Botanical Gardens and Muiravonside Country Park

I've finally discovered a Botanical gardens that allows dogs - and with it being in Glasgow, it's not too far away for a wee day trip out.

The Glasgow Botanical Gardens is located beside the river Kelvin and is surrounded by the city. Missy and I were out with my friend and next time I would plan to park in a nearby multi storey or something as it was sheer luck we managed to get parked on the road (pulling off a swift parallel park I may add, my most hated road manoeuvre!)

It's still barely spring, so I didn't have high hopes of there being much in bloom and was therefore surprised at the blossom on some trees alongside swathes of purple crocus flowers. We were even treated to some bumblebees enjoying the warm weather (if 7C could ever be considered truly warm!).

Missy was not allowed in the greenhouse, so we took turns popping in to be bowled over by the scents of the hyacinth and daffodils before enjoying the more traditional greenhouse offerings of cacti and ferns. The architecture and design of the greenhouses, and some of the benches, where as enjoyable to admire as the flowers were and we quickly filled a few hours bumbling about like the bees we had seen earlier.

The only word of caution I have is the number of very fat, very bold and very slow squirrels about! I hadn't spotted any on the first lap round and, on the second, realised it was late enough in the day people were taking the small kids out to feed said portly squirrels. Thankfully my arm was not ripped out of its socket as I initially feared would happen when I realised we were surrounded by squirrels being fed by small giggling children (who would have had their days truly ruined should Missy have been allowed any length of lead). I managed to coerce Missy into a rodent free direction by physically holding onto her collar and turning whilst bodily blocking the squirrels from sight.

Thankfully Missy took my treacherous behaviour well and didn't make any kind of scene as she was escorted back to the much quieter herb gardens. The weather had started to turn so we decided to go and find somewhere to sit and have a catch up over some tea and cake.

Not quite tea and cake, but Loop and Scoop proudly proclaimed on the building to be dog friendly and soon we were enjoying churros and ice cream with tea (a heaven sent combination, I can assure you!). Missy got the wafer off my ice cream and had a nap as my friend and I caught up on each others lives and made plans for trying to catch up again sooner. By then the rain was torrential so we all dashed to the car and headed home - not a bad wee day!

It was a double adventure weekend as the hubby and I managed to get out to Muiravonside Country Park.  Out near Falkirk/Linlithgow it was a short drive away and provided a new place to explore. First we did the sculpture trail and then we did the much longer green route which took us alongside the river and through the woodland. The sculpture and poetry trail had a few nice pieces to look at and was also a 'play trail' so there was loads of rocks and sunken in tyres and such for children to play and climb on before finishing up at the little play park. I was rather enamoured by the converted dovecot which now has bat boxes:

It was an odd weather day with a strong arctic wind but, when free of it, was warm and sunny, so we decided on the long walk to give Missy a chance to stretch her legs before we had a look about the small farm. There was sheep and cows and horses, so it ticked all the farmyard boxes! We've decided to suggest it as a picnic point for the Easter family get together, so hopefully we'll be back with plenty of cake in tow! If not with family, our friends with small kids will really enjoy the country park too, so a definite recommend!

I have managed to polish off one of my larger projects - my new charm quilt for the bed. Ironically after my celebrating playing with Spring fabrics, this is most certainly a winter piece - but that's the peril of starting a project in the correct season, inevitably its finished as soon as its no longer appropriate. I'm starting my Easter sewing right now for that exact reason!

Creeping about Craignethan Castle

So, we had intended to do the jousting today at Caerlaverock Castle today - an event I had really been looking forward to, but with the hubby on antibiotics for a chest infection and myself fighting off a cold, the predicted forecast of 98% chance of heavy rain and thunder just meant it was a no-go. A two hour drive to stand in the rain, whilst most weekends wouldn't deter me, was just not going to happen. Guaranteed we'd have all gotten grumpy with one another and just ruined the whole weekend!

We've done pretty much all out 'local' dog friendly castles, and have been scoping those further afield but still within sensible day-tripping distance - at 45 minutes away and promising a riverside walk in addition to a day wondering about a castle, we settled on giving Craignethan Castle a shot. 

Its a stout little castle that isn't done justice in the photos. One of the most intact of the ruins about the central belt, its boasts plenty of spiralling staircases up towers and down into cellars. We timed our visit well, arriving just as another couple were leaving, so basically we had the place to ourselves. We allowed Missy off the lead owing to the very narrow spiral staircases, and explored some of the peculiar features of the castle - particularly the caponier (the only surviving one in Scotland, apparently) which is basically a roofed building in a ditch for shooting people from.

Unsurprisingly, with it being designed by James Hamilton of Finnart, the kings master of works in the 1500's, its the most 'modern' of the castles in the area. With only the roof really missing, and the majority of the internal castle intact, its genuinely interesting to see how an architect of castles would build their own home. It was recently home to a badger, a story that went viral, and they were keen to keep the momentum going with a badger themed kids quiz and a badger sticker should you get the questions all right. We helped Missy with the quiz, and were pleased to come away with a sticker for the effort - certainly one of the most enjoyable quizzes we've done for a while! Altough Missy is barred from badgers, her last encounter with one left her with a lot of stitches and left the ubby and I with a rather large vet bill! Cute animals, but dangerous!

Within the grounds of the castle is the entrance to Netham Gorge, a mile long riverside walk into the nearby village. We were over confident of ourselves, and found the trail very steep with lots and lots of steps - a good walk, but perhaps not suitable with all the rain we've had! Missy had a tremendous time running through the undergrowth and hunting voles and bunnies. The village didn't turn up anything dog friendly but, as it was hammering with rain by that point, we didn't venture far, so I cant say that is the case for sure! Turning round, we all headed back to the car and dried off on the drive home.

Now for a well deserved cup of tea (or two) whilst we wait for a gap in the weather for Missy's evening walk - not that I think she's worried about one as she's fast asleep on the sofa in her dressing gown!

A List of Adventures!

Looking for somewhere a bit more unusual to take your four legged friends? It can be difficult scrawling through web pages trying to look for dog policies in places that someone somewhere has obscurely mentioned may be dog friendly, so to save everyone time, I've put together all of Missy's adventures into a list (broken by region) to hopefully save everyone else a little stress.

Missy out ghost hunting at the abandoned asylum!

Please share any suggestions of places we've yet to discover ourselves across the UK - Missy is always on the lookout for new adventures!

Scotland:

Edinburgh and the Lothians:

Walks:
Beecraigs Country Park
Antonine Wall/Falkirk Wheel
Bangour Village Hospital (abandoned asylum)
Union Canal (Ratho - Edinburgh)
Hermand Beechwood
Cramond Island
Cairns Castle
Pentlands
Cammo Estate
Korean War Memorial and Witchcraig Woods

Attractions:
Camera Obscura and World of Illusion
Summerhall Gallery
Almond Valley Heritage Centre
National Museum of Flight
Muiravonside Country Park
Bo'Ness and Kinneil Railway
Scottish Seabird Centre

Historic Scotland Sites:
Cairnpapple
Blackness Castle
Craigmillar Castle
Linlithgow Palace
Crichton Castle
Tantallon Castle (revisit)
Dirleton Castle and Gardens (revisit)
Dunfermline Abbey and Palace
Craignethan Castle
Thistle Knights Tours (Edinburgh Ghost Walk)


Events:
Bathgate Highland Games
Linlithgow Jousting
Siege on the Forth
Edinburgh Kiltwalk
Arthurs Ambles
Prepare to give Fire!
Dalkeith Show
40s/50s day @ Bo'Ness Railway

Kingdom of Fife:

Walks:

St Andrews Beach

Attractions:

Historic Scotland Sites:

Arbroath Abbey

St Marys
Ravenscraig Castle

Glasgow, Clyde and Ayrshire:

Walks:

Attractions:

New Lanark 

Glasgow Botanical Gardens

Historic Scotland Sites:

Bothwell Castle
Craignethan Castle

Perth, Kinross and Angus:

Walks:
Killiecrankie

Attractions:

Historic Scotland Sites:

Huntingtower Castle (dogs not permitted in buildings)

Bothwell Castle (revisit)

Events:
Perthshire Highland Games

Central and West:

Walks:

Attractions:

Loch Katrine Lake Cruise

Inverary Jail

Historic Scotland Sites:

Inchmahome Priory (revisited)

Castle Campbell and Gardens

Dumfries and Galloway:

Walks:

Attractions:
Crawick Multiverse

Historic Scotland Sites:

Caerlaverock Castle
Jedburgh Abbey
Dryburgh Abbey
Sweetheart Abbey
Lochmaben

North and Grampian:

Walks:
Culloden (dogs must be kept on leads)

Attractions:
Landmark Adventure Park
Jacobite Cruise Loch Ness
Dunnator Castle

Historic Scotland Sites:

Kildrummy Castle

Glenbuchat Castle

Corgarff Castles (dogs not permitted in buildings)
Fort George (dogs not permitted in buildings)
Clava Cairns

National Trust Sites:
Crathes Castle (dogs not permitted inside)

England:

Greater Manchester:

Walks:

Attractions:

Stockley Farm

White Peak Alpacas

East Lancashire Railway

Events:

Heald Green Festival

The Lakes:

Walks:
Grizedale Forest
Whinlatter Forest

Attractions:

Pencil Museum

Puzzling Place

Windermere Lake Cruises

Laurel and Hardy Museum

Stott Bobbin Mill

Lakeside Motor Museum

Haverwaithe Railway

Old Hall Farm

If you've found somewhere fun to go through this blog, Missy and I would love to hear about it - please let us know and share your travels with us!

Sunny Days and Long Strolls

I feel I talk about the weather a lot, but when your furbaby insists on an average of two hours a day walking, your life starts to revolve about it. This last week has been constant niceties to the other dog parents - "Spring is definitely here now!", "Isn't this sunshine wonderful?", "Rumour says more snow" and my personal favourite; "I honestly don't care if its warm or cold, at least its dry!"

That sums up the weekends weather, dark cloudy mornings and then glorious sunshine with a chilly wind. Once in shelter, its glorious, but its certainly that time of year where you fear not bringing your coat then end up taking it off and putting it back on at least five times a walk! With that in mind, and the fact that the summer opening hours on all the historic Scotland sites has kicked in, meant it was a perfect weekend for a family outing to a castle.

Between my niece volunteering last summer at Linlithgow Palace, my constant inviting people along to the castles with us and last years jousting, pretty much everyone in the family now has a pass with Historic Scotland, so its a good cheap day out that lets everyone get some fresh air and much needed vitamin D. We have done Bothwell before, so I will spare you all the history, but it was the first time my brother, my sister and her two kids had seen it, so was well worth the revisit. Sadly the Beast from the East has damaged some of the foundations, so we were unable to get into the dungeon, but there's still plenty to see and wander about in.

This time we added the riverside walk to the day. It was my brother who had spotted it when looking up the castle, and it was a splendid way to burn off our picnic we had on the castle grounds. The path was just sheltered enough that it felt warm and pretty soon the kids were climbing in trees and insisting I get their photos. They love that my camera bluetooths to my phone so that they can see a big version of the picture instantly rather than crowding around a tiny screen.

"Wee Ben"

Missy's little cousin Ben had come along for the day too and, though he isn't trusted off the leash (he will chase anything - cars, bikes, joggers etc) he did very well and kept up with us all. He dislikes bridges, and wooden stairs you can see through which, as I'm used to Missy who has absolutely no fear, was very odd although I did feel sorry for him crawling nervously about, so insisted people carry him (I would have, but I have a strict one dog per person rule when in groups and was in charge of Missy).

And that was our little day out. My brother has definitely got the castle bug, so expect to see plenty more! The hubby and I are also thinking about our annual "staycation", and are tempted either doing the Isles or going up Elgin way to get a bunch of sites ticked off the list. I'll let you know what we decide on when I know!

Till next time!