What are you all up to

Beautiful morning here with spectacular scenery. Hot tub in use last night.

1) Bowes Museum, we have really enjoyed a few visits there. 3) Raby Castle?  Always been closed whenever we were in the area.  2) Can’t get the ruins at all.  Staying near Barnard Castle area?  Looks a very good trip Nellie, enjoy. 

We are home for a while as granddog is staying. At her house she sometimes sleeps in the bedroom, we have let her do that here before but decided she really should sleep downstairs. Our old dog was never allowed upstairs.  So.. she whined til 11.30, got told off and finally stopped. But I couldn’t get to sleep til around 4.30 (not that unusual, but on those days I usually lie in a bit) 5.50 she started yelping, got told off, I went back to bed, couldn’t sleep worrying if she actually needed the loo, so got up at 6.10. So that’s it, about 1 and a half hours sleep! She’s been for a run, helped me clear some of the garden (not) and has been pushing her ball at me to kick for her when I stopped for coffee. She is a dear, so gentle and loving, a Springer, Cocker, Beagle cross, 5 now, with no sign of slowing down. Finally as I write this she has laid down, with her 🎾 ball right next to her nose. Must go, I’m going to wake her up!

Our teenage grandchildren and been and gone. It was lovely having them but my goodness I had forgotten how long teenagers can spend it bed . Their beds have now been cleared and bedding washed, dried, ironed and put away. They have now gone on a camping trip with their parents and OH's car. They recently sold their nice roomy Mondeo and bought a smaller electric car. Hey presto they found that all their camping gear would not fit in it . So OH reluctantly said they could borrow his Mitsubishi. He won't rest until it comes back unscathed next week. In the meantime we are driving around in my little old Clio which isn't his scene at all.

Nellie, I think that is the Bowes Museum, Raby Castle and the ruins of Barnard Castle. I hope you are enjoying that part of the world.

Well Millie and Debsc it's family life! Do hope the car comes back safely Millie and the dog settles down and you get a better night's sleep Debsc. I had forgotten I had said we would have the visiting dogs this weekend so that daughter could go to the Wickham Festival where her partner has been working all week. So we've had to compromise and we have the dogs just for one night. The dogs are ok but our cat doesn't like the increased canine population, he could cope with two but not three. So we have to watch carefully what is happening...🐕🐕🐕🐈

Apart from that it's just sunshine as usual and I hope the weather is being good to everyone. 🌞

Oh my goodness DEBSC!  We are having our granddog staying with us the week after next for a couple of weeks, and you have really cheered me up 🤦🏻‍♀️.   He’s a Cavachon (Cavalier King Charles spaniel and Bichon Frise cross) 18 months old and so, so energetic - more so than us these days!  His usual walk is 2 or 3 miles, but with my dodgy other hip (the replaced one is good!) and OH bad knees and foot,  I think there will be a lot of ball throwing going on here instead.  

After having had 3 visitors since Tuesday, we are now down to one, and the washing machine is keeping busy while the sun shines.

We have had a busy few days, but a lot more restful than the week of tidying and cleaning,  and the various  muscles that we had forgotten we had are slowly recovering!

The younger visitors had a day in town, followed by everyone meeting at DD's for dinner.  The next day we had several hours at our son's house, and a very nice buffet lunch, and for their last day we had a drive out along the Clyde, over the hills to Loch Lomond where we had a picnic lunch, then a tour and tasting at the whisky distillery on the way home.

Today they are taking a bus to Manchester to see a match tomorrow, then on to London on Monday for a couple of days.

Our friends have a Cavachon, lovely little thing. Quiet as can be, when she comes to ours she just sits there. Although her owners are older, no kids, they say she is the ‘product’ of two older parents, and if she had been brought up with kids she might be different. She just looks at a ball with total distain, barely ever seen her run.

Three dogs brue! If I had to look after three of these I would leave home! Our old cat couldn’t cope with all the manic ness and used to disappear, sadly she’s no longer with us.

A great afternoon in this great place.

Definitely Bowes Museum and Raby. Barnard Castle I think for the ruins. Hope the new van is performing well, and you are getting used to it.