Friday 30 December 2016

A giggle of springer spaniels and a family farm - UK Nov/Dec 2016

James, Clare, Louise (James's sister) Stephen
Poppy and Nelly

It came time to leave Suffolk and head north.  We were on our way to Cumbria to visit (James' sister) Louise and Stephen at their new digs to which they had moved since we were last in the UK.

Never ones to miss an opportunity, we had booked a sit in Tamworth, Staffordshire, to break the journey.  Tamworth turned out to be a really pretty place with a huge park area within walking distance from the house.  Which was just as well, as we had come to care for two springer spaniels - Oliver and Merlin (only five months old and a bundle of fun) - who enjoyed two energetic walks around the area each day.


They were both very cute, Merlin was learning the ropes off his big brother Ollie really well and at only five months was a typical springer spaniel - full of energy, with a heart of gold and a sense of humour to boot ...


We also had the pleasure of the company of smoochy George, who also enjoyed Merlin's sense of humour :-)


And Millie .... not so much a fan of the pup


One big happy family really!


We were soon on the road again and heading north to the farm in Cumbria - near Appleby.  As we turned off the M6 at Tebay to head inland we could immediately see the attraction that Stephen and Louise had to the area when they chose to move here.  And when we got to the farm, well, it was obvious really.

View toward the Pennines
We had an eventful 10 days.  Louise and I manned the WI cake stall at the church Christmas fair,

The WI entry in the window competition - 2nd place
made a bunch of Christmas cards, the guys did some odd jobs around the farm and mucking out for these three beauties each day

Robbie, Apple and Trigger
Boooo
We also made sausages from some fresh farm pork and enjoyed the outcome very much
Homemade bangers and mash

Sausage making
Lou and Stephen took the opportunity to escape for a few days away and left us in charge of this mad lot of four legged furries.

Nelly and Poppy - lick attack!


Jeeves and Wooster
 We also hung out with Aunty Monica who, needless to say, was much better behaved than the Motley Crew!

The 'Barn' Cats trying to rob Monica of her dinner
Disclaimer: we only sit for children and the elderly for family!!!!

Our visit culminated in and early Christmas Dinner at the local pub and after all too short a time in rural Cumbria we were headed back to Suffolk, stopping in Barrowford to visit with Chez and our enjoying our favourite Yorkshire delicacy of chips 'n curry in Queensbury.

We were headed to a sit in Coney Weston, just up the road from two of our favourite terriers from Bardwell - see previous post.   In between the comedy (NOT!) of trying to get the back window of our car fixed before we left for France, and James having two teeth removed, we really were ready for a few quiet days in the country.  The house was a beautiful manor house with a staircase at each end leading up to the top floor.  It was warm and comfortable, Sammie the springer and the cats and horses were a pleasure to care for. We even managed a walk together with the Bardwell crew at Knettishall Heath.  Sammie had a ball with his new found friends and we loved catching up with them again.





Although we were ready to head south for warmer weather for the rest of winter, we were pleasantly surprised by the unseasonably hospitable autumn/winter we enjoyed in the UK this year.







Saturday 26 November 2016

Family shenanigans and some really cute terriers - UK, Nov 2016

Black cab in the Blackwall Tunnel
 We set off for London, ostensibly to visit with Clare's family, having booked a long weekend sit in Romford.  James was born in the Romford hospital (although he doesn't remember it ;-)  First things first .... a pie and chips from the chippy up the road.

Alita and Clare arguing over who should
 get the biggest piece of pie
We had three cats to care for in Romford - Alita, a very friendly and lovable girl


And brother and sister duo ... Bindi and Goblin, a little shyer but certainly not backward in coming forward at dinner time.

Feeding time at the zoo

 

They were all very easy care which meant we could spend a couple of days with Clare's niece(s) and children as well as heading to a lovely lunch at a cousin's place out Wembly way.  Lots of driving across and around London ... but at least we didn't have to do this in rush hour traffic.  Perish the thought!


Grove Park Central (train station)
Next stop, Bardwell, a lovely little village just outside Bury St Edmunds (where James' Mum and Dad live).

Coffee with Chris (James' Mum) in Bury
What a treat we were in for.  We were welcomed to a very comfortable and well presented terraced house by Flora, a Norfolk terrier


 and Jazz, a (very patriotic) West Highland terrier

Waving goodbye to Mum and Dad
What a gorgeous pair of bookends these two were.  We had lots of adventures in  Knettishall Heath just up the road.  We saw hares and deer and even an otter playing in the stream.  Flora was in her element here with lots of sniffs and smells to keep her occupied whilst Jazz would really rather be at home snuggling on the sofa

 

 ... but happy enough to humour us all for an hour or so.


We did have an unusual incident at Knettishall.  We were standing beside the car getting the doggies out of the back seat when the back window of the car simply exploded.  Fair dinkum!  Go figure.  No idea why.



Monday 14 November 2016

Brrrr, back to Blighty! October 2016

Martello Tower, Aldeburgh ...
the largest and most northerly of the chain of towers
built to keep out Napoleon.
We arrived back in the UK just in time to get ourselves to Leiston for our next sit.  Jenny is a lovely friend whom we have sat for on a number of occasions.  She had also recently moved to Leiston where we were to be close to the ocean, so we were pleased about that. Unfortunately, one of Jenny's dogs, May, had passed away (of old age) whilst we were away.  So we would only have Trix to care for this time. 


We were feeling torn about coming to the UK at this time of year.  Whilst we were looking forward to seeing family and friends, we were not so keen on arriving from the tropics to the declining temperatures of the UK heading for winter.   We travel with as few clothes as possible and as we are usually found hanging out in warmer climes, most of these tend to be fairly light-weight.  Hmmm, op shopping we will go!  Having said all that England, and especially Suffolk, really is a visual feast in autumn and one of our favourite times of year here.


One of the other reasons we love a good autumn is for the wild mushrooms.  We found some we had never tried before in the church yard at Aldringham.  We use the River Cottage Mushroom book to do our preliminary research and then both the internet and facebook group Mushroom Forgaging UK to identify everything before we eat them.  Hey, and we're still alive!  The most interesting and tasty of the newbies we found were the Parasol.


They are really meaty and formed the base of both an outstanding Beef and Pheasant Strogonoff (Jaime Oliver Stroganoff)


and a very tasty Wild Mushroom soup (BBC Good Food Recipe)


A mornings haul
Parasols, Brittle gills, jelly ears, field mushrooms
Bay Boletes, Suede Boletes

Amathyst Deceivers ... pretty in a salad


As Trix was in her twilight years (at 14 yo) and her mobility wasn't great, we all enjoyed foraging around the forest and churchyard at her pace.

Another activity we all enjoyed together was, of course, fishing.  We spent many hours wrapped up on the beach at both Thorpness and Aldeburgh well, feeding the fish really ;-)

Beach houses at Thorpness

We caught nothing of edible size but plenty of pin whiting and a few small bass and a rockling.


  It is the expectation of the unexpected that makes it all worth while.  Oh and the sea air and the pretty rainbows.

Sizewell
Trix and Mummy (Jenny)