Max and Paul's Excellent Adventure

Dedham has many protected buildings giving us the impression the clock had been turned back many decades. We were able to get all our produce from the local co-op supermarket, patronise one of the pubs and many a cafe. The cottage we stayed in (pic below) was well located as it was on the main street close to the centre of town. To Max's relief, there was a charity shop in town! Actually, it ended up being me buying an Italian woollen coat for next to nothing. 😊 Some pics of the main street. One of the best things we have experienced on the rural pet sits is that we can walk through private farms that lead to some spectacular scenery. The owners told us of a particular walk that took us from Dedham to Flatford, a little Hamlet a mile and a half away.  The Stour River meandered through the farmland and here are some of the views along the way. We ended up at a cottage that had inspired the famous artist, John Constable, to paint 'The Hay Wain'  Here is the original painting...

After a quick visit to Daniel and Ellen's back in London, we ventured out to a dog sit in Dedham which is on the east side of the UK. The owner was kind enough to pick us up from the train station and took us back to the house to meet the pooch and get the rundown of the property. Elaine's husband was a card and had us cracking up all the way back to his place. (Max: I told Elaine that he'd missed his calling and she said she was glad we found him hilarious and knew how to take him, because some people didn't!  He told us he didn't like dogs and added that he loved animals but thought that they shouldn't be domesticated or caged. I'm glad Elaine had the final say because Toffee was gorgeous!)  'Toffs' made us feel welcome and was an easy dog to sit. She even took herself off to bed at 9 o'clock every night. Toffee loved her ball and daily walks (with the ball) to the park. Whether she let it go was another matter. The concentration. And one of th...

 We drove from Dublin to Waterford via the east coast and I must say that hiring a car in Ireland was a good move. The Golf was economical and had grunt when required. Even though the price of fuel was nearly 3.00 AUD a litre, it ended up using just under 4 litres per 100km. The car. The roads were great and the scenery was as beautiful as the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. We didn't stop anywhere for long as we needed to get to the pet sit the same day. It was so green considering it was the end of summer and we had perfect weather for the entire time we were there. Waterford was having a street festival one weekend. Local farm animals were on display. A very talented musician  The locals were making the most of the Indian summer with Guinness aplenty. The Irish are right when they say it tastes better in Ireland! A bit of humour at a local cobbler's. They don't give way in Ireland, they 'yield'. Waterford is famous for its Viking heritage. The name Waterford comes fro...