Max and Paul's Excellent Adventure

A three-hour drive from High Halden to Stratford-upon-Avon and we met the slightly ADHD Clemmie. The M25 freeway out of London was a challenge as it was raining and very busy with traffic. Once we hit the M40, the weather cleared and the traffic thinned and made the rest of the journey a pleasure. We're only with Clemmie for two days but we have another sit just up the road for a week. We were grateful to be able to book them back to back. Clemmie is not yet one year old and even though she was a bit of a handful at times, she was a gentle and lovely-natured puppy. We are told she is an American Labrador.  She's a bit hyperactive and had to be held to calm her down or there was no stopping her. She seemed to have no 'off' switch and we, like the owners, had to help her learn it.  The house is a 3-bedroom renovated barn and quite cute with the original trusses in place. Very chilled puppy (at night anyway). Is it my playing that puts dogs to sleep?  Yes   Yes, it is!...

One of the best moments on this trip is when you approach a property for a pet sit, not knowing much about it,  then being really pleasantly surprised. Having Penny makes travel so much easier. In fact we couldn't have taken sits like this without a car as this property is not on a bus route. The house was built in the 16th century and sits on 20 acres of pasture. It was a bit dark inside but it gave the place its unique character as we made our way through the house, through all the hallways and rooms. It took a full day to get our bearings! As happens periodically, we arrived the evening before the owner was due to leave, due to her very early flight the following morning. Serena filled us with dinner and a crisp Canadian sauvignon blanc and we got to know the woofers.  The Grand House The dogs were well behaved and easy to be with. We had to be careful with Timmy as he was recovering from the dreaded cruciate ligament surgery and he wasn't allowed to over-exert himself....

Driving back from Wales took a while as the main freeway was closed for a few miles. Penny went well and my confidence in dealing with London traffic is improving. We're waiting for Max to be issued a UK driver's license before she can drive here.  We stayed at Chez Daniel and Ellen and after a few days, I drove Max to the next pet sit.  I needed to come back to help Daniel and Ellen pack as they were moving to Sevenoaks, a lovely leafy village in Kent in the southeast of England. Even though they'll be living further out of London, the trains are fast and efficient and don't add any significant time to commute to and from work.  The drive to and from Tenterden made me aware of how narrow some of the country roads are in the rural areas. Google Maps wanted to give me the quickest routes however, it incorporated some of the narrowest roads I have ever encountered and I wondered how two cars could pass at the same time. Well, they can't in a lot of places. I soon got ...

 We arrived at Kaye's place in Caerphilly and were warmly welcomed by her good self and Ben, the beautiful rescue dogget from Romania. Penny did a great job of getting us there and the highways were a nice smooth ride. A must when in Wales is to sample Welsh Cakes and no better way to have them is when they're homemade by an expert.  Kaye in the kitchen making the delicious Welsh Cakes. The Cakes are actually 'baked' on a cooktop using a traditional cast iron plate And the result?  Very yummy indeed! The master chef explains the process...     Having seen the weather forecast for the next few days bringing high winds and rain, we decided to drive to St Davids, situated on the west coast of Wales. The countryside along the way was beautiful and green and the roads were easy to drive. The village still had many old buildings and the number of boutique shops made it a very interesting place. We drove out to the west coast beach where there is a chapel dedicated to ...