Max and Paul's Excellent Adventure

 'Twas a long drive to Churchill, but the roads were great and the weather was fine. We're apprehensive about sits where the owners are not there as we're unsure how the dog will respond. We came up to the glass door and the 11-year-old American labrador was barking away, sounding as mean as she could. Once in, we were fine and within minutes all was well and 'Nelly' was at ease. What a sweetheart! Nelly on her walk. Sleeps time. The property is absolutely beautiful.  The shed. The house is spacious, tastefully decorated and has an amazing kitchen. Oh. With Max in it. What a surprise! So with the size of the island bench, I thought the pound of butter would be safe. We returned from doing some shopping to find the butter wrapper on the floor, well licked, with about 100,g of butter remaining. Nelly was obviously able to jump up on the island and that smell was just too tantalising. We waited to see if she was going to spray poop after that, but no. She was fine! The...

We arrived in Llanberis in the north-west of Wales and fell in love with Mt Snowdon.  Perched high above the riff-raff and overlooking all the mountains in the range, this place is spectacular.  We have 4 days with these two lovely woofers and 7 chooks. We met the owner who filled us in on what was required, which for the dogs, was easy. The chickens however... There was a list of instructions a foot long as to what had to happen and when. In the morning, one chook must be picked up put in another pen and fed yoghurt with her medicine. The others had pellets that had to be soaked in water for 5 minutes before feeding them.  Just before the chooks get put away at 5.30pm, they must be fed 10 grapes, not 9 or 11, but 10, sliced in half and then cut into tiny pieces and sprinkled with crushed egg shells. But not the chook who has yoghurt! She again must be separated from the others and fed her yoghurt dish. Oh, and their water must have a measure of apple cider vinegar. And d...

To be honest, we didn't like the town of Market Drayton as it seemed tired and dying. This was confirmed by Patti, the home owner. The best part of that area was the countryside, with green fields and sheep with their newborns running rings around them.  We were given passes to Hodnet Gardens and since it was open on the only reasonable day weatherwise, we couldn't resist. The cafe in the gardens. It's great to see the tulips out. Storage shed. Father Time statue in the gardens. The guard at the gate. That's a bumblebee in the middle.

The 30-minute trip to Market Drayton was an easy affair and we were met by Tiggy, Islay, (pronounced eye-la) Paul, Eric and Roy's owners outside their converted barn. A lovely property indeed.                                 Tiggy                                                                    Islay       The converted barn. This is Paul (Handsome chap!) Eric Roy  (That's hail on his back) Sean. All animals behaved well.  Tiggy especially loved the attention.  It's our first time caring for alpacas and found them to have the characteristics and behaviour of sheep but a bit more boisterous. A bit of live interaction. This 4-day sit went quickly. The weather had its moments and there was only one day that...

The trip to Market Drayton was preceded by 2 nights in an Air B&B in Shrewsbury. Our apartment was in a well-to-do leafy street about a 25-minute walk to the town centre. Houses in our street. They were all of this standard or above. Shrewsbury had many buildings dating back to the 16th century including this coffee shop Some buildings have a noticeable lean however they are made of solid oak posts and beams that don't seem to be going anywhere. The River Severn. The left bank was designated private and the right side was for plebs like us.

The Welsh countryside is so beautiful.  The rain has been falling, but we've had many opportunities to get out and about. The hamlet of Skenfrith. The bridge at the entrance to Skenfrith. I have been playing with new photo software so bear with my amateurish artistic flair. We've been spoilt with two castle ruins six miles apart. . Taking Pippin for a walk down the road from our stay. Next door's ex-vicarage. The Skenfrith Castle is 100 metres from our accommodation. Amazing how thick these walls are. The nearby church. A building with what's left of a water wheel used in an old granary. The river is only 20 metres away. We were given this map by the owners. One can have custom-made maps done, apparently. Complete with spelling errors.  The White Castle - 6 Miles from the house. One of the few castles that still have a moat. The stones on the courtyard grounds are remnants of the foundations of a bakery, ironmongery, fresh food stall etc. One of the passageways. One of ...