Max and Paul's Excellent Adventure

 T'was a long drive to this sit 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.  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! The stove is an AGA. It's a common (and expensive) stove found in English kitchens. It's all-electric and is permanently 'on'. The stove top has two hotplates that operate at two different temperatures and, 4 ovens that work at different temperatures. Apparently, they are energy efficient being made from heavy-duty steel and heavily insulated.  Morning toast Nelly keeping the beat. It's...

We arrived in Llanberis in the north-west of Wales and fell in love with the Snowdon.  Perched high above the riff-raff and overlooking all the mountains in the range, this place is spectacular.  We are here for 4 days with these two lovely creatures and 7 chooks. We met the owner who filled us in on what was required, which for the dogs, was easy. But the chooks are another story... 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 app...

 To be honest, we didn't like the town of Market Drayton as it seemed tired and dying. This was confirmed by Patti, the pet owner on the sit. 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 the first time we looked after alpacas and found them to have the characteristics and behaviour of sheep but a bit more boisterous. A bit of live interaction This sit went quickly as it was only a four-day stint. The weather had its moments and...

  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 and 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 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 some of the photos might have my amateurish artistic flair coming through 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 stay. 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 our stay 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 passagew...