The Joys of Modern Day Travel

My daughter has just rang to tell me that their Easy Jet flight to Stansted was delayed by 3 hours therefore meaning that they would miss their Ryanair flight to Sweden. Which means they are not coming now.
I am gutted. But I feel it much more for my children and grandson. We had been looking forward to this visit since they booked it in June, and it made my move over here easier knowing that it wouldn't be too long before I saw them again.

How Silly!

A friend said to call on him while Mike is away, and take some tea with him and his wife. On Friday I thought I would do just that but of course I fell and didn't venture very far the rest of the weekend. Yesterday I thought I would take a drive to the village, walk the dogs and buy some milk before calling on my friend. So in the early evening that is what I did, or set out to do.

It was a lovely evening and I wished I had the camera with me. The sun was casting a lovely light on the lake. The trees were especially lovely, all different colours but with a special quality to them cast by the sun. Yes a pity I didn't have the camera, but with three greyhounds and a sprained wrist not a good idea. Perhaps another day.

We had a lovely walk from the lake up into the village and into some woods. Jewel was a bit excited, high as a kite actually. I think she had picked up the scent of some deer or something. All was fine until we got back to the car and I tried to get the keys out of my pocket. But I couldn't open the zip! I tried for a long time standing outside of the car. The mosquitoes were appearing, and so was dusk! I got the car key out a little and managed to unlock the car door with it. But as soon as I opened it, it set off the alarm! I didn't even know the car was alarmed!! Eventually the alarm stopped sounding but the lights continued to flash, which meant I couldn't abandon the car as there would be no battery left. I tried operating the key fob thing again from inside of the pocket and this time it worked. The car unlocked without sounding the alarm and we were able to get in at least. The dogs were relieved, especially Paddy who had started to whine, (he always whines). Or especially me as I didn't have to listen to Paddy whineing. The dogs were happy. They could lie down and relax. But not me. I tried and tried to release the key in order to be able to drive the car. Fortunately I had managed to release the house keys from the pocket as they were not so bulky, so I had the option of walking back home. But I didn't want to be defeated by it. Neither did I want to give in and ring my friend, (he would have come and rescued me). I could have walked a short way to a house and asked for some scissors to cut the pocket and release the key. How odd would that have appeared? We already have some noterity in the village just for being the only English people here.

Well I sat for some time trying to release the stitches of the pocket or making a hole. With a sprained wrist it is more difficult than it would otherwise have been. But eventually I managed. I drove to the shop for the milk but it was closed. On my way back home I drove past my friends house, too disheartened to call.

Oh well maybe I will get to visit them today. I still need some milk.

At least I found that I am okay to drive to the airport tomorrow.

The offending key and zip.

Tommorow my children arrive for a week with my grandson. Perhaps I will be too busy to post or maybe there will be lots to post about! After some lovely weather here, it is foggy this morning, (as my daughter predicted).

We'll see.

Falling

It's been a bit windy here over the weekend, and it's been blowing the leaves off the trees. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any photos of the leaves being blown off the trees which was a shame as it was like snow when they fell.






This tree reminds me of a ballerina somehow. Perhaps because of it's upright posture and it's outstretched branches, as though it's twirling round. And in twirling round it's shaken all it's leaves loose.

This is taken from the same spot but looking towards the forest.

Brown grasses over by the barn.

I think I like this picture not only for the blue sky but for the difference in the colour of the two trees.

The leaves on the trees were n't the only things that were falling down. On Friday whilst out with the dogs for their first walk of the day I took a tumble. I had all 3 dogs on leads walking through the forest. Jewel had stopped for a moment and when she resumed her walk, she didn't carry on walking but launched herself off into the air and then lurched forward taking me with her. She does this from time to time, I think she just gets excited. Mike nicknames her exocet as she is like a missile when she does this. Only this time, being early in the morning and lost in my thoughts as to how I was going to spend the day, she took me by surprise. I was stood on a small rise and had further to fall. I landed on some soft peaty earth but my left hand was doubled up under me and quite painful. Jewel had broke free from my grasp and was stood a little way off looking a bit unsure, she'd probably got a shock at me falling over and yelling out. I gathered up the leads as best I could and hobbled back to the house. Fortunately we had not got far. Back at the house I nursed my wrist wrapping it in a cold compress and then used a towel as a bandage. Eventually the pain eased, but I was left unable to do very much for the rest of the day. So any plans I had been making were left undone. I spent the day feeling sorry for myself with just the dogs for company and no one else to help out. Just the smallest everyday things proved harder and slower to do. Still I was able to loose myself in Blogland.

However today I'm on the mend and I even managed to make a coffee cake with the help of my Robot Chef.

Well I needed a tasty treat!

I've even managed to use my left hand to help type this post, but not without some discomfort. Time to call a halt though. Tomorrow I will try to drive the car. I'm not sure how I will manage to change gear. But I need to be able to drive on Wednesday so I can go to the airport and collect my daughter, son and grandson who are coming to stay for a week. I'm looking forward to having them here.

Forest Dwellers

After travelling for 4 days we arrived at our home in Sweden. Two days later Mike flew back to the UK to collect Rufus, (that's a story in itself). But as from Tuesday 9th September; Paddy, Jewel, Rufus, Mike and me were together in our home in the forest.

Settling in.

Since arriving we've already had 4 visitors to stay for a week. Almost as they left, once again Mike flew to the UK where he will be for the next 2 weeks. Fortunately as he left we got reconnected to the internet, horray! So although I might be living in the forest, I feel very connected to the outside world even though I don't see anyone to talk to from one day to the next.

Except for Paddy, Jewel and Rufus.


They seem to be enjoying their new home, and the recent sunshine we've been having.

Farewell to the UK

The swallows are gathering together, readying themselves for their journey south.

We are just about ready for our journey north, to Sweden. We set sail tomorrow to Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, then continue through to Germany, Denmark and into Sweden, arriving on Friday all being well. Paddy and Jewel are coming with us but Rufus is being fostered for a week when Mike flies back for him. We haven't had him long enough to be vacinated for travelling through the different countries. But he's met his foster parents and their 3 greyhounds and he seemed very happy enjoying himself on his visit. We are looking forward to seeing how Paddy, Jewel and Rufus like Sweden, we're sure they will.

It will be a while before I am connected to the internet again. But when I do get connected it will be from Sweden.

Farewell to The Lakes

I travelled over to Cumbria to meet Mike. We stopped en route at Talkin Tarn where we (me, Paddy, Jewel and Rufus) walked round the lake. The picture shows the lake from an elevated position in a beech wood, if I remember correctly.

When I was younger I would go to the tarn with my parents and sister. We would relax by the lake side and take a rowing boat out on the lake, an activity favoured by my dad.

It's still much the same except it looks a bit manicured to me.

Whilst waiting to get a parking disc from the ice cream/tea shop a lady unfortunately dropped her newly bought ice cream, apple crumble flavoured I think she said. Another lady said 'the dogs will eat it,' and kicked the scoop of ice cream towards the dogs where it lay at Rufus' s feet. But none of the dogs saw it. We tried to point it out to Rufus, Jewel and Paddy but they just didn't realise it was there or what it was. Eventually Paddy noticed it and started licking it followed by Jewel. Rufus stood resolutely with his head up watching what was going on further afield. Then one of the ladies said, 'he's eaten it all!' And sure enough Paddy had eaten the whole scoopful of ice cream leaving Jewel with the lickings on the concrete.

Paddy's lucky day!

After that we took a walk around the lake. Rufus investigating an interesting hole.

I liked this willow hide. Perhaps we can make something similiar in Sweden.
And there were plenty of benches situated around the lake. All of them dedicated to loved ones, which I thought nice.

Here we are at the far end of the lake. The dogs certainly enjoyed their walk. We took a walk into an old bit of woodland, and further on Rufus was curious about a windturbine that we passed. He kept looking up at it. The dogs got lots of admiring glances and it's the first time they've been out away from their home area.

The next day I went to visit my sister and her family. Again I took the dogs for a walk, this time along part of the River Eden.

At my sisters we sat outside with the dogs chatting over up of tea. I initially tied all 3 dogs to the tree to keep them safe. And Rufus and Jewel stayed tied to the tree. Especially after a flash of lightning turned out to be Jewel chasing a cat that crossed the garden. One minute she was tied to the tree, the next she had shot past me into the back garden which is where I found her once I'd recovered my senses. I think she had surprised herself as she was stood motionless probably wondering how she had got there. It is a feature of greyhounds that when they see a small animal such as a rabbit, cat or small dog, their brain disengages and they give chase regardless of any dangers, such as roads and traffic. In fact later on, Rufus was in a fenced compound which he had walked round several times, yet when he saw a rabbit the other side of the fence he ran towards it only remembering at the last moment that there was a fence between him and the rabbit, but too late he barged into it. Fortunately he was okay.

Jazz my sisters cat kept a watchful eye on the 3 dogs. Only Paddy saw her through the window and he doesn't chase cats. Not all greyhounds do.

Paddy seems to be saying, 'can I come in?' But of course we couldn't take them in with a cat in the house. But I let Paddy off his lead to roam the small garden, he doesn't go looking for trouble.

Rufus and Jewel look very contented here. We are looking forward to taking all 3 dogs to Sweden where we have a big garden.

We stayed in a small caravan. it was a bit of a squash with 3 large dogs, but it was cosy. I took loads of photos of the 3 dogs but I think I will show them another time.

We had forgotten that it was Bank Holiday weekend. That means that the Lake District will be extremely busy, so we went to a quiet area. Again it's an old favourite of mine from years ago.

Unfortunately I was plagued with toothache over the weekend despite visits to the dentist over a period of a couple of weeks to try and rectify the problem. Eventually, yesterday the dentist gave me a temporary root canal which should make it pain free. So far so good, I'm keeping my fingers crossed particularly as we start the journey on Monday which will take us to Sweden.

Rufus and Mike sharing a moment.

Family group.

Weekend Away

Just a quick one today. I am going over to the Lake District today for the weekend. My long time favourite place. Rain or not, surely this time I will bring back some photos? I hope so!
A good weekend to anyone reading this.
Lynne

Updates- Cygnets

Earlier in the year we were watching the eggs that the swans had laid. Their nest was just below the bridge where we walk the dogs every day. People stopped to look and as hatching time grew near more and more people could be seen hanging around waiting to see the first sign of the cygnets.

In the end 5 of the 6 eggs hatched.

The photos show the cygnets from May until last week. They can regularly be seen on the river with their parents.

Beach Days

Well today has been a better day weatherwise. This picture is good at showing the sky and how lovely the weather has been, if a little windy. My friend was taking a picture of me, supposedly!

This one is better. We had a lovely walk on the beach with Paddy, Jewel and Rufus, our Greyhounds. More of them another time.



What was amazing was , it's a Saturday in the middle of the school holidays, the weather is lovely, and the beach was deserted. I've had several visits to the beach of late and it's not unusual.


Here we are at the end of our walk. Each of the dogs had a run on the beach today. That's not always possible as two of them are likely to go chasing other dogs if there's any to be seen.

Butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.

This is a photo taken last week when I looked after my grandson for a day. We had a lovely time at the beach, digging holes, making sandcastles, singing, and then he set off for a run. It was a job keeping up with him. Perhaps I should call him Forest after Forest Gump.

Run Forest, run!

A Glimpse of Autumn

This last week, here in Northumberland, has been very wet. It has been more like November with overcast grey, miserable, heavy skies. But it has been warmer than it would be in November, thank goodness.

There has been a smell of autumn about and just a slight touch, ever so slight, almost a feel of the trees changing colour.

Hopefully the sun will find it's way back to us ....soon.