Our first cricket match, England vs. New Zealand

Christmas Day in New Zealand and Ali passes me my present, tickets to watch England and New Zealand in Leeds! So, off we went for almost a 3 hour drive, which ended in Leeds, the most confusing road layout I've ever seen. We went to the 'park and stride', a short walk to the stadium in glorious sunshine. Very tiny turnstyles, then we found our seat for a very short innings of England batting, then it was New Zealand.

Around us we had a clutch of Mario's, Mr Bean's and the 'shoe army' who asked people to raise their shs if they loved England. The morning was very civilised, following luncheon, it was a little more noisy. A break for luncheon included a description of the wine on offer! We ate our picnic, then went for a wander around the stadium and in the museum which stank of male sweat so we didn't stay long, but it was free. Ali bought a hat and shirt, then it was back to our seats and the start of multiple mexican waves.

Luckily, we were given 4 and 6 cards when we arrived which had descriptions of the umpires arm actions, and the names of the positions in the field. The strangest being silly on and silly off! But to be honest, their name suits that position because it's right by the side of the batter who hits a ball going at 86 miles per hour!

We absolutely loved the day, I found a big patch of my neck that I obviously didn't cover in suncream and it's now bright red but what an amazing day.

Whisby nature park, Lincoln

Our last full day in Lincolnshire, we will be sad to leave. We visited Whisby nature park, a gorgeous place with education centre and visitor centre, café and ice-creams. There are multiple walks. We followed the red coot walk and the orange grebe walk, just long enough for a tired greyhound after a busy week. Only £1 to park, and definitely worth it. Lovely paths around the multiple lakes. Dogs can't go into the nature park, but there are enough walks without going across the railway line into the nature area. They even have a dog toilet area! Although I don't know any dog that can poo on demand in a small square of rubble, Sailor just stood there wondering why we made him stand in a strange place.

Being blown around historic Lincoln

What a huge change in the weather! A few days ago we were walking on golden sand, today we were blown along the roads of Lincoln in a bitterly cold wind. We parked right in front of the cathedral, free parking for 2 hours and lots of spaces available in rubbish weather. We walked around the Cathedral, found the castle but couldn't go in because it doesn't allowed lovely greyhounds. Instead we walked down 'steep hill' which indeed was steep, bought some fudge to keep the energy levels up, through temple gardens and blown back to the car. Very quaint and lovely fudge!

Hubbards Hill, Cleethorpes and speciality chocolate

Sailor is definitely getting used to the routine now, the morning walk was to Hubbards Hill in Louth. It has an excellent website and we met a women's walking group warming up at the gate. You really have to trust where you are going, driving down a single lane track to get to the car park hoping we were going in the right direction. £1 to park for the day. We wandered through the valley along the river, got to the end of the park and decided to go up the steps to walk along the ridge which is adjacent to a golf course. I've never seen stepping stones with a handrail, I have now, thanks to Hubbards Hill. It's a lovely place, not too big, a lovely morning walk.

Lunch consisted of speciality chocolate from the Chocolate Drop shop, divine. Our afternoon excursion was to Cleethorpes, they have some seriously large mansions on the road into Cleethorpes! We first went to the country park which is in the middle of suburbia. It's lovely, lacks signage so we got lost and wandered around ourselves but it was still nice, pretty empty and even had a dog swimming area with their own beach. How thoughtful. Free parking.

Onto Cleethorpes to the beach. Sadly we couldn't go on the main beach even though it was empty. We parked in the leisure centre (£1.50) and walked to the right, along the saltmarsh to the outfall pipe and then back again. I wouldn't say that Cleethorpes was my favourite beach, it has a view of container ships and dogs were really restricted to the non bathing water section of the beach due to the outfall pipe but it was a bird lovers paradise.

Snipe Dales country park, Skegness and Gibraltar point...in a day

Lincolnshire is a very unique place, we love it. As we left the farm this morning, I looked to the side of the hill and 'Louise will you marry me' was written on the side of the hill in big white logs! How romantic. As we drove to Snipe Dales Country Park, the number of Lincolnshire flags flying in gardens was really noticeable. I wouldn't know what the Cambridgeshire flag looked like!

Our morning stop was a 30 minute drive away to the Snipe Dales Country Park which is really quite hilly. With only 2 other cars in the car park, this is our type of country park. £1 to park, then off we went up and down the hills. We only met one other couple on route, an elderly couple holding hands which always makes me smile. Dogs aren't allowed in the nature reserve so we followed the green tree trail, 1 and a quarter miles, just the right distance for a greyhound. The path was clearly marked, lots of poo bins...what more could we want?

Next stop, Skegness. We parked at the peir (£2 for 2 hours, £7 for the day) and walked past the ice cream shops and donkeys, endless car parks and then eventually found a lovely beach which allowed dogs. We walked up the beach playing 'who has the most sand in their shoes'. Sailor absolutely loves the beach, and so does his mummies. On the route back we stopped for ice cream, bubble gum and caramel for me. The variety of flavours was amazing, they even serve vodka slush puppies and Baileys hot chocolate! Sailor loved his spoon of caramel ice cream.

Next stop, Gibraltar Point nature reserve and a really unhelpful sign. I dislike car parks that say 'closed at dusk'. When exactly is dusk? So we sprinted around the 2.5 mile loop of the nature reserve, through saltmarsh, beach, past hides, bluebells and the vistor centre. An incredibly long day for Sailor and his mummies but amazing.

Loving Lincolnshire!

Oh I'm really liking Lincolnshire, I didn't know places like this existed! It's just so quaint, the houses are gorgeous, there are things to sell on the front lawn with a price tag on them and it's lovely village after lovely village. Our first stop was to Walesby Moor Wood, found on the Visit Woods website which I love, but it ofrs very few directions, nor places to park so it was a bit of guess work. However, a bit of free parking is always appreciated. On the hottest day of the year, we thought a woodland would be nice and cool, but the majority of the walk wasn't in the trees but down a dirt track.

I love the tranquility of Forestry Commission sites, but they never have maps so the direction of travel is guess work, so you have to remember where you started. We have a few false turns, through overgrown paths, then decided to head back. It's a lovely woodland with lots of variation in trees, but a map would have been perfect.

After Sailors lunchtime nap, off to Hartsholme Country Park in Lincoln. Alas, their website isn't great, but luckily didn't put us off going. Good job, it's lovely but incredibly popular. Free parking again, but finding a space on bank holiday Monday was interesting. The Country Park has a huge adventure playground, wheelchair access pathways and lots of lakes. We walked around the perimeter and was pleased when the other walkers tailed off and we were back on our own. I do love spring, with the green buds on the trees. My need to picture signs kicked in, todays was 'no metal detectors' and 'no picking mushrooms'!.

The terriaine was a mixture of track and pebbles which Sailor doesn't enjoy. After an hour and 20 minutes walk, Sailor was ready for his nap. A gorgeous spring day, in a gorgeous county, with my gorgeous family.

Willingham woods dog toilet area, and the scent of Mablethorpe

We first visited Willingham Woods, a vast pine woodland. There must have been hundreds of motorbikes there which spoilt the initial thoughts of tranquility, but we didn't have to walk far before we lost the noise of the motorbikes. The paths are well trodden and we met quite a few other walkers on route. We practised recall on route, which means ali has to run quickly as Sailor bolts towards me. I'm not sure what the 'dog toilet area' was that was sign posted, I didn't want to find out. A lovely woodland, but after an hour Sailor was already lagging behind so back to the cottage for a rest before the afternoon excursion.

After a nap for Sailor, we drove 45 minutes to Mablethrope, a never ending golden sand beach with muddy water. Dogs are allowed on almost all of the beach, apart from the stretch by the amusements and fish and chip shops. No matter, that's the noisy bit anyway so instead we walked for a couple of hours up the beach, sailor leaping away from the waves. Something tells me that he doesn't like having his feet wet. He looked like he was loving it, and did a very rare thing, was pulling on the lead!

£2.50 to park in the beach car park, £5 for the day which is a bit steep, but we could see why there were so many people on the beach, each with their dogs and wind breaks. What a gorgeous first day to the holiday. I'm not sure Sailor will be awake much this evening....

Travelling to Ash Barn Cottages

I under estimated how long it takes to get across East Anglia, but 3 hours of driving later, we arrived at North Willingham and Ash Barn cottages. We have the Old Dairy, a wheelchair accessible room, with two wings and huge disabled bathroom, woodburner, gorgeous kitchen, tin of carrot cake, milk in the fridge, fresh eggs, daffodils on the table. We want to live here. The cottage is absolutely gorgeous, looking over the Lincolnshire Wolds. Poppy the dog greeted us as we arrived, the kitchen has everything you can imagine, even the things you didn't think you would need such as tin foil and cling film. Beautifully decorated, with outside table and chairs, tea and coffee and condiments provided...what a spectacular place!