Strawberries and cream at Wimbledon

Can't believe our luck, centre court tickets in the public ballot! Surprisingly, we managed to see Kvitova, who won last year, Federer and Andy Murray. It was the second hottest day of the year, 41 degrees on centre court and I can vouch for that, it was like sitting in an oven. Even though we had tickets, we had to snake through the queues to get in. We walked straight to centre court for the first match. We were just 3 rows from the court, so had an amazing view of play. Gosh it's scary when the ball is served and it looks like it's coming right at you! The Kvitova match was over in a record 34 minutes. We had the obligatory strawberries and cream, which were only £2.50, I expected a lot more. But the weather was just pounding, baking us alive, all everyone wanted was water. The federer match was fantastic and then the roar of Centre Court when Andy Murray walked in. His mum and coach were just a few rows behind us, so he kept talking above our heads during each set. What a fabulous day. Thank you public ballot.

North Wales - a day of waterfalls

Today was waterfalls day. Sailor and Penny are absolutely shattered so we had a relatively easy day, consisting of a scenic drive through Snowdonia National Park and stops at Swallow Falls and Conwyn falls, well worth the stop. At Snowdon we stopped at an amazing viewpoint for an ice cream and discovered that 99 Ice creams are now £2! That just goes to show the last time I bought one was a long long time ago. We had another pit stop at Conwy Falls which has a lovely dog friendly cafe. I must admit, the walk to the falls pushed the doggies to the limit. They really aren't designed for steep inclines and declines. Gorgeous waterfalls day.

North Wales -vertigo inducing Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

My shoulders are on fire! They are so burnt to a crisp. Who would have thought I needed my factor 50 in North Wales. We are getting into quite the routine, I get up between 6-7 as usual, take the dogs around our own field, then breakfast one and out the door. Trouble was, this time there was a rabbit in the field so Penny pulled me around the field instead.

Todays mission was to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. We walked to the aqueduct and I had high hopes to walk over it but no chance, you seriously have to have a head for heights to walk over it. Instead, we walked down the path to the River Dee below for some wonderful views of the arches. Greyhounds really aren't made for the hills of North Wales. Watching canal boats going over the aqueduct was fascinating. A quick picture with travelling Brownie, then off to our next stop.

Langollen is cute and a tourist honey pot. We parked at the International Pavillion with it's strange parking pricing. 10p for 30 minutes, 50p for an hour, then £ for four houts! We walked along the canal to the wharf where the horse drawn canal boats go from. Then we followed the trail map, they really are great leaflets. We walked past the Gaol and onto Plas Newydd where we had a lunch pitstop say under a tree in the grounds.

On the walk back, the doggies got slower and slower and slower. Penny has continued to show she is tired by just lieing down anywhere. On the way back we took a scenic drive to Horseshoe Falls, thorugh Horseshoe pass and then home for a hot tub.

North Wales - A day at the beach

The day started in a rather unexpected way, we couldn't get out of the cottage! The lock had jammed, so Ali had to break out the house and go through the window to let us out. Today was beach day. We went to Prestatyn first of all, passing the St Aspath cathedral on the way. The postcode took us to a housing estate, so instead we found a car park further on. By chance, it houses something else I wanted to see. The start/ end of Offas Dyke. 182 miles until Chepstow, the length of Wales.

We walked along the promenade to the dog beach. We were a little surprise when we arrived because there was no beach, just sea. By the time we walked to the dog beach, had a sit down on the sand and then walked back, the sea had receeded and a huge beach was visible again. A pitstop with the biggest hot chocolate i've ever seen, then back on the road.

A bit further along is another dog beach called Talacre. It's probably one of the biggest beaches i've ever seen. We walked along dodging the jelly fish which have been left stranded. We sat by the dunes and people watched. Penny and Sailor love people watching too. On the way back, Penny seemed to like lying down a bit too much. Every few steps, down she went.

On the way back, we went through Towyn, a classic A-Level Geography case study of coastal flooding and the impact on the masses of holiday homes in Towyn. On the drive home, my arms got more and more red and my red became sore. A bit too much sun today me thinks.

Back at the cottage we celebrated out 5 year anniversary of Ali proposing in a hot tub in Iceland, by having a hot tub in North Wales.

North Wales - Denbigh castle and woodland walks

A bit of culture today and who would have thought that Penny would be patrial to castles and history, but she was wandering in and out of the castle, taking me up and down staircases, especially if I didn't want to go somewhere. She absolutely loved Denbigh castle and so did we. A gorgeous viewpoint too, some shear drops which were a bit scary. I climbed to the top of the turretts and then slightly regretted it, gosh it was high but there was only one way down.

We then followed the Denbigh city trail and had a lovely walk through Denbigh, seeing a very posh school, old marketplace, statue of H M Stanley of 'Dr Livingstone, I presume' fame. I went into the library to see a plastic cast of his hand too. We walked back up the big hill to the castle, going through gates and past churches.

Home for luncheon and then to explore the woodlands close to our cottage. We visited two, the first had a lovely woodland walk, one of the dogs favourites. Then we travelled on to the next one, which had the promise of Przewalski horses in an enclosure. It was quite a hike to the enclosure and Sailor and Penny got slower and slower and slower. It's definitly doggie boot camp. And then, when we got to the enclosure, not a horse to be seen, but a very lovely walk.

North Wales - Lakes Day

Today was lakes day, with a visit to Lake Bala and Cae Garnedd. Penny decided that the lake tasted good so spent quite a long time drinking it. We followed a short path around the side of the lake and then got onto the road. A real shame, it would be lovely to walk around the lake instead of the road. So, we went off piste and followed a footpath. Luckily, it went in a big loop and took in the village of Bala too, where we found the cutest garage with old fashioned pumps. What made me giggle was when we saw a trike towing half a robin reliant with a dingy on top of it. Slightly random. A lovely walk, topped off with lunch in the cafe. We found another lake on the way home so dropped by. Alas, it's a lake that only has a car park, toilet and that's it. Does make me think that a few footpaths are needed on these lakes, the dogs aren't too impressed with just a view and toilet block. A gorgeous lake though.

North Wales - down a greyhound mountain

Our first day trip, to Loggerheads Country Park. A bargain at 50p to park for two hours and a lovely walk. We did so slightly wrong and ended up in Devils Gorge, rather a long way out of the country park. I think the clue was when we passed the Loggerheads Country Park sign. So, we had to go back on ourselves and find the right path, which was up up up. Gosh we aren't used to hills in Cambridgeshire. A gorgeous cliff top walk with wonderful views. However, what's goes up, must come down and oh it went down. We struggled to get down the very very steep steps. I just can't imagine how the dogs felt as they really aren't meant to be at that angle! We were so relieved when we got to the bottom, we celebrated with a trip to the cafe.

The cottage is so cold but we have a wood burner. So, there was one thing for it, you tube how to light a wood burner...and it worked wonderfully. Getting into the country lifestyle now.