Month: March 2017

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Time to leave, so we walked Ellie and then packed everything up and into the car. It was a nice stay and extremely cheap. We have noticed that from today the prices have trebled unless you book a last minute deal.

We stopped at a lovely village, Stratford St Mary, on the way back and went in the pub, The Swan, for a coffee, even though they had a 7.2% beer which Mal would have liked to have checked out but it was a little too early in the day!  We had our coffee in the garden and there was also a very pretty dog walk from their garden which we did.

We also stopped for lunch on the way back so didn’t rush.

Back home and unpacking again and washing in the machine!
Thought for the Day – “Sometimes you have to travel a long way to find what is near.” ~ Paulo Coelho

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The sun was out and of course, good weather on our last day! But first we had to collect my phone. The man said to ring him when we arrived at Southwold, where we said we were spending the day. We did this and he told us he was in Saxmundham! So we had to drive back that way and met him outside Tesco which was where he was doing his shopping. Mal gave him a monetary reward which he declined but we insisted that he take it. He looked a not particularly well off old man (probably about our age thinking about it!) Anyway, it was very good of him. I now have a password on my phone and I can now locate it too.  Had it been lost for good, I could have claimed from the insurance but I guess it saved all that.

Back again to Southwold and we spent quite a while on the beach.

By special request we then went to Adnams Brewery. Mal did a bit of sampling a couple of new beers and also some wine they had and listened to the expert telling us how they are using the grapes in this country to blend in with the climate. Dogs are allowed in the shop.

While Mal was tasting, Ellie started sniffing around a labrador, so I was chatting to his owner who coincidentally lives in Bridge, Canterbury. Small world. Of course Mal stocked up on some beer, his favourite still being Ghost Ship. We then decided to have our lunch at the Brewery Cafe Garden, as Mal was tempted by the “Ghost Ship Rarebit” (Beer added to cheese on toast!) His two favourite things together. I fared much better, in my opinion, having the Fish Board. That was my idea of food heaven!

After lunch we went back to the beach. As we were walking back down, I popped into a couple of shops and every time I did, different people had stopped to make a fuss of Ellie! This happens all the time. It is a really dog friendly town. One shop even had a bowl of dog food along with the water.

Southwold really is a lovely place, dog friendly and also FREE parking which you don’t get by many beaches in Kent.
We stopped off on the way back for a walk around Corton woods. Ellie does enjoy her holidays with us.

We went back to the clubhouse in the evening. Today’s voucher was a pint of Soft drink.
Thought for the Day – “If it makes you happy, no one else’s opinion should matter.

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We took Ellie for her first walk as there is a beach at the side of the caravan park but the cliffs have fallen away so it is not the easiest to get to but there is a large “dog walking” area.

We decided to do a drive around the area as there were places we don’t know too well and who knows, some may be better than Kent, Lowestoft certainly isn’t but we do love Southwold! The problem we have at the moment is that the Oulton Broad bridge is closed because of road works so there is a permanent traffic jam to get over the water any other way.

We started off at Carlton Coalville, too much like Milton Keynes and from there drove through some really pretty villages that we could consider. We ended up in Southwold. Well done Mal for trying to get Ellie’s face in the picture!!

A nice walk along the pier and it started raining. Ellie had a swim and then back in the car for more exploring. We came to Sizewell/Leiston. We seem to have an attraction to power stations. We found a lovely old pub, The Vulcan Arms. This was a real “old school ” pub and we loved it. On entry we asked if the bar was dog friendly, the landlord said of course but will your wife behave? We stayed for a really nice lunch and had quite a chat with him ranging from the History of the pub to Brexit. A lovely friendly pub.

 

Because of the traffic it took us an hour to get back. We did stop on the way at Asda, as I forgot to bring a hair dryer thinking there would be one in the van. Not bad a travel one for £6.

When we arrived back at the caravan, my phone was missing. Mal volunteered to carry my rucksack all day and yes it was in there. Unlike most people I use it as a phone, I don’t do banking or anything else on there. Mal tried ringing it and eventually a gentleman phoned us back. He found the phone in the pub car park (thanks Mal!! I had noticed my rusksack upside down at least once in the day). Mal’s phone has tracking and password and everything on his. Mine hasn’t!! I have a block on the amount spent that’s all. However the gentleman has agreed to meet us tomorrow to return the phone. He sounds very old as he said he was going to leave the phone in the car as it kept making his dog bark!! Yes, there are still good people out there, more maybe than we think!

Our voucher today was a free large glass of wine and so we had to go to the clubhouse in the evening to claim it.

Thought for the Day -“A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” ~ Lao Tzu

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We did eventually get up and take Ellie out for her first short walk in the FOG!

Our voucher for today was a full English breakfast with coffee, orange juice and toast included. I had a boiled egg and then we went over to the restaurant so that Mal could have the breakfast. Of course Ellie came too and shared his sausage.

There is also free internet over there, so we took advantage of that as Mal has another two teachers he is teaching online, so has to check in every now and again.

We drove to Gorleston, where it was still foggy. You can see by the misty Border Force boat! It was very close to us.

Not the best beach day so we had a walk around and then went to somewhere I had read about and knew Ellie would enjoy. It was the “Doggy Diner”. Such a lovely lady artist who runs the place and the dogs are allowed on all the chairs and they are given treats and basically thoroughly spoilt. Funnily enough Ellie wouldn’t sit on the settee! Humans can eat there too and each table had a basket with a bottle of hand sanitiser on it. She really had thought of everything. We had a very long chat with her and ordered a snack for lunch before a lot more doggies and their owners came in.

She had some lovely paintings and knick knacks.

We then went to Gorleston Beach, wow, what a huge beach! I think the fog cleared for a total of 20 minutes!

We then went into Lowestoft in seacrh of better weather. It was just the same and coming back we were caught up in a horrendous traffic jam over the bridge which evidently is quite common.

Thought for the Day – “Be crazy. Be stupid. Be silly. Be weird. Be whatever. Because life is too short to be anything but happy.” ~ Hoda Kotb

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We booked a caravan in Norfolk/Suffolk and so left in the morning and had a good trip up, stopping off in Thetford Forest for a nice run for Ellie. She is always very good in the car.  We booked with Park Holidays for a ridiculously cheap price of £62 for 4 nights and this month dogs go free.

We arrived about 3.30 and given our caravan key. I think we were the first ones in this season as everything looked pristine. We had a wander round the site and then we left Ellie and Mal and I went to the Captain Manby for dinner. It just happened to be a place we passed on the way to the site so we didn’t have to think about where to eat, just drove back there.

As soon as we were back we went for a drink in the bar. The conservatory next to the bar allows dogs in, so that was really nice.

As part of the stay we are given vouchers for every day. Today’s voucher was  for a free pint of beer!! If you add up the cost of all these vouchers, we are staying here for very little.

Thought for the Day – “Learn silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind. Be grateful to those teachers.” ~ Khalil Gibran

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Thought for the Day -“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” ~Gaspard Mermillod

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What a lovely day. We took Ellie for a long walk and went through Rod and Jude’s orchard and all across the fields and then back through the village.

Isn’t nature wonderful , the apple trees have started budding.

We bought the paper in the village shop and I had to laugh watching SIR Roger Gale (MP for North Thanet) up a step ladder removing the wysteria from the front of his house! Not much health and safety there.

Mal spent a lot of the day at the allotment while I caught up with the garden.

In the evening we watched the Broadchurch we have missed whilst we have been away.

Thought for the Day – “If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” ~ Roald Dahl