Year: 2024

We have never been to the Donkey Sanctuary before, so decided this was the day. It was such a nice day and the 99 donkeys there are so well looked after.  They are all rescued and surprisingly entrance is free. In our minds, the fact it is free admission we decided to sponsor a donkey. There was a donkey there called Elvis and so we decided to sponsor that one for Mal’s sister for Christmas. This is Mal with Elvis….

They really are so well looked after there. There is also a huge picnic area and dogs on leads are allowed everywhere! Ellie just loved them and wanted to run around the fields with them. She stood sniffing them and wagging her tail.

There is a shop and a cafe there. We went and had a pot of tea for two…£3! Bargain.

I wanted to return to Lady Scarlett’s Tea Parlour, so we headed that way for a late lunch. It is right on the sea front in Ventnor. Easy……no! We just kept coming across closed roads! We ended up taking about a 10 mile diversion and then having to walk down  extremely steep paths. Even the walk down was difficult as the paths were so steep and then of course we had to get back up.

It was well worth going there as after our food Scarlett’s daughter came and sat and chatted to us. This is her 14 year old dog Ruby , she sits in the doorway, bless her.

Scarlett’s daughter made such a fuss of Ellie and gave her two treats. She had already been given three at the Donkey Sanctuary!

 

As our intention, a very lazy day after walking Ellie. We just had a short drive into Cowes to get some supplies and Mal decided he was going to cook a Turkey roast!
Our lodge is so quiet and peaceful, just the odd bird or red squirrel on our verandah. Of course a blackbird to sing!

Ellie chilled as well!

We left home and drove to Portsmouth. We stopped at our favourite coffee shop at Ripley on the way. The journey was fine until we actually arrived in Portsmouth on a busy Saturday afternoon and the traffic was horrendous. We did manage to get to the port and they put us on the earlier ferry. Ellie is used to all sorts of travelling and so doesn’t seem that bothered.

She had a lot of attention from other passengers.
We arrived at Woodside Bay earlier than the 4pm check in for our lodge but it was ready, so they allowed us in early.

We unpacked and then walked Ellie in the woods.

It is so nice here just a short walk through the woods and you are on the beach.

A much nicer, sunny morning!

Lunchtime was time for Pilates and Gemma started showing us how to do Pilates 100… I say started! Yes one day maybe.

Thought for the Day – “If you don’t make time for exercise, you’ll probably have to make time for illness.”  ~ Robin Sharma

Yesterday was the first beach dog freedom day! Dogs are now allowed on the beaches, so we took Ellie to Minnis Bay. Rain wasn’t forecast but we got very wet! It didn’t matter, Ellie loves going in the sea and really enjoyed it.

Thought for the Day – “Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” ~ Bob Marley

The temperature had certainly dropped for our walk which was around King George park.

It warmed up later and was 42 degrees in the conservatory!

A bit of a lazy day, ‘Praised Chicken’ for lunch, so easy, just cooks itself and the leeks were from the allotment. Actually, we both were a bit croaky and sore throats, a sure sign summer has come to an end.

We had a 60’s music channel on and the conversation was guessing how many were not with us any more! That’s sad.

We watched the Spurs v Man U match. Yeah Spurs won 3-0 but I have to say what I thought was a bad decision meant Man U had 10 men.

Thought for the Day – “Lighten up while you still can, don’t even try to understand. Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy.” ~ Eagles

After walking Ellie we drove over to Whitstable to meet Tris and his new girlfriend. Rhys works in Whitstable and told us about the “charity” car park. I had never heard of it before and so we used it. It is actually the junior school car park, right in the centre of town and it is huge. They have a bucket you just put a donation in. Half the money goes to the school and the other half to a charity. Today’s charity was Guide Dogs, which obviously was really appealing to me, so we added a bit extra! We chatted to the volunteers who were there with their gorgeous guide dogs. A brilliant idea and far better than the council getting it!

We were treating Tris to a meal at Wheeler’s Oyster Bar for his birthday.

Tris and Nathalie…

We had a really delicious meal, a lot of lobster. Ollie came out and served us the first courses. I had scallop.

Followed by Lobster lasagne and so much lobster

We had a lovely time. Ollie was very busy so we didn’t have much of a chance to chat.

Thought for the Day – “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.” ~ Maggie Smith