Days Out

So, we can take days out now that Annie is covering the shop for a day each week. We failed for the first few weeks and seemed to do something shop related on our precious days. A couple of weeks ago, we decided to make more effort and our first idea was to head to the Moors for a walk with the dog.  We arrived somewhere at the top of Sutton Bank, paid £4 to park only to find there was no footpath. Eddi was really anxious to get off the lead and the road was too busy, so 10 minutes later returned to the car. We headed to Helmsley, thinking we could get a coffee and find the Cleveland Way that passes through there. We paid to park again, found all the coffee shops were closing and found the path, keeping our promise to Ed. However, there were sheep in all the fields and she couldn’t go off the lead despite her being the only Border Collie that is scared of sheep.

Our next attempt was a day trip to Hebden Bridge. It was pouring with rain by the time we got to the ROAD CLOSED sign, just past Haworth. Eddi was again waiting eagerly to get a walk, so, undefeated, we decided to pull over and go for a walk on the top of a hill. We did this until the path was so flooded, we couldn’t get through. Back to the car.

We settled on going to Haworth for lunch and a look around the shops. At Haworth, Jonah decided to up the challenge by stating that he fancied Welsh Rarebit for lunch (in Yorkshire?).  Most of the shops were shut, so we went with the challenge for amusement. We actually found a dog friendly pub that had Welsh Rarebit on the menu. Coaxing her out from the shelter of a bench, we proceeded to drag our wet dog through the surprisingly busy pub and ordered the rarebit. When it arrived, it was melted cheese on what resembled a slice of Nimble (does anyone remember Nimble?) at £7.50 – the dog must have eaten three quid’s worth. We left the pub, which now smelled of warm wet dog and topped our day off with a wet and windy walk over the hillside above the home of the Brontë family. When we were finally wet through to our knickers, we drove home with the seat warmers on, steaming all the way.

Our third attempt was better organised. A customer had told me that we should see Newcastle and especially Tynemouth. We have only been to Newcastle at night for gigs. Eddi couldn’t come, so I booked the dog walker this time and ordered tickets for the train. I even picked up the tickets the day before, and printed a map off the internet; this plan was fail proof. However, Jonah got sick the night before, so we couldn’t go. The dog walker arrived for Eddi and off she went with a big smile on her face, glad to get away from us and the threat of another one of our days out.

We are going to the cinema this week, in York – that’s all we have the enthusiasm for!