A Mixed Bag

Mick's had the past fortnight off work, with the extra bank holiday tagged on to the end to extend it a little. We'd hoped that we might get out and about a bit but the first week was a bit of a right off. Poor Archie had developed a limp again, something he's suffered with on and off since he was a puppy. We've had him at the vets numerous times but the only thing which really helps is rest, so that's what we did for the first week of Mick's holiday, rested Archie's leg. Mick was glad to have the week off anyway, it's actually quite nice just pottering at home when you're used to working, and we managed to get a few jobs done in the house.

This last week has been a different story. On Monday, the weather forecast didn't look so good, rain was forecast at home but as we looked further east, the forecast got better, so we headed off to the coast. We started off in Whitby. The photos are a little dark, the weather wasn't too bad, it was rather windy but very warm.

Archie's leg was much better but we didn't want to walk him too far, mainly because we didn't want his limp to return, but also because he's an old dog now and even a short walk tires him out.

After a couple of hours we headed back to the car and drove along the coast to Scarborough. Dog bans are in place on the main parts of the beach here in the summer months, and the tide was in covering the area where we usually take Archie, but we found a different part of the beach where dogs are allowed so Archie got his paddle.

It had got a bit chillier by now, though you wouldn't say it was cold, and Archie had enjoyed his time on the beach. It started to spit with rain just as we were leaving Scarborough so we definitely made the right decision spending the day at the coast. Apparently it had rained in many parts of the country but we managed to miss it in Whitby and Scarborough.

On Tuesday we decided to let Archie have a day at home. We thought the day at the coast would tire him out and it did. While Archie had a good sleep at home, we visited St Mary's Church, Lead, which is less than five miles away from our house. It's somewhere I've often wondered about and at last, I now know more about it. You can read my previous post all about it by clicking the link. We also went out for a late lunch, so even though we were close to home, we enjoyed our day and we did things we wouldn't ordinarily do.

It was forecast rain the next day so we hadn't made any plans, however, when we woke on Wednesday morning, it was bright and dry so we decided to head off to Northallerton to have a mooch around the shops. Wednesday is market day and there was a good selection of stalls by the side of the road. The shops in Northallerton are a mix of high street stores and independent shops but the thing we love most is that Northallerton is a dog friendly town. There's so many times when one or the other of us goes into a shop while the other waits outside with Archie, it makes a change to be able to go in shops together, and Archie is always good. Even shops like The Works, Lakeland, Wilko's and Waterstones allow dogs inside in Northallerton, and I believe more and more shops around the county are beginning to do likewise. 

We spent Thursday in the Yorkshire Dales, I won't go into detail here as a post is coming, suffice to say we had a lovely day.

Friday was going to be a relaxing day at home, mainly to give Archie a rest again, but you know what it's like, you stay home expecting to put your feet up but in reality it was all about getting some jobs done. It was a lovely day so I washed some new bedding I'd bought, stripped our bed and got that bedding washed too, and once it was all line dried, I got it all ironed and the bed remade. We popped out to do a bit of shopping and later on, Mick ran Eleanor and Jacob into Leeds to catch a train to Lincolnshire. It was Jacob's sister's birthday on Friday and Jacob's birthday on Saturday so they spent a long weekend away with Jacob's family, returning home yesterday. Friday night is sometimes fish and chip night in our house, but I haven't been so keen on the fish from any of the fish and chip shops around here for a long time now, so we just got the chips and had chip butties for tea, with scraps of course.

Mick usually plays cricket on a Saturday but his game this week was cancelled as the other team didn't have enough players available. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm, so we decided to head off to Kirkstall Abbey Market. Again, a blog post is to follow.

We were really lucky with the weather over the start of the bank holiday weekend, another mini heatwave. Sunday was gorgeous again so we decided, on the spur of the moment, to do something we hadn't done for years, we visited a car boot sale. We don't have any very close to where we live so we went to the one which is held at Wetherby Racecourse. We didn't buy anything but we enjoyed looking round, then it was home again for a cooked breakfast which Mick made, he does make a good breakfast.

Yesterday was the bank holiday and true to form, the weather wasn't up to much, though it stayed dry so that's something. The roads can be quite bad on bank holidays, especially when the A1 is clogged up with traffic going home from the Leeds Festival as well as bank holiday traffic. It's lucky we know the back routes, travelling through the villages, which is nicer than driving on the motorways anyway. We decided to head out to Ripon where an artisan market was in full swing.

There's some lovely little streets in Ripon. 

Most of the independent shops were closed with it being a bank holiday.

Ripon Cathedral was open though so I decided to pop in to take a look around. There were guides on hand to answer any questions and they were so friendly.

It's a beautiful building, the fourth to have stood on this site, and was built between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Jacob was on a night shift last night so Eleanor came round to tell us about her weekend away, and Daniel and Jasmine came round too. It was a lovely way to round off our staycation.