Margaret definatly looks more stable then Dennis

Just a slight wobble Dennis!!

Now whats wrong with it??

This picture says it all. Two bikes succesfully put together and working a treat.

The three ships dogs

Heather is holding their Yorkshire Terrier, Oliver. Ive not mentioned Olly in this blog but he has been with us ever since Dave and Heather arrived back in June. At eighteen he is doing remarkable well although he cant walk very far and is blind and deaf. He does however have a howl on him that could wake the dead.















Posing for the camera.

Oliver

Polish War memorial

Before our famous cow bridge we came across this war memorial dedicated to the Polish airman who perished when their Wellington Bomber came down near this spot. Apparently one of the aircraft's wings fell off while on a training flight!!!

Cow swing bridge

The weather was awful on the day we decide to take a trip to Silsdon. The wind was howling and I found it really difficult to hold the boat into the side. As Ian opened the swing bridge he told me that two boats were coming from the other direction and that he had waved them through, I was cursing him but managed to get the boat tied to a bollard before the boat ended up at the other side of the canal. As they were going through suddenly a herd of cows turned up and just stood there waiting for the bridge to close. I had a vision of the domino effect occurring and the ones in front just toppling into the water. Anyway once the two boats had gone through I thought okay now its my turn. but no the next thing I knew Ian had started to close the bridge , in which the cows did no more then start to cross. Ian then had to complete the procedure because by now the weight of all of the cows on the bridge made it impossible for him to open it again.

View of Embsay crag

Embsay crag

Ian wanted to walk up Embsay crag. This was a round trip of three and a half mile. As you can imagine half of it was uphill. I very nearly gave up but Ian was sure I would make it so I carried on regardless, as you might say. The climb was worth every tiring step as the views from the top were spectacular. .














I told the dogs to have a well earned rest. I was glad to sit down as well but don't tell the dogs that.

















Ian admiring the view.

Thomas the tank engine

We knew there was a steam railway running from Embsay to Bolton so we put on our walking boots and set out from Skipton to do the one and three quarter mile walk to Embsay. On arrival at the station I insisted that we have our photos taken with Thomas much to Ian's and the dogs disgust. The place was packed with kids but we still managed to get a seat on the train. This was also the dogs very first train ride and we weren't sure as to how they would cope. Judy shook a bit when the engine first started and they weren't at all happy when the whistle blew but all in all they did really well.

The trip took roughly 15 minutes each way. We got of at Bolton and decided to take a walk After having trekked for another mile or so we made our way back to catch the train to Empsey.

Judy and Jade was utterly disgusted that they were made to pose in front of one of Thomas friends. Jades look says it all.
















Stoking the boiler.

Bolton Priory

On another one of our excursions we took the bus to the Devonshire arms just outside the grounds of the priory. The day was sunny for a change and loads of tourists turned up with kids in tow armed with bucket and spades. It was only when we entered the grounds did we realise that part of the bank by the river was made up of loads of sand and the kids were having a whale of a time building sand castles and paddling in the water. We would have crossed the stepping stones but as it had rained heavily a few days before only a small part of the stones were visible and we didn't fancy getting our feet wet. If the dogs could have talked they would have called us wimps!!

Money does grow on trees!!! This branch was stuffed full of pennies and two pence pieces.
Didn't realise these glasses were quite so big.

Well earned drink after our mammouth walk around the Priory. Note our mode of transport in the background.

Skipton Castle

Judy killing a tree at Skipton woods

We stayed at Skipton for just over a week. There was loads of things to do including this visit to the castle. After dragging the dogs up the round castle steps (which they hated) we gave them a treat by taking them on a woodland walk.

BBQ Time again

While we were on our own and as we finally had a good day, we decided to eat outside and enjoy the veiws. This was to be our last BBQ for a while as the rain arrived and stayed with us on and off for weeks!!!