Getting Lost

Time really is flying....weeks whizz by and I'm hardly inside.... Roma is still tearing everything up and has decimated the back garden..though she is almost house trained. She drove us so mad that despite not having had her second set of inoculations , we have been taking her down the beach when the tide has gone out to get her running about....she also learned (accidentally) to swim this week ...she chased Bob into a channel and then realised her feet weren't touching the ground and desperately paddled her way back to shore....she has grown about three inches taller... My birthday was quiet but nice..with a couple of friends coming up from Manchester. I realised how much I miss the company of all my old friends and it left me a little unsettled. The friends I have here are lovely but young hence I have to be careful to sometimes keep quiet not to sound like a know it all. Being with friends nearer my own age was a relief... The Poacher neglected to even so much as pick me a bunch of flowers so he is having to do some serious making up at the moment....granted he's skint but he could have whittled me a whistle or something...just a gesture.....or am I being too precious?
My best friend's Dad sadly passed away just before my birthday. It has been a difficult time for her and her Mam and much as I've really enjoyed her being here, I wish the circumstances had been different....it has though, brought us closer together...and she is talking about moving back up here too , which would be great ...The funeral was entirely relevant to the man,very honest, and a proper tribute to her dad...there were no hymns nor religious twaddle just a bit of Fleetwood Mac and Englebert Humperdinck...and not a dry eye in the house. Back at the house I attempted to muck in with the tea making, but a crack team of old ladies took over and soon shoved me out of the kitchen.....
I am stunned at the strength and good grace shown by my friend and her mam and I only hope I can muster as much dignity when I lose a parent......
So all in all a busy and reflective time....and a fun one buzzing about in the Bongo! (my new camper van ) which probably warrants a page to itself...Yesterday I drove it over Wrynose pass (1 in 4 slope and very bendy and narrow road) As we had stopped for a tiny celebratory pipe at the top, it took me a few seconds to realise , whilst hurtling down the other side, that the side door was still open..and our bedding just about to be jettisoned .....Now the good weather has finally returned we had a wonderful weekend in some stunning scenery in the western less visited part of the lakes...and all the more fun for having Roma with us....she was somewhat perturbed when we disappeared into the roof space at bedtime...I heard her crying to go out at 5.30 in the morning and when I emerged from the upper level she went insane with joy....we then went for a walk through the early morning mist exploring all the smells and sights of a forest at dawn....dew on spiders webs , flowers just opening and deer grazing ....gorgeous! Then fried egg butties on Birk's Bridge for breakfast. I am so damn lucky to live here.
We also went to Flookburgh Steam Gathering , a magnificent meeting place of Great British Eccentrics, those unsung caretakers of the past who restore old lister engines, tractors, fire engines , military vehicles, steam rollers etc. ..I had the honour of seeing the one and only ever made 1970 Zodiac campercar !
and I saw the best Wall of Death I have ever seen...no safety restrictions or precautions whatsoever!
Check out the pictures !

I haven't been able to blog for the past few days...as we have a new addition to the family......
Roma has blue eyes and is seven weeks old today. She is a deerhound/greyhound x collie/whippet cross lurcher and is from strong working stock. The collie element in this combination adds intelligence in addition to the blind chasing instinct of the greyhound....she should grow to around 22 inches at the shoulder, and will be used in conjunction with the ferrets and Bob for rabbits, and with guns for pigeons and squirrels.
...Although a working dog she has already charmed her way out of her cage and into our bed....toilet training is slow and her teeth are incredibly sharp....any description would not do her justice.......check out the photos..she was the last and smallest of a litter from Appleby...so it was fate really