Holidays are nice but……….!

Amy is taking a well-earned break from hosting Five on Friday for August.

Therefore, I have jumped at the chance to join in with Steph from Diary from a Midlife Mummy and her lovely What I have Loved This Week link.

We returned home in the early hours of Tuesday morning from our recent holidays.

Later that day, himself was dispatched to collect our black labrador, Jack, who had been billeted at his mum’s house for the duration of our travels.

This week I have loved taking him for his evening walk.

It is nice to go on holiday, but we all miss Jack when we are away.

I think he missed us too and has reverted straight back into his routine, without any readjusting!

We live on the boundary of a country park and the woods are beautiful. It is such a peaceful place in the evening when the hoards of visitors have left.

For me, there is nothing better than coming home from a long day at work and heading for the cool but sheltered woods with the boy in tow – I love it!

Jack is such a huge part of our family, therefore it is nice to go on holiday but, it is also nice to come back home and have the missing link restored.

So, in short this week I’ve loved –  walking the dog!

I also love the badge for this link up – isn’t it gorgeous?

Have a lovely day!

Sunday Photo

This tree is in Eastham Woods, we all have differing views about it, read here!

Have a lovely day x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond the Bear Pit

These steps lead down to The Bear Pit! Yes, really The Bear Pit.

See, this is The Bear Pit. You would be forgiven for wondering why on earth Eastham Country Park would need a Bear Pit, please be reassured that it is no longer used except to house three wooden sculptures!

It is what remains of the Pleasure Gardens created by Thomas Stanley to entertain the visitors that he brought across the Mersey on his ferries in the late nineteenth century. This was at a time when Eastham was considered to be The Richmond of The Mersey.

 Also left from those days are these two disused fountains which can be found at either side of The Bear Pit. Although, as you can see Jack has found a use for one of them!

Shockingly, in the Visitor Centre there are photographs of lions being wheeled in cages around the gardens to “delight” the visitors. Thankfully, there is no remaining evidence of this!

There are signs to the Bear Pit throughout the Woods. It is much easier to find nowadays than it was when I was a little girl and it was so overgrown and quite frankly, scary. It isn’t anymore, do visit if ever you are passing.

“Hey look at that tree growing out of the wall!”

Poor Miss Glade has to listen to this exclamation almost every time we take a wander through our local woods.
She anticipates it and Mr Glade, hardly ever disappoints. However, she has now confessed to her dad that she finds it boring.

Mr Glade believes it to be a miracle of nature and that Miss Glade is too complacent.

Is it boring or is it really quite interesting? You decide!

Is the world full of Black Labs?

This is Jack of The Glade!

When we walk Jack, it seems that the Eastham Woods are full of Black Labs. They are everywhere!

Jack of The Glade belongs to Ms Glade, he was a present for her 18th birthday. Ms Glade now mostly resides in Manchester, she is a student. Whilst she does return home often for food and sleep, she isn’t here, obviously, to look after ‘her’ dog on a daily basis.

Therefore, its a good job that he really is this cute in real life because we all don’t seem to mind looking after him. Even when he eats my favourite summer shoes or chews the heels of my brand new boots, he still manages to get a treat and a lovely walk.

We are quite spoiled for brilliant dog walks around these parts. Jack is great for our family because he always gets us out and we have our best talks/discussions on our rambles with Jack!

Dogs are great!