So Christmas Day has come and gone and we find ourselves transported into Boxing Day, looking forward to what the day has in store for us. Of course the most important start to the day was taking Winston out to do his ablutions, and although he was a bit reluctant to be taken outside whilst still half asleep he still managed a long wee against the gate post! Of course he went straight back to bed when he came back in and whilst he was ‘catnapping’ we changed into our yoga outfits, set up our yoga mats on the uneven creaky floorboards and carried out Day 26 of Adrienne’s Yoga Flow. Muscles stretched and feeling nicely relaxed we headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. On the menu today; yoghurt accompanied by a selection of seasonal fruits, smashed avocado sat atop a toasted bagel, Berocca….shaken not stirred and a mug of lemon infused hot water. Yep, we’re keeping with the Michelin Star themed dining, even for breakfast!
After breakfast Winston was taken out again to complete his ablutions and although he had a few more wee’s he still didn’t perform his ‘solids’ but to be fair to him he didn’t seem his usual jolly self. Hope he’s not coming down with something.
It was our fourth day in Weobley and we were feeling the need to escape the village with it’s black and white houses and decided to partake in the Treasure Trail we’d purchased before we left Dorset; Herefordshire Black and White Villages! Maice put together a Michelin Star picnic sandwich consisting of; cheese, vegetarian turkey & stuffing slices, hummus, mayo and sliced tomato, accompanied by two packets of crisps, four matchmakers and six medjool dates. Yum…..can’t wait! We were hoping there’d be a cafe open in one of the villages where we could have a cheeky cappuccino…..fingers crossed as we’re suffering from severe caffeine withdrawal symptoms.
We’ve been so lucky with the weather since our arrival and today was no different. Blue skies with the odd cloud here and there, but oh, it was cold. In fact it wasn’t just cold, it was freezing cold. We wrapped ourselves up in so many layers and ventured out to the car looking like two Michelin Man Mascots, even Winston was double wrapped in two jackets. I was in the drivers seat today, Maice was the navigator and Winston was the back seat driver, sat atop all our padded coats looking a bit like the Princess and the Pea! We sat in the car for at least five minutes whilst I re-familiarised myself with the various controls of a manual car then we were off, hoping Maice’s navigational skills had improved in order to guide us to our first stop for clues in the ‘black and white’ village of Eardisland. Well would you believe it…..a miracle happened. We drove straight there without performing any illegal u-turns, driving in the wrong direction or going against the advice of the Road Atlas, the SatNav or the Treasure Trail directions.
We parked in the suggested carpark, referred to our first clue…’find the name of the place that Box 321 came from’ and hey, there it was right in front of us. Of course, we cannot divulge the answer to the clue in case any of you readers decide to come here on holiday and partake in the very same Treasure Trail! So, clue number 1 sorted, great, we were off to a flying start until that is we came to clue no. 2 and that’s where it all fell apart. We didnt understand the clues and what made matters worse was that when we’d printed off the clue sheet unbeknownst to us the map, the most important item of the trial, was missing! We had to look at the map stored in the document folder of the iPhone and then remember where everything was and write the answers down on the clue sheet itself. It didnt bode well that it was so cold our hands were like blocks of ice and we couldn’t hold the pen or the clue sheet to annotate it with our answer
After an unsuccessful ‘Trail’ in Eardisland, finding only three out of eight clues we found a pub that was open in order that we could a) seek refuge from the cold b) use the facilities and c) have a cappuccino. Alas, they weren’t doing cappuccinos today but we did manage to use the loo and stay for 5 mins out of the cold so two out of 3 ain’t bad!
We left the pub, packed our frozen bodies into the car, whacked up the heating to try and defrost our frozen hands and set off to Pembridge. We couldnt get into the free car park so drove through the village past the village square where there seemd to be a large gathering of locals wearing strange headwear and with bells around their shins! Were these the local Morris Dancers we wondered? We parked up on the road, walked back to the car park which was the starting point for this part of the Trail, and went in search of our first clue. We failed miserably so followed the rest of the clues until we managed to find a few around the church. By this time we were so cold, poor Winston was not happy so we made an executive decison to return home and try and solve the clues around the kitchen table whilst enjoying our picnic lunch and a glass of Gluwein. Miraculously, with the help of Google we managed to piece all the clues together. All that was left to find was one clue from Pembridge and the clues in Weobley which we’ve decided to do at our leisure when we’re out on our next walk. Winston, who was still in need of a poop took himself off upstairs to bed so we knew he was out of sorts….poor love. He‘s either caught a chill yesterday or eaten something he shouldn’t have eate
Before supper we retired to the lounge to watch Mary Poppins and of course both of us fell asleep. Must have been all that Gluwein! Maice took Winston out in the hope he would finally have a poop but unfortunately, again, that wasn’t forthcoming.
In the true tradition of Boxing Day we ate the leftovers of our salmon-en-croute accompanied with salad and pickled onions. It was delicious. We made a few social calls to family and friends, in particular the Germans, Britta Alf and Celine and Maice’s mum before taking Winston for his final walk of the day and oh, joy of joys he finally had a poo! Well done Winston! Well done!
What a Boxing Day we’ve had. It may have been freezing cold but it didn’t deter us from doing anything except a) cut short our Treasure Trail which will be continued in the next day or two and b) take many photos due to our hands being so cold! We took ourselves off to our beds, Winston leading the way up the green staircase, depositing Maice in her yellow bedroom and escorting me up the rickety staircase to the room in the attic! Another lovely day has come to an end and we look forward to another adventure tomorrow ………!
Night all…..M&A and Sir Winston xxx