Holidays on land

I have been off the boat for a week, visiting friends in Yorkshire. My first stop was Hornsea to see my very good friends Jan and Graham Finch. They lived on their boat, Huff n Puff for 12 years but recently moved back to land living. Here is their very swanky pad, a converted railway station!

One of the few things I miss, living on a boat, is having a bath and this is what I call a bath!!

Graham and Jan have a 5 month old puppy called Albert. Their last dog Bernie, also a Westie, was Bonny's closest friend and so we were fascinated to see how she would respond to this new dog. She was a little reserved to begin with. You can tell the pecking order...

But they soon got closer, thanks to Albert's persistence!

We all went on a trip to Flanbrough Head on a very windy day.

Here are my friends. Jan used to walk Bonny with Bernie when I was at work or when I broke my leg, so it was lovely to see her with Albert and Bon.

I rarely have anyone with me to take a photo of Bon and me, so I took advantage of Graham!

The next day we visited a beach and Bonny had a major breakthrough, thanks to Albert. She has never been a great player of games and seems incapable of playing with another dog. She would rather be hunting. Since she had been so well behaved I took the risk of letting her off the lead. Albert was free too and all at once they were racing each other in circles and Bon was actually playing. It was such a joy to watch. She also loved the sea and showed no fear of the waves. It was a very special time for all of us and when we called them back they raced each other to show who could get back to their owner the quickest!

After a fond farewell, we left to travel to Thirsk to see another dear couple of friends. Brian was my counsellor when I travelled through some very dark times indeed. Now he is my guru and close friend and his wife Cynthia is wonderfully hospitable.

Here is the man who knows me best out of everybody in the world, who accepts and respects me as I am and who has enabled me to heal and grow. We are at Bylands Abbey:

Then he took Bonny and I on a lovely walk up a very steep hill, where a white horse had been carved into the landscape and we had a picnic looking out over most of Yorkshire!

We are back on the boat now, but not for long. My next view from the loo will be from Devon!