The Lake District cont’d
When we got back to our flat, we had to sneak in, because the lady that owned it also owned the pub below it. She was clearing glasses from the outside tables and we had to carry the dogs in under our clothes (ticks and all!) so that she couldn’t see how filthy they were!
My husband filled the bath and all 3 were plonked in. We had to hold them the whole time the bath was running because we didn’t want them jumping on the furniture or dropping any ticks off. It was horrendous, the dried caked on stinking sheep pooey mud encrusted with ticks!
After they were scrubbed with the only shampoo we possessed (head & shoulders) and had been dried, I started on Patch first as he had short hair and I went through his coat meticulously looking for tick life. Amazingly there wasn’t a single tick. He had wiry smooth hair so I can only assume they couldn’t latch on.
Patch after his bath
Not so with the girls though, I took about a million off Minnie and a zillion off Maisie! Fortunately there was a washing machine and we bundled all our clothes in and put them on a boil wash.
We might of had mud, ticks and fatigue but I have to say in a weird way we really enjoyed it. The following morning, my two sons and one of their girlfriends set off for the biggy Scafell Pike!
We were too shattered and decided to go for a drive sight seeing. The scenery was superb, it was truly a beautiful place and when you looked up at the surrounding mountains it was hard to believe they were so muddy.
Some of the breath-taking views from Scafell Pike
The following day we hired a little boat on one of the lakes. We had the best time ever, the dogs were fantastic but it was at this point we realised Patch was feeling a bit under the weather. At the time we didn’t know if it was the boat that had made him feel poorly but we learnt later that it was something far more sinister!
The whole holiday was superb, we dined out every night in the poshest of places and even the dogs were allowed to join us. It was fantastic weather the entire time we were there, raining for the first time on our journey home. This we were told was really unusual for The Lakes because of the mountainous region the weather changes like the flick of a switch, so we felt really lucky. And Patch had a wonderful time but took a turn for the worse on his journey home and sadly had to be put to sleep just 2 days later. We all really miss him so much.
Rest in Peace Patchy
R.I.P Patch