Life's a beach in Norfolk

Back home after a lovely week enjoying peaceful countryside and beautiful beaches in Norfolk. We knew we were almost home on Saturday, when we left quiet roads and lush green fields, only to arrive on a completely gridlocked M25 on the hottest day of the year so far ... now we are dreaming of a return to Norfolk as soon as possible!

Polly and Betty have had an absolute blast on the local Norfolk beaches and met a curious grey seal on beautiful Sea Palling beach. He popped up out of the sea to get a better view of the dogs and they all had a lovely time playing along the shoreline together. Thankfully my girls have excellent recall, so when the seal came up almost onto the beach, I popped them back on the lead, just to be on the safe side. It was an amazing experience and one I don't think any of us will forget in a hurry.

We were so lucky with our holiday this year. Taking two large bouncy hairy dogs on a self-catering holiday, can be tricky because so many properties don't welcome more than one little dog and never seem to actually have the fully enclosed safe gardens they claim to have, which of course are essential for dog owners. We have been frustrated by this many times over the past few years and a couple of years ago, even discovered our Betty in a nearby field of cows, up to her eyeballs in cow dung!

This year I searched even harder to find a perfect dog friendly property and hit the jackpot with 'Pack Holidays', run by lovely Gail.  Gail invited us to stay in her own fabulous and completely 'dog friendly' property and on arrival, we were bowled over by the care she had taken to ensure that our dogs were able to have a wonderful, safe, fun holiday.  Not only was the garden totally secure, huge and beautiful, there were dog blankets, beds, toys, tasty treats, a poo bin, food bowls, poo bags, great suggestions for dog walks, a vet, pet shop ... the list went on! There was also the piéce de resistance, a full 'doggy salon', complete with walk in, fully tiled, warm water showers!  Our girls were made to feel completely welcome and so were we.  I really can't recommend 'Pack Holidays' highly enough if you are looking for a genuinely dog friendly, 'home from home' style of holiday.  Gail really does set the Gold Standard for dog friendly.

It has been almost forty years since I last stayed in Norfolk (that was a very different holiday, as I was there working with an Club 18+ plus group, so saw nothing of the local surroundings but plenty of the nightlife in Great Yarmouth!) This time we fell in love with the unspoiled Norfolk coastline, quiet fields of corn, winding streams and wildlife.  We saw deer, swans, a hawk hovering over sand martin nests in the cliffs and those fabulous grey seals at Sea Palling!  The beaches were sandy and endless, so Polly and Betty had an amazing time chasing through waves and running along the shore to their hearts' content ... now they are back home again, they are very, very sleepy pups!

I loved seeing my girls on the beach and so wish we could play there together every day ...

Ah well, as lovely and relaxing as our holiday was, I guess it's time to return to my teddy bear workroom now and finish the pretty bear I left on my sewing table.  Will share soon I promise!

:-)