Thursday 3 July 2008

SUFFOLK SUMMER HOLIDAY

Hi doggies. Phew. Needed to sit down and give my paws a bit of a rest. All the walking I did last week wore them out. Been on holiday for a few days and took the 2 leggededs with me. Let me confide in you bout the two leggededs. They have come on well. Were very obedient for most of the time. Devoted their time to me. Took me for special long walks. Let me sleep in their bedroom in my crate! Tons of Treats! Ice Cream! Even allowed on the big bed for a snooze every morning for the FIRST time ever! Yep, I'm a smug pug. I've taught them well. So far.

Went to Suffolk. Chocolate Box Beautiful. I'll describe where it is for you. Look at the map. Bottom of my island. Suffolk's up a bit to the right in the jutty out round bit of England.See where? Bout 120 miles from London. And a million miles from reality the two leggededs said. Flat mainly. With a bit of sea round one edge. And Pink. A Preponderance of Pink. A Profusion of Pink. (can you tell I took my Ogilvie's Dictionary for snoozy bedtime reading? ) Tiny hamlets with cute country cottages tucked away down wobbly winding lanes. Stayed in this quaint village called Kersey.



Has a stream that runs runs right across the road. It's a called "The Splash". Like a old fashioned water park I guess.






Thatched Suffolk Pink Cottages. Famous for it. Thatching. The apprenticeship can take up to 7 years. Hooman ones. That's a lot of dog snoozies. When a new thatch is needed it's laid over the old one so houses with very thick roofs are older ones. Pretty as a picture eh? Improved by me being in the picture.



Way back, they used whatever materials were knocking around for building. Timber and clay for walls and reeds or straw for thatching. They whacked up timber frames, infilled with a latticework of wood, called "Wattle", then slapped on a clay mixture, called "Daub". Wattle and Daub. They mixed the Daub with Ox Blood or Sloe berries to make it pink. Sigh. On reflection I should of licked a wall or two. Licking lovely. Missed a tasty treat.



We seemed to spend most evenings in this big water bowl. Doglightful. The waitress fed me treat after treat once I showed her a trick or too. And it wasn't even Halloween!!!

The village had special footpaths through farmers fields. Fantastic for exploring. . .



and meeting new friends. How Now Brown Cow?



Ditches to be discovered.



Fields pawfect for running. I was flying! Free as a bird.



The Poppies growing at the side of the wheat field waved their petal heads in surprise when I flew past. We went everywhere. Out and about all the time. Took a trip to the seaside. . .



here's a windswept me. Standing on the very edge of Suffolk around the sea.



Wigged my wag on this wild Heath. Filled with pokey purple heathers.



Contemplated the view. Which way to wander next?

Sniffed out a pawticularly picturesque village. Lavenham. Stuffed full of Medieval half timbered houses. Built dog knows when. Kidding. Do know really. A mind-a-boggling 750 years ago! MMMMmmmmany an Ancient aroma. Once a prosperous wool trading town so the houses are special, it's one of the best preserved examples of a medieval town. There are an amazing 320 medieval listed timber framed buildings in Lavenham. Fancy that!!! Well blow me down!!!!!



Think these houses might of been blown down then put back up again? Look at the state of them. Shocking. Not even built straight. Or is it me? Spending too much time in the water bowl?

Ain't this quaint? Sparkling diamond windows, herringbone laid bricks and look at the carving in the timbers.





Wobbly white houses. With their upper stories over sailing the ground.



And look at these lovely lavenders in Lavenham.



A foxy dog outside a yellow house. . .



. . . a yellow house with matching cars . . .



Houses higgedly piggedly, topsy turvy. Wibbling all over.



Then off to the countryside. Explored feathery fern paths stretching into the distance.



And take a good gander at this marvelous meadow. Bloggies. This is now a tale of woe. One minute I was legging it to the meadow and the next I was wet and wild. Not a meadow at all. A chameleon pond!!!! A green weed covered pond. I HATE water.When I was a pup I did the very same thing. Not at the same pond. But gave me the frighteners. I've never been in water since. Till now.

No photo's. Picture the scene. One of horror!!!!!! Me in the pond with my front legs caught up on the branches of a fallen and part sunken tree. Desperate to get free. Mommi hysterical!!!! Screaming! Crying! Begging me to come out!!!!! (duh, as if I wanted to stay in there) Daddi Square about to strip off to wade in and rescue me (ew please, a sight NOT for square eyes) Me struggling!!!!! Thought that was it. One last desperate tug finally got me free. Boy oh Boy. NEARLY ERIC DOG-GONE. Was covered in green weed from sniff to wag. Like a monster from the deep.



Here's me later. After we had all been treated for shock. And after I had shaken most of my green weed over the two leggeds. Hehehehehe!! Ok now. Tickety Boo. In the Pink as they say. One final Plentiful Pink Preponderance to tell you 'bout. Know what else Suffolk is famous for? This is the best pinkness for us doggies. Plump Pink Piggies!



After my ordeal plenty of these pinky treats came my way. Yum.Yum.Yum. Yep. When in Suffolk. Think Pink. Mmmmm... streaky bacon . . . sausages . . . ham . . .gammon . . . .

27 comments:

umekotyan said...

Good evening eric.
Staying in the village is happy time.
A wonderful wall feels the history and romantic.
The wind dances gracefully.
I am scenery of a wonderful village where it wants to go.
I feel the weight of the history 750 years ago.
Mr. Bean's car matches.
As for a deep forest, it knows this history.
Wonderful memories with pig's tail. :)

from loved ume tyan

Unknown said...

Eric, that could be the best post ever! You looked like a character in a Beatrix Potter book (I know, that takes place in the Lake District, but still...) What a pawsome holiday! My Granny's wire Keddy once leaped into a lagoon on Hilton Head after a duck and Granny almost jumped in after her because there was an alligator in that pond!!! So be very careful of those English alligator-filled camoflauged ponds!

Your pal,

Petey

P.S. Mommy asked if you could do something about the pound to dollar ratio so she can afford to visit England again...

Gus said...

Oh wow, Eric. What a walkie! Muzzer says you have captured all the essence of an English country wander. Her favorite is closer to Oxford, and has more sheep than pigs, but lots of green. Being held captive so long is Azrizona, she is bonkers about green.

did you have to take a b.a.t.h. after your dunking?

kisses
gussie

Jake of Florida said...

Eric,

What a wonderful holiday!! As Asta would say, we are very very jelly!!

But tell us -- how did you persuade your twoleggeds to let you run free? You must have a secret and we hope you'll share it with us.

We loved all the picturesque villages, and old houses, and the beautiful scenery. We have absolutely NOTHING like it here where we live.

And that Plentiful Pink Preponderance was a killer!!!

Lots of wirey love, pal,

Jake and Just Harry

Toffee said...

Oh-my-dog! What fun...and piggies! they are so cute...you are so cute! What great pics of your trip. You sure showed your two leggeds a good time! Thank you for sharing!

...sorry about the green blog...I mean bog or swamp...you say that orange is your colour but I think that you look dashing in green!

Anonymous said...

Hi Eric. Looks like you're having the time of your life. I notice that you spent some of your time in the meadow. Did you know that there is also a meadow in doggy heaven? It's so good that some other leggededs wrote a novel all about it. Get one of your leggededs to take you in and have a look. We're hoping that they like it and will join us. But first they have to come and see us.

Some of the leggededs are very clever and one of them has created Twitter. Have you heard of it? You can see me at http://twitter.com/themeadowblog

Regards,

Mike O'Hare (Rover's leggeded)

Simba and Jazzi said...

What a pretty place. I agree the photos look so much better with you in them.

Simba x

Jackson's J1 and J2 said...

Hey Eric, what a pawsome holiday! It certainly sounds like you've got your humans well trained. Any tips?

J x

PS Please be careful walking through fields of cows. I know I sound a little paranoid but I know of someone attacked by cows while trying to defend their dog. There was also a recent story of a dog walker trampled to death by angry cows. They make look doe eyed, but don't trust 'em!

Lizzy said...

Eric!

Wow, you've been busy man! Looks like you've had a pawesome holiday!

Sparky

The Black and Tans. said...

Hi Eric

Great to see you had a good holiday and the continued training of the uprights is proving to be successful.

Molly and Taffy

Molly the Airedale said...

You've got mom foaming at the mouth! What an awesome walkie from the thatched cottages to the poppies to the lavender to the piggies! What great pictures!
We call that green cover over the top of the pond the solar cover! We're glad the monster was at the other end of the pond when you fell in, Eric! heheheh

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Agatha and Archie said...

Oh boy,We both almost FAINTED when we read of the pond, your being stuck in it and how you got out. Agatha is still fanning herself......What aa lovely loveley holiday..and PL2 is ,as Asta says very vory jelly as are we...Everything is so picturesque and beautifull.....SOunds like WICKED FUN!!!!!!!(tee hee) And we are glad that a good time was had by all!!!!! We think you should all go away more often so we can see these pictures!!! Love A+A

Scruffy, Lacie and Stanley's Place said...

Oh Eric...oh my...I don't know what to say! YOU WERE ATTACKED BY A SWAMP MONSTER???? A green monster???

THUMP.....

Lacie falls unconscious to the floor.

Lacie being fanned by Scruffy and Stanley.

Lacie rises.

Oh Eric...I coulda helped...I woulda gone in there and played tuggie and dragged ya out....

I hope you had a nice bath, a cup of tea with cream and sugar and got put to bed with the peeps...

How traumatic!!

Horrified barks...

lacie

Dewey Dewster said...

Wow Eric...
Excellent report on yer vacation...I can see ya like refinement and so that is why ya aren't inta the blood-thirsty sport of killin'...sad but maybe someday ya will get a hunger fer the kill. Those were lovely pictures and now we know why Aunt Carol(flight attendant) always loved ta fly to and visit England....someday maybe we can too...

Dewey Dewster here....

i said...

What a great holiday you had there, Eric! Erm...except for the weed part heh heh

Noah the Airedale said...

Oh Eric the photos are wonderful. My pinkies would love to visit Lavenham. The medieval homes are amazing. There's nothing like that here....sigh.

Hugs and tail wags
Noah xx

the many Bs said...

hi Eric, Butchy & Snickers told us that you were a fun kiddo to get to know so we came here to sniff you. that looks like such a fun vacation and you visited a lot of very interesting places. we have never seen anything like that - not even the piggies or the cows or the green slime pond. we're glad you are okay after that adventure.

woofs.

Urban Smoothie Read said...

those cottages are lovely...

u looks really hilarious with all the weeds stucking on your face

btw...go grab one pig for BBQ...yummy

Mr. T-Bone Beasley said...

Have you ever considered being a tour guide? I like the picture of you with the Holstein cows! Those are my relatives! My official name is Mr. T-Bone Beasley Holstein! Ahhhhh so royal sounding right?

Eric...you are royalty too aren't you???

Slurp!
Mr. T-Bone Beasley

Girl Girl Hamster said...

What pawsome outing... I love those photos of you running. You look like you're flying

~ Girl girl

Deetz said...

I loved looking at all those crooked houses...I was so afraid when you told me about the pond incident...I would have cried rivers if something would have happened to you....How frightening...I am glad your pawents saved you. My mum is busy but she took a break to come and see you and let me look at the photos...there are great ones of you in the meadows.
Deetz

Asta said...

Eric
You just about scawed me to deaf wif that swamp stowy..but ohhh the west was soooo bootiful, and much much bettew than ew Hamstew..I didn't even see any hamstews let alone stweaky bacon..and you got to wun totally fwee...you must be a much bettew squawe doggie than me..My pawents don't twust me. Can't imagine why?
loved all youw pictoowes..but evewything impwoves when you awe in it
smoochie kisses
ASTA

Chef said...

Eric, aside form your scary ordeal in the pond, it was a wonderful walkabout. Thanks for the interesting tour. The English countryside and seaside is absolutely beautiful and you're so lucky to have been there. Your narration is TOPS!! We really enjoyed this.

xox
Chef

COL. Sam ASTA-fari Joe H. Pinkerton Peabody, Esq said...

Wow, what a holiday. We certainly enjoyed your trip, right along with you.

I noticed that the last photo was of my sister, Katherine. I didn't even know she was in your neck of the woods.

ARGH. she just bit me!!!

Lenny said...

Thank you so much for the beautiful pictures! I'm sure there was a lot of opportunity for pee-mail with all those old buildings!

Your friend, Lenny

Luna "The Scruffy Yacht Dog" said...

Eric,

The Suffolk you live in is a little different than the Suffolk I live in. I live in the Village of Port Jefferson which is located in Suffolk County New York, http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/. The humans here drive their cars on the opposite side of the road from your humans. It looks very picturesque where you live. You should consider a career in tourism.

Here's to being a Suffolk pup.

Luna Licks

Stanley said...

Eric!

What a FABULOUSLY glorious post, man! I loved everything about it, but mostly, the photos of YOU and the pink piggies!

Thank doG you are alright and living to run like the wind another day! My girl says you look pretty cute with all your green weed residue. (Does she stop to think what you went through to get that look?! NOooo.)

Goober love & smooches,
Stanley