When planning doesn’t work! 🙄

Today’s adventure didn’t quite go according to plan.

The intention was to do our nine mile route at Teggs Nose!

The weather was vile! We arrived in Langley and began to make our way up Teggs Nose, we got the top and couldn’t see a thing and were getting thoroughly blown around!

Unfortunately there was also shooting / bird scarers going off – which make for an unhappy Toby 😣

We decided that we would make the most of the cafe at the Teggs Nose car park to give ourselves half an hour or so to see if the weather cleared up at all.

The cafe is dog friendly so we went in for a warm and I had a hot chocolate and two crumpets (which I shared with Toby of course) 😍

The weather didn’t seem to improve much so I decided we’d brave it and carry on our route, once we got walking again however the shooting was getting more frequent so Toby was getting more anxious, thankfully I know a few other routes around the area so thought it would be best to cut the walk short, an unhappy Toby makes for an unhappy walk!

I went down the lane which leads to the alternative route I know, but spotted another sign for Langley which is where we parked so decided I’d try that path instead!

It was a nice little path back to the car, Toby got to have another little run off-lead which cheered him up, there were stepping stones which Toby loves and we got back to the car just as the heavens opened again!!

We’d only done 4 miles which is pretty pants for a Saturday adventure!

I decided as I was driving home that I would take him on another little mini adventure closer to home.

Marbury and Anderton which are our usual haunts near home also shoot on a Saturday so they were out so I decided that Pickmere was a good plan.

I was wrong!

There was some more shooting and a shed load of mud the mud we don’t mind the shooting we do!!

This meant we didn’t get far on the second adventure either as Toby was getting anxious again, we had a little play in the mud and on the pier and decided that was enough!

So although our Saturday didn’t go to plan we still had fun & got very muddy and managed to squeeze six miles in (not our best but hey hum) 😊

Hope you’ve all had fun Saturday! ❤️

 

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Our supplement saviours 🤓

Toby has been on Supplements for a little over a year now.

He has been on natural supplements that are produced by K9 Elite Products, this is the sister company of the more well-known company in the Equine world – KM Elite Products.

I can honestly say that I am amazed with the benefits the supplements have had on Toby’s general health, fitness and tummy troubles!

For him I use the Turmeric Vitality which contains:
– Turmeric
– Tart Cherry Extract
– Sea Buckthorn
– Moringa

Since taking this is have noticed a big difference in Toby’s tummy troubles – he has always had a sensitive tummy and the slightest thing can give him an upset stomach, since taking this supplement each day he is hardly having any troubles with his tummy – which is incredible for him!

He also takes the Ultimate Flex for working dogs, this is specially formulated for working dogs or dogs with more serious joint problems.

Obviously Toby has his old back injury so I like to try and limit the risk of that happening to him again.

This was also a god send when we were in training for our Charity Walk in Summer as Toby was walking 18 miles most Saturdays of the summer so this (coupled with regular vet MOT’s) gave me peace of mind.

Now this tends to be the supplement he has before and after a particularly adventurous walk, or climb.

With Toby being such an adventure pup it gives me peace of mind knowing that his joints are being cared for on a daily basis (Tumeric Vitality) and in order to prepare him for bigger adventures (Ultimate Flex).

He has regular check-ups at the vets and they are pleased with his overall condition and have on the past few visits mentioned what good condition his joints are in and that he is in tip top form for a dog of his age.

Along with taking these supplements to keep him in tip top condition I obviously also ensure that he has lots of different forms of exercise in order to keep him fit as a fiddle.

Some of the things we like to do are:

– trick training

– obedience training

– hiking / walking (obviously!!)

– skating (Toby not me 😂)

– search games

I also want to start doing some scent work with him which is something I’ll hopefully look into more this year!

Another key thing for Toby is his food, I have also recently switched him to Grain Free food – which is also helping his stomach issues (as I say these were less frequent since taking his supplements but occasionally a certain type of treat/food would give him an upset stomach)

I can highly recommend K9 Elite products – I have been using them for over a year and am more than happy with them.

Their customer Service is second to none and they are always very helpful with any questions.

I was fortunate enough to meet representatives from the Company at a Show in 2016 and have an in depth chat with them about the products and benefits they could have for Toby.

If you require any further information about the products head over to their website or FB page they will be more than happy to help! ❤️

A Sunday treat ❤️

Today I had a rare Sunday off work!

We had a little treat of Breakfast in bed – even Toby had his own mini bacon sandwiches 😍 (a rare treat for him – after yesterday’s big adventure the extra calories did him good!!)

Then we headed off to Wales for a walk – the plan was originally to go to Nant Mill – but the roads were terrible and we just weren’t brave enough to venture down the very slippy and icy hill (more for the fear of not getting back up 🙈)

We ended up having a little trip to Erddig instead – much safer drive!

We’ve never been to Erddig before so had a little explore (nothing major today after yesterday’s excursion!) the weather was against us again and the paths were a mixture of ice and mud 😂

Toby wasn’t impressed with the cup and saucer waterfall – me and Billy were on the other hand! 😂

We only walked for just over an hour at the park, before we were all frozen to the core and some of us (namely me) had very wet feet after mud-judging the depth of a puddle 🙄

I think another explore will be in order on a day where the weather isn’t against us so much!

After our walk and a delightful game of musical cars trying to avoid the horrendous icy puddles to get back into the car we headed to the Red Lion in Penyffordd for a drink and a warm by the fire!

After a little warm up and a portion of chips, we then headed back to the photographer’s who did Toby’s photo shoot before Christmas, today we’ve picked up our artwork (a framed photo and an album full of Toby pictures! ❤️)

I’m completely in love with them and can’t wait to put the framed photo up which hopefully we will get up soon! ❤️

We’ve had a really nice relaxing Sunday and there is nothing better than a little treat day with my two favourite boys 😍

Toby and I hope you’ve had a great weekend! 🐾

 

 

 

An extra long Adventure 🐾

Today we decided to head to Millers Dale again and walk the Monsal Trail!

I fancied a longer walk today and the Monsal Trail is a great long walk – as you don’t have to concentrate on paths or turnings it is just a straight path, with some gorgeous scenery and tunnels along the way!

Millers Dale is £4.50 to park all day and there are toilets at the car park, there are stops along the way (the other stations) where you can stop for refreshments or a loo break should you need it!

I’d checked the weather and thought we were in for a fairly good day, apparently I or maybe the weather app was wrong!

The route from my house to Millers Dale isn’t that bad of a drive – usually! Today wasn’t the best as soon as we hit Macclesfield it started to get snowy and we had to drive over the Cat and Fiddle to get to Millers Dale, the drive was a little bit treacherous to say the least!

It took us slightly longer than usual to get there because of the bad roads and weather but we still got there relatively early!

We decided before we started we would just have a little explore of the section before Millers Dale so went for a little sniff round Chee Dale and followed the stream which led us round a mini loop back to the main path near the car park.

I’d decided I wanted us to go all the way to Bakewell Station today as we have done some other sections before but had never been all the way to Bakewell!

Our walk much like the drive was slower than usual as large chunks of the path were ice and although Toby was well equipped with first aid kits I didn’t fancy a stumble!

I had packed Toby’s new rain cover for his back pack but didn’t think we would need it as like I said I’d checked the incorrect weather report 😂

We walked for about an hour before we got thoroughly snowed on so Toby got to model his rain covered backpack for the rest of the walk!

He wore the rain cover for the majority of the walk and had no problems at all (other than a few people thinking he was wearing buoyancy aids 🙄🙄)

Other than the weather being against us we’ve had a lovely walk – we stopped along the way at Hassop Station so Toby could have some of his snacks and a photo opportunity.

There are some seats outside but under cover – dogs aren’t allowed inside, which is fine but makes life difficult if you are walking on your own with a dog.
Despite plenty of signs advising to keep Dogs on leads there was a dog roaming loose around the outside cafe area so we didn’t stop too long!

We made it all the way to Bakewell Station despite the icy paths and slightly poop weather!

As this is a there and back walk we turned back on ourselves at Bakewell station and re-traced our steps along the path back to Millers Dale – all in all we walked for about 4 and a half hours and did 12.5 miles which is the longest walk we’ve done so far this year!

After a slightly scary drive home (cat and fiddle was even worse driving home!!) Toby is now snuggled up having a well deserved nap before he has his favourite post-adventure tea – SPRATS 😬

We’ve got an exciting outing again tomorrow, this time with the addition of my better half! ❤️

Hope you have all had a great Saturday!

Another Saturday Adventure 🏔

Today we decided to adventure to Snowdonia National Park to do one of the most gorgeous walks we’ve discovered in our time as adventure pals!

Devils Kitchen, which sounds horrible but it is beyond beautiful! The walk itself isn’t too long – only about 3 miles so we usually do at least two laps of the lake.

There is a lower and a higher path – the higher path is currently having some work done so is closed at the moment – we have still gone over that path before but you have to climb across a fairly large waterfall – last time I was there I enlisted the help of two gentleman to help me get Toby across, got to the other side and then slipped and pulled my quad! Lesson learnt however and today the weather was appalling so there wasn’t a chance I was going to brave the super slippy path over the waterfall!

We climbed to just before the waterfall as the view is stunning but then dropped back down to the lower path to continue round the lake.

The scenery is breathtaking! Even on days like today when the weather isn’t the best it is still amazing!

It’s a fair drive to Snowdonia National Park for me – but completely worth it for the views and the fresh mountain air! 🗻🏔

Toby before he got soaked! 😂

Parking is £2.50 for 2 hours or £5 for all day – as it is Snowdonia National Park it gets awfully busy so I usually make sure I’m there early so there’s still space to park!

We left this morning at about 8 and arrived for half nine ish so there was still ample parking at that time!

There is a visitors centre and facilities at the car park, Toby is forever in the debt of the lovely lady at the drinks stand today as she filled his hot water bottle up for him before we drove home to keep him toasty on the drive! 😍

It was fairly quiet today (I don’t normally see too many dogs but it can be busy with other walkers) probably down to the horrendous weather ….. Toby and I got thoroughly drenched and the wind was very chilly and strong so we weren’t the warmest!

Toby did still paddle in the lake as he can’t possibly walk past it without dipping his toes! 😂

After our two laps we were both shivering so decided a third lap was out of the question for today!

A quick hot chocolate stop from the drink stand and a fill up of Toby’s hot water bottle and we were on our way!

The entire contents of my rucksack is still soggy and is currently drying out on radiators!

Toby was in charge of carrying first aid again and the first aid kits are also suitably soggy so I think we need to invest in some rain covers for both his and my rucksacks!

We hope you’ve all had a good Saturday & hopefully you had better weather than us 😂

 

#10mountains10months – Part 1

So today was the day – part one of the 2018 challenge! We were very excited and have been looking forward to it all week!

We were eager beavers last night and made sure all the bags were packed ready and we had everything we needed!

Today we walked Mam Tor – the smallest peak on our secret list to ease ourselves into the challenge ahead!

We did a six mile route – to the top of Mam Tor and along the ridge and back to the trig point!

We parked in Mam Nick car park today (free for us as we are National Trust members but otherwise there is a small fee)

It was very foggy when we arrived and for the initial climb we couldn’t see a great deal around us – or any scenery unfortunately!

The first trig point photo (as the walk meant we passed it twice) was a super foggy one 😂 the second one was much brighter after the fog had cleared!

Thankfully as we walked it brightened up slightly (it snowed on us on one section but thankfully it didn’t stick!!)

There were a few ropey bits – which normally wouldn’t be as much of an issue but Sophie is recovering from a chest infection and I have a bad chesty cough made worse by my lovely asthma! So we didn’t sound the healthiest as we coughed and spluttered through some of the sections! 😂

Today was all about raising awareness for prevention of young Suicide and Suicide in males, Sophie was rocking her bright orange CALM vest and Toby and I donned our purple PAPYRUS attire!

Toby of course had his additional green back pack – which played a very important role today and in the 2018 challenge, Toby is our official mascot and first aid supplier for the #10mountains10months challenge!

He’s got his first aid kit in one pocket and a human first aid kit in the other! It’s important to make sure we’re prepared if something were to go wrong on one of our adventures! We wouldn’t want to be caught short so better to be prepared!

As we are doing this to raise awareness we made sure we stopped to take plenty of pictures (as you can tell) on one photo stop the lion king got the better of us and we recreated a classic pose …. Toby and Jess style! 😂

Toby draws lots of attention in his little back pack several people today admired it (one asked if we carried beer in it – I think the gentleman was disappointed when I said it had first aid 😂) and we certainly got a few smiles when people asked what he carried when we explained he was the first aider 😂

Thankfully the fog and clouds lifted for our journey back along the ridge to the car park so we got to see of the beautiful views that the Peak District has to offer!

We got talking to a few people whilst we were out and about and managed to have a chat to raise a little awareness with some fellow walkers and we also spoke to others who had personal experience with Suicide – we are so grateful to those that stopped and talked to us, this is what we want, the whole point of our challenge, we want people to openly talk about Suicide to try and help to break the stigma by even a little bit!

We stopped at The Castle for a late lunch on the way home, it was lovely! Toby made the most of the open fire 😍

Sophie and I had an amazing lunch which was just what we needed after being battered in the wind and rain! We also spent a good portion of the walk talking about what we were going to eat for pub lunch so it had a lot to live up to and boy it did!! 😍

Once again thank you so much for your support and we’ll post another #10mountains10months update in February after we complete part 2 💜