The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire

[HAH]

Look at that blue sky @Joy ! How lovely. It sounds like a super meet up

 

[HAH]

all hail the power of the lambies to keep my car windows intact overnight!

I hope the lambies did their stuff and kept the tardis safe from marauders? That’s another back-of-the-mind concern you could do without.

It was a little stream of consciousness as I wrote so late last night

It made complete sense to me, and didn’t come across as particularly grumpy - pretty resilient and ‘ho hum, head on’ in my reading. Your supple springiness in the face of adversity is one of the things I admire very much about you Emily. Like an Olympic gymnast for life’s slings and arrows - which doesn’t mean it’s always ‘up up up’, but mostly at least it’s ‘onwards’

I'm missing Cornwall

And I reckon Cornwall’s missing you (and Devon, and Bristol, and Gloucester etc ) - we’re very much looking forward to next time, which is just a few months away. I love how you’re now an adopted Cornish maid! A fine addition to the pack.

Right, back to eating Bombay mix and ploughing through my PhD edits...

 

[Selina27]

I'm missing Cornwall

I'm missing Cornwall!! And I was only there 4 days !!

@Joy, lovely photo's, the dogs look happy and you had BLUE sky. I've given up hope of seeing it again here.

 

[Granca]

SE England is not my bag. It's beautiful in its own way

there are just too many people here for my liking.

Yes, exactly! I feel a bit trapped here (by the M25), but although I love the south-west (and Scotland too) there’s too much to tie me here at the moment.

Have a good journey tomorrow, Emily!

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

I hope the lambies did their stuff and kept the tardis safe from marauders?

Yes, thanks! It was fine when I went to get it this morning and it only has to survive tonight. We're parked a little closer but still no where near the house. But hopefully the marauders all had a hard weekend of pillaging and are taking Sunday night off.

Like an Olympic gymnast for life’s slings and arrows - which doesn’t mean it’s always ‘up up up’, but mostly at least it’s ‘onwards’

Great analogy that I will try to remember when I feel life is going a bit sideways.

we’re very much looking forward to next time, which is just a few months away. I love how you’re now an adopted Cornish maid! A fine addition to the pack.

Well, no one is going to let me wear white and dance around the 'Obby 'Oss anytime soon (obscure Padstow reference) but maybe I'll work my way up to Emmet Second Class. I'm also glad I've already got next year's Cornwall visit in place - makes it a LITTLE easier to leave!

Right, back to eating Bombay mix and ploughing through my PhD edits...

You can do it!!!

Yes, exactly! I feel a bit trapped here (by the M25),

Oh the traffic here! I don't envy you and I'd feel the same about the M25. I've been reminded the last few days that distances are so deceiving in most of England. On the drive from Lyme Regis my sat nav stayed on "2 more hours until destination" for four hours. The roads are like some kind of space-time black vortex.

 

[Cath]

Well safe journey Emily and Carbon

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Today was sort of funny and just kind of slipped away from me. First I had to fiddle with all my travel arrangements so that I was set for tomorrow. Then I had the brilliant idea to make a last effort to locate some items from Waitrose that my friend in Germany wanted me to pick up. I wasn't able to find them in Wales or Bristol, so I hoped third time was the charm in Eastbourne. I badly underestimated Sunday traffic and what Google Maps assured me was a 25 drive turned into a three hour extravaganza. Plus no joy from Waitrose, so I'm giving up on THAT quest.

I managed to miss a text from @Joy so we ended up not meeting a second time. I'm feeling badly about that so I'm just going to have to pass through again or tempt her to Cornwall in January. Maybe we should just have a whole SE/SW forum summit down there?

Carbon and I did manage a stop at Beachy Head and then a romp on the beach at Brighton with Gilly and her dogs. By the way, Pickle's real name is "Chelsea". Doesn't fit at all! The dogs treated the beach as a rolling sushi restaurant and spent all their time crunching on crab legs, mussels and sea weed. Then we walked around the marina where Carbon was terrorised by a chug (chihuahua pug), his sister the jug (jack russell pug) and his other sister the mug (maltese pug). You can't make this stuff up.

Tomorrow morning we're off at 7am from Newhaven and scheduled to reach France at 11:30am. These last months have been the longest that I've been in an English-speaking country in nine years so it will be strange to have to spout off in French again. However I'm already lurching back into foreign language mode: I had to stop myself from answering a woman today in German. My weird brain!

I'm not going to lie, while I'm more than happy to leave this house in Newhaven, I'm not all that happy to be leaving the UK. Not to get too deep, but it's been an important few months for me and even though I've been 'hiding out', a lot has happened. I've also loved having @kateincornwall and the @Beanwood crew so close by, not to mention my UK political landscape interpreter @Rosie and Carbon's Zen Master Pongo, Carbon's Fairy Godmother @Natalie , ninja shopper @SwampDonkey , fellow boatswains @Selina27 and Cassie, @Granca , @HAH and Kipper, @Naya and Harley, @Joy and Molly and the whole SW Walkies gang.

Well, let's just say I'm grateful I've got a visit with @Boogie to look forward to in July or I'd be having Labrador friend withdrawal for sure.

But first: off to France!

 

[Lab_adore]

Safe travels tomorrow @Emily_Babbelhund

 

[Candy]

I was just thinking if you're meeting up with @Boogie, perhaps GGJ and I could gatecrash for a little while? Would be so good to meet you and Carbon!

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

I was just thinking if you're meeting up with @Boogie, perhaps GGJ and I could gatecrash for a little while? Would be so good to meet you and Carbon!

You're very welcome and I'd love to meet you too. Only thing is that I'm meeting up with Mags in Germany! You wouldn't happen to be coming to the Land of Pretzels? I would give you Carbon's patented walking tour of medieval Regensburg and GGJ could share some bratwurst with him in a beer garden.

 

[Atemas]

Safe travels @Emily_Babbelhund and Carbón to France. I feel your sadness leaving the UK - you have certainly had a busy time meeting so many forum members and dogs. Hope we get to meet one day.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Safe journey you two XXX

 

[kateincornwall]

We will both miss you terribly , have enjoyed our weekly get togethers despite Reuben being a hooligan at times, well most of the time x Safe trip , the time will fly by and soon you will be breathing in our lovely sea air again , take care x

 

[Jacqui-S]

It's been lovely hearing all your stories Emily. Keep them coming.
(Otherwise we will worry,)
Bone voyage x

 

[Jacqui-S]

You wouldn't happen to be coming to the Land of Pretzels?

A district possibility now you have given @Candy the idea

 

[M.F.]

Then we walked around the marina where Carbon was terrorised by a chug (chihuahua pug), his sister the jug (jack russell pug) and his other sister the mug (maltese pug).

I asked my husband if he knew what a chug, jug, and mug were, and he replied, “Crockery?”

He thought perhaps a chug was a China mug.

Safe travels. Looking forward to hearing all about them of course!

 

[Charlie]

Safe journey to you both. xx

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Thanks for all the "bon voyages"! I got through French passport control without a blink - the only that worried me this morning as my German papers expired yesterday. I guessed the French wouldn't care and they didn't. Yay! Gorgeous day today so next stop the beach for zoomies! :-D

 

[Natalie]

Happy travels Emily and Carbon, glad you've arrived safely in France xx

 

[Beanwood]

Oh glad you are over the border and are now set to enjoy a lovely day and a gorgeous beach! Looking at my post it sounds like you have just escaped!!!