"Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new"

The journey through Eurotunnel, from pet check-in (Rick has his own passport) to driving off the train into the Kent countryside took less than hour.  I am always impressed by the speed and efficiency of this process.

For the first time ever we headed along the M25 (London’s Orbital Motorway) in an anti-clockwise direction, through the Dartford tunnel under the Thames and then headed north into the Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire countryside.  I was pleasantly surprised by the terrain, I had a preconceived vision of flat, monotonous, arable fields.  Although the area was quite flat in the south we were presented with gently, rolling countryside, fields, hedges and woodland.  I suppose the summer sunshine helped but I found the area utterly charming.  The country lanes were quiet and everything seemed very rural and peaceful.  I certainly didn’t notice anyone with webbed feet or hands.

Rick enjoying the garden at Home Farm, East Keal

Trying to find dog friendly hotels at short notice in the UK is not easy but we managed to book a small Airbnb cottage in the grounds of a big house on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.  It was absolutely lovely, as were our hosts who gave us a warm welcome and had left a gift of freshly baked cake and home made marmalade in the house. Rick loved the big garden and was particularly taken with Hickman, the robot grass mower, that ambled around the lawn at random like a giant beetle.  Actually I was quite taken with the robot too, he continually cuts the grass and when he runs out of power he takes himself off to the re-charging point, all by himself.  So clever!

Hickman (his headlights come on after dark)

We spent three days looking at six properties.  One was horrid (black mould everywhere), one was a definite no, and the other four were all quite impressive in their own way.  But one ticked all our boxes - plenty of room, big bedrooms, good sized garden, and quiet village with no passing traffic.

We are now back in Wiltshire.  If everything goes according to plan we should be packing this place up and moving out in the next couple of weeks.  We’ve had a few setbacks so I’m not counting my chickens yet.  But in the meantime we have made a cheeky offer for the property in Lincolnshire.