Home again

We are just back from a very relaxing couple of days back at New Lodge Farm which is where Murphy, Mum and I stayed with Aunty Debbie a couple of weeks ago.  Dad hadn't been before so we planned to show him all the lovely places we found last time starting with the amazing dog walk at the site.  (It was so quiet on the site we had it all to ourselves all week.)

On Sunday afternoon we went to Lyveden New Bield which none of us had been to before.  It is a lovely unfinished hunting lodge set in the middle of nowhere with a moat (I wasn't allowed to have a swim) and gardens all laid out but not completed.  Three cheers to the National Trust for allowing us to roam all over the place, on leads of course.  There are spiral paths and a big labyrinth marked into the lawn which can make a boy a bit dizzy.
(Dad is busy sorting out his photos, so when he's finished I will post some here.)

On Monday we took Dad to Oundle and then on to Barnwell Country Park (once again not allowed to swim unlike my last visit) and after a walk and lunch went on to Rutland Water.

We spotted these guys on our walk along the lakeshore

There is a special place at Rutland where you can go to watch all the birds - not really a good place for me as you have to be really quiet, so Dad said he will go back on his own one day with his camera.

Tuesday was really foggy in the morning - we could hardly see our noses in the dog walk.  After a while the sun arrived and we went to investigate Fineshades Wood which is about 2 miles from the site.  There are loads of different walks depending on how energetic you want to be.  We did the 3 mile circular walk as it was getting quite warm and Mum didn't want to make Murphy go too far in the heat. 

After our walk, we sat in the sunshine for a while and then headed back to the van for a well earned snooze before dinner.

We headed home today and are already making plans for when we can go back to New Lodge, hopefully we will get another trip before we have to put the van to bed for the winter.