The Roaming Scotties

Our two furry friends, Denny and Maggie, took over the Roaming Sitters for this blog. We couldn’t have asked for two better companions, but see what they had to say about our time with them.

Maggie and Denny

Nestled in the beautiful rolling countryside between the historic city of Durham and the North Sea is a small street with just a few terraced cottages. It’s a blink and you’ll miss it sort of place for people. But for two little Scotties it means enough adventure for a lifetime.

Welcome to Castle Eden.

We weren’t all that happy to hear we would be left with strangers while our humans took a trip to Spain. I supposed they deserved it after a long summer of hard work but it still felt a little unfair that we wouldn’t be joining them in Madrid.  

We were a little wary when the sitters arrived. Sure they seemed like nice guys, but we decided to sit back and let our humans sniff them out first just to make sure. It didn’t take long for them to connect, but that’s no surprise. Our humans are very good at making people feel comfortable. They all went out to a dinner at one of the local restaurants and we were left to wait. Another invite forgotten. My nose told me they went to a place called Maximo’s in the old town brewery. We’ve of course never eaten there but it seems like it was a good meal from the smiles and smells they shared upon returning home.

The next day our humans left and it was just us and the new sitters. We trust our humans, and they trusted the sitters, so we decided we could trust them too. They were very friendly, happy to give tummy rubs, and great couch cuddlers. Best of all they loved going on walks, so we didn’t have much to complain about.

On a sunny day, we can spend the whole afternoon wandering around the fields just steps from our door. Every day out there is different. You can trek through large stretches of wheat, or past the horse fields. Some days we even make new friends like the time we met a gaggle of 30 or so very friendly seniors (29 ladies and one lucky man) taking in the freshness of the coastal air as part of their walking group.

We little dogs really know how to relax and experience the world around us. Sure we can’t keep up with their long-legged human speed, but from our perspective we see the beauty of the earth and the uniqueness with each step. I can’t see how they can just walk by all these amazing sniffing opportunities. Not to mention they didn’t even try paddling around in the mud puddles. Oh well, their loss.

The time that just flew by, and we were delighted to be able to share it with them. Our humans, refreshed from their break, were obviously happy to return home to us. The sitters made them special tapas treats for their arrival, and no surprise, we weren’t given any. 

Thirsty and exhausted after a long walk.

None for us of course...

Despite this, we thought it was a really nice experience and are happy to show more house sitters our little corner of the world.

We had an excellent time in Castle Eden, and even better, made new friends. Not only with Denny and Maggie, but with their parents. People in the north of England are just very friendly. On the night they got back, and after we had wolfed down the tapas, we all were feeling the need to grab a pint at the local pub. This of course made us hungry again and almost telepathically we were all craving the best but unhealthiest of British fare: fish and chips. It was just after 9 pm when we pulled up outside the third closed  “chippe”, with the sweet smell of Atlantic cod and chips still lingering in the air. We were defeated and about to give up when the owner beckoned us back in. She had just shut up the shop for the night but, upon discovering there were four hungry (or is that greedy?) people outside, she turned the fryers back on and prepared for us the biggest and absolute best platters of this favorite take-away food. Sorry Denny and Maggie, no fish and chips for dogs either.

The next morning, we got into the car sad to be leaving all our new friends behind. We would miss the patter of paws across wooden floors, and the laughter of sharing a drink with good people. Still, I don’t think that is the last we will see of them, either back here in County Durham or perhaps we will have to stay at their stunning vacation rental in Greece, called MoonGrove if for no other reason than to liberate them of yet another bottle of their finest home pressed greek olive oil.

Either way, we will definitely have to return to the Northeast one day and visit some more places. Share with us, where do you think we should go?

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