Final preparation in Farnham Royal

 Sunday 10/07/22

We're finishing off our weekend sit and getting ready for our summer trip to Portugal.  We'll be back for a two week sit here in October so it was nice to meet the owners and get used to the house and pets.  We have an elderly Boxer, a French Bulldog pup, two Guinea pigs and three rabbits to look after - they have been keeping us amused.

One of the fluffy rabbits - we'll work on the names when we come back.

Mae and Maggie

Poppy, one of the Guinea pigs

Maggie, the boxer, is ball-obsessed but it is the first time a dog has played ball with us and not the other way around.  Maggie holds on to the ball and won't let it go if you try to get it from her.  She will eventually place the ball on the ground a sensible distance away from you and either roll the ball a bit closer to you or back away a few paces.  A high stress game of 'hold your nerve' follows with both parties twitching before trying to pounce on the ball.  If she senses you are getting too close she pounces like lightening before placing the ball in another position.  It is hilarious!

Play time, don't even bother to try brute force to get the ball...

With the scorching temperatures in the UK at the moment it was a blessing to have a wonderful pool and a rare opportunity to swim.  We also seemed to overdo our grocery shopping on the way here so Toni has been cooking like mad and we still have a lot of eating to do before the ferry (chicken, sausage, liver and lamb for a weekend?).  As the ferry trip is 20 hours long we can't have any perishables in the fridge when we leave.

We're also a bit concerned at the heat wave forecast for next week - as we need to cross through Spain to Portugal the temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-40's.  This is a bit extreme for Bokkie (and us) so we need to decide to either wait a couple of days near the cost at Santander until it cools a little or take a longer drive around the coast and avoid the inland areas.

Expected temperatures on Friday afternoon - need to make another plan

We've got a few days to think about it and do some planning, we are due to drive to Plymouth tomorrow, camp for two nights and board the ferry on Wednesday.

Bonus video - 

Anyone thinking of getting a French Bulldog, be prepared for snuffling, snorting and just a little snoring...