Bourne Again!

Last week was such a tonic for me. I've already posted about my trip to Aberlady and success at Crufts, but before that I had a fantastic few days in Lincolnshire with my very great and very true friends Margaret and Paul.

A rowdy play with Roxy helped too! What a great dog she is, I love her so much!!



After a month of crying and illness and general downright miserableness, I'd arrived in Bourne a bit of a wreck. Five minutes later I was smiling, ten minutes later I was laughing, and after a couple of hours I felt so unbelievably refreshed and revived and perked up that I really did feel born again!

Honestly, I did. It all sounds a bit drama queen I know, but it's true!

Margaret had made plans though, and what a fab weekend it was! Having arrived on the Saturday, Sunday saw us up at Fineshade Woods in Rutland for a day out with a wildlife photographer and Margaret's great friend Kat.

Kat and Malc were instantly warm and welcoming and it felt like we'd all known each other for ages... it was gonna be a really good day!

It was!! The birds came out to play, the cameras came out to play, and so did we!



It was a brilliant day out and revived me in a way nothing much else could have done! Spot on Margaret, and a huge thanks to Kat and Malc too!!

We travelled back to Bourne pretty much carefree and full of anticipation at maybe seeing barn owls in the fields where Margaret and Kat walk their dogs.



We didn't really expect too much though, as they both said they'd not seen the owls at that time of day before, but wow, within only a couple of minutes of arriving there it was, swooping away from it's nesting box in the barn rafters and across the field. Only Margaret had the savvy to have her camera ready, so unfortunately I didn't get any shots, but what a privilege it is to see such a beautiful creature so close up!

Such a privilege in fact, that no sooner had that one disappeared than another one swooped out and across the fields too! Again, no photos, but again, how special just to be there! I'll hopefully be more prepared next time!!!

Monday was also a good day out. We went in to Peterborough and had not only the best muffins in the world ever, but also a lovely walk round Peterborough Cathedral. It really is beautiful inside and, again, next time I go I shall be armed with my camera! It's stunning!!

The burial place of Katherine of Aragon and first burial place of Mary Queen of Scots, the Cathedral has a long and fascinating history. It's architecture is quite unlike that of any other Cathedral I've visited and the ceilings are magnificent. Really magnificent.

We returned to Bourne that evening and waited for Margaret's son Paul, a primary school teacher with a bit of a problem. He's a superb teacher, having been commended in previous Ofsted visits, but Tuesday and Wednesday were going to see Ofsted back again. Andrew's teaching assistant had gone sick and Andrew had a dozen fishing rods and various other things to make and do. I like a challenge and thought "how hard can it be?" ...all that was needed was to stick a length of string to one end of a small piece of cane and stick a round magnet to the other end. Easy eh?

Er, no actually! My mum has always said I'm a bit cack-handed and it seems she's right!! There was sellotape on all surfaces, including my hair at one point, magnets were sticking fast to each other... and the radiator! The strings were getting knotted and I couldn't untie them because the magnets were stuck together again!!! Honestly, how hard could it be?!!!! Still, got there in the end and Andrew had 12 fishing rods and quite a few magnetic fishes to take to work the next day, so it all turned out ok, thank goodness!



A walk across the fields on Tuesday morning and then it was time to be off to catch the train to Edinburgh. It was such a good wee break and I can't say thank you enough to Margaret and Paul. I can't wait to come back, let's hope it's soon!!!

Rebecca XX still smiling now! :-D