Waiting for the rain to stop 🫥 All packed and ready to go. Putting paw balm on Mabli's pads enables me to give them the once over - and she likes me doing it - first time ever I've done anything like 'grooming' that she actually likes. Glad i decided to make it a short day today - she has had a stressful few days away from her normal routine - me too!
It was gone 11 by the time I left Tain glamping. I had an alarming few minutes searching for Mabli - who I'd last seen sniffing around the neighbour's lodge/shipping container - they had a couple huskies with them. I had just decided she'd voted with her feet and set off in a homeward direction to find Steve (you know the Incredible Journey?)- when i glanced up to see her wee face looking at me from out of the pod window - the one I'd already locked! Poor Mabli! She must have snuck in as i was carrying all my luggage out.
We set off to find the Scotsburn Road - aka NCR1, Luckily the road I followed out of Tain led to an underpass - thus avoiding the A9 completely. As it was a quiet-ish back road I let Mabs run loose. We soon got into the old rhythm of me shouting 'car coming' and her sitting down as far into the verge as she could get. At one of the first times we did this performance, I looked down to see 5 unopened packets of pepperoni (original) strewn in the road. Mabli ate them with relish. Bearing in mind i don't have a rear view mirror AND I'm deaf - her skooting into the hedge and sitting became my cue there was a car approaching - very useful.
I'm over half way now - and sat in the Station Hotel, Alness, having polished off a pint of lemon flavoured cider (whoops!) And a huge roast beef dinner wuth an enormous yorkshire pudding, crispy roast potatoes and lashings of gravy. Haven't had a roast for years - as we eat veggie at home. Sights seen along the road - tame sheep! A boletus or two, and bracket fungus. Purple heather. A castle like stately 'hame' called Newhaven house' or something like that. A cycling club out for a ride - and several more laden cyclists headed north. A crashed car BURIED in the hedge (how did it get in there?!) - with police tape tatters and smashed glass. And a pony club event. Mabli only let me down once - when she couldn't resist bolting after a particularly tempting car. Rest of the time she's behaved immaculately. The barman fed her several slices of juicy ham (after showing me pics of his lab/collie cross) and Mabs prewashed my dinner plate for them (with some veg and beef left overs).
On to Culbokie next, for the night. Only about 8 miles.
I've arrived (after a fearful crossing of the Cromarty Firth on the A9), at THE most delightful working Farm B&B - Netherton Farm just down the hill from Culbokie on the Black Isle. Mabli has met the two black lab bitches - AND been attacked by one of them (after half an hour of commingling - weird! - she screamed because the dog actually BIT her!). She has her own cot in my single room. Going to get settled in now - and plug everything in. I'm a bit off course but should be easy to correct tomorrow. There are books and plants everywhere! And paintings, originals, on the walls. I LOVE it!
The pub meal was great - CRUNCHY roast potatoes (need I say more?) - then the NCR1 turned into an meandering path between the railway and the road. About 5 miles before we arrived, i could see Mabs was flagging again - she would lie down whenever i stopped - so i offered her the trailer and in she hopped. She's run about 17 miles today - and been fed HAM. Will report more on this beautiful farm later.
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