We spent the night in Gretna after our trip to the Lakes because we’d arranged to meet Biggles’ Auntie Marion and Auntie Jo (his breeders) at Gretna Green on Saturday afternoon. They were heading north for the Kennel Club Show.

Saturday morning turned out to be even hotter than Friday. A perfect day for a stroll along the beach and as luck would have it Gretna has a lovely big, sandy beach. And even better – we had the whole beach to ourselves all morning!

It was so hot we ditched our boots and all went paddling in the sea.

Biggles and Beanie knew that Auntie Marion and Auntie Jo would have posh show dogs with them so when it was time to leave the beach they both made sure they were looking their absolute best.

A few well placed muddy streaks on the snout, chin and tummy – handsome or what?

And a masterclass in getting mucky from the champ

We headed to the old blacksmiths shop at Gretna for lunch prior to meeting Marion and Jo. We were starving by this time and I treated myself to a big scone with jam and cream. £2.40 but it looked delicious. Beanie had already swiped a sausage from my plate at breakfast time yesterday and chomped the tail of my fish at dinner time. She clearly had her eye on my cream bun but no way was she getting the better of me this time. I pushed the bun to the back of the table and got Beanie on a very tight lead while I tucked into my lunch. After a minute or two she seemed to give up and lay quietly under the table. I was just beginning to relax when shrieks of laughter from the table around us alerted me to my cream bun sliding off the back of the table attached to a very long Beagle tongue!

This was our first time in Gretna and it really is quite a pleasant place to stop off on a long trip down South.

We felt so sorry for the poor piper sweltering in the scorching sunshine!

Last time Biggles saw Auntie Marion and Auntie Jo was when he was just 7 weeks old and Auntie Marion popped him into his crate in the back of our car.

Here they are together again nearly 18 months later.

Marion and Jo had Biggles half sister and his six-month-old half-niece and half-nephew with them – we hope they all did well at the show and had a great weekend!

This morning was grey and wet. We didn’t fancy any of our regular walks so decided to go a little further afield. We ended up at Culzean Castle which is about half an hour down the coast from us. By the time we got there the sky was blue and the sun shining. We headed straight for the stables tea room and figured our route over cappuccino and cakes.

We started out at the Castle.

Then down into the formal gardens in front of the Castle where there was archery practice in progress.

Through the woods.

Around the Swan Pond.

A quick stop for treats and icecream.

Through some more woodland and down to a little sandy cove.

There wasn’t a soul in sight but Biggly Boy started barking frantically at something on the rocks down the other end of the beach. We couldn’t console him so Paul took him down to prove to him there was nothing there. It turned out that he’d picked up the scent of a rotting seal carcass.

Exploring the caves on the beach.

Then along the cliffs back towards the castle.

And finally down to the beach beneath Culzean Castle.

Picture this.. a peaceful afternoon.. Beanie & Biggles chilling out with us in our office.

In due course they both go out to the garden to answer nature’s call and (almost) come face to face with this:

Yep, a cow went rogue, busted out of its field and came to chew the grass at the other side of our garden fence! Biggles was strangely quiet by the time I got down there with them. Maybe he was all woofed-out, having already defended us from the postman and a courier earlier in the day, but Beanie stepped up to the plate and did a great job of repelling this would-be gate crasher.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the cow couldn’t endure any more of Beanie’s indignant woofage (or maybe ran out of grass to eat) and headed back into its field. We’re safe again.. but for how long?