It's the weekend and so Mama said I could write on her blog, she's translating from Beaglease which explains my perfect English again but I wanted to take this opportunity to get some things off my chest, my mama calls herself a photographer, she's quite good at it actually until she starts pointing her camera/phone at me, apparently she needs lots of photos of us together and then some of me on my own, as much as she tries to explain about family and history, I just don't understand the need for her incessantly pointing the blooming thing at me.  I'd like to walk you through just a few of her ridiculous beagle selfie (as she calls them) moments and perhaps by the time we get to the end you will leave comments telling Mama she needs to stop this ridiculous photo taking thing!

I'm on the way to work with Mama and I'm looking out of the window pretending not to notice she's pointing that camera at me

Mama has been out for New years Eve, I am too busy guarding us to be in photos

Mama has been out at too many Christmas parties this week and I'm not happy about it at all

"Oh for goodness sake, let's just get it over with quickly again can we, I have sleeping to do"

"Oh yes, I like the KT dog and it means that mama is temporarily distracted, KT always smiles in photos, she's a show dog you know"

"Mama took me to her Inspire meeting again, I love the Inspire Ladies and I love the snuggles from all of the ladies but no one mentioned photos"

"The woman is a menace, look at that grin, I hope she's going to pay me in biscuits"

"Why, Why, Why Mama?  You're wearing your pyjamas and you still want photos"

"I can't even..."

"Let's not talk about this shall we, let's just move it to the side, press the delete button and never speak of it again"

"Oh black and white, yeah, mama, arty, lets just go with that shall we?"

"Why on earth do I need photos with my human sisters, they see me nearly every day"

"Oh for goodness sake, I'm a puppet, a posing puppet, she'll be having me busking for spare change next"

"I was having a lovely time with Auntie Harriet until Mama came to pick me up and insisted on having a photo because she hadn't seen me for 2 whole days, honestly, I don't get paid enough for this"

And so dear mama's readers, all you need to do is leave a comment asking Mama to stop this infernal practice and I'm sure she'll listen although I think she might be subjecting me to beagle selfies for many years yet, excuse me while I go and throw up in the corner or eat all her swucculent swocks...

11 of the best dog friendly places in North East England

Holly Bobbins, my wonderful beagle best friend who loves adventures, days out, holidays, pubs and cake!

It's been a while since Holly Bobbins and I compiled our last list of dog friendly places in the north east so I thought it was time to give you all an update and to help you in your quest to find the friendliest places to take your pooches we'll be scoring places with "Barks out of 10"  Holly came up with that, not me, honest! During our visits we are either on our own, with best friend Petunia the Husky or sometimes we join other lovely doggies too! I should also add that this list is in no particular order and that it was supposed to be the top 10 but I really couldn't narrow it down past 11!

Petunia the Husky is Holly's best friend forever, they see each other nearly every day and we often go out for cake together.

1. Teasy Does It - Holly and I love Teasy Does It, we go here a lot, there's a friendly welcome, great cake and treats available for all four legged friends. It's located on Heaton Park Road. Barks out of 10 - 9
2. Heaton Perk - I'd been a regular customer for years but it was only by chance that I found out that they're dog friendly, it's a very chilled out vibe and the food is great, it can get very busy at weekends but we love it in summer when you can sit outside in the lovely backyard. It's located on Heaton Park road, pretty much opposite Teasy Does It. Barks out of 10 - 8
3. Lola Jeans - I've visited Lola Jeans a couple of times, it's in the city centre on Market Street so a great place for lunch should Holly Bobbins and I fancy ourselves a bit of an urban walkies, they do incredible platters and great tasty morsels, it's got a really chilled out vibe and big comfy sofas and if you are visiting Tynemouth you'll also find another Lola Jeans in the centre of Tynemouth Village.  Barks out of 10 - 8
4. Heaton Ingredient - A new kid on the block based on Heaton Road, it opened last year and we've never had anything but a lovely welcome, it's petit and the food is amazing, make sure you try the french toast or the Porridge on a platter with toast, perfect breakfast to set you up on a cold and frosty morning. Barks out of 10 - 9
5. Brandling Villa - Holly Bobbins and I think this the epitome of what a dog friendly place should be, I think in part to the fact that Frank the resident beagle often comes down into the bar for a wander and Holly has the hots for Frank ;) This pub goes to so much trouble that they even have their own doggy menu!  Barks out of 10 - 10
6. St Mary's Inn - Holly Bobbins and I stayed here, you can read about our dog friendly mini break to the St Mary's Inn and then if you have the woofing puppies you might just want to head there yourselves, I love that you can turn up and have the best afternoon tea, it's the same chef as Jesmond Dene House hotel, a favourite of mine although not dog friendly unfortunately.  Barks out of 10 - 10
7. The Beehive The Beehive in Earsdon is super dog friendly, you can have a doggy meal deal and you sit in a special dog friendly room, your dog can even partake in some dog beer (non alcoholic) and the rest of the menu for humans is simply fabulous. Barks out of 10 - 9
8. Surf Cafe, Tynemouth This cosy cafe gets so busy because of the amazing food that you have to be lucky to get a seat but if you can you can be sure the staff will make a fuss of your dogs and give them treats and maybe a tummy rub. Barks out of 10 - 9
9. Cafe Des Amis I love this cafe in Morpeth, I go there so often they know Holly now and her best friend Petunia, they get treats and cuddles and the staff are always delighted to see us, the dog friendly conservatory is at the back of the coffee house and it's always warm, don't forget to try the cafe coffee, the cafe sandwich and the half and half cake!  Barks out of 10 - 10!
10. Kitscheners Vintage Cafe This quirky vintage cafe in the dog friendly Land of Green Ginger and dogs are given the loveliest welcome, treats and water bowls, the food is casual dining and they have great cakes and pancakes! Barks out of 10 - 9
11. Keel Row This lovely little pub sits on the way to Seaton Deleval and has welcomed Holly Bobbins and Petunia the Husky on many occasions, the food is amazing value for money and it's all home cooked, just like granny used to make! - Barks out of 10 - 8

Frank, resident beagle of Brandling Villa

KT belongs to Laura of Sharpe Recruitment and we love her

Do you go to anywhere you would like to recommend Holly and I try, perhaps you are the owners of a dog friendly pub/cottage/restaurant or coffee house, if you are then I want to hear from you, Holly and I are actively looking for new places to stay and review so get in touch right now!

Dog Friendly Accommodation at St Mary's Inn, Morpeth

Let me take you back a couple of weeks when the weather was warm and sunny and the leaves were still mostly on the trees, the whole of the North East was basking in unseasonable gorgeous warm sunshine and I felt glad to be alive!  I mostly feel glad to be alive but it was half term week and I had a few days off so when the lovely people at St Mary's Inn asked if we wanted to come for a night with Holly the Beagle to check out their dog friendly accommodation I jumped at the chance for this was time I could not only take out of my busy schedule but also that I could freely embrace the quality time spent with Looby and Holly, something which doesn't happen as much as I'd like right now with our increasingly hectic schedules, Looby is of course a social butterfly and goes out to things more often than I do, don't let her tell you any differently!

The St Mary's Inn is based just outside the centre of Northumbrian market town Morpeth on a private estate in Stannington Village, Morpeth is one of my most favourite towns as as well as being beautiful in all seasons it's also one of the most dog friendly towns you could hope to visit up in the North East.  The St Mary's Inn with it's dedicated dog friendly room for those wishing to have a night away with their beloved pet fits in brilliantly as the perfect dog friendly destination. The colourful history of St Mary's Inn is that it's been converted from the administration centre of the former county asylum though these days you're more likely to find relaxed tranquility than 2000 patients which is housed at it's peak.

The dog friendly room we stayed in was so lovely and new and sparkly clean that I was a little worried about letting Holly off her lead to start with, she really loved it and I'm pleased to say that after a couple of hours running around in the surrounding fields she was super quick to settle in, especially when she noticed that her needs had been catered for, a smart dog bowl, blanket and some tasty gourmet treats made this room fit for Queen Holly of the beagles.  We humans were also spoiled with the extensive selection of Aaron Aromatic toiletries, a company I adore.

On the afternoon of our arrival after bounding through the long grass I decided to treat Looby to her most favourite thing ever, an afternoon tea, can I just say that it was possibly my favourite afternoon tea of all time, not expensively priced and available every day I can't recommend you go highly enough.  I'm not even sure how we managed to fit in dinner later in the day but we did, I had the Cote de Beouf and well, there are not enough delicious words in the English language to accurately describe a dish which was more of an experience than a main course.  If they have it on the menu when you go please do try it!

I have to say that I had a great nights sleep, it's so lovely being in the middle of the countryside when you live in the city, there's a calm and peacefulness about the location of the St Mary's Inn and when Holly and I went for morning walks it felt like we had the whole of the Northumbrian countryside to ourselves.  All too soon it was time to come home back to real life and work but not until we'd eaten a splendid full english breakfast full to the brim with locally sourced produce.  We had our breakfast and evening meal in the bar as the restaurant is dog free and quite rightly I feel as not everyone wants to sit next to Holly whilst having a quiet dinner, especially not Holly, a hound known for her expression and shall we say conversation.  

we did meet several other dogs in the bar, all friendly and all seemingly enjoying the cosy comfort, Looby said she felt so relaxed she wanted to come down for breakfast in slippers and pjyamas, I think we may have been taking it a step too far to try that though, oh well, there's always next time!!

Burglars, Heat and too much Rain

This week has been another odd one, ever since we were first burgled about a month ago we've had the same guys come back every single week and we think they even stole Loobys replacement mobile phone as she swore she left it on the kitchen table, went out to play and then came back and it was gone.  I've always felt safe in my own house, even when my agoraphobia was at it's worst I still felt secure in my own house but that's changed and now I am uber jumpy even when in my favourite spaces, every time Holly barks or the cats shuffle things about downstairs I get jumpy, even though I know we're locked in and no one can get us I find myself living in a constant state of anxiety.  This time when the burglars came I was in my garden, I ended up shouting at one of them, running into my house, locking the door and calling the police, who to their credit were with me in minutes.  It seems they still can't actually catch the perpetrators though and it's really starting to get to me, this time they advised me to buy some home surveillance stuff and of course I did that straight away so hopefully when that arrives we'll finally be safe because if they do try their luck again there'll be video evidence.

It's one of those times where if I could move house I would go tomorrow, whilst I'm not one for running away from problems in this case I think it could provide some of the solutions, sadly though until my girls leave secondary school and Iain leaves college it's not even an option.

This week has also been hot, really hot, too hot for Holly the beagle hot, we've started walkies at 6/7/8 or even 9pm at night when it's cooling down and it's definitely helped her feel better, yesterday I even resorted to giving her a cool bath which she wasn't amused about as she hates water but she definitely perked up afterwards even if she did have a bit of a huff with me about it!

I've had some lovely outdoor photo shoots this week, one on Monday when the weather was a little dull but quite warm and 1 on Tuesday when it was pretty full on hot up in my clients gloriously huge garden in Stocksfield, mostly though the weather continues to plot against me at weekends and I'm sitting here on a very rainy Saturday morning having moved all of  this mornings photo shoots to a hopefully much sunnier afternoon later today.  It's weird that the weekdays seem to be so sunny and the weekends rainy, maybe it's always like this but because I've shot mainly portraits instead of weddings this year I've noticed it more!  I've always been quite lucky when it comes to sunshine and weddings so once my diary is full again you'll be able to celebrate with sunny weekends again.

In just a couple of weeks it'll be holiday time and I can't wait, I am so ready for a couple of stress free weeks where I don't have to think about anything other than Looby, Holly and I, no alarms, no work, just adventures, speaking of which I haven't actually planned what we're doing on our second weeks holiday, I've offered Looby a flat in Glasgow and a houseboat near Stirling, both of which I found on Airbnb but she's not keen on either of them, she doesn't do flats or boats apparently, I may have to resort to a blindfold for her so that she can't see where we're staying, heehee!

Lets hope this week ahead brings more sunshine, less burglars and more holiday choices!

A dog friendly break at The Royal Mackintosh Hotel, Dunbar, Scotland

I just happened to check my blog this morning and realised that my last post was more than a week ago so huge apologies, time has just gotten away with me, wrapping up things for summer has overtaken the need for everything else and my life has become a whirl of photo shoots, editing and end of term commitments.

Looby has been really stressed about her transition from primary to secondary school, so much so that I decided to take her away on my latest travel assignment, a quick dog friendly break in Dunbar,

I've never been to Dunbar so didn't really know what to expect and imagine my surprise to discover that we were actually checked into the only dog friendly hotel/bar/restaurant in the whole town, living somewhere with dog friendly places in almost every area of Newcastle I still find it a little alien to visit places which aren't as accepting of Holly.

The train journey from Newcastle to Dunbar takes around an hour and for a cheap return ticket bought the day of travel with our friends and family railcard it was £29 which I don't think is bad at all.  Holly loves the train and she's always welcomed and fussed and petted by the lovely staff on Virgin Eastcoast.

The Royal Mackintosh Hotel is conveniently situated just a couple of minutes away from the train station which is a Godsend when you have bags, children and a dog in tow and I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to find that our room was cavernous and contained not only a four poster bed but also a delightful settee with views out of the window down to the beach.

The weather was a little blustery, not so summery or sunny but we managed to have a wander around the town without getting too wet, we were sad to find that the hotel wasn't able to serve food due to a fault in the kitchen so we ended up getting fish and chips and bringing them back to our room, the hotel did try to find us somewhere dog friendly to eat but nowhere else in Dunbar is, shame on you Dunbar, you have such a beautiful seaside town perfect for long dog walks maybe you should consider that if you were slightly more accepting of our four legged friends you would attract more tourism into your beautiful town.

I have to say that I'd never expected Dunbar to be quite so beautiful as it was, I think it's somewhere I would love to wander around and what the town lacks in dog friendliness the Royal Mackintosh hotel makes up for, I spotted several dogs whilst we were staying, they're allowed throughout the hotel except for the restaurant, luckily the bar also serves the same menu and we had breakfast brought to our room on Friday morning, something that Looby loved, at 11 she still thinks that room service is a magical wonderful thing.

Holly slept on a little put me up bed at the bottom of our bed and she had a great nights sleep and the next morning we awoke to some temporary sunshine which we made the most of!

After a lovely 5 mile walk the skies became overcast and it wasn't long before there was a downpour, with 2 hours left until our train the only option we had was to return to the Royal Mackintosh Hotel for some lunch in the bar, if it had been sunny we could have sat outdoors at a couple of lovely looking coffee shops so it's a bit of a shame that we didn't get to experience anywhere else but our lunch at the Royal Mack was entirely delicious and I can't recommend their rooms or indeed their hospitality highly enough.

Will I return to Dunbar again soon? I'd love to but I'd also like the burgh of Dunbar to work on being more welcoming to our woofy companions!  Interestingly I don't know what I would have done if Looby hadn't been with me as I wouldn't have been able to go in to the fish and chip shop so I literally wouldn't have been able to eat for 24 hours.

Next stop Edinburgh in just a few weeks and after signing up to the dugsinpubs website I'm delighted to find that there are 378 listings for dog friendly places in Edinburgh, that makes this beagle mum a very happy lady!