SofaWolves

Day 33 – Playtime

Journey: Bremen

We slept in until 7:45! This never happens and it was so nice 🙂 We all took the pups for a walk, Ernest was naughty and tried to steal Florie’s teddy, Mabel rolled in poo and Jasper got filthy in the river – a hat trick 🙈 What the doggies hadn’t realised was that mummy had brought a doggy shower, and so it was bath time when we got back: Jasper looked so depressed 😂😈

We then had a great afternoon at Bremen University. They have an awesome interactive space where you can learn about the body, technology and nature. We were just big kids playing with everything. In the outside play area you could even lift a beetle car! It was such a good workout lifting cars, making water swirl, generating kinetic energy. I did embarrass myself by doing a handstand and forgetting to tuck my vest in… apologies to anyone walking past 🙈

We then took the pups for another walk and right at the end Jasper went in the river swamp…and so he had a second bath and sulked on the floor. Seriously no way manky pups are coming in the van…though it does now stink of wet dog 😷

Our evening was very indecisive, we knew we had to do a food shop so popped to Aldi, I then did my usual trick of spotting marquees and wandering over. We thus inadvertently stumbled into the university’s open day and the pups proved a huge draw at the international tent, getting lots of fuss and cuddles.

Back at the van I was keen to go back into town to see a couple of circus acts and eat out at a restaurant Ella had suggested. However that meant driving into the green emission zone or leaving doggies too long on their own. As the two main acts I wanted to see had been cancelled, Mark wanted to go to a campsite and have game/shower and early night. We ultimately comprised by driving back to the open day and taking the pups to see the free open air concert. Our picnic blanket was mobbed by kids wanting to pet the dogs and Jasper soaked up all the love. I wish I knew the artists who were singing as we really enjoyed it, and it counts as the doggies first gig.

Day 32 – Four high animal acro

Journey: Barme – Bremen – Syke

After an amazing night listening to the wolves we took the pups for a forest walk. The white wolves spotted the pups walking past and followed the parameter of their enclosure…the pups were oblivious, but I’m imagining the wolves salivating at the thought of sausage, small cow and whatever Jasper resembles.

We then drove to Bremen which is a gorgeous city! So much amazing architecture and sculpture. We tootled about for ages soaking it all in, enjoyed coffee & cake, and really liked the vibe of the place. My photos make it look like a sculpture trail (I do love sculpture) but it seemed really arty, with great buskers, market and the circus is in town giving free street performances this weekend.

Had a wonderful evening in Syke visiting Stephanie, Tom and their daughter Florie. It’s been 4 years since we last saw them, so it was lovely to catch up 😊

Also inspired by my cadaver book I’ve contacted UEA and asked to register my cadaver for science (if you want to do this you can find your local licensed medical school on the health tissue authority website). Bit of a random thing but I’ve never been that fussed about a funeral would rather everyone I knew went out for coffee & cake and had a good chin wag (it’s what I would do).

Day 31 – you’d never guess Mabel was related

Journey: Winschoten – Barme (Germany)

We took the pups into town for a potter and the obligatory pastry pick up then drove on to Barme in Germany to the wolf centre. Mark has been really excited for this as he loves wolves!

I had to laugh at myself when my first thought on seeing one was… Wow what a blow out he needs a good groom 😂🙈 Fortunately they didn’t put me in the enclosure with that task. We really wished we knew German as the hour long tour was all in German, but still we were pleased to see them and got to watch them being fed. It seems rediculous that our pampered pooches are (distantly) related. I did think it was interesting how much Ernest looked like a traditional English bulldog though… everyone thinks he is a boxer. Or the bulldogs over here are huge 40kilo monsters…hoping Ernest isn’t trying to emulate them 🐾

We opted to camp here and so had a relaxing evening. I did a bit of training with Ernest. When food is offered he can do sit, heel, stay for 3 steps away and good recall…without treats he is deaf or at best has selective hearing 😂🙈

We then had a lovely forest walk, my favourite falafel bolognese dinner and played cobra paw which is such a quick, fun game (Mark thinks it is crap because he lost 😝). I’ve finished a gorgeous book called ‘If cats disappeared from the world’ – thanks for the recommendation Ella. Was tempted to start another novel but really feel like I need to engage my brain as it’s turning mushy so going to read Stiff by Mary Roach next (please feel free to recommend any popular science books, I love them).

I’m also planning the Denmark part of our trip if anyone has recommendations for there. That will be my 4th new country after Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg 😄🌍

Now tucked up in bed and can hear the wolves howling…so magical! 🐺(I’ve made a video so you can hear… Mabel joins in… but fact of the day wolves don’t bark)

Day 30 – Come rain or shine

Journey: Giethoorn – Groningen – Winschoten

We were up and organised this morning – keen to see Giethoorn before the rain came. We hired bikes and cycled about the gorgeous thatched houses and canals… Not thinking to stop and take a photo of the lovely town 🙈Dutch bikes are hard work – heavy, cumbersome things that brake by peddling backwards… Still it gave our thighs a good workout.

We then took the pups for a walk and did the van chores, while Ernest watched from his favourite spot. I had originally wanted to go to Groningen to climb their epic climbing wall but hasn’t realised you had to be a pro, so we had a potter about the town and went to a cool exhibition at the university museum about spaceship earth… It contained some of the wierdest and freakiest things I have ever seen. I’m just not use to seeing dead stuff in glass jars 😨😳 (you may not like some of the photos).

We found a lovely vegan cafe and had a tumeric latte which is my new favourite – so warming and good for digestion. From there we went to the Groningen museum which is a really fun modern building but doesn’t have that much in it. Still there were a couple of lovely pieces that stood out for me. I was oddly drawn to the farmers bright handkerchief. Loved that painting by a local artist.

We opted to go to a popular photo spot of colored houses and marina but too be fair the weather doesn’t do it justice so we walked the dogs and Mark delegated coming up with campstop to me while he went food shopping. Other than heading straight to Bremin we hadn’t really got any other places planned for the Netherlands, and I was more than a little annoyed he hadn’t done any route planning while in Arnhem. Still I plumped for a small town and we found a nice enough place to park at the marina so we can explore tomorrow.

Day 29 – Should we be putting about Kampen

Journey: Arnhem – Zwolle – Kampen – Giethoorn

The mind was willing but the body tired, fortunately Rosie needed to be at the train station for 7am so it forced us to get up and organised, though we still enjoyed a slow start to the day with Ben bringing us second breakfast in the form of pain au chocolate 😋 We also managed to send two bags of stuff back with him to reduce our van weight…Ernest and my belly continue to grow

Leaving camp around 10 our first point of call was the pet shop where we stocked up on amazing hypo allergenic food – the manager was so helpful and knowledgeable making sure we got the best for our pups. We spent a small fortune on easy to digest proteins (deer, lamb and insect!), but it’s cheaper than vet bills and currently all the pups are well again, so it’s worth it 😊

I’m not sure what’s wrong with my mind of late but I recall my Popa saying I’d lose my head if it wasn’t screwed on and it’s so apt for this weekend. In the last 3 days I’ve ‘lost’ my phone, Fitbit, circus ticket, water bottle, knife and left my bag behind and although I got all bar the water bottle back…this morning I left the van keys at the pet shop and my jumper at the lingerie shop 🙈 I’m a walking calamity going from one panic to the next. I’m obviously too relaxed at the time to worry about belongings 😂

With the dogs happy we went for a potter around Zwolle, it’s a lovely town, lots of pretty old buildings and the centre is all on an island, so it’s nicely contained. This is a little sidetrack but I will tell you anyway – I generally hate shopping but it was pointed out twice at the acro convention that my basic granny knickers were bigger than my shorts/leggings and kept poking out- my pole friends will know this to be true to 😂 It’s a strange thing but as a dog groomer I never wanted to wear nice undies as the dog fur would get ingrained in it (and weedle its way into your boobs – plucking Barney’s fur out of your tits was never highlighted on the job description 😂🤢). However I used to love buying posh pretty matching sets and owned a couple of sets that were still in the tissue paper never worn (bar the odd photoshoot then carefully wrapped up again). Instead of bringing them on the trip, my mind told me…oh it’s only camping the granny knickers will do – I still have issues with self image, a lot of women do. I’m also not very good at treating myself (although I love spoiling others) and I’m having to reprogram my brain – if the pretty pants make me feel good then just wear them, it doesn’t have to be a special occasion, these little things can start your day off on a happy note, and I’m sure the dogs will appreciate me pottering about the van feeling nice 😊 #rememberyouareworthit

Anyway enough about pants. We then drove on to Kampen, which is a smaller version of Zwolle and almost as nice. The fun thing we spotted here was that small groups had golf balls and putters and we obviously putting their way around the town. It looked such a giggle with them calling out to strangers to dodge their balls and laughing as the cobbled streets took their ball ofcourse. If we had discovered how to join in we would have.

Our camp for tonight is Giethoorn – a very popular pretty thatched house town that doesn’t allow cars in. We’ve been warned we must explore early as it’s hugely popular with Chinese tourists (a TV program was filmed here). Since arriving I’ve been in bed, reading and attacking the epic chocolate stash Heike brought me. Tomorrow I will be healthy again but today I needed to recharge and rest.

Day 27/28 – Dutch Acro Convention

Journey – Arnhem

Sorry for not writing sooner, it’s been a full on weekend of fun, friends, acro and food. Learnt so many new tricks (most I’ve forgotten 🙈), spent such good quality time with my gorgeous friends Heike and Ben – sorry for kneeing you in the face Ben 😱 your sore cheek will be a momento of the trip 😂, the food got better and we set up a coffee delivery service with Mark which kept us fueled. Markles even had a go at an acro move! 🤸

Sunday evening Heike and I went to a circus show of questionable quality but it was nice to get out. We opted for bed just before midnight rather than the parties… Getting old lol Just remembered while in a class Ben was sat between us and randomly smelt us both before turning to Heike and saying…you smell like Maria…aka you smell like dog 😂🐾 (fortunately she took it as a compliment)

Monday was more acro in the morning – some fun Vishnu pops and unusual moves which challenged us, then we helped pack up, dropped darling Heike at the train station and went into town to buy sandles and shorts. Both the boys bought shorts in the first shop within 10 minutes, and although I’d warned them I typically take hours of indecisive pondering, I got both flip flops and sandles within 30 minutes – a miracle!

We had a new lady called Rosie stay with us, so I made a big batch of food (enough for 8 despite their being 4 of us – I’m such a feeder) and had a relaxing evening. We will be of to Denmark soon en route to our next acro festival

Marks account – supposedly I have a wife, not seen much of her. She is one of the 900 over energetic people in a huge hall doing odd stuff… can usually lure her out with coffee, but have to be careful not to get roped into doing roly-poly acro moves. Dogs continue to misbehave, though Mabel has made friends with the sheep who live opposite. Jasper hasn’t and Ernest copies his big brother so they are both a pain in the arse. On the plus it’s been sunny. Maria has me signed up on the next acro festival, but I’m only going for the food.

Day 26 – Keeping up traditions

Journey – Arnham (Dutch Acro Convention)

Our new sleeping set up works so well, we actually slept in until gone 8am! The pups loved sleeping on the sofa bed with us, and although I had to carry Jasper and Ernest off Heikes bed they didn’t pester her again until morning.

We are getting plenty of practice bring British and queueing for everything but the festival is great. Initially I was feeling out of sorts and frustrated by my fitness (or lack of it), but I’ve done lots of firsts and pushed myself well out of my comfort zone. I was so involved in the workshops I didn’t think to take videos or pictures but fortunately Mark was watching me at my last class and caught me do a handstand on someone’s shoulders 😃🤸

In other ways I’ve had mixed luck…so far at the convention I’ve lost my knife (friend had it), Fitbit, phone (later found it) and acro performance ticket – which is tonight so I’m at home while everyone else is at the show 🙈. On the plus this allowed us to keep up our Saturday night pizza tradition, which meant walking a round trip of 1hr 40min…we do love pizza so well worth it 😂

And now while others consider disco and party time I’m already showered and in my PJs… Just need my hot chocolate and book and I’m settled for the night #middleagedandhappy

Marks account of the day – Maria buggered off and left me with three pain in the arse dogs. We had a couple of walks, read a lot, considered ‘losing’ Ernest, and ate pizza

Day 25 – Acro Festival!

So today has been excitedly waiting for the acro festival to start. In preparation we went to the laundrette so the van didn’t smell too doggy for Heike Schroeder. I stupidly forgot my phone so we were thrown back into the olden days of struggling to make plans and meet up to get lift home – how lost we were lol

Once home, we tidied the van, had a lazy lunch, Ernest found a new sleeping spot 😂 and lots of reading. I then signed up for traffic warden duty and we did some acro on the side of the road to welcome the other acrobats. Picked up Heike from the train station with the biggest hug!

It’s 11:37pm and we have only just finished our first 2 workshops. So much to look forward to! One thing is for certain I need to incorporate some more exercise into life on the road

Day 24 – Picked up a stray…

Journey: Utrecht – Amersfoort – Arnhem

This morning we woke up to the carnage of last night’s mega storm. Part of the farm roof was off and being fixed, and both the road and paths were blocked by fallen willow trees. It was a big clean up operation. Poor Ernest had got scared in the night as the van was rocking so much so he slept in the bed with us and thanked me by standing on my face in the morning and giving me a bloody nose 😂

Ben had joined us ahead of the acro convention so we drove in convoy to Armersfoot, which is a gorgeous little town. We followed a walking route to see all the historic buildings and sculptures before stopping for a pancake lunch.

We then drove on to Arnhem and I sorted out all the photos from various photoshoots, while Mark found a pub to watch the England Vs Netherlands football game.

Tomorrow Heike, Joe and James arrive and I’m so looking forward to a long weekend of acro with them 😃🤸

Day 23 – Lovely lazy day

Journey – Utrecht

After an amazing thunderstorm last night it was still raining and we had a lovely slow start to the day. I have fallen in love with reading again and am almost finished my 4th book, thank you so much for the recommendations I’ve loved them all (John dies at the end – really wierd in a good way / Me my bike and a Street Dog called Lucy – powerful and heartwarming / Bonk by Mary Roach – quirky popular science book about sex, I love her writing style and have already downloaded her book about cadavers / Reaching down the rabbit hole – I love reading anything about the brain and in another life would have loved to be a neurologist, so interesting!)

When finally out of bed we took the pups on their first bus ride to Utrecht, they were very brave but not so much on the escalator…I stepped on, Ernest sniffed it and decided against so I went up on my own and had to come back down again. It’s a lovely place to wander the canals and shops, saw a brilliant whale sculpture made out of waste plastic and had an epic vegan burger.

We went back to the farm campsite in the afternoon as it was such a nice place to chill. Played the ukalale (or attempted to, I’m still learning and am terrible 😂), lots of handstands, juggling and playing with the pups until the monster was worn out and stole my seat to rest #lordmuck