In my last post I mentioned that I had dropped Ben at his favourite kennels for the day so he wouldn’t be home alone. Just in case you might have thought this was a bad thing and felt sorry for the poor creature, I thought I’d show you France Farm where he goes to stay…
This is the drive down to France Farm, which is situated about 10 minutes away from home. We have to stop and open a large five-barred gate right at the top of a hill. The view over Start Bay is stunning and I think you can just make out the village of Slapton in the distance. Although the scene is peaceful now, this wasn’t the case in the last World War when many US Servicemen were killed whilst training at Slapton Sands for the D-Day invasions. There are two memorials down at the sea front – one erected by the US Government, and the second an old Sherman tank retrieved from the waters of the bay and restored. But on Saturday it was so quiet and all we could hear were the skylarks singing madly far over our heads. Then we drove down to the farm itself …
… I have marked the actual kennel building – a restored stone barn – with individual compartments, raised beds, underfloor heating, and classical music playing so the residents don’t feel lonely. There are extensive play areas and the dogs are taken for long walks around the surrounding fields and woodlands every day. Ben had a lovely time, but was clearly determined to make his displeasure at being left out of our National Trust expedition known…..
Sunday was Rosie’s Easter Egg Hunt. I went out into the garden very early to hide the chocolate eggs and bunnies. I went up the garden tucking them into nooks and crannies – came to the wall by the old fig tree, turned around and saw …… a trail of foil along the grass behind me. Yes … it was Ben, having worked out his revenge for being abandoned. He had, oh so quietly, followed me up the garden, staging his own egg hunt, carefully retrieving, unwrapping and eating all the eggs I had hidden that were within his reach. It’s a wonder he wasn’t ill. Definitely Ben the Bad!!
Oh BEN……………That was very NAUGHTY! Hope you did leave something for Rosie………did you?
Julie xxxxxxxxx
Such a depressed looking Ben! After his own personal Egg Hunt and all that chocolate he must have returned to his happy self! I know chocolate always works for me!
X Linda
I’m glad Ben is okay. Some dogs have really serious reactions to chocolate. I hope he left enough for Rosie.
Hi Katie, yes you’re quite right – he was lucky – probably he is so big that the amount he ate wasn’t enough to harm him. But he didn’t get any of his special doggie-choc treats that day!!
The cheeky magpies got ours! My husband sneeked out of bed at the crack of dawn to be the Easter Bunny and hide the eggs. An hour later there was a litter of foil all over the lawn… 🙁 However there were some left and we had a few more indoors to sneak out quickly!
That kennels looks wonderful, I wish we had somewhere like that for our dog.