Richard took the day off today so everyone piled into the Range Rover and drove off to Church Stretton and Carding Mills in the Shropshire area. We were blessed with beautiful weather today and the added bonus of snow lying on the ground! We left Barnaby for a few minutes in the car (with towels all over the leather seats to keep them from getting scratched up) so we could get a hot drink and something delicious to eat at the National Trust cafe. We came back to the car to get our stuff for the walk up Long Mynd and the sight of Barnaby cleverly perched up on the central console having avoided sitting on the towels and finding the only available exposed leather left! We headed off on a walk around the stunning Long Mynd. It was a perfect day - snow on the ground, running river, crisp fresh air and brilliant company! Barnaby was very excited to be out and about. Richard and Calvin made snowballs and threw them for Barnaby which he very enthusiastically chased after but was very puzzled when he couldn't quite pick them up! There was a bit of slush on the track which made it a little slippery but we made it to a waterfall and then up to the top of the hill where there were great views of the hills and Church Stretton in the valley below. The snow looked particularly white and fresh up top so Richard and Calvin decided to see if it tasted as refreshing as it looked - it was! We did a loop track down back to the car park. On the way, Richard tried to get Barnaby to walk through a stream to get the mud and dirt off his legs - Richard leapt across the stream and called Barnaby to follow him however, Barnaby, being amazing, looked around, saw a perfectly decent bridge and ran up, over and around to Richard while avoiding getting wet altogether! We headed back into Church Stretton and had a stroll around the village there. It was a quaint and quiet little town with lovely specialty grocers and delicatessens. We went to a dog charity shop where the assistant thought Barnaby was so amazing, she gave him 3 dog treats which Barnaby didn't mind at all! The window of a particular delicatessen, Van Doesburg's, looked extremely enticing - slices of different cakes, cheeses and Scotch eggs. Fiona had a brilliant idea of getting some slices of cake for dessert and some Scotch eggs for tea. Wandering around a bit more, we went to The Outdoor Depot, a small but well stocked outdoor gear shop. It was here that Ric*************a found some good quality kit on sale - some walking shoes to replace Richard's well travelled shoes and a bright red Paramo jacket to replace Fiona's well worn jacket. Calvin would've liked to get a Paramo jacket as well if he had the luggage space! We found dinner in Little Stretton at The Green Dragon. Despite it sounding like a Chinese restaurant, it was actually a cosy (and popular) pub with good hot food! We were seated next to a large family where one of the chaps saw Barnaby, gave him a pat and asked Fiona, "Is he a straight poodle?" Fiona, thinking it was a bit of a personal question and really unsure of Barnaby's sexual orientation, responded anyway with, "I'm not sure, he hasn't shown any inclination either way!" Of course, the man was meaning whether or bit Barnaby was a purebred. Fiona clicked on after a bit and said, "Yes, he is a straight poodle." Richard was in fits of laughter and giggles hearing this exchange! After a couple of hours drive home, Calvin and Kate packed their bags before tucking into the cakes from Church Stretton! There was also a last round of Bananagrams to commemorate our last night in Heswall.