Ric*************a were at work today so it was a relaxing day for Calvin and Kate (what day hasn't been relaxing…?). Kate decided to get up and out early to look around the shops for some socks for her new hiking shoes – potentially some thicker socks might be the winner? We had a bit of a late start after doing some washing and organising ourselves after Northern Ireland. The plan was to do a long walk from Hoylake to Wallasey with Barnaby, however, it was very bleak, cold and windy day so we didn’t last as long as we had hoped. We walked along the seaside for some of the walk but decided to take the inland route on the way back to the car to get some shelter from the wind! We walked through Queen’s Park and Barnaby met an old black labrador. This old labrador must have been a bit of a grump as, after sniffing each other, the black labrador suddenly lunged for poor Barnaby’s neck! Barnaby, the amazing poodle, yelped and leapt away. Fortunately, the black lab let go and trotted off and Barnaby was unscathed. Wasn’t such a relaxing day after all but Barnaby didn’t actually seem to think much of that incident – he was still a happy chap! We then came home for lunch. Kate went for a walk around Heswall to search for more socks as the pairs she brought from Australia, the pairs she bought from Northern Ireland and the pairs she just bought this morning weren’t quite right. Hopefully the local Army Surplus store might have the right pair. Later in the afternoon we went to Burton Manor (leaving Barnaby behind to relax) where we had a wander around the grounds. We weren’t sure what Burton Manor actually was – there were produce gardens, old buildings, residential colleges, and a café. Unfortunately the café was closed so we didn’t get to have a hot chocolate to warm us up! The place is now mostly maintained by friends of Burton Manor who keep the community garden going and it’s a place for visitors to see the history of the buildings. After the wander around we went to Tesco back in Heswall to get some supplies for dinner. Once we got home, we realised we forgot to get an onion so Kate walked back to Tesco to get that while Calvin started preparing the beef stroganoff for dinner!