We have been very fortunate in our decision to head north east for our holiday. While Bristol (and most of the rest of the country) seem to have been battered by wind and rain since the weekend, we’ve had mostly sunshine with just the odd shower. Today has been no exception, with glorious sunshine for our walk to Dunstanburgh Castle.

Mike tends not to be very keen on beach holidays, I’ve never persuaded him to head to the Greek islands and even on our excursions to Brittany we rarely spend very long on the beach.  The magic of Northumbria’s coast has clearly worked its charms on Mike (that and our four legged friend’s insatiable appetite for running wild in big open spaces) as we spent most of our day on the beaches and cliffs of the coastal path.

The sun, sand and wind in the dogs ears made for some lovely images. Of course we are clearly biased but Zoly does usually turn heads wherever we go and with the sunlight shining off his ginger coat, today was no exception. He was glowing a beautiful orange colour that wouldn’t have looked out of place as a spray-tan on the cast of Geordie Shores – he was our very own Geordie Paws!

Zoly can barely control his excitement that he’s at the seaside

We started out from the cottage and headed into Alnmouth. The wide white sandy beach in the sunshine was clearly a magnet for dog walkers and Zoly was in his element, going through his usual tentative slow crouch approach, followed by laying down with a ‘please play with me’ gesture to every dog he met. By the time we reached Dunstanburgh I think he must have greeted at least 50 dogs.

  Ok it’s not a stick but seaweed will have to do 

The sunshine (and perhaps a little of the sea breeze) has left my face feeling a little sun kissed this evening. It must have done Zoly’s beauty regime good too. There’s nothing like a few hours racing around on the beach to exfoliate those paws. However, sandy dog is not a good thing when said dog likes nothing better than to snuggle down under the duvet of your bed. As soon as we got in Mike took Zoly into the wet room for a hose down before lighting the fire for him to dry off in front off – this place is becoming less like the Huffy House and more like the ‘Woofy House – spa resort for dogs’ every day.

 Zoly likes a dip in the sea, but the North Sea is a tad bit cold for more than a paddle today.