Last year when the dandelions were out like this, we got very excitable and made dandelion wine.

Something different I thought. It certainly was. I think I may be an acquired taste. I never acquired it. I still like to buy Australian Chardonnay darling.

One day I noted burdock by the side of the road, so we stopped for me to harvest enough to make wine.

A year later all this wine is still in the log cabin. This year I have been using it on the garden
. I thought it would kill the weeds.
It has turned out to be a great fertilizer!!!!!  Instead of killing it helps produce more more more.  So my plants are alcoholics.
This is good, as I find the wine horrible.

 Anyway the dandelions are all out in abundance this year....I will not be tempted to make free wine.

Sunday, on a warm sunny May day, we went out in rusty the van to Harrogate.

 Monza the dog, was so excited he steamed the cab of rusty the van.....with enthusiastic bark.

This day everything was bark fodder.... Usually he waits for dog or sheep sightings. As he had not been out on the van for so long, he made up for it......Not only did he bark he jumped around too.....mostly upon me. I became disheveled and covered in hair and slobber very very quickly.

We went the scenic country way.....it does not really look like a barking opportunity does it? Well Monza barked the whole way.

 we reached Harrogate, and got as far as Betty's tea rooms and discovered road closures and policemen in yellow flash directing us the opposite way to where we wanted to be.......

Lee did the white van man "thing" and took evasive action.......he knows the back way.....so around into the one way system again we went........barking and bouncing along the road as we went.....

A freedom parade was taking place. 75 years after VE day. 75 YEARS!  wow respect here.

Monza dog did not care. he barked. We did a van version of Zebedee from the magic roundabout.

 monza was still barking with even more enthusiasm.....then we got into a traffic jam, because all traffic was stopped for the freedom parade..... Lots of very fit guys marching
More frantic barking.....more strange looks from passers and fellow traffic jammers.......

 as we were stationery in a traffic jam, in a rusty old van bouncing up and down as a very hairy dog leapt about barking full tilt.......in very posh Harrogate, by the dog walking park........
Extreme bouncing and barking ensued.
The Van began to sway and bounce.....
There was nothing we could do.......we just sat there with everyone staring open mouthed.

We passed this pub...eventually on one circuit....I think it has changed names...however we have fond memories...as we came here on our honeymoon...not just this pub...but Harrogate generally........

We got stuck just by this very expensive looking hotel....still the van was jumping and Monza was bark bark bark financially.......by now my hair was on end, my clothes disheveled and everything had been sprayed off the dash board by big hairy paws. this included the GPS system .....this will never work again.

I adopted a Judy Dench "m" expression......imagining that I was putting Bond......James Bond in his place......however I do not think I pulled it off that well....... As lee tried to slouch down and hide under the steering wheel.