Dogs

More animals in the Lambregts household...  Since a few months we have occasionally been looking after the neighbours' dogs, in general just during daytime. Obviously the dogs like it, as they are sometimes confused which house to enter. The neighbours are happy as well, as they asked us to look after the dogs for a whole week, while they would be enjoying a holiday in Turkey. The dogs are very well behaved, an unlikely pair (large black & small white) and like the attention from the girls. The only issue is a lack of fitness, as they generally do short walks only. So we started them on a bootcamp, and took them to the beach twice. These were lessons in pacing yourself, as Britt (large & black) found out. She likes running after a tennis ball, but only manages a few times, before getting completely out of breath. But enjoying it tremendously.....

Her little sister Fleur likes sitting on peoples laps, so the first thing she does when someone sits down is looking at you with sad eyes until she is allowed up. In summary it is the ideal way to have pets, by the time it starts to become routine they go back to their owners! 

Dorien and Mary walking Britt and Fleur

 Piet with his harvest of the Piemonte trip, Giro d'Italia in the background

A short holiday in France: rain, snow and sunshine

We went to France for the spring school holidays, looking forward to a week of sunshine and being outside, after a long, long winter and a very slow start of spring. The start wasn't great as we had a very tiring drive, with poring rain throughout the night. The first few days the rain and low temperatures continued and most time was spend inside or in the barn, working on a second horse box for a (yet) unidentified friend of Beau.

A cycling group from Piet's office (from the spinning classes) was in the area as well for 3 days, planning to do some nice sunny rides and ultimately climb Alpe d'Huez. The first day they rode through wet snow; the second day Piet joined, and it was very, very cold, but dry. So Alpe d'Huez was brought forward, and Piet had his first climb of the year! In the end he did fine, and all 30 riders reached the top without too many problems. The descend, however, was done in full winter gear! The next day it rained heavily again and the ride was cancelled. Most people drove back early to join the royal celebrations at home.

Later in the week the weather improved a lot, and we managed to do two nice hikes, walking in the sunshine and through knee-deep snow! Work in the garden (preparations for Beau's arrival in the summer) and biking continued as usual. The trampoline, that had been gathering dust in The Hague for 3 years, was assembled, to the enjoyment of the kids in the village. And as Cecile and all her horses finally moved to their new location in the Ardeche this was the first holiday in a very, very long time without horse riding!

Shell's cyclists on Alpe d'Huez. Piet in yellow rainjacket, 5th from right

Checking directions

Piet and Paula descending a snowfield near Taillefer

Hiking near Ornon, with the Taillefer in the background

The ladies at the start of the Via Ferrata in Venosc