mrsmarinastarke....likes clean sheets: And has mostly been enjoying her own

No, my sheets haven't been sporadically scratchy or trying to tie me up in the night, I've just been mostly at home. Not entirely though, we were contrary and left the home of Hogmanay to spend the New Year down south. Our first stop was at the lovely and very dog friendly Plough at Lupton (@ThePloughLupton).

The Plough is close to Kirby Lonsdale which is a gorgeous wee town, there are lots of interesting shops and a good selection of places to eat and drink. It also has a branch of Booth's (the supermarket) which, correct me if I'm wrong, is found only between Cheshire and Hadrian's wall. It is sooooo smart, it makes another posh supermarket look downmarket, they even have black trolleys. And they had a sale, so we didn't rock up to the GlamourPuss's empty handed.

We rushed through teeming rain to visit the railway heritage museum in Carnforth. We didn't go to the tearoom there, instead we had a yummy lunch at the Wolfhouse kitchen (@wolfhousewolf ) Silverdale. Afterwards we humans had a muddy slither only just managing to stay upright ( ill chosen footwear) to enjoy this view of Morecambe Bay. Dogstarke on her four paw drive had no such trouble.

Looking north towards the Lake District

The roads were quiet on New Year's Eve so we reached PapaStarke in time to take Dogstarke for a much appreciated walk before it got dark

"There'll always be a welcome.............."

Time for a cocktail ( or two ) at the ever welcoming Angel Hotel in Abergavenny (@LovetheAngel ) and then back to the GlamourPuss's where she and her table lived up to the name

And the Prof provided us with lovely food.

And so to 2014

A stopover on in Liverpool on what was promised to be a very stormy night. We checked in at the stylish and friendly Hope Street Hotel (@hopestreethotel) and fed and watered settled down to enjoy "Brief Encounter" - we hadn't been able to resist in the gift shop at Carnforth- and a good night's sleep.

I marvelled at the stars visible through the window above the bed, it was a beautiful clear night, the forecasters must have been wrong.....

Oh no. In the early hours even the supremely comfy bed couldn't lull me back to sleep. It was a very stormy night. ( though that's a different movie ).