Angie Aspinall: Planning our first holiday with Tilly

So, we’re soon to become a ‘dog-owning household’ and one thing is bound to change as a result – and that’s the places we stay when we go on holiday.

Now, we’ve always enjoy self-catering holidays and camping trips in the UK anyway so, the type of holiday won’t be different but the actual accommodation might be. However, for our first holiday as dog-owners we are planning something which is a known quantity and we are really looking forward to it!

Last year, I made friends with someone on Twitter who was really kind and supportive to me when I was going through those first months of sudden deafness. It turned out she and her husband owned two holiday cottages adjoining a home they were looking to retire to.

They needed some photos of their holiday accommodation for their website so we exchanged our photographic skills for a short break. We also made some fabulous friends into the bargain and had a great time getting to know Suzanne and Chris.

When we stayed last year, we stayed in the cottage called ‘Kisdon’ but we also photographed their dog-friendly cottage which is called ‘Lovely Seat’. And, it’s to Lovely Seat we’ll be venturing with our rescue dog Tilly for her first EVER holiday. Richard and I have been envisaging it ever since we first read about Tilly on the Little Dog Rescue website…

Days spent doing short walks in the Dales (the dog and new owners are none too fit and short walks are all we’ll manage this time) and evenings spent curled up with our books – and our dog – on the sofa, in front of the log-burning stove. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it?

Angie is a journalist, food and travel writer, photographer and co-founder of #Yorkshirehour on Twitter – as well as having a full-time job in local government. She’s also a wife, chicken-keeper, gardener, foodie and WI member, living in Glorious Yorkshire. Angie started going deaf in one ear at the age of 30, then suffered total sudden onset hearing loss in her ‘good’ ear in 2011. Her husband and her chickens keep her sane – or as close as she’s gonna get! You can check out her website, blog, twitter account, Facebook and Linked In.

The Limping Chicken is supported by Deaf media company Remark!, provider of sign language services Deaf Umbrella, the Deaf training and consultancy Deafworks, the RAD Deaf Law Centre, and BID’s upcoming 5th anniversary performance by Ramesh Meyyappan on 12th October – don’t miss it!