Soho house crowd in the countryside.

My owners decided to go away to Babington House, in Somerset. This place is a pretty swanky. It's a cool boutique hotel, part of SoHo House Group. Plenty of pampered pooches hang out here, so perfect for me. 

Having a walk in the beautiful grounds

Running round the hotel's gardens

Sniffing around the hotel grounds 

Me in our room. The hotel provided a big dog bed but I preferred my own. I only like spongy fabric beds with lots of padding, so I always take my own bed away on vacation.  I do need to ensure I get my beauty sleep. 

Nice restaurants (I wasn't allowed there, boooooo)

View from the breakfast table (for my owners, not me unfortunately) 

I was allowed in a few public rooms, one of them being the games room. I enjoyed watching my owners (try to) play pool. I wanted to get the balls. 

I look tiny here. 

Nice touches in the guest rooms - fresh flowers and retro style radio 

Stylish Country-Chic guest rooms 

Time of stay: Sunday night in March, 2014. 

Babington House 

Hare and the vets

After a visit to the vets (I managed to catch my claw, don't ask how, but it hurt), we went into Blackheath for an early lunch at The Hare and Billet pub. 

Feeling scared in the vets waiting room.

As soon as we walked in I spotted the dogs. Loads of them. Was great. I barked at quite a few, which annoyed my owners. I'm only small, I need to bark so the big dogs can see me. 

Look at this big dog I spotted (hard to miss really). 

We had a great table by the window. I sat in my bag and had a good view of the rest of the pub. 

Sat in my bag, surveying the action. 

Colourful picture display on wall by our table (old beer ads).

My owners liked the chic country pub feel to the Hare and Billet. I liked the other dogs, the seat by the window (even more to look at) and the yummy smelling food. 

Vegetarian Tagine. (Smelt quite nice, but the roast dinner my other owner ate smelt a lot nicer). 

See the roast dinner in the background... 

Time of visit: Sunday lunch in March 2014. 

Hare & Billet

Blackheath 

London

SE3 

Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes...

No January dieting for my owners. An afternoon out in Primrose Hill and where do we go? 'Sweet Things', a cupcake shop on the high street. 

The best thing about this cute and colourful store is, not only am I allowed inside, but I get bought a giant cheese bone doggie biscuit. 

Personally I would prefer a Red Velvet cupcake, but the cheese bone still tastes pretty good. Plus, I cant complain, the biscuit bone is as big as my fluffy head. 

Eyeing up the cupcakes...

They do cute non-cupcake cakes too 

Yummy. They look so pretty. Shame I can't eat them, but I know chocolate is dangerous for doggies 

Tables have cute decorations - underneath the glass tops are colourful cake decorations

Paitently waiting for my cheese bone 

I wanted to pose next to the sign 'Sweet Things', because I am a 'sweet thing' 

I want this poster

Oh, one last thing from Primrose Hill. When we came out of Sweet Things, I spotted this on the High St (photo below). Better luck next time big dog. Your owners need to start reading my blog...and avoid leaving you out in the cold.

Time of visit: January 2014

Sweet Things 

Primrose Hill

London 

I love Turkey Day...

Christmas Eve morning (not that I knew that of course), I was woken by the sound of howling wind and rain lashing at the window. I would have liked to have spent the day in bed but then I noticed the suitcase.  This big bag, on the floor of the study, had been gradually filling up over the last few days. 

Now it was zipped up and looked like it could burst at the seams. This could only mean one thing, it was finally holiday time.  Now that is worth getting out of bed for. 

Stage one of journey: Black Cab. Very exciting. I had a good look out of the windows, watching the streets of London whizz by.

Stage two of journey: The Train. I do like the gentle rocking motion of a train, it sends me to sleep quite quickly. 

Arrival in Yorkshire. Hurray! Back to the beautiful countryside and Christmas with my owner's parents. Time with my 'grand parents' is always good news for me. It means lots of playing and lots of treats. 

This specific holiday I hear was called Christmas Holiday. I soon learned that actually meant Turkey Holiday (yum) and Presents Holiday (fab).  

Opening presents on Christmas morning 

Just opened a new toy 

The present opening was pretty tiring 

Watching Kings College Choir on Christmas Eve. Very interesting but I couldn't spot any dogs. 

Time to snuggle in bed

Another present 

Turkey / Present Day is tiring 

Rock chick of the restaurant world....

Time for a weekend brunch in Holland Park. Holland Park is one of the most exclusive residential neighbourhoods in London. So, as one stylish pooch, I fit right in. 

We travelled by the (smelly) underground. Not a very stylish way to travel but the quickest way. Getting onto the Central (red) line and heading west 11 stops until we reached Holland Park. Quite a trek, but I didn't mind as it gave me c30mins to snooze in my bag. The gentle rocking of the tube carriage does send me to sleep.... (I just have to try not to sniff)

Once at Holland Park, we had a stroll through some nice streets. Lots of the houses were decorated for Halloween. I think lots of Americans live in this area - they're a lot more into Halloween than the Brits. 

We arrived at our destination; Julie's. An effortlessly stylish neighbourhood restaurant. Here I am, eager to get inside. 

A peek out into the little square from the entrance of Julie's. 

Described by the owners as "a magnet for over 40yrs from the hippie generation and now to the ultra-cool London set [i.e. me]. Julie's has been referred to as the rock chick of the restaurant world"

The restaurant was pretty cool and the food smelt totally yummy. How could my owners resist feeding me their scrambled egg? They know how much I love it. 

After a while I gave up trying to get some egg and decided to look around instead/snooze. 

Julie's is pretty cool. It oozes atmosphere and the waiter was soooo friendly and stroked my head a few times. He didn't bring me any scrambled egg though, despite me giving him the puppy dog look. Boo. I got a bowl of water instead. I took a few sips to be polite.

Me spying. 

The restaurant is made up of lots of different rooms, each with its own distinct style. Here's a few photos to give you an idea. 

 Ground floor. French cafe chic. 

This bit reminded me of a church... 

Cosy little dining area. 

Lounge/bar area on lower level/cellar. 

Light and airy. Conservatory feel. 

Outdoor terrace. Bit rainy and chilly to be outside today. 

By the time we got back home, I was totally exhausted and got tucked up in my big comfy bed. I was soon dreaming of eating scrambled eggs.  Zzzzzzzz

Julie's Restaurant & Champagne Bar

135 Portland Road

London

W11 4LW

www.juliesrestaurant.com 

Date of visit: Saturday, 26th October 2013.