Dog Days Holidays

19/06/2024

01/05/2023

Just thought I’d explain the change of profile picture for Dogdays Holidays, to just the Cablogin Studio. With great sadness we have decided to cease renting out Raven’s Retreat Shepherd’s Hut. The pressure of maintaining it - and enough water from the well - has increased over the last eight years and, at the end of the day, we are supposed to be retired!!
For those eight years we have had the privilege of welcoming so many wonderful people to our little peaceful retreat. It has made us some incredible friends so we don’t make the decision lightly, but those who know me will understand that my life has been dogged by the anxiety created by ADHD and it’s negative effects are increasing with age!! (The positive effects being the books I’ve written and the pictures I’ve created which can still be seen in the Cabin).
You wouldn’t believe the percentage of people who visit who also have ADHD – (one weekend it was 3 out of 4 – poor Roger being the odd one out!) – so much so that we’re thinking of offering it as ADHD-friendly as well as dog-friendly!! It must be the offer of peace and a certain “magic” quality that seems to appeal to them.
We’ve reduced our prices for the Cabin this year (discounts available) and encourage our guests to bring their own bedding and towels to reduce carbon footprint. We have also created a car parking space above the Cabin to help ensure complete privacy for our guests with a lit path down to the “wild garden”.
Thank you to Polly Lovegrove for the lovely photo of Raven introducing himself to a metal cat silhouette!
We’d love to welcome you for that peaceful break you’ve been promising yourselves – we think you’ll find it worth it. Please go to www.dogdaysholidays.com for more details.

11/07/2022

Sunny days - although not ideal weather for repairing the roof on the log Cabin! Our wonderful friends Tim, Jo and Ollie with Alba and three legged Lola are up for a bit of a break. Busman’s holiday for poor Tim. The problem with being a really good builder and carpenter is there’s always something someone wants you to do! But he does it so well and in this heat! What a hero.
We’d planned a trip to Ynyslas but impossible in this heat with three dogs so the rest of us are just chilling out and Lola protecting her ball from Raven. The clouds and sky in the photos are just amazing. Happy days

02/05/2022

Oh dear another long gap. There always seems so much to do! We’re back in swing now with the bookings although May still has some free dates (see www.dogdaysholidays).
It’s lovely to welcome back returning guests such as little Frankie in his sling (he is 14 and has very short legs for going walking) and his two young two legged brothers who did really well when I introduced them to taking the mirror pictures in the wood last weekend - and, of course, their lovely parents.
Also returning this weekend are Mat and Nikki our son and daughter in law who are trying to buy a house here to be closer to us (not an easy task at the moment). The brilliant photos below are Mat’s from Friday night which was superb for watching the stars. That’s the beauty of the dark skies here.
This week we’ll also be welcoming our Raven’s Retreat friends who have been coming for the last six yeas but missed out during covid. It’s good to see friends again!

08/01/2022

Just a quick post on the off chance that it’ll be seen by whoever sent an enquiry from the website - www.dogdaysholidays.com - for 28th January at the Cabin with no email address or telephone number. Just to let you know that those dates are aleady booked.
Thought I’d add a couple of photos for those who know the walk in the woods alongside Raven’s Retreat. The little stream/ford has split with the force of water over the last month, partly caused by a fallen branch. Also we have a new “friend” at the bird table. Shame they do so much harm!
All the best for 2022

24/12/2021

Happy Christmas everyone.
I know you are all very busy but there is a competition on Quirky Accommodation, who we have been with for years and they have chosen Raven's Retreat as one of the 8 shepherds huts where you can win a £350 holiday! What an honour. If you'd like to enter here is the link https://www.quirkyaccom.com/.../quirkyaccom-s-shepherds... and GOOD LUCK

19/12/2021

It’s that time of year again when we think back through the months and remember all the special moments, the special people and of course - the special dogs. It’s been an amazingly busy but rewarding year, with inevitable ups and downs.
One of the downs (the well running dry) has made us to decide to offer £15 off any stay if you bring your own bedding and towels.
But there was also the great pleasure of seeing old friends and making new ones and the privilege of knowing that our Raven’s Retreat and Cablogin Studio brought much needed peace and quiet to our guests.
So thank you all so much for your company and a very Merry Christmas and New year to you all and hope we see you in 2022.

01/11/2021

To cheer up a gloomy Monday I thought I’d share with you how wonderful it has been to welcome these three special people to the Cabin. Dale and Charlii have been coming to see us from the beginning of their relationship for five years now – anniversaries of getting together, engagement, honeymoon and now the greatest reward for us the dear little Florence – five month old and the most smiley baby we have ever come across!
We feel very privileged, particularly as they also bring Milo, Sprocket and the gorgeous Molly – (who took a shine to Roger but didn’t seem to want to share his wine!) - and, on top of which they also love Raven!
We never envisaged that Raven’s Retreat would bring us such wonderful friends, but it has. The highlight was that the day little Florence was coming our other favourite guests came all the way from Gloucester to see us and bring us lunch (lamb oggies from Newtown – their favourites) having told us that they had arranged for lunch to be delivered which puzzled me greatly - until they arrived with it!! Now those are true friends and I think I might have shed a tear!
The last photo is of Lola the gorgeous three legged dog that Jo and Tim rescued from Romania and who visits us now with Bryn and Alba.

10/10/2021

Just had to share the beautiful Bentley with you. Okay – I fell in love again - with a chihuahua cross Jack Russell!! Such a tough, loving lad - which meant I could have cuddles and he was not the least bit phased by Raven. James and Chelsea came to stay in the Cabin and put an amazing review on Dogdays Holidays page as well as some stunning photographs – you can tell she’s an experienced photographer and specialises in pet portraiture. So I’m sharing some of them with you. Particularly love the one of Bentley at Montgomery Castle – King of the Castle - and you can see how tiny he is sitting on the old nursing chair at the Cabin in contrast to the enormous size of the logs. He’s even smaller than his Piggy toy!
Really like photo of the back of the Cabin, showing the bat box we put up to encourage the bats to vacate the roof space and stop rustling – so far not so good!

31/08/2021

IT'S always so interesting to find out what attracts someone to come and stay at Cablogin and Raven’s Retreat. Believe it or not last week, it was the rocking chair on the veranda of the Cabin!! Tim of Tim Cowell Photography North Wales was determined to come once he saw the rocking chair He even took a mirror shot of it - a la Nature Gallery!! (I think my parents thought it a little odd that I wanted a rocking chair for my 21st birthday, particularly as I had to wait another thirty years before I had the veranda to put it on!)
But what is really exciting is that Tim brought his drone with him – so watch this space (he’s a very busy lad) for some wonderful aerial shots and some incredibly atmospheric shots inside the Cabin.
We also had a day off (had forgotten what those were!)and the sun shone on the beautiful road to Machynlleth from Dylife. Amazing views from the Wynford Vaughan Thomas memorial
Still some vacancies in both premises for November – just go to dogdaysholidays.com

25/07/2021

Another long gap but I’m happy to say it’s because we have been extremely busy welcoming so many amazing people (and dogs) to Raven’s Retreat and the Cablogin Studio – which has proved to be remarkably popular – mostly I think because people sleep so well, lulled by the peace and quiet.
One of our latest guests at Raven’s Retreat, Hannah and Paul were so kind as to put a glowing review on our page as well as Google, plus they brought the very beautiful Gus for us to meet (and who even appeared to like Raven!)
We do really want to say a huge thank you to all our guests who have made our lives richer. We so appreciate how very lucky we are to be able to offer such a magical retreat from the world in this stunning part of mid Wales.
On a more sombre note we lost one of the most gentle and loving dogs who ever came to stay – the lovely Mishka seen here in Raven’s Retreat. She had been suffering with heart problems for a while. Thank you Sam for letting us meet her and may your heart heal soon.
Please check the dogdaysholidays.com site to check availability – we’d love to meet you.

12/04/2021

Whilst we had the twins launching the re-opening of the Cabin after four months - we had a lovely couple staying with their dog, Penny, in Raven’s Retreat. It is just so wonderful that they had the best weekend they have ever had!! (Echoing the twin’s “best holiday ever”). So we must be doing something right! They enjoyed it so much that we received a telephone call from them as soon as they got home – booking another weekend in Raven’s Retreat at the end of May! That’s the first time anyone has been that prompt – in fact I thought there may be something wrong when Patrick rang so soon after leaving instead of very right!
It was also exciting to sell TWO packs of my Inspiration and Reflection “oracle” cards to the family that followed on from the twins with another delightful nine year old son.
Next in the Cabin (April 12th) are our very good friends, Jo, Tim and their three dogs (it was two last year but Lola, a three legged rescue. joined them a few months back). This’ll be their fourth – or is it fifth - visit to us bringing the beautiful Alba and the gentlemanly, now elderly Bryn (see photos from last year) but this time they’re coming to work – well Tim is – Jo and I will probably just chat! There are things in the Cabin Roger can’t do on his own so Tim very kindly offered to help. It’ll be so very, very good to see them again.
Both the Cablogin Studio and Raven’s Retreat are steadily filling – so if you fancy a break, let us know as soon as possible.

04/04/2021

Such a joy to be welcoming back guests. Started off so well with nine year old twin boys staying in the Cabin test running the loft space for us. Seemed to pass muster and the boys were an absolute delight (their parents weren’t bad either!!) Such a shame to see them go as they appreciated everything about the Cabin. “Best holiday ever.” Can’t do better than that. Oddly, the next guests in the Cabin also have a nine year old son.
DARK SKIES . Mid Wales is one of the least light polluted areas in the country. We are within the area of the Cambrian Mountains new Astro-tourism trail (listed in the top 6 Trails in the National Geographic) and are very close to the Dark Skies Discovery site at the Star Inn for those who enjoy gazing at the stars. We have a red light torch to borrow and, of course, our extensive veranda to star-gaze from for any budding astronomers amongst you.
I’ll share some of their photographs – particularly of last year’s Neowise comet. (I really like the one of Dafydd “catching a falling comet”!) Also one fantastic one over the Clywedog by James Dean