Author: taraabit

July 27th 2017.

Not wanted to be stressed and in a rush we set off early this morning, 7.30 am. At 7.33 am we were parked in a side street trying to sort out the rear near side indicator that wasn’t working, this had happened once before in Germany, quick removal of the lens, a wriggle of the bulb and wire and loh and behold it came on. Sadly however it wouldn’t go off!  After three more attempts it worked OK but I did manage to drive the 167 miles to Portsmouth without indicating left.

We filled up with fuel locally and again at Sutton Scotney services where we spent 45 minutes with a coffee and a snack.

We arrived at Portsmouth without incident at 12.15 where we queued for ages at the ticket booth, there are lots of caravans on the move and they were being measured with a trundle wheel to make sure they weren’t longer than the owners had claimed!

We hadn’t packed the kitchen sink but had taken a new front door with us and I’m pleased to say everything stayed where we had packed it.

The ferry today is the Mont St Michel, an old favourite of ours, cabin7102, next to information.

It’s a large ferry, 161m long with a capacity for 648 cars and 2123 passengers, today the car decks were rammed with lorries, caravans etc we will be one of the last off from our car deck. We were 20 mins late departing but they will make that up on the journey, now for a cold pint before a siesta.

July 26th 2017

Seven years ago almost to the day I retired after 41 years at work. However because the other half is younger and was still at work it has meant that I’ve been up early every morning to taxi her to work and course been there to bring her back at the end of the day. Our holiday patterns have been determined by her work timetable, with us having to travel at expensive times.

However yesterday was her last day at work! An ending to one stage of her life and the beginning of another for both of us, typically we were still wide awake at the normal time this morning as though it were a work day.

One small leaving gift she received was a wall plaque with the message:

TAKE CHANCES

AND ONLY

REGRET THE 

THINGS YOU

DIDN’T DO.

So now we have that chance and hope to take full advantage!

Sadly this morning we attended the funeral of a neighbour who recently died at the age of 90, an ending to a long life that was a happy one, but as her house will be sold it will be the beginning of a new family in the house and new neighbours.

Tomorrow “weem off “again, a new adventure a new journey, and as we haven’t booked a return ticket we have no idea of the ending.

Saturday15th July 2017

We had planned to spend today making a visit to an Antiques Fair at Ludlow Race Course, but we awoke to a rather wet morning and as it appeared it was more antiques than brick a brac we decided to change plans. Instead we decided to visit a NT property,free to us as members, where if necessary we could spend time indoors, Shugborough was our choice.

It is sited on the edge of Cannock Chase south of Stafford and the original building/land was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolution of monasteries, eventually it was purchased in 1624 by William Anson.

The house and grounds stayed in the hands of the Anson family until 2010 during which time one of the family was made an earl, as often is the case with these large historical houses and grounds, death duties made it impossible to continue and it was passed to the NT in lieu of death duties. The 5th Earl, Patrick Lichfield noted photographer, lived there until his death in 2010.

The Georgian house is very interesting with its “above stairs” rooms and below stairs servants areas, kitchen laundry etc. The NT are developing the upper storey to showcase Patrick Lichfield.

Park Farm on the estate is well worth a visit with a fascinating display of how it’s occupants/ workforce lived and worked in the 1800s , some of the land is still farmed and there is a herd of longhorn cows.

There are a range of other buildings and follies in the grounds of 900 acres.

Sunday 9th July 2017.

After providing breakfast for several family members we packed up and moved Homer to a parking space near to the entrance to the camp site, we then went off with the family to have lunch and enjoy the pleasures of Nene Park.

The Ferry Meadows camp site is just part of the Nene Park, it also encompasses a hotel, golf courses, garden centre, a railway station which is serviced by Nene Valley Steam Railway and Nene Park itself.

 
Nene Park is a country park on the outskirts of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire and opened in 1978, it provides a hub of activity for everyone, you can walk, jog and cycling around its extensive grounds. There’s opportunity for sailing and fishing  and you can hire canoes and pedalos.

Running through part of the park is a miniature steam railway.

There are play areas for the children and it is an excellent spot for family gatherings, picnics, bbq’s etc, there are also cafes for those who don’t take their own food.

A wonderful place to spend a sunny weekend.

The time came to say our farewell to all our remaining weekend Bash members and then we drove home covering the 107 miles in two and a half hours.

Cambridgeshire is now our third county on the tick off list,

Saturday 8th July 2017

I started the day by visiting the site office to ask if there had been any cancellations or no shows and was greeted with a firm no and I had to vacate the pitch by noon, when I asked if we could use the tent pitches I was greeted with a firm no and the now familiar response “it’s Fire Regulations” I may be dense but I don’t recall seeing on the news regular reports about spontaneous tent  fires on campsites.

Anyway not to spoil the day off I went to Tesco with my cousin to do the food shopping for the bbq, We cut down on quantities this year so as not to have any waste. Upon our return I was greeted by my Chief Domestic Operator who had stopped behind on site that a warden had visited and we had been granted position to stay after all, I will have to make a sacrifice to the God of Fire Regulations.

More and more arrived until we totalled 33! Aged from infant to very senior member.

The BBQ was fired up and the burgers and sausages sacrificed.

 

It wasn’t too long before the dinner gong went and an orderly queue formed.

At the end of the day a volunteer was found to take the ritual gathering of Bash members photo

As the day grew to a close many family members made their way home.

Others stayed on to work on the remaining food and alcohol including an evening helping of chips from the site visiting chippy.

By 10pm it had all gone quiet and the three of us left enjoyed a whisky night cap.

Today we started our migration to the annual Bash, we left at 1pm and 102 miles and two and a half hours later we arrived at our destination, Ferry Meadows camp site at Peterborough.

When I went to the office and gave my name and details I was told that my booking didn’t exist and that they were full for the weekend, but could squeeze me in for Friday night. Well that put us in a good mood, I tried giving the staff alternative options that might resolve the issue but was met by a consistent response of “can’t do that Fire Regulations!” no wonder that a relative called a warden on another site “Herr Flick.”

Still with one night paid for we drove around the site and found an empty spot next to my cousin, which meant that there was a large area we could use to hold our festivities. There we were met by the host and my sister,brother in law and other family members who had already booked into a local hotel.

.

The Friday evening gathering consisted of eleven adults and two children, cousin David had prepared a wonderful evening meal for us that went down well with a range of wines and beers.

When it started to go dark we realised that our electric hook wasn’t working, we didn’t know, hadn’t been told and subsequently found out that when the lead was inserted the plug had to be rotated to turn on the electricity, well you live and learn.

At 10pm our daughter and her partner arrived and had a drink and chat before going off to their hotel and we eventually retired to bed.

Over the past few weeks there have been strange stirrings in several households across the country.

Like some primordial instinct people have been readying themselves for an annual migration.

Is it the call of Stonehenge and the cult of the druids? NO!

Is it the migration of the Wildebeest ? NO!

Is it a gathering of the Scottish clans, called by the Laird? NO!

It’s the time for the annual “fire festival” to be held at a preordained place by the nominated “one” 

Actually it’s the movement of branches of the family to the annual gathering “The Bash”

Here the worship is restricted to enjoying a bbq and catching up on the family gossip for the past twelve months, spread over a long weekend, with participants from five years to ninety five years.

More to follow.

Sunday 18th June 2017

FATHER’s DAY

Today was my day to be spoiled by my family, not to say there aren’t many other occasions during the year. A collection of cards and presents started the day and then the family, including 94 year old grandmother, gathered at The Miller and Carter restaurant for lunch, a pre meal drink was taken outside in the garden where the temperature was a heady 28 degrees.

A very pleasant lunch followed in a relaxed happy atmosphere, rounded up for me with a sticky toffee pudding, yum yum, but Andy’s chocolate orange dessert looked amazing.

A great thank you to our four off spring for treating me and paying for the meal.

We spent the afternoon relaxing in the garden at home  seeking shade, such a rare event in the UK.

Saturday 17th June 2017

A  beautiful sunny hot day, so rare in the UK , too rare to waste so it was decided to dust off the National Trust membership cards and head off to a new property. 

We selected Charlecote Park both for its interest and also speed of the outward journey, taking the M42, M40 to junction 15 and then a short journey down an A road. As is our wont we arrived early just as they were opening, the car park was relatively empty and we were able to park the car in the shade of a large oak tree.

After booking in we crossed the road and took the long driveway down to the house, on the left as you pass through the arched gateway is a room giving the history of the family who have lived on site since the arrival of the Normans, the family still live in a wing of the house but as many of these families do, gave the property to the NT to be looked after in perpuitity. Other details of the history of the house and family can easily be accessed by internet.

We enjoyed a leisurely walk around the lower floor of the house and it’s outbuildings (unfortunately due to lack of volunteer staff the upstairs wasn’t open) the grounds were beautiful and many families were enjoying picnics and quality time with their children. We had a drink and cake in one of the gardens.

After our visit we drove home through the Cotswolds via Moreton in The Marsh where we stopped for lunch, they were preparing the town for a music festival, it’s a pity we couldn’t have stopped. 

We noticed on our recent journey that the instruments on the dashboard weren’t glowing particularly well so I have dismantled the dash board and am in the process of replacing all the bulbs I can access. It’s been interesting discovering all the screws that hold everything in place.

Following a few stressful moments experienced on our recent trip by the senior navigator I have kindly bought her a present, hopefully these large scale maps will help not only on our next trip across July, August and September but also for future journeys.

I purchased the maps from Vicarious Books Media, an excellent internet site, the order was delivered within 24 hours. http://www.Vicarious-Shop.com

Whilst dismantling the dashboard I dropped a screw, doesn’t it always happen, it bounced down to where the leisure battery is stored. When I removed its cover and began the search for the screw I found behind the battery a 300W inverter which I hadn’t realised was there, this a device which can be connected directly to the battery and converts direct current to alternating current, This means we can charge or run devices when off mains.

Also behind the battery I found a credit card receipt dated July 2015, it was for goods bought in Ljubljana in Slovenia. Now taking a huge leap into the unknown leads me to believe that Homer was there two years ago. It made me think what stories could Homer tell us about the places he has visited whilst ferrying previous drivers and passengers around during his life to date. It’s good to feel that we will be adding to his history. So far in 3 months we have visited four european countries and stayed in two English counties.