Blogs from Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 17

. Dear Blog - this is catching. This writing to a blog. 2018 has just started to slip into my memory . I wonder what 2019 will bring in terms of that wonderful thing travel. New years resolutions are just there lurking - eat less , eat better food , be more diligent in the approach to fitness, swim more, walk more, be nice to my neighbours and my friends , Work hard and play hard. Of course by tomorrow I will be still stuffing my face, eating all the wrong things and will have forgotten what I planned to do. Such are resolutions. Easy to write about . Much harder to keep to. I guess we all start with good intentions and fail miserably after a few weeks ............ a few days ...........a few hours. ... read more

There are so many great books in the world . Works of fiction and non fiction. The great religious weighty tomes. The Norwegian sagas and the old welsh historical books of legend . The Mabinogian and the works of modern writers. Who wouldn't want to read the story of Noah and his ark ending up on Mount Ararat and not want to stand on the spot? Who wouldn't want to go to Ephesus and stand in the footsteps of St Paul? The great literature and religious books take us to a world that I would want to visit . The religious works tell us how to live our lives. Not to steal, not to kill , not to covet the property or goods of someone else, not to lie and not to deceive . They all ... read more

Breakfast down in the quaint breakfast room was delightful. We ventured out at about half past 10, driving for half an hour through idyllic farming land. The roads were narrow, the villages picturesque, just beautiful countryside in the Peak District. We arrived at Chatsworth House, also known as the home of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and Buckingham Palace in The Crown, but actually the English home of The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire (remember, we saw their Irish home some days ago?). We spent hours there, touring inside the house, and then walking around the gardens. It was just amazing. They’ve done a wonderful thing, opening their home to the public. The extensive collection of antiquities, art, statues, furnishings was marvellous. It wasn’t cheap to get in (£21 each) but the cost of the ... read more

The butterflies in our stomachs are growing larger by the minute as we creep ever closer to our Iberian adventure. Gabby has been for her weigh in. We had added an extra solar panel to her roof, an extra gas bottle and offset this weight by adding a built in bbq, removing an electric hob, many of the tools out of the tool box. We aslo removed the second cutlery set and the large plates we have never used. We set off to get her weighed and she passed with flying colours. We are good to go and not overweight which is a problem many motorhomers fear. All that remains is to fill her with foot and clothing. Our househunting has stalled. Our photos have been taken and our details uploaded onto the internet. We got ... read more

Motor homing is all about making plans. Sticking to them. Changing them. It is all about spending the cold dark winter months reading other peoples blogs. Following their travels , earmarking places to visit and campsites to stay at. With almost two thirds of our year taken up with illnesses and a broken fly screen on Gabby most of our travelling has been in our minds. There has been a void between what we wanted to achieve and what we actually achieved. April and the French holiday passed us by. Planned trips around the U.K never materialised. Even when thought we would get away we were tied up waiting for probate and oaths to be signed at the solicitors offices. We were trapped waiting for valuers and now waiting for someone to want to buy Glenns ... read more