Blogs from Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 23

I cant believe how quickly the time has passed and that in less than 4 weeks Tom and i will be setting off on the journey of a lifetime. Have had some really useful Christmas presents: rucksack/day sack, some Aussie dollars, microfibre towel, folding bowl, knife fork spoon set, merrell shoes, some bridgedale socks and zip off trousers. Our wonderful "Children" bought a keyboard for the ipad to make blogging easier. Its all starting to feel very real! We are all vaccinated and are stocking up on essential meds which will occupy a fair amount of rucksack space. I think packing is going to be the first challenge - I am never good at travelling light- but by far the biggest challenge will be saying goodbye to our children and the dogs. Thank heavens for Face ... read more

Winter has definately come overnight to this part of Derbyshire. A light dusting of snow has covered the ground and hedgerows. And there is that biting wind. Lead boots are needed to keep your feet grounded as it blows in from the Arctic. The sky is leaden, the clouds grey and overcast blanketing the county with that grey look of winter. We have months of this to look forward to and the chances are it will get colder. It is only the beginning of December a cold old month. January and February will probably be worse. It is the sort of day where you wake, put your nose out of the bed, sniff the air and go back to bed tucked under the duvet. A cup of hot steaming coffee to start the day before snuggling ... read more

Life is slowly returning to normal after four weeks on the road in Suzy. She is parked up - still dirty and in need of a wash. Inside things are still as they were when we came home. Cleaning is long overdue. Autumn is fast approaching. The mists have arrived in the early part of the mornings making it difficult to see a few yards in front of the car. The clocks change next week and with that move the mornings will become slightly lighter for a few weeks but the nights will draw in. House decorating has taken over from travelling but finally today we managed a trip out to a local windmill. A windmill in Derbyshire surely not. In Holland of course you find windmills part of the fabric of the countryside. In Spain ... read more

We are now in the heart of a British summer. The occasional thunder storm clears the air but it still feels heavy and muggy. A different heat to that abroad. The nights are long and have reached that plateau where they neither get any longer nor get any shorter. And it is 50 days to our next long holiday. Suzy sits idly on the top garden waiting to get on the road again. She needs a fill of fuel and that will be done some time over the next week or so as I have accumulated another 20p per litre off fuel and need to use it by the end of the month. Plans are still underway . We need a vignette for the Czech republic and we cannot get this from our usual supplier TollTickets ... read more

We have been home now for the past two weeks. Where has the time disappeared to? When you are younger a year lasts forever, a month feels like a year, a week like a month, a day like a week . But as you get older it seems to disappear quickly into a black hole and you wonder where it went to. Suzy gets her windscreen makeover tomorrow but that's another day. She still needs cleaning and it is a job that will need to be done sooner rather then later. But then there is today................ Today we take you down Electric Avenue. There you go - I got the song in. Eddie Grant - go on sing along . We did as we walked down the street. Quietly of course. It is one of those ... read more