Why is it we are never satisfied with what we are given? Summer has arrived here with a vengence . One of those hot, humid, muggy summers . The grass is yellowing in parts. Plants are dying and I pray to the god of rain to drench me just to get some relief . It feels too hot to garden unless we do it at the start of the day. Even then it is most unpleasant . We leave the windows open to try to gain a through draught . We make plans to go to Chester to try to get a place to watch the Midsummer Watch parade . A medieval parade which has been re-invented and has become a yearly event since the end of Covid . Yes Covid . The summer vaccination programme ... read more

"What are those over there ?" We heard the couple who had just alighted from the buggy that had brought them from the lower car park to the castle asking the driver . He explained " Well locally there is Nightingale House " "It is a hospice and the snowdrops are part of the Sunshine Meadow created as a fundraiser " It was exactly a year ago to the day that we had found ourselves at Erddig Hall just a mile or so up the road from us standing in front of another Sunshine Meadow. Last year hundreds of bright blue Forget me Nots had been produced and "planted " for these were metal not the real thing in the meadow outside the house . A year on we were standing in front of this years ... read more

Over the last two years Wrexham our home town has taken on a new life. Thanks to Rob McElleney and Ryan Reynolds who have put the town within a city and Wales in general on the map. There are still empty shops in the town centre .. Some boarded up with FOR LET signs upon them . The large department stores in the same way as in many cities and towns in the UK have closed down and moved on to the internet or moved out of town. The beggars and rough sleepers are still about but the city has a very different feel. More of being content with itself. More outward looking than inward . Americans visit the town now to attend the football matches between August and April . They stay at local hotels ... read more

When we travelled years ago and stayed in gites I often wrote about the gite, the people who owned it and the weather over the holiday . As we moved to motorhoming the blogs usually ended with facts. How many days we had travelled ? What the weather was like ? How many days of sunshine ? How many inclement days or thunderstorms ? The cost of camp sites, the mileage travelled. We tried to rate campsites based on facilities . A swimming pool , clean and refreshing to swim in gained bonus points . A restaurant was a must and the meal was scored on the quality, the price and the service . The reception was noted and the staff commented upon . The price of fuel was written down and a miles per gallon ... read more

Day 5 since we left home and this is the first time we had spent three of those days in one place since 2011 or thereabouts. We always were on the move nearly every day. Looking out of the same windows does feel very odd and at times disconcerting . We are more used to moving when the weather is poor and visiting towns or cities before moving on again . We have had wall to wall sunshine since the monsoon like weather of Monday . So much planning too. That is a very different thing this trip. In the past we booked the train. Arrived and stopped overnight somewhere close to the tunnel . The circular route was chosen but capable of some movement if things changed. We never booked a campsite nor an aire ... read more