Blogs from Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

Life's a funny old thing isn't it? My thought of the day said something like " Feel good, be good and do good" All laudable things to do. Do I feel good? Yes I suppose I do. The first day of official Spring has arrived and with it better weather . It is hard not to feel good when the sun has started to shine, the clocks have changed to British Summer Time and the hedgerows are starting to colour up with that fresh Springlike lime green. The snowdrops have gone over and been replaced by the pale mauves of the crocus; they in turn have given over to nodding yellow daffodils and thick white buds on the magnolia. It is hard to feel anything but happy. The new Sally Sat Nag seems to be the ... read more

Christmas seems a lifetime away. Hwyl - a welsh goodbye to Christmas and helo a chroeswch - welcome to a new year . 2017 and the start of other great and small adventures. January feels listless and I am reminded of the Pilot song which went something like "January sick and tired you've been hanging on me". The corner looks empty now the Christmas tree has been taken down. The days are grey and dull and have that November feel of dampness upon them. . The Derbyshire sky lifeless. The sun obscured by the thick clouds . The wind holds a chill which touches with its icy fingers. Towards the end of the week snow is predicted. Any rain is likely to fall as snow or sleet. Winter perhaps is on the verge of arriving. There ... read more

Well so ends a really rather excellent holiday. No rush to leave in the morning as ferry not until midday so we set off at a leisurely pace and headed for the supermarket. Intermarche first where Bob filled one of his collapsible crates with bottles of wine. Then to Le Clerc where Bob filled the second crate. Nicely stowed under the table until we get home and will keep Bob happy through the winter as he likes a glass of white with dinner 2 or 3 nights a week. Jus d’abricot for me and a nice selection of little French puddings to keep us going until our Frenchness has worn off (with the suntan). And so to the ferry port and onto the boat and away we went. Another rather nice day with lots of blue ... read more

Geo: 52.757, -1.93461We eventually left Rookesbury Park on Sunday, 7th August (Day 108) after spending many days getting to know Elena, our first grandchild. Precious moments, but a wrench having to say goodbye, for now at least. Thankfully the journey back to our home was straightforward and by lunchtime we were beginning the task of emptying our 'holiday home from home', preparing it for going back into storage until the next time. The day ended on a high too as we were reunited with our son and his girlfriend over a dinner of roast beef and all the trimmings prepared by Janet, my sister-in-law. She had obviously remembered our conversations about things we miss whilst away for long periods of time, and that was one of them. A perfect ending to a great trip.The caravan site ... read more

So much of my time has been taken up with house related activities. Not that I mind this particularly, it's been interesting to see just how quickly I slotted back into an earlier lifestyle; when my life here revolved around earning a living, gardening and home maintenance. I didn't want to spend all of my time doing jobs and making arrangements for the house sale; this trip was after all supposed to have been partly a holiday. There is a very large nature reserve close to my house called Consall Nature Park. A ten minute walk from my home will take me to the start of one of the many footpaths that lead down into the park. There are several attractions to be found there, and to say that there is something for everyone is not ... read more