Denbighshire 11 - a pretty part of the country and the countdown begins properly

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85 days and counting.......................Suzy is still sitting on the drive perhaps a little forlorn waiting for Spring to come and the camping season to begin. Hints of Spring seem just around the corner. The thick snow that lay at her feet last week has finally disappeared and now we are being warned to watch out for floods as the melt water drips slowly into the soil and heads for the rivers and lakes. The pure pristine whiteness that cloaked the hills around the town have gone. No longer can we see miles upon miles of that pure whiteness that only freshly driven snow has. It has a hint of blue and silver about it that shimmers in the cold thin daylight and it stays that way until it becomes mucky and sullied from the tracks of tyres and footprints.

The first of the delicate mauve crocus have poked their heads through the soil. Sheltered by the warmth of the house walls they and tiny yellow primulas brighten corners of the garden. They are brave little things - less delicate than they actually look. . Our first snowdrops have dangled their tiny heads against the bitter winds that have driven down across the North Sea from the Arctic and from across the English Channel from our near neighbour France. Things like the weather have been distinctly frosty between ourselves and our friends across the Channel since our Prime Minister suggested a referendum on either staying in or leaving the European community. Much discussion is going on about whether we want to remain in the community or come out of it. It seems as if our present government if elected again in at the next election will offer us the opportunity to say if we want to go it alone or stay with the E.U. I wonder how easy it will be for us to travel across Europe if we come out of the E.U. The free movement is about the only good thing coming our way at the moment . It would be hard to go back to border posts and checks again as we have got used to the Schengen agreement which allows free passage.

We moved Suzy a few inches to give her tyres a well earned move to prevent flat spotting. As she hasn’t moved since before Christmas she certainly needed the change of scenery even though it was only those few inches backwards towards the garage doors. A quick check inside showed no sign of water ingress. As this is our first year owning her we had little idea what would leak in the motorhome having read horror stories of roof lights letting in copious amounts of rainwater. And as the snow was melting we were somewhat worried about her state inside. Much to our relief she was however dry inside. There was an air of coldness to her soft furnishings but no sign of damp. We did ponder moving the soft furnishings into the house until the weather improvesbut have left them for the moment.

Recent purchases have included a small magnetic temperature gauge. For those amongst you who have purchased a motorhome on a Fiat base will realise why we have purchased this item. Despite the handbook telling us that there is an outside temperature gauge on the controls we and others have failed to find it. Hence the need to purchase a cheap one from our local shop. I doubt it will last long but if it manages a year I will be happy. At least now we will know what the temperature is both inside and outside of Suzy when we are away rather than having to best guess it.

Our Swiss and Austrian vignettes were ordered at the weekend and arrived within 3 days which included a Sunday. What excellent service from Toll tickets in Germany. Typical German efficiency. The two books we ordered from Amazon DK Eye Witness accounts have arrived and we have read with delight the joys of travel in France and Italy. The pictures are exquisite and make you want for more. We want to be away. Travel insurance is due to be renewed end of this month so we await the letter which will set out the price for the 2013/2014 season. No doubt that will more expensive than last year. Our final job as January came to an end and February arrived was to start getting quotes for motorhome insurance. Four companies approached we realise what a hard and difficult job this is. One company would not even quote and a second would give us no no claims discount and could not cover our short trip through Bosnia en route to Dubrovnik. We have found one company which covers us but they limit mileage. You cannot get exactly what you want when it comes to motorhome insurance. We keep trying and hopefully as they say it will all come out in the wash.

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Photos

Llanrhydd Church
A beautiful graveyard and church