The 590 miles round trip.... part one.

There are, of course, advantages and drawbacks to things, usually, but not always, in equal measure.  For instance.  This half-term week-end my husband was competing in 'The Original Mountain Marathon' - a 24 hours yomp in the Brecon Beacons in Wales.  He claims he's not having a mid-life crisis, but I'm not too sure myself.

Anyway, I decided to get away with the children.  The opportunity was there to have a couple of days in the caravan at Carnforth, then drop in on my parents, 'Grandma and Grandad' in Blackburn, stay a night with my sister in Southport, and then pop down to Bristol so that Tom could have a sleep-over with his friend Isaac....

Sounds good when you say it like that.  Not so good to be the sole driver of fractious children holed up in a small (economical) car for 200+ miles in one go.  Actually, we stopped at 100 miles (M6 Toll Services), as I'm a sensible driver, and we needed the 'facilities'.  I don't do much distance driving, and consequently I'm always amazed at the sheer volume of traffic on the motorways, and less impressed at the poor quality of the driving on display there.

Nerves suitably jangled from the stresses of being sole driver/parent for the few days we arrived at the caravan 5.30pm in time to make supper and set everything up.

Actually it wasn't that bad at all. We were blessed with lovely weather, and my teenage daughter's reluctance to rise early meant I had opportunity to experiment with my camera's settings.  I've been meaning to remember to do this for a while now, and I'm quite pleased with the results.  Much clearer sharper close-ups...

Ferns in October sunlight

Close-up fallen oak-leaf

Local sheep

Experimenting with movement in the stream

Looking towards Morecambe from the bay/beach

When the weather is kind this part of the south Lake District can be very lovely.  We spent part of the morning in Carnforth at the Railway Heritage Centre - which is where they filmed 'Brief Encounter'.  A nostalgia trip for the steam fans and film fans alike, this attraction had plenty for young and old alike.  

After lunch we went to Morecambe and the children burned off some energy at the Happy Mount Park Adventure Ground - larger sturdy wooden based climbing frames, zip wire, tyre swings etc - free to all, and obviously well used.  If it gets kids outside and active, then I'm all for it.

As the tide was ebbing we went onto the pebbly beach for a bit of stone skimming and for me a rare opportunity to watch the birds.  Sadly, I've never enough time to indulge properly in this, but I applied my camera's zoom to try and capture the action...

Oyster catchers on Morecambe Bay

Fish and chips on the way home, as tradition dictates, and we slept well until the rain woke me at 4.45am.  We tidied and left by mid-day to go and visit my parents.  And I'll write more about that next time...

Night night y'all,  Kat  :)

Driving a bus

Well, not actually a bus, but that's what it feels like.

So we finally got my little Skoda Roomster car's rear bumper fixed (see post:  Friday the 13th).

not my car, but my (basic) model, and colour :)

The insurance people said they'd give me a 'like for like' to keep me mobile during the period my car was in the body repair garage.  OK I thought.

The actual logistics were a little time-consuming, but hey-ho. So on Friday at around 10.30am, my car was collected from my driveway by the repairing garage man, and he drove it away, up to Bicester... which is the insurer's approved agent for this area.  Not as local as I'd have liked, but then it was out of my hands.

At 11.30am, the car hire people arrived at my house to collect me and take me to their distribution hub on the Botley Road in Oxford.  Arrived, went through the paperwork, gave a £1 deposit on my debit card, even though the car hire is being paid for by the insurers.

I was then presented with my 'like for like' vehicle - a Hyundai i800.  err.... Excuse me???

Like-for-like???  In what way is this like-for-like?  Well, it appeared it was this... or an executive saloon, which had no option for fitting the dog... so I've been pootling round in this monster vehicle since Friday.  I felt like the Wantage mafia, what with its tinted windows!

The children, however, loved it. They were in the back row (it's got a back row!) like a shot, and I properly felt like a chauffeur.  Great.  It drinks diesel like the CRV we had used to drink petrol, so that's a lesson, still, as least I'd something to drive.

Things got worse on Sunday, however, when we'd arranged to go dog-walking with friends.  It was raining. Heavily. No problem, we're English, a bit of rain doesn't put us off.  Raincoats, wellies, and everything in the back, and PLENTY of space.

I didn't even feel guilty about putting the dog in the back because I'd got an old duvet which I'd put aside as dog bedding, so that came into good use to line the ample bootspace, and protect the interior.

Just as well I did.  The faffing around which it took to get everyone togged up was too much for Roly to bear, the excitement was all too much, the idea we'd forgotten him had him whining, and by the time we let him out... he'd pee'd in the car.  Luckily the duvet took the brunt and soaked it up well and good.

So, today, Monday they've delivered my car back to my driveway this afternoon while I was at work. They were going to post the keys through the letterbox, but luckily Phoebe's at home on half-term, so no problem, and I've to return the hire vehicle tomorrow.

After that it's Tom's school Halloween disco, and then we're off on a mini-break 'up North', 2 nights in the caravan in Carnforth again, and then a night with my parents, and a night with my sister in Southport, and possibly a night with Isaac's family in Bristol, and then Tom's staying in Bristol for a sleepover, and I'm back to work on Monday.

I'll need a holiday to recover after all that.

Be seeing you!  Kat  :)

It's all happening here...

... crikey!  Blogger being v-e-r-y   s-l-o-w   t-o-n-i-g-h-t,   w-h-i-c-h   i-s   a   p-a-i-n,  b-e-c-a-u-s-e  I'v-e   a   l-o-t   t-o   s-a-y....

These little things get under my skin and frankly, sometimes, I speak out - well, you're reading this, and you know me (a little?) by now, so that's no surprise then.

On Sunday it rained and rained, and eventually I said to Roly, well if no-one else is taking you, we'd better go for a walk.  Wellies and raincoat on, and off we went.  So far so good.  We got to Willow Lane and I let Roly off his lead, as usual, and I plodded behind him, one eye on the dog, one eye on the building development behind Newbury Street, to see how it's progressing. (And that's another story!).

A little way ahead of us a woman, child and dog stopped, turned around and walked away from us.  I didn't register this too highly, and we continued on our way, Roly his usual distance ahead, slow and steady, sniffing here and there, peeing here and there.  In fact I didn't think about the woman ahead of us at all until I noticed she'd stopped and then screamed aggresssively at me "WILL YOU PUT YOUR DOG ON A LEAD?"

Umm...what???  I called Roly, who came to me, slow and steady, sat in front of me and I put his lead on.  Feeling a little bemused and affronted we continued on our way and the woman turned towards us and approached us.  As we crossed paths I said "A please would have been nice".

Oops!!!  Another torrent of abuse from her, most of which fortunately I didn't really register as I have partial hearing in my right ear.  The only bit I did catch was something like 'vets bills would you?'.  Her dog also growled at Roly as we passed, voicing her anger.

I'm still confused.  I don't think I'd done anything wrong.  Roly would have 'said hello' to her dog if he'd passed by, but he hadn't reached them before the incident, so I'm at a loss to understand her behaviour.  Any ideas welcome.

As promised, here are the photos of spiders webs from the foggy mornings a couple of weeks ago.  Hope you like them.

And with those thoughts I'll leave you.  nighty night.  Kat  :)

We are all connected (2)

I've got a nice mug of chocolatey Ovaltine tonight - I say it's a nice mug because, to me, it is.  I know it's a Hornsea Pottery 'Looney' Mug, but the Hornsea Pottery stamp on the underside has long since worn off....  Long since when?  Since when my Grandmother bought it for me, on or around my fifteenth birthday.

We'd visited the Hornsea Pottery site near Lancaster one summer holiday, must have been 1980, and Grandma bought me two mugs - one 'Moody' and one 'Looney' because I couldn't choose between the two, and also because you might have applied either adjective to me at the time...

So, these many years down the line, only the 'Looney' mug remains, and whenever I use it I am reminded of my Grandmother...  we are all connected, you see.

I'll apply the KISS theory tonight - Keep It Simple, Stupid!  Or as may apply here, keeping it short...

night y'all.  Kat  :)