Flying solo

mcculloch29

I saw the caves as a schoolchild, and was astounded at the charges when we visited Cheddar last year.
On the grounds that formations that took many millenia to form wouldn't have changed much in 45 years, we gave them a swerve and didn't feel guilty.

*Robin*

Dear Diary and MSE Friends, :hello:

Hello from dull, drippy East Anglia. Van feels really spacious since dropping off DS3 & GF [and their mountain of 'stuff'], but DS4 and I are both missing Three's exuberant nature. Four commented that he thought I'd got on incredibly well with GF which surprised me; apart from confusing her Mum and Granny in m' head a bit I thought she fitted in very well with our family dynamic (have known Granny since Mum was a bolshy ten-year-old, then didn't see much of them for years although remember Mum jogging everywhere with GF in a pushchair when she was little - Mum used to be quite a renowned athlete).
GF said she'd had fun spending her weekend off with us, although our excursions were very different to the type of trips her family tend to arrange, which usually involve spa days and shopping for designer clothes (- my idea of hell! :rotfl:).

Mcculloch - you're absolutely right, the entrance fees for a single visit to Cheddar Gorge are horrific - just a couple of quid less than we paid for annual passes at Eden! Plus; am not certain, but don't think CD would have been very welcome so that'd have been a hassle for us - I did far better spending £60 on groceries which provided a delicious 'last night' meal for us all (and van's cupboards are still stuffed full ): The L!dl we found in Devon was offering wild salmon steaks [two for £1.69] which went down very well in ginger / balsamic sauce with roast tatties, broccoli and mange-touts. They also had Dutch Waffles for 99p - those finished off the meal nicely at minimum effort to self (lol).

Everyone really enjoyed visiting Avebury, especially as we had several extra hours there due to missing out Cheddar. The weather had cleared by the time we arrived; it was a gorgeous afternoon and CD worked her usual magic on the handful of other tourists - one of whom was a local lady showing round an Australian guest, which meant we also benefited from her knowledge of the site as we walked together.

Their Boss collected DS3 & GF from the camp-site yesterday lunchtime - great, saved me negotiating the dregs of Wilderness - and then DS4, CD and self endured a slow 'cross-country' run through increasingly gloomy weather back to DR's house. He was very pleased to see us and proud of the fact that he'd made it to the shops at last, but we declined his offer of a ready-meal supper (gave him a fresh-cooked dinner in the van [at a reasonable hour] instead ).

Spends:
Groceries - £60 (ah, mentioned this in m' previous post - it's the same bill, not two )
Fuel - £10 (DS3 contributed £40)
Car park - £4
Camp site - £35*

* Was a little p***ed-off about that: One field was closed and the site owners had left their own empty tents where we parked on our first stay, leaving us with the choice of the middle of the family field - occupied by seemingly hundreds of kids who descended on CD as soon as we arrived, didn't quieten down until midnight and were up again crying for their breakfast before six ayem - or right next to the septic tank, which stank!
Chose the second option because CD had had quite enough attention from the many children at Eden, but DS3 and GF didn't sleep very well at all. Owner gave me £1 discount for the inconvenience, but I don't think she should have charged for the tent - GF was really very nauseous by the time the kids woke us all up in the morning. :mad:

Dansmam

Hi Robin, I can recommend the north for sunshine today, and we have clear skies so will look out for meteor showers once it's dark enough to spot them. Campsite owner sounds a bit of a shower too - doubt they'll be getting your return custom! Your meals always sound so tasty - she says enviously setting off to dig in the freezer...waffles, do we have waffles...

sammr85

Just caught up with all your adventures Robin, sounds like you've almost driven past my front door as I live in a village very close to a white chalk creature on some hills in "Uffingham" and probably back past again if you've travelled back to Oxford.


Hope CD has recovered from all her attention!


*Goes back into lurking

satchmo1

Saw two (possibly three) meteors/shooting stars last night before retiring to bed at 1am. For once the sky was clear of cloud-cover. I lay on the floor by my patio window and stargazed with binoculars. I bought DH a telescope last Christmas, but he's never bothered setting it up. I must set it up for tonight, although tonight's weather reports for the North West aren't promising.

*Robin*

Hello Diary and Gentle Readers, :hello:

Dansmam - tempting though it was to get straight back on the road and head for the sunny North, alas I have obligations in East Anglia for a little while (as long as I can put up with 'em, anyway ). Enjoy the yellow ball while you've got it [and meteor-spotting opportunities at night] - the forecast is not promising!

Sammr - thanks for de-lurking! :T
If only we'd known - Satnav took us on a tour of villages around White Horse Hill [so we might well have driven right past your house], which was a bit frustrating at the time - at least for the queue of traffic behind us - but did mean we could view the horse's magnificence from afar on our way to the official car-park.

Satchmo - well done for spotting a few meteors, and good luck for tonight, you might get a couple of hours of clear skies before the rain hits you.

Am having a power crisis on this gloomy day; solar is bleeping, my lappy's battery has given up and DS' only has 5% left so will have to finish this post later (going to drive over and plug into the mains at homehome as soon as Divo Four gets back from town).

*Robin*

Good morning Diary, :hello:

CD decided before six ayem was a good time to get up, so who am I to argue?
Don't know where the predicted overnight torrential rain fell, but it certainly wasn't here; by Welsh standards I'd have to describe what we got as occasional gentle showers (no chance of meteor-spotting through the overcast though). ..Hope that doesn't mean somewhere else got flooded!
Outside it's rather foggy; in the bad ol' un-PC days what country-folk would have called "a fine cub-hunting morning" (don't approve of that idea of course).

Divo Four made a good start on clearing out the garage yesterday, but do feel I've rather let him down because I can't remember how Freecyc!e works - never understood the Yah00 system properly; give me gmai! any day! Not getting on much better with the few items which might bring in a few quid on Gum7ree either. Suspect it will end in a trip to the recycling centre which is a bit of a shame for the stuff which could still be useful to someone..

Better news on the house maintenance front; think we have found a trustworthy local tradesman to replace the windows at homehome without charging a fortune for an inferior product - with any luck the funds already set aside for this job will actually cover the bill, and he'll find time to complete the work before impending winter sends CD and self heading South with the swallows (fingers crossed!).

Spends:
Fuel - £31 (noticeably more expensive in East Anglia; topped up when we passed a better deal than most).

please-let-me-be-lucky

The rain is with us here in the North East today Robin. Payback for the gorgeous sunny day we had yesterday while folks 'daaaan saaaf' were swimming.

Fraid I can't help with Freecycle. To my shame I've never used it Xx

joeyjimbles

Also rain in North West. It started around 9pm and is still dripping away now at 10am.

chevalier

what do you want to know about freecycle? If you are putting up offer posts, then you should have no problem. The only issue is that some groups have a lot of people who just don't turn up despite 'winning' the item concerned. Something to be aware of if time is pressing. Pretty sure you can add photos to freecycle now as well.

Hope that helps
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