This week has really flown by and me and the Warden are having to set our alarm clock and get up at the most un godly hour of 7.30am just to cram everything into the day. I had not appreciated the amount of maintainence i require just to keep looking as stunning as i do (imagine dear reader what i would look like if i did'nt), also we are straight back in the middle of daily living. Sorting out issues of non payment of rent in one of our houses grrrrr. Catching 80 year old parents in the act of complete furniture removals grrr, funny how things change, you know when they have been up to no good, when you walk through the front door and they are both grinning and the house looks completely different, or there is a tell tale throw away line 'Dad has just been preparing for the loft insulation'!!!!! the mind boggles.
One of the lovely things though is catching up with all friends and the diary is filling up with lunch dates and evenings out. Lovely less cooking for us. Well when i say us i really mean the Warden
We have also stumbled on a good cause in the village which we feel would be a lasting memory to James, the village is embarking on a tree planting scheme so we are going to support this venture in memory of our boy, and if i can get my self organised i may look for sponsorship for this when we climb Sidney harbour bridge, which is something i am doing as part of my personal journey as James Sharpes mum.The Warden is doing it because i booked it and told him (he hates heights!!!).Hey Ho.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Sunday, 21 October 2012
The Sharpes have landed
What a week we have had, we spent two days at the motor-home show. One day with Sister and John, and one day with our friends Sharon and Mike. We haven't seen them since they left their site so it was smashing to catch up before they head off to complete a winter contract 'up north' somewhere. Forgot where Sharon said now, but i do know their next summer contract is in Wales so i was paying attention at some point.
We didn't find anything we liked better than the tour bus at the show which is just as well being we are broke now, but had lots of fun looking.
We then went up to our next site which is in Derbyshire and is one of our favourite sites. It is a new site, with lots of hard standings and not much grass. The Warden was very worried before we got there because he was concerned we would not get the 'tour bus' in the compound, so it was with much relief he got out his tape measure and decided we would get the bus in quite easily. The facilities in our compound are going to be fantastic, the Caravan Club employees among you will recognise my excitement at having a bath and shower in the bathroom and above all the sink and cooking facilities in the garage conversion. Dear reader i cannot emphasise too strongly the luxury our new site will offer us. No more running across the car park to reach my bathroom while in my PJ's for me!!!!
The new Wardens are lovely though i may have blotted my copy book when i couldn't operate the barrier card and my new Warden had to come and rescue me, (my old Warden would certainly have a comment to make, i just couldn't put it into words here!!)
We are now back in Willingham, we are in the local caravan park,which is okay but you certainly know the difference between these type of sites and ours.
The downside of this life-style of ours is where to do the washing, hand washing is not an option for me,as it ruins the nails, also the cleanliness of some of the washing machines on sites often leaves much to be desired, so today i sneaked into my Mum and Dad's house with a chicken under my arm with the pre-text of cooking their Sunday dinner while stuffing all mine and the Wardens smalls in their washing machine. Result lovely clean washing dried on the line and a lovely roast dinner all in one day. Smashing.!!!!
Busy week next week......Dentist, Hairdressers, Fitness classes, All body waxing and various treatments for me, and the Warden is going to work!!!!!! Oh and he is playing golf two days so really only going for three days. Plus catching up with all friends and family we haven't seen since March........Oh and i am on a diet.(well when i have eaten all the crisps in the cupboard) Watch this space.
We didn't find anything we liked better than the tour bus at the show which is just as well being we are broke now, but had lots of fun looking.
We then went up to our next site which is in Derbyshire and is one of our favourite sites. It is a new site, with lots of hard standings and not much grass. The Warden was very worried before we got there because he was concerned we would not get the 'tour bus' in the compound, so it was with much relief he got out his tape measure and decided we would get the bus in quite easily. The facilities in our compound are going to be fantastic, the Caravan Club employees among you will recognise my excitement at having a bath and shower in the bathroom and above all the sink and cooking facilities in the garage conversion. Dear reader i cannot emphasise too strongly the luxury our new site will offer us. No more running across the car park to reach my bathroom while in my PJ's for me!!!!
The new Wardens are lovely though i may have blotted my copy book when i couldn't operate the barrier card and my new Warden had to come and rescue me, (my old Warden would certainly have a comment to make, i just couldn't put it into words here!!)
We are now back in Willingham, we are in the local caravan park,which is okay but you certainly know the difference between these type of sites and ours.
The downside of this life-style of ours is where to do the washing, hand washing is not an option for me,as it ruins the nails, also the cleanliness of some of the washing machines on sites often leaves much to be desired, so today i sneaked into my Mum and Dad's house with a chicken under my arm with the pre-text of cooking their Sunday dinner while stuffing all mine and the Wardens smalls in their washing machine. Result lovely clean washing dried on the line and a lovely roast dinner all in one day. Smashing.!!!!
Busy week next week......Dentist, Hairdressers, Fitness classes, All body waxing and various treatments for me, and the Warden is going to work!!!!!! Oh and he is playing golf two days so really only going for three days. Plus catching up with all friends and family we haven't seen since March........Oh and i am on a diet.(well when i have eaten all the crisps in the cupboard) Watch this space.
Monday, 15 October 2012
Oxford or Cambridge
We are on a weeks R&R with Sister and John and we have had some smashing days out. We went to Oxford one day and took the tour bus round. No we didn't take our tour bus but the official Oxford city tour bus. The only problem was it was so cold i made the Warden sit downstairs which hindered the view a little. We all decided that Oxford is not a patch on Cambridge, though there are one or two nice places in Oxford Cambridge wins for us hands down.
We have also visited some lovely Cotswold market towns, the houses in places such as Broadway are just stunning, and the little shops are delightful as you see things you would never see in many of our larger cities. We did get a bit stuck in Broadway as the buses were few and far between, so to keep out of the rain we spent a happy hour in a local pub.
All in all the scenery and the buildings in this area of the Cotswold is worth every penny. Broughton on the Water was another day out, and again a pleasure to wander up and down the streets along side the river/streams which runs through the town. What amazed me the most was how clean the stream was, with not a bit of litter or a shopping trolley to be seen any way near the water let alone in it.
Today we went to Warwick which again had some fantastic medieval houses and we made our way up to the castle, which dear reader was as far as we got, because the price to get into the castle was very very expensive and quite out of reach of a couple of Caravan Club Wardens. Needless to say we spent a merry hour grumbling between us on the cost of a day out for any family and threatened to write to all and sundry to complain, then the man who drove us home on the water taxi told us it was owned by a company in Dubai so there will be no joy with that campaign i fear.
Anyway off to the Motor-home show tomorrow..........i know we have just brought a new one but we need a flat hose
We have also visited some lovely Cotswold market towns, the houses in places such as Broadway are just stunning, and the little shops are delightful as you see things you would never see in many of our larger cities. We did get a bit stuck in Broadway as the buses were few and far between, so to keep out of the rain we spent a happy hour in a local pub.
All in all the scenery and the buildings in this area of the Cotswold is worth every penny. Broughton on the Water was another day out, and again a pleasure to wander up and down the streets along side the river/streams which runs through the town. What amazed me the most was how clean the stream was, with not a bit of litter or a shopping trolley to be seen any way near the water let alone in it.
Today we went to Warwick which again had some fantastic medieval houses and we made our way up to the castle, which dear reader was as far as we got, because the price to get into the castle was very very expensive and quite out of reach of a couple of Caravan Club Wardens. Needless to say we spent a merry hour grumbling between us on the cost of a day out for any family and threatened to write to all and sundry to complain, then the man who drove us home on the water taxi told us it was owned by a company in Dubai so there will be no joy with that campaign i fear.
Anyway off to the Motor-home show tomorrow..........i know we have just brought a new one but we need a flat hose
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Elvis's Tour Bus
Well we went and did it. The Warden and me have updated the mobile accommodation and we now have a tour bus, (this is in keeping with the names we have for our motor-homes as our first one was known as Elvis, so this one is Elvis's Tour Bus)
The first photo is the posh side of the tour bus and the second photo is its less glamorous side with the Wardens washing and collection of beers both on full view. This is not as bad as it could be because just out of camera shot is John's satellite dish which really does make it look like a 'traveller encampment'.
Getting the new motor was not free from stress, as the day started out with us having our first booking at Bladen Chains Caravan Club site cancelled. (being Wardens was no help there then) and when we took our old van in for its part exchange the salesman found damp and requested more money.......Now at this point the Warden carefully explained leaning over the desk that he was paying no more money. Me, Manda and Richard slid away at this point.......however he got his message across and not a further sheckle was given in the exchange.We then spent a happy hour with all our worldly goods in the car park as we transferred from one van to the other. You will understand why me and the Warden took to strong drink in the evening.
The first photo is the posh side of the tour bus and the second photo is its less glamorous side with the Wardens washing and collection of beers both on full view. This is not as bad as it could be because just out of camera shot is John's satellite dish which really does make it look like a 'traveller encampment'.
Getting the new motor was not free from stress, as the day started out with us having our first booking at Bladen Chains Caravan Club site cancelled. (being Wardens was no help there then) and when we took our old van in for its part exchange the salesman found damp and requested more money.......Now at this point the Warden carefully explained leaning over the desk that he was paying no more money. Me, Manda and Richard slid away at this point.......however he got his message across and not a further sheckle was given in the exchange.We then spent a happy hour with all our worldly goods in the car park as we transferred from one van to the other. You will understand why me and the Warden took to strong drink in the evening.
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| The posh side of the Tour Bus |
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| The not so posh side |
Friday, 28 September 2012
The Final Count Down
So here are the stats for the final countdown before me and the Warden head off into the distance to meet up with Sister and John for a spot of R&R.
5 more days at work
5 more toilet block cleaning sessions
5 more bin runs (only for the Warden i do not do rubbish or dog bins!!!)
The awning is nearly dismantled, most of the items from the cupboards in the awning have been packed into boxes, most of our uniforms have been washed and packed away ready for next season, and i have nearly painted every piece of wood i can find around the site a lovely shade of Caravan Club green.
We were really sad to hear one of our friends Marilyn died this week. There is'nt any thing one can add to that except how difficult to express such sadness in any words that describe the true meaning.
Oh and we have brought a new motor-home, slightly bigger than the one we have now, and build to survive temperatures of -20. It have a large island bed in the bedroom and plush leather seats in the lounge part. I am not sure what is in the kitchen and as i do not cook at all i may never explore this area in any great detail.I expect the Warden will though! I have decided to continue with the Elvis theme and this motor-home is fondly called 'the tour bus'.
5 more days at work
5 more toilet block cleaning sessions
5 more bin runs (only for the Warden i do not do rubbish or dog bins!!!)
The awning is nearly dismantled, most of the items from the cupboards in the awning have been packed into boxes, most of our uniforms have been washed and packed away ready for next season, and i have nearly painted every piece of wood i can find around the site a lovely shade of Caravan Club green.
We were really sad to hear one of our friends Marilyn died this week. There is'nt any thing one can add to that except how difficult to express such sadness in any words that describe the true meaning.
Oh and we have brought a new motor-home, slightly bigger than the one we have now, and build to survive temperatures of -20. It have a large island bed in the bedroom and plush leather seats in the lounge part. I am not sure what is in the kitchen and as i do not cook at all i may never explore this area in any great detail.I expect the Warden will though! I have decided to continue with the Elvis theme and this motor-home is fondly called 'the tour bus'.
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Cows
Now i may not have discussed this before but me and my sister do not do cows, we do not like them, we understand it to be true that they do in-fact eat people and we will not under any circumstances walk through a field of them. So today me and the Warden did another section of the coastal path and were going great guns until we crossed into National Trust country (you will remember we are now members) and before us were cows with horns which were at least 2 foot in diameter on each side of their heads, so i made him turn round and walk home again, he offered to hold my hand, and place a bag over my head while we walked through but i was having none of it. Anyway we stopped on a large rock to eat our lunch, and the photo below shows the Warden eating his cheese and marmite sandwich, and yes before you ask why were my shorts lying on the rock...........just getting my legs brown in the sun, as i said to him no one is interested in a middle aged women lying on a rock in their pants.
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| The Warden eating his lunch with the view of where we are staying in the background |
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Lands End
Well we are on the count downwards for finishing our first year. What a season, learnt so much, spent very little money, made some very special friends, met some really interesting people, seen some wonderful places, and above all have not killed the Warden even though there have been times when i could have strangled him, especially when the rain was so bad at times we were stuck in the office together for hours on end.Mind you i think he may have felt the same about me!!!! but i am not admitting that fact.
We have had a couple of days off so me and the Warden packed up the motor and travelled down to Lands End. We are on a private camp site overlooking the sea and the views are just fantastic. However i did have to stop the Warden commenting on how some of the campers have parked, or how fast some people drive into the site and i did have to stop him telling some-one in the tent field to put their dog on a lead (all Caravan Club site do's and dont's) not that he is above the rules as i reminded him, he has parked our motor the wrong way round, but all he said was 'I'm not moving again' hey ho.
So today we walked to Lands End and as you can see from the photo the sun was actually shining. I quite like the photo because i do feel my arms are in better shape which i expect is down to all the toilet cleaning and hedge cuttings i have been raking lately.......still not sure why i still only get to do the clearing up while the Warden does the hedge cutting........
We have had a couple of days off so me and the Warden packed up the motor and travelled down to Lands End. We are on a private camp site overlooking the sea and the views are just fantastic. However i did have to stop the Warden commenting on how some of the campers have parked, or how fast some people drive into the site and i did have to stop him telling some-one in the tent field to put their dog on a lead (all Caravan Club site do's and dont's) not that he is above the rules as i reminded him, he has parked our motor the wrong way round, but all he said was 'I'm not moving again' hey ho.
So today we walked to Lands End and as you can see from the photo the sun was actually shining. I quite like the photo because i do feel my arms are in better shape which i expect is down to all the toilet cleaning and hedge cuttings i have been raking lately.......still not sure why i still only get to do the clearing up while the Warden does the hedge cutting........
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| Me and the Warden at Lands End |
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