10 days since my last post, but then most of the things to
write about are what happens whilst you are moving around.
We’ve been in or around Fillongley for a few days, to tie up
loose ends oh and I forgot to mention Mr Right has to go to the office
occasionally over the next few weeks.
Having pitched up at The Weavers for a few days and not
wanting to outstay our welcome, we
decided to move onto a campsite. We did the necessary dumping and We made sure
that we left before the pub opened as we
didn’t think the customers would
appreciate us doing our necessary dumping while they were arriving for their
Sunday lunch. So we trundled off for a really long journey to Meriden and
Somers Wood Campsite – all of 6 miles.
Oh how our friends jump to conclusions –
there happens to be a traveller site in Meriden so they immediately thought that that was
where we were.
Lots of offers again of would we like to have a shower, a
meal, or even a bed for the night. We’re
convinced that people think that we are living in squalor and eating road-kill.
Actually I nearly hit a rabbit on the
way back to the camp site the other night, a bit more accuracy and we could
have had that for dinner. I have had to say several times – “Don’t feel sorry
for us, we are doing this as a life-style choice – we feel sorry for you – you are
the ones still working”.
I had a new experience on the Monday – a visit to the
Launderette. Well that was exciting! As I had warned Mr Right, no more white
t-shirts as everything was going to be washed together in future!!! He really
thought I was joking – but no, when you pay for everything as and when you use
it you become far more cost conscious. At £7 for a big load it was all going in
together! I obviously looked like a fish out of water
and the lady attendant was very helpful and showed me the ropes. I then took the smelly one for a walk while
waiting for the washing to finish. Afterwards and because the excitement was
getting a bit too much for me, I even made a visit to Lidl opposite the
launderette to pick up some things for lunch.
Mr Right had a leaving do from work planned for the Thursday and we
had another one planned for local friends at the Weavers the following Thursday so after 10 days
we went off back to the Weavers (www.theweaversarms.co.uk)
and I did some updating to Glynn’s website as a thank you for letting us
stay. As we were expected, Glynn even
laid on electricity for us. This was a great stop-over for us and if you are in
the area, just give him a ring and he’ll let you park up overnight if you have
a meal. We had arranged a few drinks for
friends and of course frequented the pub several times over the next few days.
One of the things that I wanted to stay around for was that
I had been training the local primary school children to use a rowing machine
and the competition was on 13th December and I really didn’t want to
miss is. The little loves WON nearly everything going, four
events to compete in and they won three gold medals and a silver. They were just fantastic. I’m so sorry that I can’t be around for when
they represent Warwickshire in March. You wouldn’t believe how competitive they were. Have a look at www.bournebrooksport.blogspot.com
for a great write-up on the event.
With that over we decided to stay the rest of the weekend
and then leave on Monday 16th. The car
was sold on Sunday and that’s when the panic set in. It all seems to be getting
rather final now. I don’t know why but it seems much easier not to have a car
when you are abroad than when you are in the UK. A lot of people have asked why we aren’t
taking the car with us and yes we have considered this. However by the time you factor in, the cost
of MOT,insurance, depreciation, the cost of the car itself, the trailer and the
extra fuel involved in towing, the hastle of having a much larger outfit to
manoeuver, the extra cost of ferries and the amount of times you actually need
a car etc etc you can buy a lot of taxis
or buses with that money. Also if you have all day to go somewhere then it
doesn’t matter if it takes all day to get there using public transport! If we find we need a car when we come back to
the UK then we will probably buy an old banger and then flog it when we leave
to go away for the winter and while we are abroad then we might just hire one a
few times.
Monday morning came and we packed up and trundled off on our
last family visiting before we leave for the continent. We went via a last visit to the house to pick
up some bits and pieces, to leave behind a few things that we had decided we
didn’t need to take with us and to pick up our bikes because now we don’t have a car they will be our main
form of local transport.
So it was off to Briarfields at Cheltenham for a couple of
days to chill out and then head off to visit Iain’s son near Cheddar on
Thursday. We’re now four weeks in the van and that’s the
longest we’ve actually spent in Jan the Van.
Things have been going great, a few grumbles from me but that’s mainly
because I’m struggling to move on. This is
the first year for many that I haven’t been “doing Christmas”, I loved planning
the Christmas stuff, decorations, food and I loved having everyone come to us
for Christmas, I’m finding it very difficult to start feeling festive and it’s
hard to walk around the supermarket and not think about what I would normally
be buying at this time of year. We’ve
even decided that presents to each other are not necessary – if we don’t need
it then there’s no space for it – whatever it may be. We’ve got everything we
need and have left a lot of what we don’t need behind or got rid of it. I did
buy some Christmas lights for the van though and some baubles to hang on the
cupboard knobs and thank you to Sharon for my diddy Christmas tree.
Anyway enough of me moaning. Thank you Mellie, for reminding
me not to fret over what I’m losing or leaving behind but to look forward to
what I’m going to. I’ve never had a
problem moving on before but we’ve been in Fillongley 9 years now and I have to
admit it’s the nicest place I’ve ever lived , so although I do want to move on,
I’m really going to miss it and the people that we’ve made friends with there.
However, today I’ve picked up the map of France to plan our
journey south and have got some excited butterflies thinking about it. Just a
few more days now and we’ll be on the ferry on Boxing Day. Better get onto booking that now! Catch up
later on.
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