Would you believe that we came back from Sharm and the first thing that happened was I got a streaming head cold? I’ve been unwell, it seems, since December. And, even though that has cleared up, I’m on a cycle of good days and bad days. Is it age? Is it some form of viral infection which won’t go away? I can really understand when people say they’ve got ME and haven’t the energy to get out of bed … I really get it. Of course, as an old soldier I have got out of bed, and I have got on with it (work and C, more of which presently). But, blooming hell I could do with a medical hiatus.
C’s getting there
C had her operation two weeks ago. It’s a woman’s thing and it appears to have all gone well. She was instructed to take 4/6 weeks bed rest (don’t pick up anything!) and, two weeks in, she’s managing really well. I don’t think we’re through it all yet, but let’s hope so. Work and C’s operation means that we’ve not made it skiing this year which, notwithstanding one year of covid, breaks an almost unbroken seam of the white stuff. And, whilst the snow in the Alps has been rubbish, it has, all of a sudden, got better. Our pals Daren and Karen are there now and we both are as envious as hell. Next year, then.
Like old times
We have, pretty much, kept ourselves to ourselves. That is until Alasdair and Annie popped in at the weekend. (Warning, more envy on its way.) We had a fab time with them. Lots of laughs. He and I go back to the early 80s – we joined the army on the same day. Annie and C, soon after. After a fab supper, we ran first thing on the Saturday morning, which really was ‘old times’ sake’. And then they were off … to Portugal and Spain … in their motorhome! Yes, that’s something which we should be doing. And that will come again. But they’ve got an almost 8-week package planned, with plenty of sunshine to boot. What we did arrange was for a trip together to Lanzarote at the end of May. Fab.
Other than that, it’s the same old routine. We have Bex, Steven and Henry back over Easter (two weeks away now, hurrah!), which is something to really look forward to. And then six weeks until we can, with impunity, head off into the hills in Doris. Can’t wait.
Three things by way of update. First we made it to Sharm EL-Sheik. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it passes muster. We went the whole hog: swim up room and all inclusive. The resort, Sunrise Diamond, is big … so big we haven’t ventured outside (it takes me 6 minutes to run a lap, if that helps). It has everything you need, including four a la carte restaurants and bars at every corner. There are a number of beaches, a coral reef and, as well as our own pool, three other pools, one of which is huge and is equipped with wall-to-wall entertainment. C and I got roped into aqua aerobics the other morning and happily took part. There’s a slide pool and a jetty out beyond the reef.
But what makes it special is the way it’s been put together. It’s all v tasteful with manicured grounds, awash with flowers. It’s immaculately clean and the staff are uber friendly. And the weather has been a perfect 24 degrees throughout. So, what’s not to like? Well the clientele are a bit Russian. Well, quite a lot Russian, really. A number of Brits … the measure of which you’d expect at a more expensive all-inclusive resort. But we’ve not spotted any Western Europeans to speak of. And, as we know, the Germans know how to suss out a decent resort. So maybe …
We’ve run and swam and drunk and eaten … and, of course, met up with Bex, Steven and Henry. Which has added a magical dimension to it all. He has been as a fab as a three year old can be. He now knows how to say ‘sorry’, which he employs often to cover a variety of misdemeanours. But that’s all fine. Alas, we all head home tomorrow … rested and having had a fillup of Henry. Fab.
Second, I am stepping back from work a bit. I gave it my best shot, but our disposition has slouched and, as is always the case with me, work takes over everything. And, and this week has reinforced the point, we only have so many decent years in us to spend with our family. I’m going back to the pre-Christmas regime, which is more consultative than executive. Doubtless I will work hard, but I have every intention of getting away with C and doing plenty of stuff. Let’s hope it works out.
Finally, Doris failed her MoT just before we flew here. I asked for a radiator flush, a diesel filter bleed and for the brake fluid to be replaced. The garage, who have been brilliant, couldn’t get the nipples off three of the brake callipers as they were seized on. So … total cost to replace them all looks to be well of £1000, but it’s work which needs doing. We pick her up on Saturday.
That’s it from me. I hope you are keeping well and safe.
It’s been over a month. My last post was the Cat’s letter on Christmas Eve – a blooming long time ago, noting that when I started this is July 2014 (yes, almost 10 years ago), I posted every day for a couple of years, and then down to twice a week. It’s fair to say that I miss those halcyon days, when we were young and carefree! Anyhow, we are where we are and that new place is still a perfectly acceptable place.
So it’s about time I updated you on what’s been going on with us Ladleys.
Well … pretty much business as usual. I have started full time work. And that’s been much more digestible than I thought it might be. It’s tough. There are long days and some pretty tricky decisions to make. But the people are lovely, working from home (pretty much 4 days a week) makes a considerable difference and, thus far, I haven’t longed to do something different. I guess having had 9 years of mostly pottering, writing and the odd consultancy session, has ticked all of the gap-year boxes and, just now, using my brain, bringing people on and trying to make a difference has been a nice fillup. And I am now getting paid, which is a nice surprise for the pair of us.
To get to somewhere where we can operate separately, at Christmas we bought a 2014 Peugeot 107, the smallest car in Christendom. With 55,000 miles on the clock, one lady owner and FSH it is immaculate. And I can get in it! Originally it was going to be my ‘commuting to Cirencester’ car but, perhaps inevitably, C loves it and we often fight for the keys. The silver Focus continues to do its job admirably.
I’m quite pleased with this …
Doris has thrown the odd surprise. First I eventually found a second-hand roof light dome for the badly cracked (and now disintegrating) one above our bed. I had to drive to LIverpool to pick it up, but it only cost me a case of red wine (as opposed to £170 for a new one which would need fitting) and it took nothing to fit it. Second, the damp in the driver’s side window has come back with a vengeance. I spotted it because we had mushrooms growing where they shouldn’t, which was a surprise. It looked like a tough job as I had no idea how far the damp had spread.
all’s well in the end …
In the end all I had to do was reseal the window (which I had done before, but hadn’t kept up my checking), dig out some rotting wood, dry it out, harden it and then replace the wood (most of Doris is a aluminium, marine ply and insulation sandwich, but not by this window). Which I did. And, do you know what? Whilst it’s not pretty, it’s as dry as a bone.
but ….
And I replaced the radio with a decent Blaupunkt which the kids had given me for Christmas. In doing so I broke the alarm and the reversing camera. Do one job, create two more. But, I fixed both with a bit of nous and wire tracking, and all is now well. The radio is fab and it was worth the effort.
Since Christmas we have seen Mary (4 days), met up with pals Nick and Chris, Al and Annie and Richard and Caroline. Seen Jen and James. Went to see Kaleb (the young farmer from Clarkson’s Farm) in Cheltenham with Peter and Karen – which was interesting … and generally we’ve been pottering about, avoiding the storms and still doing our best to run every second day. And, after having really rubbish colds over Christmas, we are both feeling better.
we met some people
C’s fine. She’s got a ‘woman’s op’ at the end of Feb which should sort out some down below pain which has been dragging her down. Between now and then we’re off to Sharm El-Sheikh next Friday for a week, meeting up with Bex, Steven and Henry for their half term. We’re going ‘all inclusive’ to a pretty posh hotel. Bex and Steven tried it last HT and had a fab time. We have a ‘swim-in’ room and all mod cons. As I haven’t had a proper day off since June last year, I am looking forward to it.
Finally I’m selling a few books. You may remember that I employed a woman to do this for me in September for a couple of months. She gave up early doors as she couldn’t really make it work. In January I carried on the motion at £2-a-day scheme with Facebook. And, whilst I’m not yet making £2 in return, I’m certainly getting half my money back. Maybe if someone gets into the series (and I have at least one example of that) this might just work. Anyhow, I’m on it. Fingers crossed.
… and have tried to keep running
I hope you are well and keeping safe. The average sea temperatures are off the charts at the moment which is giving the whole weather system more energy than it needs – hence the storms. It does worry me. Hey-ho! Stay safe.
[As always please see below the Ladley’s annual circular from the cat …)
It’s been a busy year up here. We’ve been filling sandbags, creating fire breaks, banning single use plastics, putting up solar panel pagolas, erecting wind turbines the size of skyscrapers, and generally been greening the place ready for the apocalypse. You know, the #dontlookup climate change catastrophe which is well underway. You might think that She has a handle on it all … like, She started it, so She could stop it. But it doesn’t work like that. She provides the flowchart; you make the choices. It’s all in the book, you know. And we can see which way you’re heading and aren’t too pleased. Frankly I’d much rather be wafting around on a fluffy cloud gorging myself on sardines … but needs must, so I’m number two on the air source heat pump. At least we’re more ready than you lot are.
On on. Grandma Eileen joined us in February. Bless her. It’s all white wine spritzers – which are more wine than spritzer, but don’t tell her we know. She’s great fun, if a little batty. You always know where she is, because there’s a small crowd with a couple of young guys trying to escape her racy jokes. They’ll learn. We’re definitely at the place now where there are more Ladleys up here than down there, but that’s the joy of a production line of girls, and a generation who feel less inclined to bring their young up in such an unpredictable world.
The kids seem fine. Bex, Steven and the adorable Henry have settled in Riyadh and are now in their second year. Bex is at assistant head level (for which, bravo!) and Steve, head of faculty. I sense they love the simplicity of life there. There’s a pool outside their front door, a gym and a decent restaurant in the compound and, now that they have a car, a bustly city to tour which has everything you need. Henry is growing up into a proper three year old. He is definitely he/him, with diggers and tractors and fire engines and puddles and dinosaurs (not that being any other combination of pronouns would be a bother). And he is also loving and affectionate – and the apple of grandpa’s eye, who already has his name down on a Regimental list somewhere. Proud as punch.
Jen and James are becoming more Gloustolian every year. They love their house and are addicted to a relaxed way of life many of us should aspire to. James continues to programme safety processes for nuclear power stations without breaking into a sweat, whilst Jen crochets for Europe. When needles and yarn make the Olympics, stand by everyone. They are such a tonic. And, noting Jen’s disablements (she’s had the feeding tube removed – her tonsils are next, due in the New Year) they made it to Skye with his parents this autumn and had a super time.
Mum and dad, well what a turnaround. They started in the usual fashion. Skiing in Chatel for a month (joined from Saudi by Bex, Steven and Henry – Henry making it onto a pair of skis, but, ever the useful chap, preferring to pull a sledge), and then off to Scotland in Doris for Easter … which didn’t last. I think a combination of moving into the cottage over Christmas and a series of malaises almost broke Mum. So between them they pressed the pause button and took breath …
… the outcome of which surprised the bejeezus out of me.
Dad got a job. Like a proper job. In business. In a sentence, he started working (originally pro bono) for his pal – who owns the estate they live on – in June. And now, into 2024’s New Year, he’s taken on the role more formally. Chief of Operations, if you don’t mind. It’s been a tough decision because, as you know, you can’t pay enough to be a vagrant, something Dad has real affinity for. But, you feel that it’s scratching an itch, and he loves the people and the role. And he’s not dead yet, so there’s still time to make a difference.
Mum secretly loves the idea. For one it gets him out of the house (although working from home is still de rigueur, so he’ll be demanding coffee and generally being a pest when he’s not in the office). Second, there’s a little bit of money in it and she has her eye on some well deserved rocks in the local jewellers.
What of Doris then? Well stretching WFH to its limit, they still managed a fab six weeks in Spain in the autumn, and a week with Henry at a local campsite in the summer. And whilst Dad is an idiot on many fronts, like me he sees catastrophe around every corner, and Doris is an escape pop. Both: should the World really face its ending; or, much more realistically, should the pair of them need to escape reality for a prolonged period of time to restore an out of balance wellbeing. Then, and they have already tested this with a four-and-a-half year splash not so long ago – so they know it works, they have the ready made getaway car. In short, Doris is here to stay.
That’s the Ladleys. They continue to plough their collective furrow without upsetting anyone, nor setting the world alight (there’s enough of that as it is). They’re happy and, all round, pretty well. On their behalf can I suggest you all have a fabulous New Year, and stay safe whilst wringing out everything you can from 2024. And come and see them. They live in a lovely cottage on the Cotswolds escarpment … and would genuinely love to see you.
our Christmas with dear Mary. I must work harder to look happy.
Don’t you find that the grey days merge into one and, not long later, your mood follows suit. The other issue I have is that I’m not sleeping as I used to. I’ll often wake at 3.30 am and then my brain goes into gear and solves the world’s problems, and sometimes some of my own. There’s an element of work-related stress here, but most of the time recently it’s been about any old stuff. It doesn’t always make for restful days. Oh, and my hamstring is still playing up. And the associated knee. I’ve not run for over 10 days and that’s been a pain. I have been doing a lot of walking up hills (to get the exercise in) but I’m not sure that’s helping.
thinking about skiing
Work has been ok. I have balanced the plusses and minuses of staying on, but every conversation I have with myself is that I should definitely finish. I/we have a lot planned for 2024, including book 9 in the Sam Green series – something I am really excited about. So, it’s a ‘no’ to work. And, with that in mind, I can’t wait to start writing. I already have the most amazing twist in my mind … and that’s firing me up.
But that has been about it. We have been managing the weather and watching lots of TV series to fill the evenings. The house remains the perfect size, which is good, because Bex, Steven and Henry arrive from Saudi on Friday. They stay a day with us and then head off to Steve’s parents, coming back briefly before Christmas, then out and back again for the New Year. We are currently at Mary’s for her birthday, and pop over again for Christmas. So our time will be filled. As you’d expect, I can’t wait to see the little lad. We have so many things lined up for him.
In the meantime it’s nose to the grindstone. Two and a bit weeks of work and then I shall probably sleep for a week. Skiing will wait until both Jen and C have their ops (both of which should be done by early Feb) and then we’re off. C has promised to spend some of her pension on new skis; I expect to be carving like a sharp knife by Easter. Fabulous.
Plenty of these to sustain me
And, because of issues with the internet, I have worked out of Doris for a couple of days. Let me tell you how good it feels to be back in her. We may take her away over Easter and are certainly really looking forward to heading off to Spain in the autumn. The danger, of course, is you wish your life away. Question? How many usable years do we have between us? I’m 61 … I’d hope to be pottering around in my mid-70s. C also. But that’s only 14 choices. We’d better use them well.
Anyhow. Short and sweet from me. Hopefully in the New Year we’ll fill our days with lots of special stuff and the blogs will be a lot more interesting. Until then, stay safe.
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? And that’s because I have been working, and weekends have become precious. It’s also because, all work and no play etc, means it’s all been pretty dull, but necessarily so.
Let’s ignore work and I’ll let you know what we’ve been up to.
Still loving it here
We’ve got reacquainted with the house and still love it, particularly the fact that it’s a bungalow. I’m not sure I ever want to live in a two storey affair again. Second, we’ve popped down to darkest Dorset to see C’s middle sister and husband. It’s all pretty medically messy down there and C’s big sister, Annie, has been brilliant sorting it out. We went down for moral support. But there is an interesting lesson that falls from it: if the family don’t live nearby, or they don’t want to get involved, then it’s up to the social services. We all live 3 hours away so, in the end, it was a social service problem. And they’ve stood up to the plate, bless them.
We walked and run around Westonbirt (best running in the trees). We’ve continued to keep ourselves active (I’m trying to run every day). And, it is fair to say, we have drunk a lot of coffee and eaten quite a few bacon sandwiches … which I suppose balances all the keeping fit malarky.
we managed a Greggs
I have primed the top left corner of Doris, where C scraped her in Spain. She’s completely watertight now, but needs a couple of top coats. Interestingly, then she wouldn’t start. That is, she turned over really really slowly. She did catch once, but then didn’t. I was all for a dead battery, but that was reading OK. I thought then that the starter motor had a loose connection (I replaced that a while back). But no. Eventually I checked her earthing strap (between the engine and the bodywork). I had replaced it about two years ago. And it seemed fine. But I did tighten one of the bolts, just a fraction. And, hey presto, Doris was back again, starting better than ever before. The thing is, if I’d taken her to a garage I reckon they’d have gone straight for a new battery and we’d be no further forward. Just shows you.
Oh, and we had a couple of doctory things going on. C needs some work and I have a heart issue, neither of which are going to stop us from looking forward … which looks like …
First Henry’s coming home for Christmas. Hurrah, blooming hurrah. Second, we then intend to ski sometime in Jan/Feb. Not sure what that looks like. It then seems likely that we will meet up at half-term with Bex, Stephen and Henry, possibly somewhere hot. And then, over Easter, it’s back in Doris going somewhere for six weeks. Could be Scotland, might be abroad. We’ll see.
oh, and a walk around Slimbridge
Whatever, it won’t be work. I think I’ve managed to sort out a sensible (for everyone) escape route for 1 Jan. I want to get back to writing and generally being a bum. Can’t wait.
Well that’s that then. We’re back in the UK (with Mary) and home later today. In the end the journey was fine. We left on Sunday, half way down the Spanish coast, and got to Calais on Wednesday in plenty of time to get our duty free. We ferried on Thursday, stayed with Richard and Caroline (thank you!) on Thursday evening and were in Godalming on Friday. Doris purred along, we didn’t use the French tolls and it worked. We could have done it a day quicker without work and using the autoroutes, and that’s a thought for next time.
welcome home
The good news is we fell back in love with motorhoming and particularly Doris. Sure we knocked her a couple of times, but everything worked and we didn’t complain about her once. She needs a good degunk, for sure, and that will happen. And we might take her out again in the Spring, but even if she ends up being our autumn home on wheels, that will be good enough for us. Anyhow, really well done her.
Being a digital nomad hasn’t sat well with me. It’s a halfway house. I don’t feel as engaged with work as I want to be (although people have told me they don’t notice) and, when I’ve not been working I haven’t felt rested. As such I can’t see this happening again. And with our late January skiing on the horizon, I’ve got some serious thinking to do. This job has a large emotional element and that has made our Spanish sojourn, and any further breaks, a struggle. Maybe any or all work has that effect on me? I don’t know. Lots of things to consider then.
This morning’s run
Mum’s house has gone, which is a relief. You don’t need to know the particular details, but C and I are sharing any of our cash with Bex and Jen. It will be a nice fillup for them. So thanks Grandma Eileen and Grandad Colin. In the end the sale was straightforward, having lost a buyer early on. Sure, the fall in property prices across the country did impact on the selling price, but I suppose that meant that the people who bought it have a smaller mortgage, which can’t be a bad thing.
What’s next? Well home today. It will take some time to sort everything out but I will be at my desk first thing tomorrow. In many ways I’m looking forward to the routine – certainly more than the balancing act of the past six weeks. Our next traffic light is Christmas. Bex, Steven and Henry are coming home, but they will spend the actual day with his mum … we had them last year. Whatever, it will be fab to see them. And particularly fab to see Henry who, approaching three, now has an expanding vocab, even if his tongue is too big to make every work explicit. It’s going to be a delight.
That’s me. We’re fine. Without work, and disregarding Brexit, we could have stayed in that part of Spain indefinitely. We had really started to get into the groove, as if we were fulltiming again. The weather (and cheap coffee!) clearly helps.
We’re on our way home. Our ferry is on Thursday, we have a night with Richard and Caroline Thursday night, and then two with Mary. Back home on Sunday. I’ll likely be in the office on Monday.
what’s not to like?
It’s been a strange time. I won’t go on again about work-life balance except to say that I work first thing whilst C dozes, the business has a 9 am call (10 am here), after which I tie up some loose ends before C and I head out for the morning, or drive onto a new location. I’ve worked most afternoons and then some in the evening. And most weekends I’ve put in a couple of hours.
This has meant we haven’t done what we usually do: touristing. We have sat still, pottered about, enjoyed doing not a great deal. The middle bit of the Spanish coast from Motril northeast to Vinaros has some real gems – stretches of unbuilt, a little run down, and at times industrial Spain which is right up our street. Bits are Bohemian, large chunks are very Spanish and the rugged coast line, with the mountains butting the sea, produce some spectacular shows. We are currently at Peniscola, which has a beautiful old town on a prominentary. It’s at the edge of what our is acceptance of ‘been too busy as a tourist centre’ is, but it’s mostly Spanish and the beach is fab. And the white housed, castle-topped hillock surrounded by sea is spectacular.
we had two suppers out … at least one with picture menus!
We have been more inclined to use campsites (using our ACSI card, where prices have close to doubled in the 10 years we’ve been doing this), but have found, or reused, some fab camperstops (last two were just 9 and 8.40 euros a night respectively), which have everything you need, less electricity. But, again, we’ve enjoyed wild camping and, as always, found some great places.
We’ve kept ourselves to ourselves, pretty much. Work makes for a dull boy (duller than usual!), but again that has suited. We have had coffee out most days, lunch out a few times and managed two suppers! Most of all we have been served by fabulous weather. Until a couple of days ago the nights were so hot we had to leave Doris’s windows open. I think we’ve experienced rain three times. The temperatures have been exceptional for this time of year, thanks, but no thanks, to climate change.
heading home 😔
What we have learnt though – and which was forced upon us – we enjoy not doing a great deal. Sure we cycled 20 kms yesterday and we both ran yesterday afternoon (every second day). And we have walked and cycled often, but not with the intensity of previous trips. And that’s been a pleasure in its own way. Is it age? Are we tired? Have we seen so much that another mountain top, or another cathedral, is one too many? I dunno. I don’t. Work’s grey areas have nudged into that, and things may change when I give it up. We’ll see.
Oh … and we bought a paddleboard! The blow up canoe, which we’ve had for an age, has come with us and remained resolutely in its bag. It’s a pain to blow up, heavy and a further pain to put back. A big paddleboard (ar 11 ft ours is the biggest) takes both of us, is lighter and has fewer moving parts. We’ve only been out on her once, and it was fun. We’ll see – she certainly takes up less room.
And C bumped Doris (you’ll remember that I broke her light cluster earlier in the trip?). There’s no structural damage and the tree survived. But the rear right, top corner fibreglass structure is exposed. I’ll sand it down and paint it. It’ll be fine. That’s Doris for you! To make C feel better (it wasn’t her fault – I was distracted when she was parking), yesterday we saw a large,new Cathargo held together with duck tape. These things happen.
Anyhow, we have to get going. We hope to make it into France today and then three days to Calais.
The good news is we’re both looking forward to coming back next year. We really hope we can stretch it to 10 weeks and do this part of the coast again. I’d aim to be writing and/or playing the guitar or painting. C will be reading. We are getting old, aren’t we?
We are now in Almeria and have been for 10 days: four in a campsite west of Almeria, four wild camping to the east of Cabo de Gata, and now a couple more nights at a campsite to the east of Cabo. After a hectic and, frankly, unendearing stay on the Costa del Sol, it’s great to be somewhere away from the crowds. Cabo, a headland national park, is it. Think unpopulated Mexico coastline and you pretty much have it. We will move north tomorrow as we start to wind our way home.
think unpopulated Mexican coastline
I’m continuing to work and have had some full days – sat in Doris penning emails, speaking to people and generally trying to be useful. This absolute definition of remote working – or digital nomad – has brought two things into sharp relief for me.
First, Doris is fabulous. She has, without complaint, just got on with it, allowing C and I to do our thing, sometimes together, sometimes apart. And I know something will fall off her now, but she is so solid … and dependable.
Doris has been fab … wild camping a few feet from the beach
The second is that this work thing, whilst absolutely fascinating and rewarding, is not sustainable. Not in the long term. I have committed to Christmas and might push that out a little further until everything is settled, but I wake every morning with a mind full of things, few of which are calming or positive. Most of which are complex and not without angst. That’s the nature of work, and certainly my work. That’s how I managed the 27 years in the military and 8 years as a teacher.
But it’s also the thing we made a clear choice on: work versus mental health. Work or us. Work or the family. Don’t get me wrong, I get a huge amount of satisfaction from doing these things. And I really love the people I work with. But, at 61, it’s not a long term solution for either of us.
And, importantly, the marketing of the books (remember, I’ve employed a woman to do that for me) is returning some results. We’re not there yet (£1 revenue for every £5 spent), but at least I’m selling books and I don’t have the responsibility for making it so. Obviously, there has to be a return. Obviously this can’t go on forever. The woman’s contract runs until the end of November, and we’ll wake up then and see where we are.
cycling in a moonscape
Finally, and this hasn’t helped my state of mind, the weather has been scorchio here. And it shouldn’t be. In the same way yesterday one of Scotland’s main roads shouldn’t be blocked by four landslides, or … you know I could go on and on. We are likely to break the key 1.5 degree margin in the next 4 years, well ahead of schedule. The changes we are seeing across the world have frightened hardened climate scientists and, and I know it’s doom mongering, my fear for dear grandchild Henry heightens all the time. Whilst this government chops climate pledges, tells us they’re fighting a war on motorists, and looks to cut solar farms in agricultural areas. I get a bit tearful writing this.
And what are Hamas thinking? Clearly they expect and will get massive retaliation, to which the world will at first applaud, and then tolerate. But to what end? Keeping them in power, I guess? It’s all pretty mad.
Goodness it’s all blooming go. I write this sitting in the front seat of Doris, our motorhome, just shy of a small reservoir somewhere in the bowels of the Iberian Peninsular. Technically, Spain … and a few miles south of Madrid. It’s been a thing, for sure. For those of you who regularly keep up with our wanderlings, you won’t be surprised that we made it this far. But, let me tell you, I’m surprised we made it this far.
We’re away, and doesn’t it feel good
How come? Well, it all began in June when I started some consultancy work with my pal and his business. That developed, and then developed further. But I was clear. 1 September, and we’re all done. That’s when C and I are hoofing off to France and then Spain. I’ve got book nine in the Sam Green series to write. And nothing gets in the way of that. Notwithstanding last year, I write September through to December (draft one), edit for three months, get some unsuspecting people to read the book and then my fab proofreader finishes off the job. Publication set for the following July. So it all begins in September.
But it wasn’t as simple as that. The work and me got entrenched. We were inseparable. Those that know me, know this is my way. It becomes all encompassing. I live and breath it. And that’s what happened this time. I couldn’t give it up. I loved the people. I was doing a good thing. I was making a difference. And, in any case, hadn’t the Sam Green books come to a natural end? Shouldn’t I be doing something worthwhile rather than spending my time imagineering?
ehh, wow
In the end we all agreed a truce. We would go to France and Spain for two months. I would work ‘remotely’ (ha!) and Sam Green would wait until the Spring. That’s what was agreed. And, pretty much, that’s what’s happened. To begin with we had sometime with our elderly friend Mary to make sure she was OK. Last Sunday we popped in to see two travelling pals, Hilary and Steven, who we met on our first trip around Europe (lovely to see you both!). And then we caught the ferry.
And here we are. Four days through France and now four further days into Spain.
looks who’s driving,!
Doris, as you’d expect from our ageing Hymer, has been superb. Faultless, should I say. Work has tested me, though. Early on Tuesday morning I wanted to give it all up or, alternatively, turn around, go home and go and do it properly. In the end sense prevailed and, do you know what? It works. I do 90 minutes in the morning, including a team-wide call. I take some calls during the day. I do an hour at lunchtime, and a further 90 minutes in the late afternoon. So far C hasn’t divorced me.
All the while Spain has given, let me tell you. The weather has been just so. The scenery absolutely fabulous and the overnight stops pretty perfect. The highlight has probably been Don Quixote windmills this morning. But there has been so much more; we’re so lucky.
tilting at windmills
That’s me for now. We’re heading to Talavera tomorrow. It’s a Regimental battle honour thing. I shall get lots of brownie points from my military pals, whilst C looks over the pottery.
the.wanderlings 