Time as a continuum

That’s the end of the first week. I suppose an obvious question is “how does it feel?”. Well I have yet to get my head round that this is a way of life, but the most significant feeling and a step change in business for me is that time has now become a continuum. Take a previous Sunday. Must get to Jen’s by….., then do such-n-such by then, and be sure to be in the car by 5.30 so we can get home to cook for supper, watch a bit of TV and the bed. Take yesterday. Ehh, what time is it? Am I bovvered? Is it dark yet?

And do you know what? We got exactly the same amount of stuff done but without any of the time pressure. Bliss.

So after a bit of work in Jen’s house….

our much promised walk around Blaise

our lovely daughter tired out ‘after three long squalks’

Followed, back at the van, by a run, chilli and then we watched two episodes of the West Wing.

Today I am taking Jen to see the new Planet of the Apes film (am superhero equivalent of Dad) whilst C stays at Jen’s and does our washing (am perfect husband).

Get a haircut

post haircut. Mine didn’t take long.

It’s a little know fact that C and I have been cutting each others’ hair for about a year. I of course, although lacking in some of the requisite chromosomes to be a great male hairdresser, am pretty good with a pair of shears under instructions from C. She, on the other hand, has electric clippers and a fanatical drive to ensure what little hair I have left is clear of my ears. The only thing we know for certain is that the outcome is worth the cost…..ehh, that is well within budget.

before

But with rain eventually clearing we had our first quiet day. Jen lent us Cassie and we decided to walk and play with her to an inch of her life. At the end of Long Walk in the muddy aftermath of over and inch of rain she looked like a pint of Guinness. And the evening (after haircuts – which, by the way if you’re after something to bring you closer together is a good way to show you trust each other; a bit like rabbits grooming I guess.  But don’t get it wrong..) some reconstituted sausage meal and then the Edinburgh concert on TV which was fun.

….after.

And another plus to share with you. Whilst yesterday was at least half wet, we spent nearly every second of the dry half outdoors. I cook outside. And even sitting in the van the front door was open. This life forces you to live outdoors. And that’s magical.

Keeping an eye on Rory McIlroy today, and less of an eye on the cricket (get bored with the negative comments about Cook) and the German Grand Prix.

Global Weirding

not much chance of this drying overnight

At 1.15 this morning I couldn’t count a single second between lightning flashes. It was all sheet lightning as well, something I’ve not seen for as long as I can remember. It was everywhere. We woke this morning at 5.30 to more thunder and lightning. I had watched a programme a couple of weeks ago called Global Weirding (remarking on the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events), clearly a play on Global Warming. It was one of those really annoying programmes where they squeezed ten minutes worth of facts into an hour long programme, showing the same video clips and often inane chatter from some fringe scientist to show that our weather was, well, weird. No s**t Sherlock. If you had based yourselves in Somerset over the last 6 months and paid absolutely no attention to the weather you couldn’t have helped noticing the emergence of Lake Muchelney where there used to be fields of cows, about six weeks of the warmest and sunniest days since 1976 and now thunderstorms usually reserved for the mid-west. My question is: what happens next?

In the short term I guess our picnic to Blaise Castle today is postponed.

For the record we spent yesterday finishing off in Jen’s garden and I did this all without falling off of the step ladder. And last night we had Jen and James, Jen’s house mate and another friend round for supper. It was a great night, only soured by the fact that I was unable to beat James at Slovakian quoits. Where’s the world coming to when potential father-in-laws can’t beat boyfriends at sports of their choosing?  And interestingly since we started this on Monday we have had entertained in the evening on every night bar one – that is more in our first six days than the previous six months.  You might even say we were becoming social people.

If any of the three of you are interested I have updated the FAQs with some words about where we stay.

ahh, fresh coffee just now

No job too small…

looking forwards towards the end of our endeavours…

…finished product.

So in the heat of a v hot day the three of us managed to turn a jungle into something which resembles a fairly workable (smallish) garden. The photos hardly do our labour justice, but I think it’s fair to say that we did a good job of taking Jen’s uneven patio and rubbishy lawn and dump area and made it into something which is not unpleasant to the eye. Call me Aneka Rice and challenge me accordingly (ok, so only a few of you will remember that reference). But we are all v pleased with ourselves. Tomorrow a bit of front tree pruning (must remember not to fall off the step ladder), fix the bath and one or two small other jobs and I will be elevated beyond perfect Dad status to some other superlative adjective. C, of course, has had nothing to do with any of this and so takes no credit for her help. Especially as I am the scribe.

Just had Kenn round for supper. T-bone steaks from the PX which he cooked on the BBQ he bought with him. Old habits die hard from the alpha of all alpha males. It was good to catch up with him as he plans his bucket list, including motorcycling from Paris to Dakar now he’s reaching 50. It was good to spend time with him without the spectre of work hanging over. Although with the beer and wine there may be a hangover hanging over…

Finally thought you might like this photo taken by Jen yesterday. It is of me in my new relaxed state. Bless.

would you leave this man in charge of your dog?

Falderi, faldera….

I’d never make a builder. Re-laying Jen’s patio has tested me to my limits of practical sense and physical endurance. Ok, so I’ve done my fair share of tabbing in the past, but lifting and moving around 30kg of paving slab has reminded me that I do have a backbone. It’s not yet finished and I was thick enough not to take a before photo but will aim to take a finished one tomorrow.

As an aside you might be interested in our traveling companions. No, let’s

Some of the many happy wanderers

face it, you’re not. But I don’t care and as part of the rich tapestry imaging that I’m going to bore you all with (that’s all three of you) over the next month or so, you do need to know this. This lot are C’s teddies. Actually there are about 100 more, but the camera lens isn’t wide enough. Christened the happy wanderers (there’s a song there somewhere with a ‘falderi, faldera’ chorus if you’re old enough) they have all had outfits made by C and get more attention than I do. Actually, let’s face it the washing up gets more attention than I do.

Back to back (breaking) tomorrow in Jen’s backyard. And for the hardy three of you don’t get used to daily updates. It ain’t going to happen. But for now enjoy the rubbish….

Jen – never one to miss a free lunch (supper)

A walk on the rye side

“My name is Clairex Ladleyus, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Crazy Legius. Mother of two grown up daughters. And I will have my gin and tonic in this life or the next.”

Our walk from Deer Leap this morning before our drive to Brissol, where on arrival at the campsite we realised that C has booked one in Macclesfield for a week. How did she ever run a house (successfully)?

Till tomorrow.

Day 1 – we’re off

[First an apology. Updating the blog via an iPad and 3G doesn’t allow for titivating the words and photos – so it’ll look messy until I get to decent wifi.]

Just before I put my foot on the accelerator…..

After a mad morning of admin, final cleaning and saying a few final farewells, and in remarkably good form even after supper with J and J the night before (Champagne to start), we were off….

….to Deer Leap. It was always our ambition to first night at the view point where we dashed to after a tough day at work. Cost = £0. We walked Ebbr Gorge which was much more startling than we realised; coming out of the top end was like scrambling out of the valley of the dinosaurs. And then a cup of tea, some admin and a short time for reflection: so that’s what it’s going to feel like!  Blooming marvelous.

Off to Jen’s tomorrow to a campsite just north of Brissol. Some time with her and, if I get my act together, a chance to re-lay her patio. I am the perfect Dad.

Deer Leap. Brissol Channel in the background.

Au revoir Wells

A busy couple of days.  A trip to C’s sister Annie in Lambourn.  She’s our permanent UK address and we passed to her a small box of legal and business stuff.  She’s a legal secretary and already armed with a date stamp and a ‘file it properly’ mentality, so we are v lucky there.

Then out to supper to the Hunters Lodge just up on the Mendips.  The Hunters at first glance is a pub you wouldn’t go into unless you were escaping the werewolves.  Perched on the edge of the brief, but thoroughly convincing moorland of the Mendips, its setting is immediately bleak and unwelcoming.  Add that to the fact it doesn’t seem to have a front and its render is a dull grey green with accompanying peeling paintwork and you know that inside the locals will go silent the moment you walk in.  Anyhow our mate from school Jane works there on a Thursday night so we cycled up (big hill = thank goodness for electric bikes).  Inside it has two pokey bars and whilst the decor is spit and sawdust, the beer, food (chilli and chunk of bread for £4.50) and local welcome were wonderful.  We arrived as the Morris dancers were leaving and left just as the caves were arriving.  Brilliant.

just before final trip to Brissol. C clearly still affected by the trip to the Hunters.

Yesterday we popped to Jen’s for our final dump of kit in the garage.  It was a ferociously hot day and with some metaphorical leverage we managed to squeeze everything into the garage.  Back home for more cleaning and packing of the van.  It is v full.  To get our winter clothes in we have

our wordly possessions

vacuum packed them and pushed them into boxes in the boot.  I’m sat here early on Sunday morning looking round our v small space thinking: are we really going to be able to live cheek by jowl for an extended period of time in a space smaller than my first bedroom?  We’ll see.

Friday night was supper with Julie and Craig – the best home-cooked curry ever (thanks Craig).  We loved little Dallas; you have to visit the estate they live on to get this v in joke.

Today (Sunday) we finish off.  There’s not much to do.  ES (6F leaver and runner) is coming over to say cheerio.  It is my absolute ambition to attend her passing out parade at Sandhurst in four or five years time.  A fine athlete, she’s off to Loughborough in September.  She’s the only student I have gently pressed about joining the Army.  She has that natural authority combined with an unbreakable energy which will suit. Of course she may not bother, but that’s not going to stop me from keeping an eye and reminding her of my ambition!

And off to J and J’s for supper tonight.  The next report will not be from Wells but out in the bondu somewhere.  Yippee!

Thank goodness for Julian

Julian piecing it all together

If you have been in any way bothered to read any of our news over the past 8 months you might remember that over Easter in southern Scotland I tried to turn the van round on the moors and ripped off a small piece of the bottom corner.  Anyhow Julian (C’s matron’s husband) has a rivet gun and so came over this morning and pieced together the jigsaw and stuck it all together.  It was, well, riveting.

Next couple of days sees us taking some stuff to C’s sister (whose address we are using as our cc in the UK) and the final trip to Jen’s to drop off the last stuff we are keeping for Stage 4 (the dribbling stage).  And then we’re off!

Quick update

I could get used to this

A busyish day.  Ehh, coffee first at Nero’s in town, but then cleaning the house (C) and packing the van (me).  The roof looks v busy with skis, boat and top box.  And I almost fell off the rear ladder more times than I stayed on it.  Had a go at packing the boot, but I know this will need redoing once we’re moving.  

Up on the roof….

A couple of folk have asked me how I feel?  And the answer is: different.  I haven’t thought about work at all, and if it popped into my head I dismissed it immediately and, for me, easily – which is a first.  There’s too much to do over the next couple of days to be able to look over the horizon and I guess until we break clean on Monday it will be difficult to get a feel for the travelling bit.  C and I tried to think of a term that described what we’re doing.  I’m not retiring – I will work again at some point doing something.  I don’t like Full Timing (the recognised term both here and in the US for living in an MH, 5th wheeler or carvan full time), as whilst it describes our living, it doesn’t really describe our way of life.  The best C could come up with is Reflecting…..after we both agreed it was a time for regrouping and reflecting.  So we are reflectees.  Which sounds a bit like refugees, which I guess is apt.  

The more disparaging amongst you could call us gypsies.  I don’t have a problem with the traveller community at all where they stay within the law, and there’s some truth in the association.  But we are in a transient period of our lives and I am still paying tax, we have a TV license and we will stay on campsites.  So I’m not sure that comparison is wholly accurate.  But if it works for you…..

Germany vs Brazil tonight, although I am much more excited by the forthcoming test series.  

A lot to look forward to.

(Oh and Virgin have connected me to my new sim-only contract keeping the same number.  £18 per month – unlimited minutes, txts and data + free 08 numbers.  Seems like a bargain to me)