Life remains short

Posted on August 29, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

our younger daughter keeps delivering these lovely computer-drawn images

In 1999 I sent my army pal, Al, a letter (it might have been an email, but I’m not sure we had that capability back then). I asked him if he and his family wanted to give everything up, buy a yacht and sail around the world. He’s a humanities grad, me an engineer. Both our wives are nurses. Between us we could circumnavigate the world in the knowledge that we could teach our five kids something, and our scraped knees and sunburn would be adequately administered. Thankfully he thought I was off my rocker and, as a result, both of us have led very interesting lives. Certainly, for me, if he’d said yes I wouldn’t have had the fabulously enjoyable, fairly full military career. And neither C nor I would have spent 8 years at our school having the time of our lives – me as a teacher; C as a houseparent. And, of course, we wouldn’t have had our Doris adventures which we were able to back up by slightly more funds than if we’d set off around Cape of Good Hope at the turn of the millennium – penniless.

Why do I mention this now? Well, our elder daughter (currently teaching in South Korea with her husband) got in touch today and described how, if they don’t get a job in Europe next summer, they might take some time off and do something different – bearing in mind they have Henry. One option is cycling the European ‘Rivers Route’, 2,200 mile trip from the French west coast to the Black Sea, following the Loire, the Soane, the Rhine and the Danube. We, delightfully, were welcome to join them.

I love that serendipity … that at about the same age I was, she’s looking to drop the shackles of employment (being teachers they can always find a job somewhere) and, whilst Henry is young, doing something adventurous. I’m not sure, even with our electric bikes, C’s up for over 2,000 miles on a bike. But her first comment was, ‘we’ll follow them in Doris’. Sounds like a plan.

And that reinvigorated my latent desire to do something similar to Bex’s plan, but on a barge. I always liked the idea of sailing from Rotterdam (down the Rhine), south, along the Rhine/Danube canal, onto the Danube, east to the Black Sea, south through the Bosphorus, around the Greek islands, across the Adriatic, around Sicily, possible across to north Africa and then back around the Med to Gibraltar. Sure, it’s a more expensive option than cycling, but what an adventure. The barge would cost you about £150k and, about two years later, you sell it and recoup some of the cash. So MY ARMY PALS … any takers? Come on, the kids have all left home. You only live once. We’d have four bedrooms, enough for family to join us as and when. You know you want to …

I imagine it will all go v quiet. But, as I’ve said so many times before, I will never judge those who decide that they want to settle down and have a house big enough for a family Christmas – and some. It’s just not for me. And I don’t think it’s for C, but you’d need to ask her.

In the meantime we’re off tomorrow – Shetland in a tent. And that is going to be an adventure. I’d like to think we’ll make 5 weeks before we find ourselves at mum’s in Colchester. Those of you holding a sweepstake almost certainly have us lasting a week. We’ll see. You could be right.

[And, for the record, we did C’s nephew’s classy wedding in Aldermarston on Friday, and either side lots of prep for the trip.]

Stay safe everyone.

We’re going whether you like it or not

Posted on August 25, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

I’m not feeling the love for our upcoming trip to the Shetlands. In fact everyone has sucked their teeth – friends, relatives, blog and SM mates. Apparently we should either be taking Doris or using Air B&Bs.

It’s a long story. We have been extremely lucky with our travels since I semi-retired. Since 2014 we have been to a lot of places. We lived in Doris 1&2 for four and half years, so were pretty ‘on holiday visiting’ the whole of that time. But looking back over the last 7 years … we did the 8-month long trip to Europe, including Sicily and Greece. We’ve been to Bavaria, to the south of France four separate times, Croatia, we took the kids on their honeymoon to Berlin and, before that, a three week trip to the Loire with them. We’ve done Skye and that part of Scotland 4 times, we’ve skied every year apart from last winter (due to covid), and we’ve done Brittany and much of the UK (I’m confident I’ve missed some Doris travels). We’ve flown to New York, Bahamas, Virginia, Tunisia and to a wedding in Italy. Oh, and we’ve spent 6 weeks backpacking around SE Asia with Bex and Steven.

Many of the Doris trips lasted 6 weeks … one of the ski trips was for a month. Even during covid we managed 6 weeks in Yorkshire last summer, a couple of trips to the Midlands and then, for Henry’s birth, we travelled to Korea for 5 weeks (two of which were in a ‘government facility’). And, just recently as you remember, we’ve had 5 weeks in the Lancashire Pennines and onto Ayrshire.

I don’t list this by way of boasting, although it really does me good to write it down. I say it more matter of factly. And to lay some thoughts for our upcoming trip to the Northern Isles.

Doris is free, apart from fuel and campsites – noting that free camping in Scotland is acceptable. But she’s big and, and I don’t know why, sticking her on a ferry to the Orkneys and then onto Shetlands where a big white bus would be a blot on the landscape, doesn’t do it for us. Doubtless when we get there the place will be covered with them. We’ll see. So a car it is. If we B&B it we can expect to pay about £70 a day for accommodation … more, when you consider that we might have to eat out every night. Let’s assume we’re away for 30 days … that’s a £3k holiday, way beyond our normal operating budget.

In September last year we were going to drive the old Focus to Baku on the Caspian Sea. The plan was to tent camp in Western Europe where hotel prices were high, and then ‘boutique hotel’ it in Turkey and beyond where, like SE Asia, you can get good quality hotels for £30 a night. I know this because the year before a friend of mine did the trip on a motorbike. That, obviously, fell through. But the idea remained. Interestingly, and with no connection at all, my pal has just finished Orkney and Shetland, and including the North Coast 500 on his bike. So that’s the plan. He took 11 days – I think we’ll take three times as long.

Will we survive in a tent? Who knows? From my perspective we couldn’t be closer to nature … and we both love that. The issue is whether or not we cope with being cold, wet and eaten by midges. All of those three things are possible. And any one of them might break the camel’s back. We’ll see. And all you scoffers could well be right. We might last no more than a day. I suppose the beauty of our approach is that we can always revert to Plan B – B&Bs, etc.

Anyhow. We have a wedding to go to on Friday and I don’t think we can see ourselves leaving before the schools go back on Tuesday. We have test-packed the car and spent about £200 on equipment … I know, that’s three nights B&B – (BTW, the BBC report that the cost of self catering has almost doubled in a year. Another reason to camp.)

So we’re going, whether you like it or not.

Stay safe. We know of two friends of friends who have the disease and the numbers are getting poorer. Wear a mask and keep your distance. Please.

Feel a little bit useless?

Posted on August 22, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

Do you not feel a little useless every so often? I’m not so much talking about local things, things you have influence over, but global ones. For me, locally, if things aren’t working well I try very hard to do something about it. I will talk to someone, or tackle the problem … or go for a run – or play my guitar. Somehow I manage to move the thing along, or find a solution, or the passing of time makes the issue irrelevant (apart from my recurring sinus issue, which I’ve tried multiple things, multiple times, and still I feel plagued).

I’m talking about global issues. Those which clearly have an impact on me and my family, but over which I have almost no control. The biggest is climate change. Sure, C and I do our bit with recycling, cutting down water and electricity use, trying not to buy new – make doing and mending, etc. But without wholesale, governmental action you just know the weather extremes are going to get worse and more persistent and that, whilst C and I are unlikely to be badly affected, Henry, our grandchild, is going to have to live with our ineffectiveness. It pains me most days.

And others. Afghanistan, Yemen, covid-19, women’s rights in Saudi, Belorussia, Haiti … the list of oppressed people, of civil wars, of dictators making normal peoples’ lives misery, is endless. And then closer to home. Of corrupt and inept politicians. Of lies and deceit (the Health secretary tweeted yesterday that he was opening up one of the 44 new hospitals promised by Johnson, when in fact he was opening up a cancer unit in an existing hospital. Don’t get me wrong – that’s good news. But why lie about it?). And then the factional nature of much of our discourse. Right v left. Brexit v remain. Christian v atheist. Masks v no masks. Vax v antivaxx. Nearly everyone, including me (although I try not to), is encamped with their opinions and the other side has got it all wrong.

Or maybe this is just because news and opinion is so much more readily available? Should I stay off social media? I don’t do Facebook madness – I get very little news from there. But I do get a lot of good quality (and, yes, positive reinforcement) news and comment from Twitter. I work hard to skip past the obviously insane, but with BBC, CNN, a number of right and left politicians – many international, and plenty of bright commentators, I do feel I get a world view untainted by falsehoods.

Or do I? More positive reinforcement? Probably.

It is what cheers me (and C) up in this difficult world

Clearly it is frustrating me. Nowadays I can’t watch or listen to Boris Johnson without my skin crawling. But I could listen to Angela Merkel all day, for example. And you can amplify both of those lists at your leisure. Raab. Hancock. Williamson. Farage. Conversely, Starmer, Jess Phillips. Caroline Lucas – even Nicola Sturgeon.

The good news is that once we’ve finished visiting mum (where we are now), we can count down to our planned camping trip to the Northern Isles. I know most of you think we’re mad, but I think we’re both really looking forward to the basicness of camping. But … will we be too close to nature? We’ll see.

Stay safe everyone.

Over the moon

Posted on August 19, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

We’ve made it to Mary’s and then off to mum’s on Saturday. It’s part of our ‘see people we care for’ package which we try very hard to do at least once a month. It’s easy, but travelling does get in the way.

In between time we’ve been sorting ourselves out, including a trip up to Jen and James’s for a ‘birthday supper’ for C … which she produced. The good news was we caught up with a v old pal of Jen’s. Pippa. They went to school together and afterwards, she joined the army and now has a senior post in an artillery regiment. It was hilarious to listen to her stories and to be reminded that soldiers have not changed one jot over the past two decades. Fabulous.

And on Tuesday we cycled into Bristol to see the ‘moon’ hanging in the cathedral. It’s an art exhibition which has been circling the world (do you see what I did there?) and is now in Bristol. We met up with school pals and, afterwards, had a picnic on the docks. We love Bristol!

Once we’d emptied Doris, C sorted the inside of the house and I attacked the garden and the trees in the front garden which seem to have a mind of their own. We also started to pull together all of the stuff we need for our planned camping trip to the Northern Isles. It is turning into quite an adventure. We head off in early September and plan to be on Orkney/Shetland pretty soon after. And, yes, we are taking a tent. Neither of us have any idea how long it will last … that is, before we pack it all in and head off to the local B&B. We’ll see. We are going to try and make it work, but our bones are not what they used to be.

And we’ve been trying to sort our phones. Currently for not a great deal of money we have meagre SIM only contracts. The aim was to update them and get more data so we might stream TV in the van. I think I’ve sorted. I think. I made a mistake and upgraded Jen’s contract (which we run) instead of C’s and then, hopefully, tried to correct my mistake. But you know what these phone companies are like.

Finally, the blog tour for of Black Bulls and White Horses is on for the first week of October. The cost to me is $139. The outcome should be a number of influential book bloggers reading and then writing about the book. That’s a bit scary, isn’t it? What’s the old adage? There’s no such thing as bad publicity … I remain to be convinced.

In the meantime, stay safe. I know we’ve moved on from the disease but the average deaths remain just under 100 every day and that moving average is rising.

There will be no kites …

Posted on August 15, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

It’s difficult to write about the pleasures of spending our final few days in Doris without feeling a punch in the gut for the people of Afghanistan. I only spent a short time there and, I guess like everyone, I have no idea what the solution is. But abandoning the country to the Taliban seems like the worst possible option … especially as for a few years we appear to have managed to find a workable status quo with the minimum cost to the West. both in terms of $s and lives. To be clear this is not about religion. This is about men using faith as a weapon to subjugate a population for their own benefits. It’s about power. It’s about misogyny. Like the hard-right Christians hiding in plain sight across the world, it’s about men getting what they want – money and power – using a belief system to terrorise people with. In central Asia, Afghan women will be prevented from studying and working. They will not be allowed to shop without an escort. They will have to wear full covering. There will be no more music, no bright colours. There will be no more kites.

I do not, by the way, have the answers. I just feel deeply sorry for the poor people caught up in the fight. And it seems, once the Taliban capture Kabul – which they will without a fight in the next week or so because the security forces are abandoning their posts without allied support – Afghanistan will become a pariah state, lost for the next who knows how long?

And this is happening at the same time as the Earth records its hottest July on record. I’m not going to add anything to that.

is there a more depressing place than Gretna shopping village?

We were thinking about stopping in the Pennines for a few days, but with all of the campsites we spoke to booked for the weekend, we decided to head south to our ‘in the bag’ site (£10, no EHU) by the Severn. After a pop into ‘Gretna Shopping Village’ (two hours of my life I will never get back) it was a six-hour journey homeward which passed without incident. On Friday we cycled into Thornbury; yesterday we walked the six-mile circular route though Berkeley deer park with a picnic, and today we’re going to do some admin before heading home tomorrow. We then have a couple of weeks of seeing people (mum and Mary), admin, a wedding and final prep for our trip to the Shetland and Orkney islands. I’ll expand on that mid-week, but a plan is coming together.

Stay safe everyone. We are struggling with how we manage wearing masks to C’s nephew’s wedding in a couple of weeks. We sense we might be the only people wearing one …

Wild camping, yes or no?

Posted on August 11, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

Wild camping. Now there’s a thought which frightens many motorhomers. We’ve just finished a 6-day stint, which is easy in Scotland because it’s legal. No, that’s not accurate. It wasn’t ‘easy’. The last two nights have not simply fallen into place, but that is one of the drawbacks of not knowing exactly where you’re going to park.

We left the Stranraer peninsula with the aim of walking around Loch Trool, in the Galloway Forest … and we did that (6 miles, 350 metres of climb). The weather was overcast, but calm, and the walk and views were fab. We had thought about staying in the car park and that would have worked, but we wanted more expansive views. So we headed north into the hills with two ‘picnic sites’ in mind. The first was perfect. A small gravel area well off a little used road, next to a river. But there was a van there already and we wanted complete solitude. So we headed further into the hills and found the second car park. The views were ace, but the car park was small and not level. It wasn’t right. So, what to do now?

We headed south, back towards Newton Stewart, with the aim of stopping anywhere roadside which was suitable. We were both tired after the walk and it’s fair to say we both got a little frustrated – it was our first night in over 4 weeks we’d not managed to go straight to a camping spot. Time was eating away. And we both wanted to rest. Eventually we stopped in an RSPB car park by a river (we’re members). It was fine, but lacked views. However, we managed to find a couple of silver linings. The stop was by a pretty river. And we felt safe enough to leave Doris the following morning and walked up to Middle Loch (5 miles, 150 metres of climb), which was as deserted as anything.

Middle Loch … not sure where the outer ones are

One unperfect stop. Next we headed for a place we’d seen before where, for a donation, there was free water and a place to empty your tanks. The car park wasn’t special, but once empty we’d be set for some more wild camping, if it came to that.

And that’s the downside of wild camping. You have to watch your ‘levels’. It was a big problem for us in the early days, especially on the continent when we tried to wild camp all the time for both tranquility and cost reasons. Now, not so much. But it’s worth expanding on.

You have five issues. First is electricity. For that we’re fine. Clearly it depends upon how much you use, but with 200 watts of solar panels and 200 amp hours on Li-ion batteries, we can stay disconnected forever. Second is gas. But that’s an issue whether you’re wild camping, or not. You need some. Third is water. The mantra is to fill up whenever you can (we have a 110 litre tank) and use sparingly. Our tank will give us a week. And you can always buy water from a supermarket. That’s not a cheap option, but there should be no reason to run out. Fourth is grey water – that is, the stuff you throw down the sink. We work on the open-tank principle: a lot of campsite owners ask you to ‘throw it in the hedge’ … and that’s what we do.

Finally is black waste … the biggie. If you’re eating, you might want to come back to this. I’m of the strong opinion that the only way to dispose of black waste is down a loo (or equivalent). In an emergency, some people will go into the forest and dump it … it can be used as manure, after all. But I couldn’t do that. And the law is clear: it’s illegal. We have two cassettes (one in, and one triple wrapped in the boot), and when we’re wild camping we put nothing unnecessary down the loo, not even flush water. Instead we spray the pan with disinfectant and (and this is very German) we have a sealed container for paper. With that we can guarantee to last 6 days. This time we could have made 7.

However, the carpark ‘with amenities’ black tank was closed. Bugger. Two imperfect stops. We knew we had one more night before panic set in, and so, having stayed in the carpark (there was fresh water), today we’ve come onto a small campsite and emptied everything ready to go again. Clearly for non-motorhomers who prefer hotels or apartments, this is never an issue for you – it’s not one you ever have to think about. If it’s a worry, that’s a good reason to holiday as you do. However, have you seen the views we’ve had over the past 5 weeks?

There is something special about wild camping. The two nights on the beach at Ardwell were among our best ever stays, certainly in the UK. We’re beachside in a campsite at the moment, but we’re still 50 metres from the shore, rather than 5, as we were at Ardwell. And I have to be honest, there is something special about staying somewhere legally for free. No wonder more and more young people are buying old panel vans and converting them. Bravo, I say.

We’re heading homeward, slowly. We might be home by the weekend. Maybe next week. Whatever, please stay safe. And if you’re not vaccinated, I can’t implore you enough to get on with it. My brother would almost certainly be alive today if he’d been jabbed. And I think he’d have gone for that option.

The rain came eventually

Posted on August 8, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

We made the decision to ‘wild camp’ for a couple of days, having spent the first three weeks in the 5-unit-only certified sites and locations of the two big UK clubs: Caravan and Motorhome, and Caravan and Camping. And we headed for the coast.

Our first stop was Girvan, right by the sea, in a beach car park. You know when you get somewhere whether or not you’re going to feel safe. We have stayed in some pretty rough spots, but there is an imaginary line you draw in your head. Say in a car park in Italy when you’re not quite sure, but you need to get your head down. Then I leave the keys in the ignition, make sure Doris has an escape route and we sleep lightly. But we have never been threatened, nor has anyone (touch wood) tried to break into our van. I know of people where that has happened – usually youths slapping on the motorhome’s side – but the incidences are small. And there are a lot of vans wild camping out there across Europe.

Anyhow, Girvan felt safe, and it was. It had rained most of the day and it continued to rain as we parked up. As a result we didn’t get out of Doris – and I think our bodies enjoyed the respite. The forecast told us it was going to be a stormy weekend with localised flooding, so we were keen to make sure we parked somewhere which wouldn’t flood. By the sea is normally a good spot (notwithstanding Boscastle, clearly).

However the next day was calm and before breakfast we walked down the beach the two miles to the town’s harbour, and then headed for the Mull of Galloway, the anvil-shaped peninsula off Scotland’s southern coast. And Mrs Sun shone. Inland Ayr seemed dodgy, but apart from a brisk wind, it was lovely. We stopped for lunch, beachside, I went for a run, and then we headed down to the southern lighthouse for another night’s stopover.

Doris is big. Not huge. Just big. And, typically (and we’ve done a few), the road to the lighthouse was single track with passing places. As we got within sight of the end I thought the carpark looked too full for Doris to turn around in, but C was feeling adventurous … and we made it. And there was plenty of room. There had been some internet discussion about whether we could stay there – but there were no signs saying we couldn’t, and in Scotland that means you can. So we did. And it was lovely. And windy. But we were not alone – there were five other vans with us – and it was cosy being buffeted about.

We moved on Saturday to a beachside carpark at Ardwell where we were met by ‘no overnight parking’ signs, and a row of campervans. I asked one of the crew of the likelihood of being asked to move on and was told ‘no’. So we parked up, put on our walking gear and did 8 miles coast-to-coast (east to west). It was fab. Mrs Sun was kind, the views fabulous, and we had a picnic sitting in a cove – we saw no one. And that’s the thing about this part of Scotland. It looks and feels like Cornwall … but there’s no one here. Today we cycled from Ardwell to Portpatrick (coast-to-coast; 25 miles) and, even though I couldn’t see much through the sheeting rain, the same must be said. It’s idyllic, as is Cornwall. But here you have it to yourself.

Typical of our recent luck, the rain stopped briefly when we got to the lovely harbour village of Portpatrick and we found a picnic bench and enjoyed the views, which were fab.

It’s still raining as I type this as we plan our next move. Probably off the peninsula and back into the forest? Who knows? And that’s the beauty of travelling in a van.

Stay safe everyone.

Loving it …

Posted on August 4, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

The huge birthday celebrations turned out all right in the end. Loch Doon campsite and the pitch we found was perfect. And, as you can see from the pictures, C had lots of cards and two cakes – not one. OK, so the fayre wasn’t brilliant, but the location was. Loch Doon in a long, slither of a lake in the Galloway Forest and for the last three days we’ve been milking it dry.

For C’s birthday lunch we had bacon and eggs banjos … something we avoid even though we love them. I then ran for 40 minutes with the birthday girl having a day off, following along on her bike. The weather was great and the views magnificent.

Before I talk about yesterday can I make a huge play for the this part of Scotland. We’re 50 miles as the crow flies from the Lake District and, I would argue, the scenery is as good, if not better, than Cumbria. OK, so the hills aren’t quite so pointy, but that’s the only difference. There are lakes and forests and walks and cycle rides and lovely valleys and deserted moorland and … very few people. Sure, you don’t get Beatrix Potter tat, mint cake, the Pencil Museum, and lakes full of pleasure craft – all of which, I have to say, I’m not missing. But you do get ospreys, genuine wilderness and very few people. For me it wins every time. Oh, and you can cycle through the forests for miles. Our bikes (did I tell you how good they are?) manage the forest tracks, but it would be heaven for mountain bikes. Not seen many of those.

So, yesterday. Thirty miles on our bikes, a lot of it uphill. The ride across the moors was fab, the second bit on tarmac up a long, forested valley was magical (and thigh burning), lunch in the forest to avoid a squall was great, and then the long route home through the trees where we saw three people, was the best. What a day.

And today we ran first thing and took the bikes into the hills to a small, delightful loch where we ate our picnic and enjoyed the presence of Mrs Sun. We were going to cycle back to Doris, but C suggested we cycle to the end of the loch. Which we did. Then back home in time for crumpets. Fab.

The weather turns tomorrow and we’re set for a wet and windy weekend. I think we’ve decided to wild camp for a couple of nights … because we can. Normally, in Scotland, we wild camp whenever we can – we are close to being experts. That’ll be something different.

Finally, stay safe. Good news that the covid numbers look like they’re coming down against everyone’s predictions. Hopefully we’re close to beating this nasty disease. You still don’t want it, so please look after yourselves.

It came right in the end

Posted on August 1, 2021 by thewanderlings2013

Well, there’s a thing. We finished up at the Annan site (the one overlooking the Solway Firth), with a 22 mile round cycle trip to Carsethorn Castle. The route was flat which, for some reason, tired us out. The good news was that whilst we only expected a peak at the ancient, moated castle, the grounds were free to enter and we had a good look around. It was fab. The bad news was my combination bike lock broke with my bike still attached to the stand … and no amount of coaxing was going to free it. Thankfully I’d unknowingly secured it to where the rear carrier meets the frame and I was able to take the carrier off and leave the chain in place. I spoke to the staff about leaving the lock behind and then we cycled down to the water for a picnic.

The route back was tiring for some reason – there was no wind to slow us, maybe it was just where we found ourselves? – but the Olympic highlights cheered us up. Hurrah!

We’d booked into a site near New Galloway, in the Galloway Forest, thinking we could walk and run from there. On arrival we realised the lovely little site had no access to the forest and only a good slab of A road to start a cycle. It’s fair to say we were both a bit disappointed, although we only have ourselves to blame as we could have checked; we shortened our stay to just two nights (we’ve booked a lochside pitch next where we can walk, run, paddle and cycle in the forest, we hope). In the end (and surprisingly) today the whole place redeemed itself.

We cycled down to Clatteringshaws Loch (5 miles), had a lovely coffee and cake from the visitors’s centre, trekked up a pointy hill (4 miles; 200 metres of climb) to get panoramic views of the whole forest and lochs, and then cycled back through the forest on ‘Forest Drive’, an 11 mile gravel track which our bikes lapped up (have I told you how good they are?). We stopped for a picnic mid-forest and then cycled back home on a road next to another loch, back in time for tea and medals. And the weather was fab – Mrs Sun, clouds and a perfect trekking/cycling temperature. Fab.

Tomorrow is C’s birthday. She’s a bit older than me and I guess that’s all I’m allowed to tell you. I have absolutely no surprises for her, but we do have some presents and some cards. Hopefully the lochside campsite will be as good as it sounds and we can have a really lovely day.

Finally, and for the record, the kitchen sink main drain broke a couple of days ago. The thing about motorhomes is that, where possible, everything is made from plastic to keep the weight down. The problem is, plastic degrades over time and our sink was leaking and I over-tightened the drain … and it snapped. So I’ve replaced it with a domestic set up (am now a plumber). It’s much sturdier, easier to keep clean, looks fab, but doesn’t have a built in u-bend nor an overflow attachment. The latter two are not problems for us at the moment, but I do need to sort them ,,, in time.

Stay safe everyone. And remember, if you want access to Prince Charles you have to pay the Tory Party a donation of £250,000, which goes in their coffers. Then it’s guaranteed. [This is from a Financial Times article of a couple of days ago.] Now I don’t know about you, but I think that’s probably not ethical. What a country we live in at the moment. Thankfully our Olympic athletes are inspiring us, because our government a falling way short.