G is for Grandchildren

Day 8 of the A-Z Challenge and it is "G" for Grandchildren.

Grandchildren are the best thing ever!  I can't begin to tell you of the excitment when you learn that one is on the way; or the joy when the little bundle finally arrives. 

We are lucky.  We have 6 Grandchildren so far and I am sure there will be more. We have 2 Granddaughters and 4 Grandsons.  They are all very differnt and all an absolute delight.  I could say so much but I would need to write a book so instead I shall just post some photos!  

 Ellie Grace

 Evan Reuben

 Flynn Spencer

 Jessica Madison

 Jackson George

 Shafiq Morra Usman

Dad with his 6 Great Grandchidren.  L- R Evan, Flynn, Jessica, Jackson, Annabelle and Ellie.

As you can see the first 5 photos are all taken with their Great Grandad Alf.  This is for 2 reasons, some of my children aren't too keen on putting photos of the children online, so I have gone for baby photo's and secondly, I wanted to show just how much these children meant to my Dad, their Great Grandad.  He adored them all and they him.  It is so lovely that my 4 eldest had very strong bonds with him and saw him regularly and have great memories. 

It is a great sadness that for little Jackson and Annabelle (my sisters grandaughter) they will not remember.  The biggest sadness of all was that he never got to meet little Morra who he was so excited about.   Of course he now has 2 more, Scarlett and Joshua who are my sisters grandchildren. 

The 6th photo shows Morra with his Grandad.

Jilly

Do you hang your washing out?

For once it is a bright sunny day and so I decided to put the washing on the line. I confess that I am guilty of mostly using the tumble drier to dry my washing. Only in the height of summer do I regularly use my washing line. Something that would have horrified my Mum.

When I was putting the stuff out today memories of my Mum came flooding back. The first thing that popped into my mind was how she would always take a damp cloth and wipe the line down first. I have never done that. I just peg the stuff out. Do you wipe your line first?

I remember how she pegged things out too. Usually she would peg from the shoulders of a garment whereas I always peg from the bottom. I wonder if there is a supposed right and wrong way?

She always used her washing line, in all weathers, except rain or really icy cold. That said I can remember occasions where it had obviously become cold and the washing would come off the line totally frozen stiff and would stand up on its own. I can't see the purpose of having put it out in that weather.

I also remember how if a sudden downpour arrived she would dash out into the garden and rush round madly un-pegging in order to get it in before it got soaked. Back in those days neighbours would also do the same for each other if they knew you were out. So it would not be unusual to come home and find all your washing with the woman next door. Today, if that happened you would assume it had been stolen.

Of course in those days they did not have the luxury of a machine that would get it all dry for you in under a couple of hours. The washing would come off the line and if it was still damp it would be draped over a clothes airer which was in the kitchen. My Mum's one was wooden and sometimes it would leave marks on the clothes. When I was first married, in the days before I had a tumble drier, I had a plastic clothes airer which went over the bath. However with 5 children it wasn’t too long before I had a tumbler.

If the clothes came off the line dry then they would be ironed and placed in the airing cupboard. A cupboard with slatted shelves above the boiler so it was warm. The clothes stayed in there for at least several days until they were “aired”

I have never really understood airing cupboards and the process of airing. What does that even mean? If clothes are damp then you dry them. If they are dry you put them away, don't you? I do anyway.

One legacy that my Mum has left me is ironing. She ironed most things. She certainly ironed all our clothes and the bed linen. This has rubbed off on me. I iron everything, and I do mean everything! Underpants and socks included! Do I like ironing? No! Somehow though I can't get myself out of the habit. Maybe I should work on that!

Very occasionally if I time it right with the tumble drier, I can get away with folding a few things or maybe just giving them a quick press. Trouble is I am usually too busy and forget to attend to the drier as soon as it finishes.

What are your washing habits? I think the British are more into their washing lines than my Merikan friends.

Jilly

A- Z Challeneg - E & F

Well here I am again, trying to keep up with this challenge.  Actually as you can see from the title I am cheating today by doing a 2  for 1 effort.  E & F  Together!

E is for empty and F is for full.  

Yes, you have guessed correct, it is a reference to the glass being half empty or the glass being half full.  So which are you, full or empty?

I confess that I am a glass half empty kind of person although I do occasionally have smatterings of half full glasses.  

Of course what we are actually talking about here is pessimism versus optimism isn't it?  Or is it?   Now that is where it gets me all wound up.  You see, although I am a half empty person, I am also a pretty optimistic person.   What I definitely am is a realistic person.  I am a person who deals in facts. 

So the fact is the glass in front of me is half empty.  I can see that.  Realistically, there will always be times when it is going to be half empty.  BUT.... I am ever optimistic that sooner or later it will be full.  

So when I say that I am a "glass half empty" kind of girl, don't judge me and mark me down as a miserable pessimist.   I am a realist.  

I am also extremely grateful that I have a glass. Always be grateful for your glass, whatever the content.  Your glass is a blessing. 

Jilly

Weight loss and pink Crimplene suits.

A follow on from yesterdays post on weight loss.

I am feeling very pleased with myself. First of all, this week I have lost 2 and a half pounds making me now 11st 4.5lbs. That is a total loss of 22.5lbs. Go me! I am halfway there. Hopefully it won't get harder and harder.

Second thing that has made me happy is that I went shopping. LOL, Shopping does not normally make me happy. I hadn't planned to but Simon had errands to do in Peterborough so I went along as well to have a look around. I usually hate shopping and very rarely ever go into the city.

For once this was a good experience. I tried on lots of things and made some purchases. 2 pairs of trousers, one black and one beige and 2 tunic style tops. That was good but the really brilliant thing that put a smile on my face was that they were all a size smaller than normal. Top and bottom, a size smaller. I was grinning like a Cheshire cat when I got in the car to come home.

Lots more hard work to go though so mustn’t get complacent.

Now to change the subject a little I have a question for all you trendy, in fashion, people out there.... What is the deal with all the Crimplene around at the moment?

I am calling it Crimplene because that is what it was called when I was a kid. The labels say polyester now but trust me it is Crimplene and it's still ugly.

Everywhere I went, every single shop, had dresses and skirts in this thick, stiff, textured fabric. Marks and Spencer’s even had a dress in a bright neon pink and white which reminded me exactly of a little Crimplene suit that I was “forced” into wearing to the wedding of one of my Mum's cousins when I was child.

I HATED that suit. I can remember buying it. It came from East Ham market. Wendy, at the time, I remember Roger working there. Not on the children’s clothes stall though! Have I remembered that right? For some reason my memory says he worked on an electrical stall on the corner. Might just be dreaming it all of course, you’ll have to let me know.

Ooops, got a bit side tracked there!

I was supposed to be getting something nice to compensate for the fact that my sister was a bridesmaid and I wasn't. I got this revolting, white and pink Crimplene suit. A pleated skirt and jacket. I will have to try and find a photo of it but not now as I am writing this in bed and it is very late.

I cannot believe that such a horrid, ugly fabric is apparently back in fashion. If you ever see me wearing it, just shoot me.

Night, night.

Jilly

FAT.

How did we get so fat? How did I get so fat? Yeah, I'm using the “Fat” word. I don't like it much either but it is the no excuses, truth. Over the years I have heard people use all kinds of excuses. One of the best is “I’m not fat, I'm just big boned” Well actually I'm small boned so can't get away with that one. I know this because my wrists are little, my ankles are little, my pelvis is little, you would know that too if you could only see my pelvic bones! They are currently well hidden.

Actually, I have medical evidence that my pelvis is small as it was measured when I was expecting my first baby. They feared that he may get stuck. In the event it was a difficult birth but not because of a small pelvis. At least I don’t think so. I did go on to deliver my 4^th baby, a 9 pounder, quickly and easily at home, small pelvis not withstanding.

Anyway, I was thinking about this yesterday and wondering just how I got to be fat. You know a lot of jobs don't help. I worked for years in an office. Very sedentary, sitting on my bum. Then I had the children and that is pretty good, you do a fair bit of chasing around.

After the children, I did what a lot of women do and worked in a shop. Now you would think that might help, after all you are on your feet all day. However, you are mostly just standing. Standing upright without movement doesn't help. Not to mention there are tea breaks where you reward yourself for this crappy work with a chocolate bar or 3. At least I did.

Now, I am at home. I have been at home for quite some years now. I do the housework in the mornings and yeah, I guess it burns a few calories but not as many as you might think. Then I sit. I sew, read, do internet stuff, knit, family history research, run an Etsy shop, sew some more. Do you see a pattern? They are all things which you do sitting on that fat bum.

Back in the middle of January this year. I took a strange fit in my head to stand on my bathroom scales. Hadn’t done that in goodness knows how long. I had the shock of my life. I am totally embarrassed to tell you the needle pointed to 12st 13lbs. I wasn't aware that I was that heavy.

Don't misunderstand that last sentence. I know I am overweight, yes even fat, but I just didn’t know it was that bad. I'm not one of those women that looks in the mirror and hates myself. I don’t scrub up too bad (at least I don't think so) and whilst I may look bigger than I should, I have never thought I look huge. Maybe I am just wearing rose tinted glasses.

My knees play up from time to time and I am very well aware that my weight is an issue in that respect.

Going back to that day in January, to say I was shocked is an understatement. The heaviest I have ever known myself to be is about 11 and a half stone. 12st 13lbs was hard to even compute. Brain was saying “NOOOOOOOO”!

Once the shock had registered I knew that it was finally time to take myself in hand and get serious. I decided there and then that I would get this sorted and when I set my mind to something, I follow it through. Ask Simon!

Since then, 11 weeks ago to be precise, I have lost nearly 1 and a half stone. I now weigh 11st 7lbs. Still a long way to go but I am rather pleased with myself. So how did I do it? Well I don't have any big revelations for you. There is no secret here. I have always known how to do it and so do you. You eat less and move more. Simple.

So am I on a diet? No. I don't believe in diets. Certainly not fads. I am eating less which means, I am watching portion sizes and I am making much more careful choices about what goes in my mouth. Portion sizes are a biggy. (No pun intended). It is very easy to pile a plate high and to tuck in. Do you know what a portion should look like? It is way, way smaller, than you are currently eating. I guarantee it. I'm not going to educate you here, if you want to know, look it up. You'll be surprised.

So, I am eating (and drinking) what I want. Smaller portions yes, but nothing is restricted as it would be on a diet. I still have my glass of red stuff on a Friday evening and if we go out, I may have a couple of glasses of red stuff. A piece of cake at the grandsons birthday party? No problem. I am not missing out on that! The difference is that it is now a small slither of cake rather than a chunk. Enough to enjoy and savour without feeling bloated.

I have an App where I log my food and it counts the calories for me. This isn’t as arduous as it sounds as it has a database and with each item logged it gets easier and easier as regular foods are already there and just one click. The App syncs with my Fitbit so over the day it is constantly assessing the amount I have eaten and the amount I have burnt. More on that later.

Now to the second part of successfully loosing weight. Moving more. Yes, you do have to move. Properly move. Remember that simply standing upright, whilst it might burn a few calories, doesn't really count. I have never been a person who is into sports or exercise. Jumping around to some fast beat, modern music in a room full of lots of sweaty women is never going to be for me. I mean why, would you put yourself through that?

So, how do you get more exercise then? Well for me, it has been walking. Yes, simple as that. Walking. Every hour, I make sure that I take time out and I walk. I don't "go" for a walk, I just walk here at home. It's easy. Walk around the house and up and down the garden. I also do a You Tube, “walk at home” video once a day. Sometimes twice. In 15 minutes you can walk a mile in your own living room! It might not work for you but it does for me. **

I walk Beanie twice a day. This is something I haven't had for years as our poor old doggies were not able to walk. Loulou didn't even go more than half way up the garden by the end.

Something else that has worked for me is the purchase of my Fitbit Charge. It is one of those new fangled fitness watch thingys that you wear on your wrist. I LOVE it.

Yes they are expensive and yes I know you can get free Apps that do pretty much the same thing. But this works for me and what price on your health? The free Apps rely on you carrying your mobile (cell) on you at all times. Well I don't. The Fitbit is there because it is on my wrist like a watch. (It tells the time too). I like the convenience of just a quick glance at my wrist to see how I am doing. Don't have to faff around getting a phone out.

The Fitbit Charge, measures, steps, distance, calories burned, stairs climbed and sleep. I have found that it really motivates me. They say (Just who are they?) that for health alone we should all be walking 10,000 steps a day. When I got my Fitbit and wore it for the first day, I did nothing extra as I wanted to see what a normal day was for me. Another shocker......3,300. Not good.

I have built that up over the last few months and it is now very rare that I don't get my 10,000 steps. Mostly I am more than that. I think my daily average is around 12,000.

The thing that really helps me is what I touched on earlier, the way the Fitbit constantly monitors energy burned against energy intake. So, when you get your Fitbit, assuming you want to lose weight, you tell it what you weigh now, what your target weight is and what intensity you want to work at. So kind of how quickly you want to lose weight.

I am on the moderate intensity which assumes a weight loss of a maximum amount of 2lbs per week. The Fitbit has worked out that on the moderate intensity plan that means I need a deficit of around 500 calories per day. IE, I need to burn 500 more calories of energy per day than I am taking in.

Now for the bit that I like....... Over the day I log what I have eaten. (calories / energy in), the Fitbit is constantly measuring my energy burned. (calories used). It then readjusts throughout the day to try to keep me on track for that 500 difference. So in just a quick glance at my wrist I know if I need to move more or eat less!

Basically if you start the day with let's say 1200 calories and as the day progresses you are sitting around doing nothing you will see that calorie allowance drop. However, if by let's say lunch time, you have already walked the equivalent of 3 miles then that 1200 allowance will have increased. The Fitbit gets better at knowing how many calories to give you each day the more you use it; as it looks at previous days energy burned and energy in to predict the current day.

For me, this is a great help because I can see at a glance how I am doing. If I know we are going out in the evening and I know, that I will be eating more than normal, then I make sure that I get more walking done until I can see that I have enough calories left to cover it and yet still be within that magic 500 difference.

OK, I think I have gone on long enough. Just wanted to let you all know that I am pleased with the way things are going so far. I appreciate that we all have different ways of doing things and this is mine. It is working for me so far.

Remember if you need to lose weight there is no magic formula. You simply eat less and move more. Energy intake versus energy output.

Forgot to say that the Fitbit App also allows you to measure other exercise types such as swimming, yoga etc...

I definitely love the motivation that my Fitbit has given me. In answer to a question I was asked recently.....No, I do not have shares in the company. Kind of wish that I did.

** If you want to walk a mile at home try this. She also has lots of other videos and there are a gazillion more to be found on YouTube.

http://tinyurl.com/o4q94tm

Jilly

"D" is for Dog.

Day 4 of the A- Z challenge means that today it is “D”  I am going to continue with the theme of blessings. 

“D” is for Dogs. Dogs are my passion. I have loved dogs my entire life. My Mum used to say that even as a tiny tot in my pushchair I would reach out for any that were nearby.

I was never allowed a dog as a child as my parents weren't really doggie people, although my Dad did come to love Alfie and Loulou in the last few years of his life.

My Mum used to say “when you have your own home you can have as many dogs as you like”. We have had 6 so far. At one time we had 4 together. Currently we just have one.

In the last 3 years I have been able to take my passion one step further by doing volunteer work for Three Counties Dog Rescue. I now regard myself as having over 70 dogs. Every one, of our small band of volunteers at Three Counties, treat the dogs just as we do our own. We love every single one of them. I just wish they could all find loving homes. Sadly as one goes out to a home another little soul comes in.

Here are some photos of the 6 doggie blessings that I have been privileged to have in my life.

Buick.

Sandy.

Rosie.

Alfie.

Loulou.

Beanie.

Jilly

"C" is for Coralie

Day 3 of the A- Z challenge so it is the letter “C”. Seeing as I have been thinking so much about blessings recently, I have decided to keep this easy today. I am also aiming to make it shorter as apparently that is good!.

“C” is for Coralie. Coralie is my 2^nd child and eldest daughter. She is an incredible woman who I am terribly proud of. Many of you know that she hasn't had the easiest of rides with her health.

She suffered for many years with all kinds of women’s problems and other stomach issues. This culminated last year when she was very ill and had several lots of major surgery. Some of you know the details. I won't go into it all here.

The wonderful news is that she is finally back to full health and ready for anything. In her words “I feel like I can do anything now” I know that she can.

One of her many pursuits is cycling. She got into it seriously a few years back. She has done quite a few rides for charity. This October is her biggest yet. She is doing the “Cycle Africa Challenge” in aid of women’s cancer charities. They are Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, Breast Cancer Care and Ovarian Cancer Action. It is a huge challenge. I am so proud of her. Did I say that already?

Here are a few photos of her on her bike.

 

 

 

If anyone would like to donate a few pennies to this cause then you can visit her Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/coralie-c-huson/

At the bottom of this blog post I have copied Coralie's own words from her page. (in Pink)

Children are one of the biggest blessings a person can have and I have been blessed 5 times. Coralie is one of those blessings.

Story

I read recently that 1:4 people will encounter cancer at some point in their lifetime. I don’t know how such a statistic is calculated but it is scary. I am one of 5 children, that means one of us will be affected by cancer, or one of my 5 nieces and nephews. What a thought. I figure we all need to pitch in and do something about it.

Some clever people carry out research into medicines and procedures, some people wear a ribbon or a band in support of a charity, some donate monthly or put coins in a collecting tin. Me? I am going to cycle many long and sweaty miles across Tanzania to raise money for women’s cancer charities.

 

Many of you know how much I love my bike, how much I enjoy being out on the road. But make no mistake, this is a big challenge. 9 days away from my boys, 9 days of heat, (I hate being hot!) and six solid days of cycling in a different climate, on different terrain, with a group of women I have yet to meet! I can't wait, but what a challenge!!!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my Just Giving page.

Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with Just Giving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

I am thankful for whatever pennies and pounds you are able to donate. They are going to a good cause.

THANK YOU.

Jilly

B i s for Blessings and Beaine Boy.

I must be on a blogging roll. I managed 2 yesterday and now here I am ready to do day 2 of the A-Z challenge.

I think mainly it is because today is an easy one, it is the letter B. Now when I restarted my blog last week I was doing some posts on blessings which begins with a B. There is another that begins with B and that is Beanie.

Beanie is our newly adopted dog. He first came into our lives back in December 2014 when he came into the care of the Three Counties Dog Rescue where both Simon and I do volunteer work.

He was a very sad boy. He came from a very poor background. A family who did not love him or care for him and in fact kept him in a state of dreadful neglect and illness. He lived permanently outside in a concrete yard in all weathers.

It is a long story of how he came to be handed over to Three Counties and one that serves no purpose to be shared here. He was in such a dreadful state that he went straight into the hospital unit at our Vets where Michelle the head Vet diagnosed demodectic mange and severe malnutrition. He spent 6 weeks in the hospital under the care of the wonderful Vets and nurses and they got him back on his feet so he could come to the kennels.

Simon loved him straight away. Here are some photos form that first day.

 

 

 

As many of you will know already we lost our beloved Loulou in January on the same day as the dreadful fire at the kennels. It was an awful time for us.

We always knew that we would take another dog into our home very quickly as we can't bare being without a doggy companion. Not to mention that we have a home and love to give and there are all those dogs just waiting for someone to come along for them.

We had also promised ourselves that when the time came we would take either one of the oldies or one of the long termers. For all kinds of reasons it didn’t work out like that and Beanie was neither. However it has helped to heal our consciences to know that he almost certainly would have become a long termer as he is a Staffy cross and he is white. People don’t want Staffies and they don’t like white dogs. Sounds funny that, doesn’t it? Trust me it's true.

So on the 23^rd of January 2015 Beanie came home with us. As I said previously he is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross, the Vet believes he is crossed with an English Bull Terrier but without DNA testing we won't ever really know. It doesn’t matter.

He was around a year old when he came to us in January but sadly we do not know his actual date of birth so his birthday will be celebrated each year on the day he came home.

Here are some photos from that first day at home.

 

 

 

 

 

We have now had him for 10 weeks and it seems like he has always been here. He is truly a blessing. He has made it a little easier to bare the loss of our Loulou although I still miss her every single day as I do our others that went before her. Buick, Sandy, Rosie and Alfie were all true blessings.

Beanie is adorable, he loves to play and his favourite toy is a very chewed up rugby ball.

 

He loves every single person that he meets but sadly he is very nervous around other dogs. We are working on that but given his background he may always be that way.

We are so grateful to Burghley Vets for getting him back to health and to Three Counties for allowing us to adopt him. We are truly blessed.

More photos:

 

 

 

Assuming I am able to keep up my blogging habit you can expect to see many more photos of Beanie over the coming weeks!

Jilly

A - Z Challenge - A is for Art.

My cousin Wendy is taking part in a blog challenge this month. Blogging from A - Z. One post a day, every day except Sundays. You can find out about it here: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/what-is-blogging-from-to-z.html

I have just read Wendy's post for today which is A is for ancestry. Wendy is keeping to a family theme for the whole month I think. However I don’t think you have to do that, I think you can just have a different thing every day. A bit like I did way back in my Yahoo days.

Anyway, I don’t want to actually join the challenge as I am pretty certain I will fail. But, I thought I might join in from time to time. So today is the letter A.

My theme is Art. I want to know what art means to you? How do you define what is art and what isn't?

That definition is something I have always had a problem with. When I was at secondary school we had lessons called “art”. We mainly drew things and did some painting. I was hopeless at it. To this day I still cannot draw. Although, that said, I guess everyone that can make a mark on paper can draw. It is in the eye of the beholder if it is good or not.

Because of those “art” lessons I have always thought that art was about drawing. I do know that many other things come under the heading too but I am thinking about drawing and painting right now.

So, what makes something art? For me I think it is when something is a true representation. Something that looks real. I really do not like abstract stuff. As for some of the stuff that looks like a 2 year old may have done it, well I just don’t see how that can be art.

I guess it is all to do with how we actually define that word isn’t it. “Art is a visual expression of an idea” according to the dictionary. So I can see that my limited view of it being just about paintings isn't quite right! I know that really

I think my problem is where do we draw the line? So a beautifully handmade quilt is art. An intricate piece of handmade jewellery is art. A lovingly hand knitted garment is art. A hand embroidered doodle is art. Hand crafted paper flower bouquets are art.

I can agree with all the above. Here are a few examples. Do you think they are art? **

Handmade Chainmaille by Victoria Sol:  

Hand Embroidered doodle by Kim's Handmade Cave. 

Handmade paper flower bouquets by Dawn the Funky Flower Girl

Hand knitted Cushion by The Feminine Touch

Needle felted Hamlet Hamster made by Jenny of Mythillogical

What does not in anyway constitute art for me are things such as “My Bed” by British artist Tracey Emin. I mean come on, how is that art? It is just a horrid example of what a room looks like when it is left uncleaned for a few days! She is clearly a sloven not an artist. This “room” was sold at auction in 2014 for a little over 2.5 million pounds!

If there are any takers out there I can create you a piece of art like that in no time at all. It isn't art. It's bullshit. Actually wasn't there another so called artist who actually painted with shit? Don't get me started!

What are your thoughts? What constitutes art for you? Do you have any examples?

I am going to finish now with a cherished piece of art from my own home. It was painted by my Dad and I love it.

** The above examples of art are by some of the members of the Etsy team that I belong to. Craft Britannia.

Jilly. 

Bloody British Weather

Afternoon all, just a quick pop in to let you know where I am at. First of all, yes I know I had said that I was going to try and do daily blogs but hey ho, I also knew that was never going to happen! I do have a good excuse though. We were away. No internet access.

Do you know, it's actually a funny thing about internet access. We went away in February and were staying at Wareham Forest. It is a rural area in Dorset, but that said it is also just a few miles from a very busy, urban, tourist area.

On our van Tallulah, we had between us, 2 smart phones. 2 Ipads, a very expensive Snooper GPS unit, all singing and dancing with internet, plus our own MI-Fi hotspot. Could we get on the internet? Not on your Nelly. Could we get a phone signal? Absolutely no chance. Somehow, I thought things were better than that nowadays. Obviously not.

Anyway, we were away with no internet. As some of you know we should still be away. We had planned to be way until Eater Monday. We were going to travel the North Norfolk coast and then go to Verity's for Easter.

We managed just one night. We went on Monday to Brancaster and had quite a nice day despite it being very cold.  A few photos:

Things started to go wrong around dinner time when we visited 2 dog friendly pubs where we thought we could have a nice meal out. What we hadn't thought about was that “dog friendly” means the world and his wife are there complete with their family of dogs! This is therefore not going to work for us as Beanie is nervous of other dogs. So it was a long walk in the wind and rain back to the van for pasties and beans.

Earlier in the day Simon had attempted to put up our Drive Away awning, despite the wind! He has only ever tested it once before, last summer when we purchased it. Of course by now he has forgotten how to do it and has lost the instructions. He did get it up but it didn't actually look quite right. The wind did not help and in fact it proved impossible to attach to the van mostly because of the wind. I kept telling him it was way too windy, but men always know best until the wife proves to be right!

So, we went to bed. It wasn't pleasant and the wind was picking up more and more and the rain was torrential. After about a quarter of an hour I got up. It was bloody scary. The wind was rocking the van quite violently and actually making me feel sick. Imagine being on a boat in really rough sea or on a plane with the worst turbulence ever. You have some idea.

Long story short, I spent the night sitting in the drivers seat with my feet propped on the seats opposite, trying to console Beanie who wasn’t entirely happy with this new experience. Simon of course stayed in the bed although he didn’t sleep much.

After a very long night where I was checking my watch about every 20 minutes, just longing for dawn to come, Simon finally got up. I was able to inform him that our lovely new awning which we have yet to use was now lying in a tangled, muddy mess on the ground. I watched it gradually go down over the course of the night. Nothing I could do. I have no idea at the moment if it is salvageable or not. It is currently in a heap in the back of the van waiting for a dry, non windy day so we can get it out in the garden and survey the damage.

With rain and strong winds forecast to go on until today we decided that after just one night it was best to head for home. I could barely move. A night spent sitting upright had made me very stiff and set off my lower back pain again. Just when I thought I had got rid of it. I also had the beginnings of a migraine almost certainly due to the stress of it all.

And so we are at home. Feeling pretty fed up. We had been looking forward so much to our first, longer foray. Right now, I am seriously considering if “motor-homing” is really for me. Something always seems to go tits up. (For my Merikan friends, who may not know that expression; it means gone wrong!).

JILLY