Anniversary & a loss.

Yes; definitely an anniversary of note. 2 years ago on July 29th 2011 Sadie was delivered by her previous owners and became mine and Tanya's. December 16th of that same year was when Sadie, Tanya, and I left 'East Kilbride' to start our travelling life. The rest is history as they say. Recorded history though with my blog containing many entries, telling it as it has been over those two years, and of course, is still ongoing.

Tonight is no exception. We, that is the team, Sadie, Tanya and I are wild camped high in the Cumbrian hills just East of Westmoreland services on the M6. The plan was, on this journey up to Scotland, to stay the night at the services. The plan changed when I discovered it was going to cost me £22.00 to park my wheels overnight.

Out came the Caravan and Camping Club book and a CL (Small site very often on local farms.) Was located not too far away. A quick phone call to check availability and we were on our way to a site which would cost me only £9.00.

Plan 3. En-route this delightful wild spot was espied where with well practised skill Sadie was soon parked, levelled and ready to provide home for the night with views of the hills to die for. Cost?   Zero!  Am I not just a tight fisted old so and so eh!

We know all to well that we are moving North as well. The weather was kind & warm all the way up a busy but thankfully free flowing M6. Tonight though is a mixture of sunshine, cloud and cool showers. The last few weeks of being based in 'Salisbury' and of living in shorts, sandals and light summer shirts is, I feel, about to come to an end. Light jacket, socks and trainers had to be donned for a walk with Tanya up to the rocky bluff above the village of 'Orton'. A small price to pay however; for such a beautiful spot and reminder of all the similar wonderful spots throughout Europe we have experienced and enjoyed during the last two years.

So; here is to another year of successful and exciting travel with my trusty companions Sadie and Tanya. Picture me here if you will with cup of tea raised in one hand toasting my good fortune. The reality is raising my half filled mug of tea has reminded me I must take my pills tonight. I forgot them last night.

Ahhhhh; such are the lofty aspirations of this increasingly forgetful, bearded, tight fisted, and definitely mad as a hatter old man!
- - -
Next day.

"Hmmmm! Be careful of what you think, verbally state or write down, for it may come back to bite you on the bum!!"

Annadale services on the M74 about 60 miles South of Glasgow. We'd stopped for a Tanya walk and bite to eat. Imagine my panic upon returning to Sadie to find no keys attached to my belt. They, for the first time since I have owned Sadie, had become detached somewhere without me noticing. Worse still, I had also left my mobile phone inside Sadie. If anyone found the keys, which have a tag on them with my phone number and name clearly written, they would perhaps ring me and get no reply.

I carefully retraced my steps right back around the lake where Tanya and I had walked. Especially the bit where I had walked down the steep bank and into the bushes for a quiet pee. No such luck. I was by now seriously questioning my mental ability in respect of  being left on my own in charge of an expensive motorhome.

"A home for the elderly and forgetful is where I belong" I muttered to myself.

Finally I walk into the services to ask if anyone has handed them in. A lady directs me across the foyer toward an 'in charge lady' who, to my absolute relief, was chatting to someone else while swinging my set of keys around her finger.

"Oh don't worry, this is a frequent everyday occurence." she says as I grasp swinging keys and clutch them tightly.

It took some time for the emotional roller coaster I was on to slow down and stop. About 30 miles I reckon. During the remaining 30 miles I reflected upon the genuineness, honesty and just plain good human being-ness of folks.

Every day at that service station some kind soul is finding keys and handing them in much to the relief of an equal number of distressed individuals such as myself. I expect it is the same at most busy motorway service areas which makes for an awful lot of very good folk.

Not a world changing reflection at all. Just one that put a smile back on my face and one that I hope in some way touches the good folk who had so kindly and unknowingly relieved my growing despair, panic and distress by handing in my keys.

Family

As I slowly drove into the farmyard I instantly recognised the red brick buildings originally constructed for horses.  Memories tumbled out from their secure storage within the many folds of my hippocampus. Mental images as fresh as the day 50 years ago when they were collected and placed deep in a young boys mind. The buildings, I noticed, were once again full of horses as Cousin Eddie capitalized on the equine livery business in order to survive on this small, unchanged and delightful rural haven.

We Woodwards are a scattered family with mainly rural roots. I hardly know my cousins let alone any detail of family history further back than my own  parents, now deceased. This latest trip to Derbyshire is aimed at addressing such a lack of knowledge and getting to know my cousins and their families a little better.

Two pleasant heatwave affected days were spent with cousin Anthony and wife Avrill. Cousin Pauline also joined us for one of Avrill's delicious meals. An enjoyable visit where I feel I now know them better. I also filled in a few historical family unknowns as we delved into letters and sundry paperwork only recently seeing the light of day after the passing away of elderly Aunt Mary, sister to my late father.

No long lost papers here at Cousin Eddies however. Just a small and little changed farm that like so many others is no longer commercially viable as a conventional agricultural farmstead. So now locally owned horses grace the red brick stables and a small herd of cows with their calves add a genuine agricultural flavour as they wander around feeding on the recently cut hay meadows. These meadows surround a wonderfully mature and much loved 4 acres of woodland.

A very pleasant day was spent with Eddy, wife Kate and their two boisterous boys out in the garden playing numerous games with everything from trampolines to water pistols to Badminton rackets which annoyingly caught and held the shuttlecock in their loose strings every time you attempted a hit. 

"Hmmmm!" Said Kate; "Maybe Tesco's best are not the best after all!"