Flaming June....!

And so the Great British summer staggers on in its usual unpredictable style.... too hot to breathe one week, so cold we've got our central heating back on the next.

It's been cold and wet today again, although thankfully the horrendous gales have dissipated.  Saw some pictures earlier of the flood devastation in Wales and of people being rescued from their caravans on campsites by RNLI inflatables, so we're counting ourselves lucky to have got back home unscathed.

I've started to make some inroads into my work to do list today, packaging orders and getting organised to make a start on some lovely commissions.  I even did some casting!

Lots to do this coming week, but at least I won't feel the lure of the great outdoors as the weather forecast is resolutely downbeat for the next week or so.  More cold, wet weather.  So, the perfect excuse to buckle down and get on with it.  I've called a business breakfast meeting for tomorrow morning, which has disgruntled Small Dog no end.  She's not a 'morning dog' at all, so the only way we'll secure her attendance is to promise a bravura breakfast.

She's been a bit grumpy since we got home, possibly because our holiday should have ended today and not two days ago, so she's feeling hard done by.  Also we'd accidentally left her winning rosette out in the caravan and she wanted it pinned to her basket to advertise her achievement, so I had to traipse out through the rain and mud to retrieve it for her.

Chez nous....

And so safely home.

We were finally able to return Friday, early evening, having waited all day for the gale force winds to die down enough to be able to tow safely.

All day yesterday the house and garden were festooned with damp camping gear.... we had to bring the caravan awning back soaking wet, but thankfully, yesterday the brisk winds dried it out, draped over the patio table.  Most of the stuff has now been put away and I've decided that as a penance for being a wuss I'm going to be especially virtuous and catch up on some work today.

Already, the Jubilee weekend seems but a distant memory, but here are some of our best bits....

During the Big Lunch on Sunday, our table was graced by the presence of two very special VIPs

Not to be outdone, PP and I got into the spirit of the thing too......

And here's Small Dog, avidly watching the other contenders in the Fun Dog Show....

Despite the fact that she went under rather than over the jumps (due to her bad leg), wouldn't go through one of the tunnels and refused point blank to walk up the ramp, she did manage to complete the whole course and came away with a flashy rosette and a bag of dog treats.


There's been no living with her ever since..... you'd have thought she'd won Best in Show at Scruffts!

SOS.....

After a horrendous night, convinced that the awning was blowing inside out, and that the caravan was about to overturn, we've decided to cut our losses and try to get home. Not long after dawn we had to dress hurriedly and go outside in the teeth of a howling gale to take down the awning, most of whose ground pegs had been ripped up by the wind. Trying to control metres of nylon fabric determined to act like a sail in 70 mph winds was both terrifying and character forming!
However we haven't been able to leave the campsite due to the continuing high winds which make towing a high-sided vehicle extremely hazardous and foolhardy.
So we're hoping that the gales will abate enough for us to hitch up and get along the few miles of single-track, tree-lined road without incident or meeting anything coming in the opposite direction.
Not the best end to our holiday. All I want now is to get home safely and soon.
Fingers crossed...

Caravan chronicles....

Apparently eskimos have 583 words for snow.

There or thereabouts.

Here in the UK we have roughly the same amount for rain.

This morning we had a light drizzle. By mid-morning though, it was limbering up and had graduated to intermittent showers, followed by steady rain, then full-on biblical deluge.

We gave up waiting for it to clear up and headed for the pub nearest the campsite for a pub lunch. Luckily they were dog friendly so Small Dog was ushered in to lie under our table on her blanky.

After a lovely lunch we were in no hurry to leave, so whiled away the time watching hikers squelching past, water pouring from every orifice.

However, against all the odds, late this afternoon, the clouds parted and a strange yellow burny thing appeared so we set up the bbq, then cooked and ate in our awning.

Result!

So we've ended the day watching a blinding sunset with a glass of something chilled.

I could get used to this....

Rover reporter.....

Helo.
this iss small dog. mi mum haz gonn two empti the toylet tanc witsh is kwite disgusten butt she has leftt hur smartfoan hear so i thort i wude giv mi loyle pholowurs ann updait.

Wee hav bean on a rali, witsh is whare a lott of peeple ol toe ther karravans two a feeld in the middel of knowhare. Thay hav kno ellektricks nor nuthing. it wos kwite gude tho. mi mumz poot me in for the FUN dogg sho. i wos kompleatli rubish becos i hav a badd legg  with 9 stitshes in and i had two doo an agilitee kors!

Mi mum wos rubbish two tho... she tryed too purrswayde me two jump ovr the barrz and go threw the tunilz and upp the rampz etc. Plus shea had too ware a dog hatt.

Nevurtheles i wun a bag of dog treets and a roaset, so knot two badd.

Affter ol the funn and hillaritie of the chewbillea weakend we hav come too a littel kampsight in the middel of knowhare two. i coll it the forristofdethandblud as it is kwite skarey inn the wudes. Olsow, last knite we hadd a huge tode in our onning. Mi mumz wer neerli hissterikle trien to gett it owt.

The fone iss gettin veri hott and keaps bleapen... sumthen abowt spellen. mi porrs ar kwite soar so i wil trie too send this befour mi mum kums bak.

Pee ess - shea mite hav had a fue glassis of wien tonite...

Roving report......

Due to the miraculous advent of mobile blogging, this post is brought to you courtesy of my smartphone.

This is what Small Dog is doing right now.

Now to see if it has worked....

Jubilee Jamboree....

Despite the fact I'm more of a Republican than a Monarchist, I will be celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this weekend, in style.

As a Scot, it's more of "any excuse for a party", but I have to admit, there is something about the sight of all the flags (and not JUST Union Jacks!) and bunting, sprouting on houses, shops and pubs all across the land, which brings a lump to my throat.

I have packed my Saltire, which will take pride of place on our caravan awning, to authenticate my credentials as a boney fido member of the Union (for the moment at least). Small Dog has packed her Jubilee bandana, and we have a modicum of bunting to decorate our pitch.

We also seem to have packed enough food and drink for a month, so let's hope our fridge is up to the task.... for the first time since we got it, we'll be reliant on our caravan battery rather than electric hookup to power everything that doesn't run on gas, which will be a steep learning curve!

Hope all my UK readers have a lovely, celebratory weekend, regardless of your affiliations.  It's not often the whole nation gets the opportunity to come together as one so surely we should all make the most of it.