What are you all up to
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The children from the local primary school were escorted around the village this morning and this was dropped through the letter box.
It did indeed make us smile.
Enjoy your weekend away @HelenandTrevor. I think Shropshire is very underrated.
Lovely photos @nelliethehooker
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@wherenext i love it 😀
Phew what a scorcher! 25c for most of the day with absolutely clear blue skies. Clouding now, but no rain forecast until tomorrow evening and the rain risk never rises much about 50%, except a small.period at 75%.
We went off to a local-ish farm with added extras, zoo - as you do, butchers - meat from their farm, local produce, proper bread - trying that very soon 😋. Lovely area to browse kitchen stuff, cards, gifts, toys and much more. Lunch in their eatery outside in the sun. Didn't do the zoo part, too too hot for them to be on show. Good excuse to go again, they have crocodiles 🐊.
I need to explore my tax code
Not heard from HMRC 🤐 but had my P60 and pension payslip for this year. Shocked at tax collected 🫣 this month. Did a quick work out on HMRC Web pages. Doesn't tally code to income, they seem to think i have much more coming, and needs a proper look and investigation. I did give a proportion of my allowance to OH when I wasn't meeting the tax threshold years ago. Not looking forward to exploring it BUT needs must, and I've contributed enough, but happy to pay my fair share...…
Have a good weekend whatever you're planning.
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We arrived on site here just after 4 this afternoon got absolutely soaked setting up a bit of a shock after the lovely weather all week the forecast is looking better for tomorrow though. Site very busy with it being bank holiday. Due to the rain we didn’t do much else just got set up and now sitting watching the snooker with a beer.lovely views out of the window
@Wherenext love the card
Hope those away and those at home have a nice bank holiday weekend
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A lovely thought from the schoolchildren @Wherenext I hope the weather picks up again so you can get some more gardening done now the ground should be a little more managable.
I hope it picks up for you too @Francis You must be over the wrong side of the country as apart from a few spots of rain just as we finished packing up we have had another dry if not quite so sunny day, both en route and here in the Cairngorms. We are surprised to find only 2 other units on this CL, which is usually full over holiday weekends. We had a trouble free tow coming up, as perhaps setting off before 9:00 helped, and there appeared to be much more traffic travelling South than North this morning. Arriving just after noon have OH time to get a round of washing done, which dried nicely outside this afternoon.
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@nelliethehooker it was lovely when we left home in Ayrshire but we are now in D&G at Moffat and you could see the sky turn grey as we made our way down the motorway hopefully it will get better over the weekend we aren’t too fussed we just want to relax. Enjoy up north it’s an area we have never done before we tend to come south
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Peter Kay line: 'Ooh it's that rain that gets you proper wet …' [drizzle that permeates the coat to reach the jacket or shirt in what you feel is a sudden occurrence, but has been underway for ages] 😁
Meanwhile, in the sunny Kingdom of Fife, a rain free week has seen the grass stop its oozing of accumulated moisture when kneeling on it; so, in a fit of pure dead panic, the Weather Gods turned on the sprinklers yesterday, which was not what we needed when shifting around 600kg of soggy earth to the local Tip/Cowp/Recycling Centre, in plastic buckets with a combined payload of 80-100kg each trip. My arms are now about 4 inches longer than they were yesterday morning …
Steve
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After much nagging by OH and DD, I saw GP yesterday at 14.30 about my sore right heel and calf. Was sent immediately to big hospital to have DVT ruled out, seen immediately I arrived, blood taken for testing and given a room to rest in to await results. Clot specialist came to examine me, said he doubted it was a DVT, which was eventually confirmed.
The diagnosis is Achilles Tendinitis, so I now have Ibuprofen gel to apply and should take Ibuprofen to manage the pain. Home again by 18.30. Seems it can take a long time to resolve, unfortunately. So now we are both hobbling around.0 -
KJ
Good that its not a DVT but I am sure it is still uncomfortable. I use Ibuprofrn Gel on my knee because I shouldn't take oral Ibuprofen because I am on blood thinners. It does help so hopefully will provide some relief. Might be worth trying an ice pack if you have one.
David
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@KjellNN sorry to hear about your Achilles problem. I can highly recommend putting a pair of simple gel heel inserts into your shoes. If you can slightly raise your heels, it eases the strain on your tendon. Beyond that, look for shoes that slightly raise your heels, I swear by Skechers, there are hundreds of different designs, but avoid flat looking footbeds. Gel inserts are only cheap, certainly less than £10, but offer some good relief, along with pain killers, [gel or tablet], and yes, ice is good. So is rest, let your family take a bit more of the strain, and literally both of you get your feet up!
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Had a good journey up to Shropshire yesterday, arrived at a new to us CL near Church Stretton. Drove past what was the old Presthope site at Much Wenlock, it looks like its being developed with large mobile homes, it was a site we really liked when it was run by the club.
Walked down to the pub for a pint of "Butty Bach" last night.
Treated ourselves to a full English brekky in a local cafe this morning, excellent value at £9 each including toast and a pot of tea and a coffee.
We then headed into Ludlow using, the park and ride. Big fun fair in the town not our, Cup of tea so went for a walk round the castle and down for a walk along the river. Weather stayed fine until about 5 o'clock but its now raining so it will be a drink in the van tonight.
@Wherenext loved the card, lovely thought by the children
@KjellNN glad it wasn't a dvt, hope it feels better soon, put your feet up.
@nelliethehooker enjoy the cairngorms would love to get up there sometime.
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@HelenandTrevor Glad you are enjoying Shropshire used to live between Ludlow and Cleobury Mortimer many years ago did most of my schooling there, some beautiful scenery around there.
@KjellNN sorry to hear about your foot/lower leg issue not good but you do need to rest it and hopefully will soon feel better again advice re shoes and insoles will help.
No rest here yesterday OH replaced our VMC in the loft a good part of the day to do as a very small area in the loft for him to move about and it was rather warm in there bur all done and working again the old one he put up there in 2009 so has lasted a good time but like most things these days a lot more expensive but it needed doing as the old one had started to fail on the lower speed he had a few aches and pains especially his knees so light chores today, I managed the washing all dried outside then housework and mopped all the tiled floors, some ironing tomorrow and sort a few things out for our short break away in a friends gite only to have a message today to say she in UK having a small operation and will not be able to see her but her OH will be there plus Nell the black Labrador so will still be able to go.
Been very warm and claggy the last two days and today very windy with a storm arriving sometime tomorrow and Monday and could be wet when we are away but have booked a local restaurant for a meal during our stay and will have a look around different places as we said a change of scenery from home.
Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend folks.
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@HelenandTrevor I can recommend Bogroy Croft CL for a stay up here. There are 3 H/S & 3 grass decent sized fully serviced pitches with easy access on the outskirts of Carrbridge. Plenty of decent walks directly from the site, a hotel and a pub within walking distance, and not far from Aviemore for provisions. Lots of great spots to visit not too distant too. Enjoy your stay in Shropshire, are you on the CL at Leebotwood, Castle Hill Fm, as we have stopped there a few times?
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Nice day today I was up early and away out a cycle good route with a nice coffee stop halfway. Got back to the van and then we walked in to the town in the afternoon not been here for a while but a lot of shops seem to have closed down not so much in the town now which is a shame as it’s a lovely place. If anyone has visited Moffat over the last few years you may remember there was a house as you entered the town with a replica Spitfire plane in front garden well it’s now been moved to a small park area behind the Main Street so we went to see that very quirky bit a nice touch. Had a pint in a beer garden at one of the pubs then collected dinner from the chippy on our way back to the van. Great day but it’s raining again now not sure of tomorrows plans
@HelenandTrevor glad you are having a nice time Shropshire is a county we’ve never really spent much time in so may need to pencil that in for a future trip
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Enjoy your time at Moffat @Francis You should head north sometime, some good sites up here, Banchory for one would suit you fine for cycling, and plenty to see.
Pleased that the diagnosis is not for DVT @KjellNN hope the gel and pain killers do their work and you are soon free from the pain.
Hope you have a pleasant time at the Gite @RedKite and that your OH gets over his aches and pains.
It started off fine this morning but rained while we were out around the Two Loch's Trail at Boat of Gartan, thankfully we had thought to take our brollies with us. Managed another couple of dry walks between showers this afternoon but Flyte and i could get wet last thing tonight, as it's raining at the moment.
These are our neighbours this year!
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@Bakers2 we have had rain here too! Lovely to see some puddles this morning, though It’s sad to get excited about it, but so needed here as it is with you. Shame about it being a Bank Holiday though for the people holding events etc. We had thought of going to an NGS open garden today but we may decide not to.
@nelliethehooker love the goats! Enjoy your trip and I hope the weather stays fine for you. My niece has a seasonal pitch at Loch Morlich near Glenmore, it always looks a picturesque area.
@helenandtrevor (sorry won’t go red!) enjoy Shropshire. We used the old Much Wenlock site a couple of times and enjoyed the area.1 -
Apparently there is a Radio 4 programme on 13th May asking if the cycling industry can recover after Covid! I didn't know that they had had a problem as when have been on sites there are usually a number of cyclists around. Has anyone noticed a reduction in cyclists since Covid?
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I would say that cycling had a boom during covid we have always taken our bikes away with us in the van but since covid have noticed a lot more people on sites with bikes. Also I think there has been a boom in the sale of e-bikes they are a great way for the older or less able people to either get in to cycling or continue cycling
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Cycling certainly did well during Covid, however…………the UK’s cycling path provision is still abysmal compared with lots of other European countries, and the UK driving mindset isn’t cyclist friendly, there are some absolute nightmare drivers out there, dare I say almost blind to putting their needs before the safety of other more vulnerable road users such as cyclists, walkers and horse riders. Lots of the good well known trails are full of cyclists, but it’s the links between safe areas that don’t exist like they do overseas. TDF returns to UK next year, so hoping things might improve again, and hoping that the potholes on the routes will at least be filled in! Price of bikes is a factor as well, some e-bikes are similar in price to a budget range new car nowadays. We looked the other day and got a shock😲
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Lots of the UK cycling teams have now folded, leaving Ineos as the only UK team. Gone are Team Wiggins, Barloworld, St Piran, Halfords, etc…. Businesses such as Wiggle over committed during the lockdown and immediate aftermath, and then went bust. So young talent goes into Youth teams of UAE, Visma, Jayco, PicnicPost……..all owned by other countries. A decent bike isn’t cheap any more either, and is way down the cost of living priority. We seem to see more older riders around, both on the roads, serious cycling, and out on the leisure trails. There are obviously some who have nothing but a bike to get to work on as well, come rain or shine.
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Hope you're soon feeling better @KjellNN and that the Ibuprofen gel works. I've never had much luck with it but it does give Ros some relief.
Good result for Hull City, yesterday since they've now returned to the play-offs - partly due to Middlesbrough doing us a favour, @Takethedogalong 😀.
Had plenty of rain overnight which was much-needed and it's just dull and constant drizzle here today. Pleased to hear that everyone away is having a good time and looking forward to getting away ourselves in a couple of week's time.
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We have proper rain at long last, garden looking lush. And I can hear the weeds soaking it up ready to spring back up…..
Christmas tree still in middle of patio. That will move for pool soon. And OH rescued our plastic table from caravan, that’s yet to find a new spot.
T’other lawn, and my Banana which has survived another Winter. Beech hedge still hasn’t lost some of last year’s leaves, but it’s coming back well.
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@Francis - MiL was born and bred in Moffat and spent the first 13 years of her life there but the family moved down to Lancashire for work just after the end of the war (second not Boer!)😁. Her sister returned to Moffat and married a local man so MiL still has some relatives there. Last time we were there was for her sisters funeral about 7 years ago and you could already see the decline setting in. A real shame but there are plenty of similar stories around the whole UK. Is the site full?
We had a lot of rain last night and overnight, still mizzling now (predictive text wanted to change that to sizzling!🤣)
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@heddlo they are not goats but Soay Sheep, 4 ewes and 7 lambs, owned by the site owner's daughter. We were kept entertained this evening when they were being loaded into a trailer. It took about 15 mins as they kept escaping even when in a restricted passage, with one particular ewe jumping over a chest high barrier about 4 times!! I am jealous of your niece's seasonal pitch, it is a great location for both walking and cycling.
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We had some quite heavy rain overnight, and it seems the caravan has a leak 😥 another job for OH when we get home.
Spent the morning in Shrewsbury wandering along the river and through the park where there were some steam and barrel organs on display. In the afternoon we went to one of my favourite NT sites, Attingham Park, heard my first cuckoo and even caught a glimpse of the Deer in the park. Came back to the van and managed a couple of hours sitting in the sunshine.
@nelliethehooker thanks for the CL recommendation have made a note, some friends of ours have recently moved to Golspie in the North East of Scotland and we hope to visit them at some point so could stop on the way up. We are at Castle Hill Farm it is a lovely CL not stayed here before but have used Brickyard Farm when in the area.
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We drove down to Loch Inch to view the Osprey nest, where the female could be seen but not the male then onto Feshiebridge for another walk by the river, which was surprisingly low considering the amount of rain and snow that had fallen over the winter. We could see much more snow still on the northern faces of the Cairngorms than there was last year. Down to 2 units on site tonight after a couple of motorhomes left this morning.
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Hope the leak is easily fixed @HelenandTrevor we too like Attingham Park, great for walking the dog. Was it as busy as usual, as it is a very popular NT location? I guess you will be stopping at the club's Brora site when you visit your friends at Golspie (another good,spot for walks). Depending on your route North a good overnight stop off close to the English/Scottish border in D&G is Whins CL at Ecclefechan ( under Annan in the SD) as it is not far off the M74, basic but cheap with a great view.
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Lovely day here today second oldest son and two gdsons visited us today they stay over in Edinburgh so came down for the day. Had a coffee in the caravan then took the boys over to the park where they spent some time at the play area then had a few laps on their bikes. Had a nice lunch with them at the mill before they headed back home. Weather not too bad this afternoon so cooked on the Cadac then took a walk back in to town for a pint at one of the pubs. Spent the rest of the evening so far watching the world snooker final been good so far. While out this morning visited the memorial to the war time Air Marshall Dowding who was born in the town.
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Ah, Station Park. The number of times I’ve walked around that boating lake…..🙂
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