Chickens Should NOT be Counted to Soon ....

Chickens Should NOT be Counted to Soon .......

Hello again  -  and it’s still not quite happened.

We came back from the Isle of Wight on the 23rd August and expected to complete the sale of our house on the 28th, but it didn’t happen, so we had to cancel our removal men.  We then planned for the 4th September, but that didn’t happen either.  However by then, we had rearranged our removal firm - so rather than cancel them again we let them come and take all our furniture away!!  We are now quite hopeful that the completion date will be the 11th, and at the moment it is all looking fairly promising, but we will leave counting our chickens for the time being. 

Following the removal of our furniture (bed included) we spent Friday night sleeping on the floor (we couldn't sleep in the van because it is on to much of a wonk on our drive), but after a very uncomfortable night we decided we couldn't possibly stay in the empty house any longer, so on Saturday  5th we  nipped off on another little jolly while we waited.

Saturday 5th September 2015

Our youngest son Ben, had already arranged a family get together for the 6th at his house in Treeton (near Rotherham), so to ensure that we arrived in good time we zoomed off up the motorway and stayed on a little camp site at Horseshoe Lake in 'Wales'(but not The Wales).  The Lake was the reserve of fishermen, with many signs around and about forbidding entry to the ponds unless you were going to participate in said activity, but the camp site was in a little enclosed orchard where  plums, apples and pears festooned the tree branches in great abundance, with many of them just ripe for picking, so we did and it will be fruit for breakfast for the next few days.

Lots of fruit and hundreds of wasps!

We settled in and had a quite evening, and when Ben popped in for a cup of tea he delivered our surprise pressie - a new name plate for our new home (see below).  And then later our evening was finished off by watching the pairing for ‘Strictly’ - one of our favourite programmes that we will endeavour to watch wherever we may be!!

This will be displayed proudly in our Windscreen

Sunday 6th September 2015

Today we planned to cycle to Rother Valley Park to meet up with some of our family for a morning walk in the sunshine, and also time to allow our Grandson Jack to run of steam before returning to Ben and Louise’s house for pizza and cake (2 of our favourite foods!).  However, some of the party couldn't wait for that treat and had to indulge in ice cream and hot dogs as a mid morning snack, and only Louise had a good excuse for that (baby due in 7 weeks)!

Louise, Jack, Vicky, Adam and Ben at the back

After our play in the park we went on to Ben and Louise’s house but had to indulge in some hill climbing as we cycled on our way to get there - oh well at least we burnt a few calories off before we consumed more!

When we arrived we were joined by our daughter Sarah, her husband Paul and our other Grandson Thomas and we all partook of planned feast. 

Then afterwards, rather than playing with the expensive toys that each family had brought with them to keep their little ones amused, the boys took great joy in using an old bed that Ben had thrown out as a trampoline - and their Dads pretended they were just keeping an eye on their children when they joined in too, but secretly I think they had just as much fun.

All in all it was a lovely day, and it may well be the last time we all get together in the near future because, if our chickens do  hatch, we will be off on another jaunt in the very soon.

Ben, Louise and our nearly cooked Grandbaby

At around 4.30 the party begun to break up and we took a fairly early departure because we still had to cycle back to the Tardis.  We did this by a round  about route taking in an extra lap of the lake in Rother Valley Park before heading off up a rather steep hill back to Horseshoe Lake.  

Monday 7th September 2015

Today we left Horseshoe Lake and headed for a little Camping and Caravan Club site at Tissington, just north of  Ashbourne in The Peak District.  And on the way we had a little mission to complete.

Previously we had discussed our concerns regarding the amount of gear we have packed into the van and the possibility of being ‘overweight’.  With this in mind, and as we are now running  more or less as we will be when living full time in the Tardis, we decided to go to a weighbridge to check it out. We were hopeful that the outcome of this would leave plenty of weight to spare - our maximum weight being 3,500kg.  However, today we weighed in at 3,440 kg, therefore we haven't got much leeway and will have to be very careful about any additional baggage that we take, but having said that, we can probably adjust things quite easily by juggling how much water we carry.

Tissington Hall

We continued onto the camp site, which turned out to be just a field a stone’s throw from Tissington village.  It suits us fine as it's very close to cycling and walking trails, and now we are here it  will be home for the next 3 nights.  We thought we were going to have it to ourselves but we have now been joined by another motorhome, and shortly afterwards by a 3rd, but there really is plenty of room to share.

The Tardis on it's camp site in Tissington

Tuesday 8th September 2015

Today we got up to mist and murk and  a very overcast sky, which was a bit disappointing after yesterday’s lovely sunshine.  However, we felt in need of a little exercise so we went for a  ride along The Tissington Trail.  The trail leaves the village only a very short ride from our camp site, and on the way to it we passed by the local village butcher shop so popped it to see if he had an special goodies to offer.  His range was a bit disappointing, mostly because it was early in the week, but we did pick up some very nice looking sausages that  we will sample later for tea. (verdict to follow).  

We cycled along the 10 mile trail, with it’s gradual uphill gradient, to Parsley Hay and then on to Dowlow (http://www.peakdistrictcycleways.co.uk/cycle-route.php?route=HPT1), and then retraced our tracks back to Parsley Hay for lunch, and then back down the trail to Tissington.  On the outward journey a fair amount of effort had been required because of the gradient, however, on our return we participated in a new game!!  I said 

‘ I wonder if I can get all the way back to Tissington without peddling’  

John didn’t think this was possible, and for once he was right!!  Having said that we did manage to coast quite long distances without any pedal strokes, and at times, we both came very near to falling off because we were too  stubborn to give in before the other one did.  The only down side to it was it was bl...y cold, and without any activity to generate heat, we were both shivering by the time we got back.  We cycled (or coasted) 27 miles in all and therefore, hot chocolate and shortbread were called for - an essential and warming treat!

Back at the Tardis we had a quiet afternoon blogging, reading and knitting (more baby clothes), and later we will find out if the sausages are anything to write home about!!

Wednesday 9th September 2015

Well, first I’ll give attention to the sausages, they were excellent, and  with oven baked wedges and baked beans they provided a filling feast.

Today was to be a walking day, so as usual, we packed our picnic and set off over the fields towards Dovedale.  Our initial plan was to head over to Ilam and maybe visit Ilam Hall which belongs to the National Trust, but when we got to the River Dove we decided our original plan may not be far enough so we headed off to Milldale - walking with quite a few others over the well known footpath that closely follows the river all the way.  When we arrived at Milldale it was heaving with numerous other walkers eating their picnics or snacks that they had purchased from ‘Molly’s’ - a little ‘cafe’ that is run from one of the houses and where you are served through the stable door.  She was doing a roaring trade, and as all her goodies looked very inviting we joined the others and purchased coffee and cherry bakewell to round off our meal.  

We then retraced our footsteps back along the side of the River Dove until we came to the stepping stones, where we crossed over.

I was tempted to give him a little push!!

From here we picked up our original route and headed over to Ilam, but by this time we were getting quite weary so decided not to visit the Hall after all.  We continued on our circular route which would eventually lead us back on to the Tissington Trail, but further along towards Ashbourne than where we were  yesterday.  But just before we got there we came across a little pub where we partook of further refreshments in the form of a quick pint each.

This had a lovely reviving effect which speeded us on  for the last couple of miles back to the Tardis and a very welcome cup of tea.  I think we walked about 12 miles in all so hopefully we will sleep very well tonight.


It's now 9pm and I am very nearly ready to publish this blog, but still we are unsure if our sale will complete as planned on Friday. I spoke to our solicitor earlier, and although she still 'thinks' things will be finalised, she was unable to confirm it.

So watch this space. There is still a chance our chickens will hatch, but there is also a chance that they may stay very firmly in their eggs.  

And finally, because of all the delays we have changed our plans and shelved going to Ireland this year. Instead we plan to spend the next month or so touring Devon and Cornwall, and then return in time to greet our new grandchild.

Click here to see our UK camping spots