Stuff that's happened since

Now we're just going to sweep through the past few months as quickly as possible, just picking out things that have happened.

Grass and Garden

Exploring the jungle of the garden

Very very long grass

Louise decided to ride with me

The fenced garden is so over grown

Making some really good progress

Starting to hack the brambles out

A fully loaded bee

Nearly completed the brambles

Flower beds buried in weeds

And cleared again

So, one thing that we've spent a lot of time on is cutting the grass and keeping the garden nice. The grass was super long when I got back from the trip so I ran the ride-on around and it took ages as I had to empty the collector so often. It wasn't only the grass that was overgrown but the garden as well. I went into the fenced garden and weeded it out to try and find the potatoes and the onions. It took a few days but was a very satisfying feeling to see the soil reappear from the tangled weeds. Angela and Rosie went away for a few weeks and I took advantage of this to attack more garden jobs. First of all I was clearing the tangled brambles that had taken over behind the chicken house and this also took several days of working every morning before the sun came up. The rest of the garden needed focus too so I had a lot of fun (honestly!) weeding through everything and I got it all done as a nice surprise for Angela when she got home.

Rosie picking tomatoes

Angela harvesting potatoes

Rosie planting potatoes

Carrots and tomatoes

New raised bed full of soil

We've also had a bumper harvest of tomatoes this year, so many that Angela got quite fed up of processing them. Rosie and I have been picking tomatoes almost every evening after dinner for weeks and weeks. We pulled a bunch of potatoes out of the raised bed and then Rosie dug some more in, though it doesn't seem like those are coming up yet. The raised beds have been so good for us this year, and the flowers that Angela planted are maturing well - the entire garden is really coming along. I have also built some metal raised beds for the patio but don't have pictures of all of them unfortunately. One of these has been given to Rosie for her to look after and she's so far doing really well with it.

Adventures with Rosie

Rosie with the Old Farmer's dog (we call her Josie)

Dancing while we wait for food

Achieving a state of zen

Mummy and Rosie riding their bikes

Me and Rosie having a swim in the river

Bouncing with a new friend

Rosie at the Classic Car Show

Camping in the big family tent

On the back of James' bike

Enjoying a BBQ on the patio

Riding James around the pool

Throwing her glider

Exploring the region

As usual we've had a lot of fun with Rosie, including several weeks visiting her cousins. I am not going to write a lot here, the pictures tell the story.

Steam Excursion Day

Last but not least last weekend I took Rosie on a "treat day" up to near Veliko Turnovo to ride on a steam train. It was amazing and here is that day.

Rosie very excited with the play area

Having a tasty burger and chips

Rosie in her awesome cupboard hiding place

We went up on the Friday afternoon, after lunch, and got to our hotel in time for a short rest before we headed out to find food. The hotel room was very large, almost an apartment, and this gave us plenty of scope for hide and seek. It also had a balcony and Rosie was very excited to watch a couple of bats swooping around in the early evening. It was a perfect place to stay, really.

Rosie wearing her official hat

Both so very excited for the day

Let's make some smoke!

Rosie with her flowers

Re-enactors gathering by the locomotive

The next morning we were up and packed and out to Lidl to grab some breakfast and spend some time in the play area next to the shop. I heard the sound of the train's whistle and that prompted us to head to the station. Rosie was having a great time and she was so excited at the train. She did wear her hat into the locomotive however I was being interviewed for TV and couldn't get a picture (and they wouldn't let me turn round to get one which was annoying). Pretty soon we were on the train and it was making steam as we pulled out of the station. The day before had been Independence Day and part of the attraction of this trip was some re-enactments of the events of the day. Rosie was able to gather some flowers that were used in the show, and was even given some by one of the ladies who was taking part.

Making her face look happy

Steaming along the line back to the car

It was a super hot day, getting up towards 40 degrees, and when we reached the end of the first leg it was quite a walk to get to a restaurant from the station however we were able to slot in on the end of an occupied table and get some good solid food in us. Rosie was tired but doing well. I was tired as well! After lunch we went to some shops so Rosie could spend her pocket money and then made our way slowly back to the train, via an ice cream parlour of course. I had a little rest then while Rosie watched some tablet and then the train was filling up and we were on our way back to our original station. It had been an awesome day, and Rosie had loved it so much. Brilliant.

Maisie broken down and waiting for assistance

We drew lots of pictures, resting on those logs

Rosie made a fire as it got dark

The journey home was going really well when suddenly round a blind corner I saw a motorbike on my side of the road looking to overtake a truck. I swerved to avoid it and went off the side of the tarmac and then, as I struggled and fought to guide Maisie back onto the road the rough edge of the tarmac ripped a hole in the tyre and also damaged the rim and I was immediately fighting a flat tyre. I was able to keep control and stop the car safely, thankfully, but then we were stuck by the side of the road as my jack was too tall to fit underneath Maisie! The insurance I took out did come with free roadside assistance and fortunately we did not have to wait long. Rosie was an absolute star, I cannot praise her enough, during this whole process. While we were waiting she encouraged me to draw with her, which distracted me from pacing and waiting and then when the repair man was there she did everything I asked her, stayed safely out of the traffic (it's a very dangerous road, and where I was stopped was a bit dodgy to be honest) and was just a diamond. Soon we were back on the road and she was asleep pretty quickly again.

So there it is. I think I've caught up. I'm hoping that the men will be back next Monday, while tomorrow I hopefully will finally get the new rims and tyres on Maisie. Thanks for reading and back Monday.

Getting Home

 The catch up continues as we get closer to the return of Bekir and Halil! Let's get to it.

Maisie was so filthy by this time

I had to treat myself to a Chinese

The Whisky I bought on Islay

Professionally packed boot

Mum loves her new chair

Dad's grave

After dropping Ryan at the station I went for a quick visit to the studio and then dropped past my mate John for a cuppa and a lovely chat sat in the sun in his back garden. Soon enough however I was back on the road and heading down south towards my mum's house. The plan was to stay a few days, get Maisie repacked and just chill before continuing my trip as unfortunately I couldn't head directly home. Maisie was absolutely filthy by this time, a month on the road will do that. I pulled everything out of Maisie into my Mum's front room (she was not actually home when I arrived, so that gave me a chance to get this done before she saw the mess I made) and then I spent a while packing everything back into Maisie which went very well. I even had some spare space! One of the items I'd brought from Bulgaria and left on my way past earlier in the trip was a gift for my mum - a swinging chair that matches one we have that she loves. With my repacking done I spent some time assembling it and since then she's had it blow away, fall apart, and also has had some lovely time sat on it. Soon enough it was time to move on, however, and I headed down towards the New Forest but made time to stop at the cemetery to see my Dad's grave. I do miss him.

A New Forest Pony having a roll

Memorial to the Royal Airforce in the New Forest

A robin came to say hello

Ryan driving (piloting?) his boat

Sun sets over the marina

Probably the best playground in the world

A StuG III

Yes, it's Fury!

Pitched up at Roundhill

This is where I camped with my dad when I was 11

I had planned to camp at the campsite where I had my first ever camping experience with my Dad (Roundhill) however when I called to book they had a problem with the toilets so I booked into another campsite which was really nice, but didn't have the memories. One good thing, however, was that just round the corner was the New Forest Airfields Memorial for WW2 so I strolled across some fields and spent some time looking around before going back to the tent to cook and sleep. The next day I headed over to Ryan's boat as our plan was to go for a sail before our trip the next day. Unfortunately, even though the boat was put back in the water after its maintenance without any problems it proved completely impossible to get any fuel so we just stayed in marina and chilled out. A shame, but it was great to finally get to see the boat. The next day we drove over to Bovvington Tank Museum and had an absolute blast taking loads of time walking around slowly and seeing every tank they had. I do love that place and I took MANY more pictures than I've put here. After this day out I dropped Ryan back to his boat then went over to Roundhill - yes they had managed to fix their toilet issues so I was able to spend my last night in the UK camping where I stayed with my dad. Brilliant! I took a stroll around the campsite and found the place where we first camped and had a great time remembering happy memories.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang out for a drive

Sitting in an early car

Beautiful Mercedes

Mr Bean's Mini

This art was so creative and clever

Cooking dinner at a services

The next morning I packed up the camp and headed a few miles from the campsite to Beaulieu Motor Museum. This was also a trip down memory lane as that first ever camping trip my dad and I did, we walked from Roundhill to Beaulieu only to find that the power was out so we were let in for half price. Shortly after, the power returned. This time I didn't get in half price but I spent many hours walking around slowly until I was exhausted, looking at everything that I possibly could. Even so I didn't exhaust all there was to see there - that place is incredible and worth a trip (though the ride on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at I think it was £100 per person was a bit steep!). I had lunch of fish and chips half way through my tour and walked all around and into most of the buildings and saw every car on display. Once I had no more energy I headed out to Maisie and got on the road towards Dover, though I diverted up to near Reading as there were road works and I really needed a few supplies so I dropped into the supermarket there. I had dinner in a services and made it to the ferry in plenty of time, getting over to the mainland and driving until I got to Belgium before parking in a services and sleeping in the car.

So good to see Cis and his family again

The sun rises as I head home

Beautiful Austrian Alps

Truck crash in cloudy Bulgaria

The next morning I was up and drove over to see my mate Cis for a BBQ. I was very early so found a secluded carpark in the village near him and read for a couple of hours before finally arriving, having a shower, then a lovely BBQ with his family and some of their friends. It was a very nice afternoon indeed and great to get the opportunity to see him again. I then headed back to a hotel near my work as I was in the office on the Monday for one day only which was great as I didn't open my laptop up at all. I stayed in the hotel again that night (and had a really nice meal with Stefan, one of my colleagues) but was up super early, about 4am, to start driving home. I missed the traffic around Brussels which was my aim and then decided to take a different route home to usual, going via the Austrian Alps, Serbia, Herzegovina and a few other countries I can't remember now. It was a very fast trip home (though very expensive with tolls) and I took only a few pictures the entire way, sleeping in the car for about 4 hours total and making it back in less than 30 hours including that sleep time. It was so good to be home!

So there it is. I'll do another couple of blog posts to capture interesting things that have gone on at home since, but mainly that is me caught up I think. Thanks for reading.