Dolls houses, riots and elderflower cordial.

Well this post is coming to you from Dorset so the tone may sound slightly different to normal.  Less Cornish and rather more Dorset -shire. I did consider not writing a post this week but a few kind readers have said that the blog is becoming the highlight of their midweek. One reader said that it was their second favourite thing to happen on Wednesdays, number one being their school dinner. I feel almost sure that this was intended as a compliment but from my experience of school meals I'm not 100% convinced how flattering this is. So not wanting to disappoint anyone here is the weekly update. Also following feedback from last weeks brief and succinct post it seems that people missed the rambling, so in this post please be prepared for rambling galore. Lovers of succinct and to the point should stop reading now.

I've had a few days away from home this week, a weekend in a caravan in Devon and now a couple of days with family in Dorset. The caravan weekend was an early birthday present and I was looking forward to it. I love a caravan, in fact  as an infant it was my first home after leaving the maternity ward. It's a miniature world; iddy biddy beds, the tiniest bathrooms, shrunken kitchens, like staying in a dolls house.

First impressions of the caravan were good,  it was was light and airy, had curtains in the windows, no flies or funny smells and a dry bathroom floor, unlike a couple of places we have stayed in the past.

That first evening we had a walk along the coast and then a nice meal.  It was only when we came to wash up after dinner in our petite sink that we realised there was no hot water,we decided not to let this dampen our spirits and resolved to report it in the morning. We went to bed in our teeny, tiny bedrooms and soon fell to sleep.

Our alarm call however came a little earlier than expected  as we were woken in the early hours by a fight right outside our caravan. The noise from the argument was bad enough but was soon accompanied by blue flashing lights which hailed the arrival of the 4 police vehicles including one riot van. This incident signalled a bit of a down turn in our weekend.


So to cut a long story short

• Still no hot water in the morning so after a bracing wash we reported the fault to reception
• We went out for a 5 mile walk. As we were feeling good after completing 5 miles we decided to lengthen the walk to 10 miles, at about mile 7 we realised that this was probably a mistake.
• Whilst on the walk we were stalked by a ferocious feral feline who persisted in trying to bully the dog which really dented Billys pride.
• Eventually we got back to the caravan, hot, tired and very sweaty only to find that we still had no hot water.
• Pleasant evening of food and drink for 2 weary walkers was repeatedly interrupted by 3 different maintenance staff trying to fix the boiler
• Eventually our smellyness encouraged the staff to give us the keys to a new caravan on the other side of the park so that we could use the shower there.
• Next morning we were woken up at 5am by seagulls on the roof of the caravan seemingly playing football.
• Daily walks from then on across the site in our PJs in order to shower, then trailing back again with wet hair.

But despite all this we had a good weekend then travelled on up to Dorset for an early birthday celebration with family, including being treated to a lovely cream tea overlooking the sea.

I haven't done any foraging myself this week but did enjoy the elderflower cordial that my sister and brother-in-law made. In fact my new second favourite drink is now gin and tonic with a splash of elderflower. My number one favourite drink is still my morning cup of tea, in a china cup of course.

Prior to my time away I have had another job interview but am still waiting to hear the outcome. I have had a few emails and one phone call from another employer and should be going for a work trial there next week. My family over the last couple of days have been really helpful and supportive with coming up with suggestions for ways that I can make a living. Highlights of their ideas include: learning a musical instrument so that I can busk (the violin obviously), becoming a fortune teller, learning to decorate cakes, winning Britains Got Talent by teaching Billy dog some tricks, a chimney sweep (although my niece did think that I would have to loose weight for this as she thought I'd need to climb up inside the chimney, not realising that they use brushes) and if none of these ideas work then apparently I should become a drug mule. None of my family are really cut out to be careers advisers.

Despite a few hitches though this has been an enjoyable week where I discovered a new drink, had a lovely cream tea and it may well result in me playing a starring role on Panorama, when it tries to uncover the truth behind the Dawlish riots of 2015.