About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Saturday September 16th 2017 - Even more rain, and a drive to How Hill

Although it was fine when I woke that morning it wasn't long before the wet stuff started falling again so after the first dog walk it meant another few hours spent in the van. I needed to go to the bank at some point though so about 2pm I drove down into Yarmouth, parked at Asda and walked the few minutes into town. With my business sorted I had a quick look round the shops then decided to go for a very late lunch; the Pop-In Cafe in one of the shopping arcades looked okay so I went in there and ordered scrambled eggs on toast and a milky coffee, and I have to say that I was well pleased. The coffee was good and the toast was thick, topped with lots of delicious scrambled egg; the price was very reasonable too so that's definitely a place I'll return to another time.

When I came out of the arcade the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing, and by the time I got back to the van the sun was trying to put in an appearance. I didn't really want to go straight back to the camp site so in an effort to try and salvage something from the wet day I drove out to How Hill, a place I'd been to a few years ago. How Hill House is used as a study and residential field course centre and its surrounding gardens are only open to the public on certain days but I was able to walk across the nearby field, past the tiny museum of Toad Hole Cottage and down to the River Ant where several holiday cruisers were moored up. In the late afternoon, and with grey clouds overshadowing the sun, the light wasn't exactly the best for taking photos but I managed to get a few and at least the dogs had a reasonable walk.


Back at the camp site I made a brew and watched an hour or so of tv then went out to see my ex-partner's sister and brother-in-law, Jean and John, who live just a mile or so from the site. I'd forgotten that I'd left the half-full kettle on the floor in the middle of the van though, and as I went round a corner the inevitable happened - it up-ended. Luckily the water went down onto the side step, and when I got out of the van outside Jean and John's house it was running out from under the side door and there was a trail all along the road, but at least it hadn't gone all over the carpet like the coffee did.

Jean was in on her own and John was out with the dogs but it wasn't long before he came back and that's when I had a bit of a surprise - they had a new dog. Previously they'd had two Border Collies, Pepsi and Zak - Zak was the older one but sadly they'd lost him to an illness earlier in the year. Not wanting Pepsi to be an only dog they'd searched various local rescue places and three months ago finally found a lovely little dog rescued from Romania. She's a 2-year old cross breed (though what crossed with what it's not easy to tell) and she was originally called Selina, though once they'd adopted her they changed her name to Poppy, which really seems to suit her. She's mainly white but with a big ginger patch on her back and sides, and she's got the sweetest little face; unfortunately I never thought to get the camera from the van and take a photo of her but she really is adorable and I know she'll have a long and happy life with Jean and John. 

With a couple of hours spent in good company it was time to say my goodbyes for this year and go back to the camp site. For once it was a lovely clear evening and I had a very pleasant dog walk round the site before settling into the van for the rest of the night - and with only two more full days of the holiday left I had my fingers well and truly crossed that one of them would at least turn out to be nice.



8 comments:

  1. It makes one wonder if they is anymore rain left.
    I did si enjoy the photographs Tigermouse.

    Yvonne.

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  2. I think that area of Norfolk got enough rain for the whole country Yvonne. Of all the years I've been staying down there that was the wettest I've ever known it to be while I've been on holiday.

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  3. You got some nice photos and it's a shame there was even more rain. Oh dear yet another mishap with spillage in your van. Sad that another dog you expected to see has died but lovely to hear your friends have given a loving forever home to a rescue dog. Here I am hoping to hear you managed to get a day without rain or mishaps.

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  4. It was quite a coincidence that Jean and John have renamed their new dog Poppy, I think it goes well with the name of their other dog Pepsi. When they first went to see her they were told she was part collie but she doesn't look anything like any type of collie I know. Size-wise she's bigger than my two but not as big as a Border Collie, but whatever she is she's absolutely adorable. This is where they got her from if you want to take a look, she was being fostered at Hingham, a village between Norwich and Thetford -

    http://www.saferescuefordogs.com/

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  5. Another pretty place. By the Sky you would think the sun had been blazing all day! We’ve had a few of those days too, half lovely, half wet. And speaking of wet, you seem determined to drench your van!

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  6. Well it was constantly wet on the outside so maybe I subconsciously decided to make the inside match! lol

    I've never sailed all the way along the River Ant but the stretch from Ludham Bridge to Stalham is supposed to be one of the prettiest parts of the Broads, and the area around How Hill House looks really nice on a sunny day.

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  7. Terribly unsettled week for you, that is the worst thing about having to pre-arrange holiday time in England, you never know if the weather will be kind or not.

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  8. It's usually really nice down there in September - last year it was so sunny and warm that I spent the whole holiday in cycling shorts, vest top and beach sandals, and I got a great suntan just driving about and walking the dogs. Even on the one day that it did rain a bit it was still very warm

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