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.
