Life Goes On...

Hi all,

So it's been just over two months since we posted our last blog, it's been a busy few months for us both in many ways.

Dad's bike the Triumph Cub kept me really busy and it seemed that every time I fixed one thing then another thing decided to put my patience to the test.  I discovered a problem with the electrics which I thought would be simple to rectify, in the end I had to replace the complete wiring loom, simples I thought.....but how wrong I was!!  Dad's bike is a Super Cub and they only actually made it for 6 months so getting the right parts is a bit of a mission due to it's age of course and also the fact that the parts on this model are different to the standard model.  Not to be beaten I bought a new loom but when I got it none of the colours matched any diagrams so it was back to the drawing board.  To cut a long story short in the end I had to find the correct wiring diagram on the internet then buy the correct corresponding coloured wires and then use the plugs from the new loom I bought and then copy the wiring diagram, to my amazement I did it!!  Then after a fitting a new carburettor and jets she now runs like a dream.  Julie and I have been out and about on her a few times now and have a little chuckle to ourselves as we drive along, it's so noisy and we get the odd back fire now and then and we turn quite a few heads along the way.  Dad would be so proud that we have her back to her former glory mechanically, it's just the actual restoration to do now but I wanted to get her running properly first and enjoy using her this summer.

The wiring diagram!!

Success, we have electrics!!

On the subject of Dad (Gordon), we finally said our final farewell and took him out on the Thames and laid his ashes to rest.  It was a truly amazing evening, and we were blessed with a beautiful evening, the river was flat as you like and we had the most amazing sunset too.  We laid him to rest on the river between Gordon's promenade, Gravesend where he of religiously went and had his lunch and Tilbury Fort on the other side overlooking the old gun emplacements, being an old Ancient Mariner with the Merchant Navy what better place would he want to be.  It was an emotional evening but at the same time a happy ending, we laid him on the water with some flowers and the flowers even stayed with him until he gently submerged to the waters below.  Then my sister Joanna gave me and Leigh a stone each which had come with her flower arrangement, how surreal as she never asked for them but they came with it, so we each threw our stone in and made a wish.  It was a lovely end to such an amazing life.

In April we decided to go down to Beachy Head in Eastbourne, it's somewhere we have never been and never seem to make the time or effort to go.  We were both pleasantly surprised how beautiful it was.  We walked along the top of the cliffs all the way to Birling Gap, a gap in the cliffs where there are steps down to small beach.  The views are amazing and you can clearly see the Seven Sisters as they are affectionately known which are the points along the chalk cliff tops.

The walk along the top of the cliffs

The Seven Sisters

We also had a cheeky trip down to Croyde & Saunton Sands in North Devon, one of our favourite places.  For a change we decided to treat ourselves and stayed in a great B&B with a lovely view straight over to Croyde beach.  It was fantastic to be back at a proper beach again.  

We did lots of walking and had a great two days kiting at Saunton Sands, it made us feel back at home, it's just a fantastic beach and part of the world in every way.

The view from our room

The Drive Down into Croyde Bay

The view down to the vast beach at Saunton Sands

We went back down to Croyde & Saunton again to catch up with some friends the first May bank holiday and walked the entire length of Saunton Beach right round to Estuary which you can just make out in the far distance, it was about 8 miles there and back.  We also had a lovely cycle and covered about 26 miles, again it was great to get out on the bikes.

We never seem to stop and are always busy with one thing or another.  We have been busy in the garden and it's looking great already.  One things for sure, we really didn't miss all the hard work and TLC the garden needs while we were travelling last year, but it's now back to reality trimming bushes and keeping the lawn movers busy - it takes both of us a lot of hard work keeping everything in shape.  Julie loves being in the garden so working part-time gives her time to keep the weeds down and get the lawn mown for me with her push along mower, well it does keep her fit so she couldn't complain.

She does moan about the weeds a bit so I bought her a new toy recently a weed burner, she's like the terminator now and at every opportunity is out there with her flame thrower blitzing everything in sight - I have a job getting her to come in!!  We've lived here 17 years and can't believe we didn't invest in one years ago!!

Bye, Bye Weeds...!

This is the clematis that seems to have gone mad, it really does look amazing at the moment.

We found this picture on the internet which did make us laugh, that really is keeping your bush well trimmed!!

When we were down at Saunton Sands before we went away travelling we picked up a load of drift wood and shells and ever since Julie has been nagging me to make things but we never seem to have time.  A couple of weeks ago she piped up, "I want a chalk board for the kitchen so that we can keep a list of our never ending jobs", so I gave in and made the time and this was the end result which she is absolutely chuffed to bits with and it only took about half an hour to knock up - if you were to buy one it would cost at least £40+.  It's nice to know that it's all reclaimed materials from Saunton Sands Beach.

We've been busy in the house too and given the upstairs shower room a bit of much needed TLC.  The underfloor heating packed up but I managed to work out that all it needed was a new temperature probe which I found on the internet for only £14.99 so that was a real result.  Julie wanted to replace the shower doors as they were on their last legs and really scaly so we did that and also fitted a nice new rain head shower head.  Then Julie decided she didn't like the floor anymore so we have screeded over it and fitted a new vinyl flooring that looks like floorboards, it all looks really nice and to be honest was long overdue.

A couple of weekends ago we drove down to Heathfield and cycled along the Cuckoo Trail which took us into Eastbourne.  It was a great cycle along a disused railway line and amongst some lovely scenery, bluebells and wild garlic.  It was a steady incline all the way back so a nice little workout and by the time we got back to the van had just done shy of 30 miles, somewhere else fairly local that we have been meaning to go but never seem to get the time or make the effort.

Last weekend we had an absolutely fantastic trip up to Brancaster in the VW T5, another of our favourite places that we have only been up to twice since we got home.  The weather was beautiful and we got out kiting two days, it was just fabulous to get out and it's warmed up a bit now so that's always a bonus as kiting through the winter is hard work sometimes especially in the North Sea!

Considering the VW T5 was parked up on our driveway with a cover over her for a year she still looks in great condition, sometimes it's nice to have a couple of nights away in her

So that's what we've been up to these last couple of months......we'll be back for an update in another couple of months.

Before we go Julie found this little saying and as I say she reminds me of Edith she thought it was very true.

J&J

x

Spring Is In The Air

Hi All,

The month's seem to be flying by, we can't believe it's mid-March already but it's nice that the nights are drawing out and it's feeling more like Spring every day with some warm sunshine and in a couple of weeks time the clocks will Spring forward.  One thing that happens when you are travelling is that you manage to skip the miserable UK Winter which is great as Julie hates it and if it's wet & miserable at the weekend I have to remove all sharp objects from the house!!!  We skipped Oct, Nov & most of Dec so for us it's been a short Winter which is great.

I hate to say but we have well & truly settled back into the work life balance although Julie has fallen on her feet as she only works 8 til 4 3 days a week, Mon-Wed one week and then Wed-Fri the next so every other week she gets 6 days off!!! She is really enjoying her new job and her free time although she is always busy doing stuff and says she doesn't know how she fitted in a full-time job!!!  I am really pleased for her and it means that she can get a lot of stuff done so free's up more time for us at the weekends which is great.

I went to work one Monday morning and discovered this piece of artwork had been done over the weekend inside the building on-site, I know I am a midget but just look at the size of me compared to it, it's huge......it was really impressive and shows there are some talented kids out there.  What was most impressive though was that there was no damage anywhere and no rubbish i.e. spray cans left behind, I hate to think how many cans it took.

Julie also gets more time to see her Mum & Dad which is nice and the other week Julie and Brenda had a spot of light lunch while I sat in my digger eating my sandwiches and apple....!

We had a fantastic kite session down at Camber, probably one of the best uncrowded sessions we have ever had there.   Conditions were absolutely perfect and it was a beautiful sunny day and surprisingly warm.   They are doing a lot of work there at the moment putting in some new sea defences which we think has put a few people off so that's why it wasn't as busy as usual.  The work they are doing doesn't make much difference at all although there are some piles of rocks on the beach downwind and the car park is limited at the moment.  Aline and the kids came down to watch and take some photos, thanks Aline.  I don't think it will be long until Aline & Dick book up some lessons as they both ski and snowboard and are adrenaline junkies just like us!

I have been keeping busy out in the garage working on the Tiger Cub and also swapped my sunglasses for welding glasses as I have Dad's oxyacetylene brazing set so have been practising some new skills and surprised myself at the results.

The Cub has been receiving lots of TLC, I have stripped down and re-built the engine and stopped the oil leaks and fitted a new exhaust as the old one had a rather large hole in it and was scaring all the horses in the surrounding fields.  I am slowly working my way through to get it MOT worthy.

This time last year we were saying our goodbyes to the mountains, Meribel and Pete and Debra who we met there.  We went off round Europe one way and they went the other and although we said we'd try and meet up somewhere in the middle we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Pete & Debra finished their trip at the end of September but went back to Meribel in January for a couple of months and we had planned to meet them in January before we headed home but as we left earlier than expected we never got to meet up.   Last week they got in contact to say that they were on route home after a fantastic two months and would like to meet up with us on their way back home to the Lakes.  We decided to meet them up at Brancaster as it was heading North for them and as Pete learnt to kitesurf while away travelling we thought it would be good to show him our favourite spots up on the East coast.  

It was fantastic to see them both again and catch up on a year's worth of stories, it really didn't seem like it was a year ago that we saw them last.   Andy & Claire our friends from Northampton also made the most of the lovely weather and came up for the weekend in their motorhome.  It was the first weekend away that we have had in the van since we got home it was great to be back in the van but this time only for 2 nights, slightly different from the 350 nights we spent in it last year!!

We had a long walk along the beaches showing Pete the kite spots and then headed to the Jolly Sailors for a well earnt drink washed down with their amazing Fish & Chips, one of the few things we missed while away travelling last year.  It's a great pub and we feel like locals even though it's 150 miles away from home.

So that's it until next month.

J&J
x 

Back to Reality...

Hi All,

So here we are sat on the sofa back in our house in front of the log burner typing this blog update, not quite as exciting as some of the places where we sat and typed our blogs!!

So it’s back to normal for us now after a very busy and emotional few weeks, what with getting our stuff back in the house and saying our goodbyes to Dad.  The funeral went really well and I know it sounds wrong but it was a really good day as funerals go, the service was just what Dad would have wanted, a celebration of his life and achievements and a few jovial stories along the way with over 100 people in attendance.   Again the wake was just perfect, I am sure if Dad had been a fly on the wall he would have been very proud of me, Leigh & Joanna and our families.  Thank you to everyone that came along to the service and the wake in Dad’s memory.  I did have a bit of sore head the next day after a few too many tots of rum which was Dad’s favourite guilty pleasure!!

Not sure if I have mentioned it before but one of Dad’s wishes was for me to have his 1963 Triumph Tiger Cub motorcycle so I now have that in the garage.  It does make me laugh as it had one oil leak which I managed to stop by fitting a new oil seal but when I started the bike it seemed to spring a leak somewhere else so a bit more TLC needed (it’s a nice excuse for me to go and have a tinker in the garage).  It’s work in progress but hopefully it won’t be long before it’s back on the road, mind you I need to adapt my many years of riding modern motorcycles to this pre-65 bike as the rear brake and gear change are completely the reverse to modern motorcycles (just imagine swapping your pedals in your car  - how you would get on!!).  

Julie and I did a floral tribute of the Cub and were really pleased with it 

We managed to fit in a quick weekend to Brancaster on the East coast and grab a bite to eat and few drinks with friends in one of our favourite pubs, it was great to be back after 13 months as the food is so good and Julie had been craving her fish & chips and we weren’t disappointed. 

Early the next morning we headed to the beach car park to beat the tide before the road flooded as it was an exceptionally high tide.  It was a toasty 2 degrees outside while we were sat in the van having a cup of tea watching the sunrise on a beautiful sunny winters day.   Not to be deterred by the temperature we got changed into our winter kite gear, grabbed our kites and went and had a fantastic session - the first one in UK waters for sometime, but it felt good.  They say the early bird catches the worm which is very true as it was only us two and a couple of friends that got to the car park before it flooded the road so we had the whole place to ourselves for a few hours.

It was never set in stone that when we left our jobs all those months ago that we would have a job to come back to but luckily I have been able to return to the same company, the same position and even the same machine which I am very grateful for.  Again it feels like I’ve never been away, just like I walked out the door 13 months ago and I have walked back through that door 13 months later and everything is just exactly the same.  I seriously thought that I would find it very difficult to adjust back into working life but to be honest it hasn’t been that bad although the first morning the alarm clock went off was quite a shock!!!   

Julie on the other hand hasn’t gone back to the same company or job but maybe that’s something for the future but in the meantime she has found herself a little part-time payroll job which ticks all the boxes for now and again is only 10 minutes from home.  It’s quite strange how things work out sometimes and how the job came about (thanks Alison!!).

As Julie sold her mini to help finance our trip she needed to find a small decent car to do her long commute to work and do the Lidl’s shop on her days off!!  So after trawling the internet and nearly being scammed by a dodgy dealer (but that’s another story…and a lucky escape) she found herself a lovely VW Fox in mint condition with low mileage, full VW service history which has had only 2 lady owners from new.  Thanks to our friend Martin for taking Julie to check it over and pick it up.  So now my VW van has a little baby sister to keep it company on the drive.

Almost exactly a year ago while we were in Meribel we met Aline & Dick and their two children, Bethan & Finn who hired a motorhome and came to Meribel for half term.  It turned out that they only lived about 20 miles away from us back in the UK.  When they left we promised we’d meet up with them when we got back so true to our word we have been in touch and we managed to meet up with them last weekend.  It was great to catch up and spend the day just chatting about anything and everything, and being shown around their beautiful cottage.  They are really easy going and enjoy the outdoor life just like us so it was only natural to go for a lovely walk followed by a de-brief in their local pub and then back to theirs for a lovely roastie and yet more stories.  

So it really is back to reality for us now but we have so many memories to keep us going for now.

Better go, got to get up for work in the morning…….!!! 

Look out for more updates.

J&J

x

Farewell Dad

 Welcome back, we’d like to wish you all a very Happy & Healthy New Year. 

Just before New Year we had a couple of days catching up with Julie’s sister Karan, Damon and our nephew, Devon, and niece Lillie, who taught us a few moves on their scooters.  We spent New Year’s Eve catching up with Julie’s mum & dad, Karan, Damon and cousin Sue and husband Paul, it was a nice evening just sitting and chatting.

However the year didn’t start off very well for us as sadly Dad passed away peacefully on New Year’s day, although it’s very sad we are both very relieved that we made the decision to come home and we were able to spend some time with him, we are sure that on his up days he knew we were there.  He had a fantastic innings as they say and if I am as active as him at 87 then I’ll be happy.  We have the funeral later this week so I am sure he will get the send off he deserves and his passion for motorcycling since the 1950’s will be celebrated and remembered by many friends and acquaintances from the motorcycling clubs that he was so involved with over the years.   

Dad having a "magic" time at another motorbike trial 

And in more recent years a flying visit to the family on his Triumph Tiger Cub

We had a day down at Camber Sands and walked and talked for a few hours, it was a beautiful crisp, sunny day and it was nice to get out for some fresh air and reflect on Dad’s life and his final few weeks.   Although Camber is a nice beach with dunes at one end we have seen so many other beautiful beaches during our travels it just doesn’t quite compare somehow!!  There are currently new sea defences being built using huge granite boulders which we hope won’t have too much of an impact on the area where we kite surf, hopefully they will make it a safer place by removing the existing wooden groynes but I guess we will have to wait and see.

We got the keys back to our house a few days earlier than expected so had a busy few days moving back in but to be honest it wasn’t as bad as we expected and it only took four trips in my van to get everything out of our storage unit.  Although at first it felt quite depressing and marked the end of our adventure it actually seemed much easier than when we moved out which I think is mainly because we had been so organised and also moving stuff back in to the same house is easier when you know where it all goes!!!  The house has been very well looked after by Andy & Lesley and their two children, Ben & Lucy, you’d never know that anyone else has been living here so that made life much easier too.  We shall certainly keep in touch with them as they are buying a house locally so I am sure we will meet up for a beer or two at some point when they have settled in.

When we were in La Franqui last summer we met Marc & Kitty from Belgium and their two young children, Brielle & Remi.  They kindly invited us to their birthday party on our way home but obviously as our plans changed we weren’t sure if we would make it or not but after a busy week moving back in we did manage to find time to go and visit, it was great to catch up with them and meet some of their friends and it seemed just like yesterday that we saw them last, not 5 months ago.  

Sometimes life seems to be an adventure for us so sods law it was the weekend that we were going to Belgium via the Eurotunnel that all hell broke loose, first with a small fire causing delays on Saturday which thankfully we missed but on Sunday the day we were returning there were even more delays caused by an electrical fault.    To cut a very long story short and 6 hour wait we ended up catching a ferry home courtesy of Eurotunnel - even though were went in my van and not the motorhome thankfully we had everything we needed and were able to make ourselves comfortable and a make a few cuppa’s!!   So another country, Belgium, ticked off the list and another unplanned ferry, we eventually made it home.

So it’s been a really busy month as I am sure you can appreciate how busy we have been with funeral arrangements and family meetings etc, etc but life goes on.  We managed to catch up with James and Charlie who we last saw during our “sleepover” in the early days of our trip back in February when we were in Meribel.  The same weekend we also headed up to Northampton to catch up with Claire, Andy, Paul, Twiggy, Dave, Sue, Ash & Sal, all friends that we last saw in December 2013.  It was a lovely evening catching up with everyone and exchanging stories.

We’ve received a couple of emails from guys we met on our travels too, it’s really nice to hear what they have been up to and you never know we might even bump into them in the future somewhere…..

It seems really odd being back in the house and I know we keep saying it but it doesn’t seem like we have spent the last year travelling around Southern Europe…..sometimes it’s  the simple things that mean so much like a nice soak in the bath as that is the only thing that our house has that the motorhome doesn’t!!!

Before we go, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Julie’s mum & dad, Dave & Brenda, for helping us with paperwork etc while we were on the road and for putting us up since our return, we hope that they enjoy our little thank gift when they go and see Neil Diamond at the O2 in July.  Oh and I am sure they are missing the butler and handyman now that we have moved back home……!! 

Anyway that’s all for now, we’ll do another update in February.

Take care.

J&J

x