May 29th. Raining!

Well, we'd spent the first two days of the Bank Holiday weekend catching up with DIY jobs in the house and garden...so today, despite the lousy weather, we headed out for a drive.  It turned out ok actually.  First we wandered around shops and looked at heaps of things that we didn't buy, which saved us a fortune : )  Then we bought a couple of bacon butties which we enjoyed while sitting inside the van in comfort and watching other people getting very wet!

May 19th. Wales. LLandow.

On Saturday we headed to Wales, having booked to stay just one night at LLandow Caravan Park.
It was a last minute arrangement as the weather had been grotty all week and then when the sun came out we wanted to make the most of it.  We chose LLadow because of the sites proximity to various beaches, and the site owners willingness to fit us in to stay for just one night at short notice.  Anyway...when we arrived we found a clean site with two areas, one for families and one for those wishing for peace. The latter suited us fine.

There was not a lot to 'do' around the camp site itself, although Roxy was introduced to an agility area for dogs that had been set up in an adjoining field.

Whilst in the area we visited Llantwit Major, with its pretty houses, gardens and country lanes, and Cwm-Huw beach with it's cliff-top paths and interesting rock formations.

There were masses of tadpoles in the river there.

The only set back here was the threat of a £1,000 fine if we took the dog onto the beach.  I could understand this sort of ruling in a place like Brighton or Bournemouth...when clear stretches of sand are heavily used by holiday makers...but Cwm-Huw is a small rocky beach with hardly any sand, situated in the middle of no-where.

 

Ogmore beach, near Brigend, was an entirely different story.  Sheep roamed free and the area surrounding the beach was really lovely too.  Definitely a 'favourite place' to sit and chill : ) 

Local browse...May 14th.

After completing some updates (fitting Julian with some new curtains and so forth) we went out for a run this afternoon and headed in the Aust and Thornbury direction...having noticed Whales Warf and Shepperdine on the map we decided to browse around...  
The natives were friendly...

 

...and one was keen to have her photo taken.

 In Shepperdine I thought I caught a glimpse of Nessie sunbathing...though as she was so far from home I may have been mistaken, and just caught a glimpse of a branch family member perhaps?  I thought I'd log the photo anyway...

Lee Valley. May 1st weekend.

This weekend we headed (along with the dog) for a three night stay at Dobbs Weir Country Park in Hampshire. 
The journey from home to the camp site, being well over four hours in duration, was the longest we'd undertaken with Julian.  The van took to the road well, with no problems in fact...though we found it quite tiring, and Alan found the steering heavy, compared to the comfort of a modern car.

I'd booked to meet with friends at the Arthur Findlay College on the Saturday during part of their open week.

Following our meet-up at the College, in the evening we enjoyed a meal together at the nearby 'Dog and Duck' (where we enjoyed exceptionally delicious food!). 

Then, on the Sunday evening I shared a séance at a friends house nearby.

Between times my husband and I wandered around the Dobbs Weir area...and whilst I was away from the campsite 'doing my own thing' he took the dog for long walks.

Lee Valley is lovely, with canals, open river and abundant water life.  The camp site at Dobbs Weir was ok, though to be honest we would have preferred to have less kids around.  It didn't help that we were designated a parking space near a play area...though our small dog enjoyed all the attention she received.