Right, where did I last leave you? Down south I think it was.

Well, it’s been another busy week for Maisy and I as we pootled our way about a bit exploring here and there and getting a few of her bits seen too.

Before I go any further though I do have to let you know that donating to the All Counties Challenge just got a whole lot easier. I figured out how to do text donations. All you need to do is text the code JBAC90 and the amount that you would like to donate (eg £1, £2, £5 etc) to 70070.

I’ve got £20,000 to raise in the next ten or eleven months so I hope that over the next few weeks you will chip in if you can.

If not, don’t worry, I will also be grateful of any shares of this info that you can muster.

Anyway, as I mentioned, Maisy and I have been lolloping about and have stopped at various different locations.

No workshops this week so I have been doing other things that I will let you know about later in this post.

First, we took a rest at another of the Caravan Club sites. Lovely location and quite quiet which meant that Maisy got time to chill out in the shade of the trees.

We only spent the one night there though as I was eager to fix Maisy’s gas. No, I don’t mean that she has been trumping her way down the road, but that I was unable to get her gas pumped and use the hob so wanted an expert opinion.

I think by now you are gathering that I am not great with machinery, hehe.

We stopped at Johns Cross caravan shop and the lovely folk there took Maisy into their work room and a mechanic got his hands all over Maisy.

To be honest, I had gone for a stroll at this point as I thought, ‘three is a crowd’, and didn’t really want to know what the saucy moo was up to.

Instead I went briefly shuffling around a country road or two when I stumbled across this unused arty place!

How awesome would this be as a craft room – even better that it was tagged onto the back of a pub!

After a bit I made my way back to the workshop and found Maisy all ‘sorted’ and she even had a little badge, like we’d get at the dentist, but for her it was to advertise her volatility – she can turn on a sixpence, and not in a good way.

Right! Time to fire this beauty up and see what she can do!

I gingerly turned the nob, heard the hiss of gas and clicked the lighter – whilst squinting gingerly.

I needn’t have worried. Whatever the engineer had done to Maisy, she was hot within seconds and casually frying my mushrooms – is it me or is this turning into some weird innuendo marathon? Lol ;)

Well, the result? A rather lush fry up – thanks Maisy!

Dishes duly popped in the recycling (the beauty of paper plates) and we were out on the road again and I did start to thinking that I was in one of those old TV shows about cars. You know, Convoy, Dukes of Hazard and the like.

Ten four good buddy!

It’s either that or the Hill Billy’s. You decide.

Now,  cooking in Maisy is all well and good but I’m going to need to take guests in soon so having the wiff of cold fry up lingering isn’t a good thing so on a brief supplies trip I seconded a lovely smelling candle.

Sounds a quite powerful fragrance but oddly it simply seems to cancel out any other odours so I think that it was a choice well made,

Mind you, someone will probably tell me it stinks. Lol.

Oh, and that wasn’t the only lovely thing that I found that day – look at these lovely fabrics!

I found an excuse for buying them after I bought them – as one does – basically I have already smashed my phone screen!

I therefore thought that I’d make a cover for it. I also wanted to make some basket liners for the shelving in her to pretty it up a bit. I’ll show you when they are done.

Further on down the road we stopped off in a lovely green area of (insert any county here as I actually forgot and have no idea where this was!) lol!

What I do remember is that I was told that there was a lovely pub a short walk up the road.

Waving goodbye to the person that was telling me, as they were still talking, I swiftly marched off down the lane.

How ruddy lovely was this lane!

Sniffs in lush foliage smell, coughs out lung and reaches for anti hay fever pills.

Ok, I know it’s only a lane but I clearly got there at just the right time :)

Speaking of arriving, here was that very pub!

Loving that they advertise civil partnership ceremonies but not sure about the headless woman thing. I think it’s a local thing as there is a ‘Silent Woman’ farm, a ‘Silent Woman’ something else etc etc. Oddly all of the woman in the pub were quite chatty.

Anyway, as you know, I do like to sample ‘local’ grub so I ordered from the specials board, because I’m special.

‘Pie and Chips please’. I announced. For no reason. *shrugs* maybe the local people would allow me into their clique if I brazenly announce my food choice.

Nope.

I pottered outside and took a seat with my diet pop and awaited my food.

A lovely lady then turned up with a trough FULL of food. No, seriously, look!

I did ask if there had been some kind of mistake and that I had only ordered for one.

She laughed obligingly, rolled her eyes like she’d heard it before and then left me to tackle the food mountain.

It took me a while and I ‘had’ to leave some of the veg as I was too full but it was proper lush!

The walk back to Maisy was a little harder than the walk to the pub for some reason…

Now, some people are lucky with weather and some are not, I can’t decide if I am or not however this week I think you can judge for yourself. For instance, when I was here. ….

It was the only place with rain – in the country!

The eagle eyed among you will notice a time difference in these readings – don’t worry, it didn’t stop between them!

Hehe.

Thankfully it cheered up by the time I hit Bristol.

Some of you may have seen my rant about the traffic systems of Bath and Bristol on Facebook so I won’t go into it again here; instead I shall share some of the sights that I saw on my very short visit.

First, some houses by the river.

Them some boats and buildings by the river.

Then I think I had been slipped some drugs, or got sun stroke, as there were some talking cranes by the river.

Due to the above, I wasn’t sure if this next image was real but it looked cool so I took a picture anyway and hoped that it would appear in the photos on the phone.

Pretty cool textures and colours. Wonder if I can replicate them somehow?

Blah blah blah, then it was sunset.

Sorry to cut that short however the traffic thing really did knock it out of me. Trying to drive a tank through a five year olds attempt at a city roadway system really would!

Even Maisy needed a time out so we headed to where she could be amongst friends – she did however go and hide in a quiet spot and stretch out her awning. Bless :/

The next day she was fully up to speed and it was time to head back to Cambridgeshire for some bits and bobs.

On the way she met some rough trade.

I didn’t think much of her hanging around with this lot so didn’t stay in that service station long I can tell you.

*girds up loins and wags disapproving finger at Maisy*

It hasn’t all been gallavanting left, right and centre.

I have been having a playing/prepping with various things. Here is a little experiment that I was working on for a future workshop – there’ll is a separate post about this already on the blog.

I’ve also been continuing various rewards that I need to finish up and get off to people.

And as a little pet project I also made up some paper beads – a post about this is already online too.

So, what a week?! It takes hearty food to meet such a schedule.

Hotdog anyone?

Ah well, I’ve got gas so I may as well cook – I had however forgotten how much faster and better that gas cooks compared to electric! halogen or microwave. It must be the flame, or something. No clue, I’m too busy eating to find out.

Saturday/Sunday involved mostly driving and a brief trip into Henley-on-Thames so not really a huge amount to tell you about there.

I did however manage to work out how to do video diaries whilst on the road, I just need to figure out how to stop the camera shaking!

There will be a few more things coming up this week, such as auctioning off the demonstrators’ makes and some news about other bits and bobs that I am working on but for now, I shall be wrapping things up and heading for a shower,

Got a good response to last weeks’ ramblings so I reckon I’ll keep these weekly diary posts going for a while. They are kind of like a scrapbook for me to remember the journey with so I’m pleased they’ve been well received.

Thanks for stopping by and, if I don’t see you before I’ll see you next week

Ciao for now.

J :)