We came back yesterday from another lovely few days in the caravan. The weather was dreadful, heavy rain, and the caravan and field were shrouded in a low mist that was really eerie. With only one other campervan in the field we walked our dogs around the field and adjacent lane and then sat inside watching the wild birds. We had taken all our food as we had seen the weather forecast and I cooked some lovely meals on the little gas cooker, which rivals our own cooker at home for how well it works. I'm sure we would have got fed up with the rain if it had been so heavy for all our holiday but for a few days it felt cosy and warm, sitting inside listening to it battering on our caravan roof. There were so many swallows in the field we were convinced one would hit our van they were flying so low but they seemed to be too skilled at flying to do this.
We had flocks of starlings descending on the quiet field as well as a resident woodpecker. It was a real pleasure to sit and watch them.
You can just see George the horse on the left in the top photo. We were getting really attached to him by the end of the two weeks and although Tom's holiday is finished and he is back at work tomorrow we are hoping to go back there when he has days off again in 10 days time. It was lovely to come home though and see youngest son and daughter and catch up with all the chat again.
I spoke to eldest daughter on the phone who was feeling totally disheartened with trying to move house. They had been looking forward to seeing a beautiful house yesterday that had only just gone on the market. The estate agent called to tell them that although the owners had already accepted an offer they wanted to carry on with people viewing it to "See how it goes". They declined the offer of viewing it as it all seems so underhand. Imagine if they had put in an offer that had been accepted then a while later as they were preparing to move in, were told it had been sold to someone with a higher offer. They have decided they will try to forget about moving for the next few months and wait and see how things go with the property market, which at the moments is definitely all going in the sellers favour.
One of the things Tom and I have talked about in the last few weeks, while we were at the caravan was trying to spend more time tracing Tom's Welsh roots on his Dad's side. Tom is really keen to find out more about his Dad's family and embrace his Welsh roots (could it be because Wales are doing well in the Euros!) as he knows nothing at all. His Dad died a few years after we got married in 1982 and all Tom knows is he settled and married in London as a young man during the Second World War. He didn't even know his grandparents names, although he knew his Dad had sisters. Tom still misses his Dad and sadly there is no one left alive to ask. With one of the most common names in Wales it has been a challenge but I have found his Dad's birth in Newport, South Wales and have ordered his birth certificate last night. Tom is really excited to find out more about relatively close family, he knows nothing about and it felt a bit like an extra Father's Day present for him.
I'm meeting my sister this morning and we are going to see my Dad for Father's Day and have lunch with him, which will be lovely. This afternoon eldest daughter and Scarlett are coming round and later we have a lovely dinner planned. I'm really looking forward to the day and I hope everyone has a lovely day too. I know there will be lots of people feeling sad today who have lost their fathers, like Tom, and I'm particularly sending them lots of love and best wishes. xx
