It's a lovely sunny start to the day here today, not quite what we had while we were at the caravan. We drove in dreadful traffic on Tuesday morning, or rather didn't drive. It was one of those awful jams on the M25 when you just sit with your engine off, stationary trying to accept just being stuck and thanking God you're not the cause of the traffic jam. "Vehicle stranded" had been flashing at us on the bridges as the traffic gradually slowed down to a stop. We had to sit for half an hour listening to Cassie whining but at least we weren't the poor people in the van with the blown tyre which had caused all four lanes to be closed. We arrived at the caravan site later than we hoped and in the rain but we didn't care we were just glad to be there. It was such a relief to sit enjoying a cup of coffee.
Then of course that afternoon there was the time spent trying to get reception on our little television for the England match. It's incredible how much time Tom was willing to spend out in the pouring rain adjusting the aerial to make sure there was a good picture. His perseverance paid off and someone must have been looking down on us, as somehow the game was the only two hours we managed to get a picture on the TV in the whole two days. The picture did depend on us not moving and a dog not scratching but let's just say that added to the tension of the game! In the end it was all worth it of course and we drove off after it to look for a takeaway two very happy people. It was a lovely evening looking out at the rain, eating our extra large pizzas, but the problem of mud was mounting!
By the morning there was so much mud in our corner of the field Cassie nearly sank when she went outside. Each dog had to wiped down with baby wipes before they could come back into the caravan! Tom had been assessing and decided we should move up to the top corner of the field. I did warn that in my experience it may not be quite as easy as it sounded but anyway he asked the owner and with Tess and Layla safely in the car and me carrying Cassie the caravan was hitched back on to the car and off we went. About two feet then we were totally stuck in the mud! "We need cardboard under the wheels." I said remembering similar instances from my childhood rather unhelpfully as of course we didn't think to pack any. The owner trudged across the field and said "Don't worry I'll go and get the mule to get you out." While we stood waiting for an oversized donkey to come to our rescue (only joking) Tom and I stood in the rain with only Cassie looking more miserable than us. In the end over came "the mule" which was actually a sort of buggy with big fat wheels and a tow bar on the back. He hitched up our caravan and dragged it to the dry spot at the top of the hill and then unceremoniously dragged our poor car out of the mud too. Once we were all set up at the top of the hill, we were exhausted. The whole morning had passed and our plans for going for a nice long walk in the afternoon were replaced by a nice long sit in the caravan reading and admiring our new view. We set up a lovely picnic table that came with this pitch and the sun finally came out. As we sat eating our lunch outside we couldn't help but laugh. "It took me right back to childhood holidays in our caravan." I said. So other than me going round the whole caravan cleaning off splatters of mud with baby wipes, we just relaxed until the drive home in the evening.
Scarlett isn't coming today as she has a half day at her new school. How exciting I can't wait to hear from her how she gets on. I've got loads of mud splattered washing to sort out today, so all I can say is thank goodness for our new washing machine. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx
