Sunshine, storms and narrow roads

 I've got another day before before I head home.  Mark will come here from work tomorrow and we will pack up on Saturday morning, the caravan stays on this site so It shouldn't take too long.  I've enjoyed my break, a change of scenery and some quiet time was just what I needed.  I've gone out a couple times but mostly stayed close to the van and been for walks.

Eastnor Castle is a short drive away but unfortunately It's only open certain days and the next available date was in May, that was disappointing but I did walk through the deer park which is part of their land and popular with dog walkers.  The main pathway is hardstanding so suitable for all and the views are lovely.

Unfortunately I didn't see any deer, and as you can see it was rather overcast and rather windy up there.  You can wander of the designated pathway across the fields but the weather put me off and after an hour I headed back to the car.  There is a café at the bottom with a covered picnic area where I enjoyed a coffee and my book for a while.

I decided to drive up to Eastnor Castle on the way back and double check the opening times, the lane is narrow and on the way back down there was an old steam engine which had stopped and was having trouble starting again, after waiting ten minutes or so I decided to turn around and see where the lane took me.

I didn't encounter another vehicle on this narrow road but there were pheasants aplenty.

And a ford!  I haven't seen a ford in years

There were a few houses dotted along the way, even the side view of this one is cute,

I visited Ledbury the day before and the weather was completely different

Yesterday started off bright and sunny but a rain storm was due in the afternoon, and boy did it come down, we even had thunder and lightening right overhead for a good half hour.

 And then just like that It all cleared and the blue sky returned and I had a walk into Upton to stretch my legs.

You'd hardly believe it was the same day!

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Taking a break

 This is our first break away in our caravan this year, we arrived on Good Friday, I'm staying for two weeks but Mark has gone back to work this morning and will be back on Friday for the Weekend.  Storm Dave was due to arrive on Saturday so we didn't put the awning up until it had passed on Sunday, it was still a bit breezy but nothing like Saturday night.  The wind was quite bad on Saturday night, in the caravan it felt similar to turbulence you experience on an airplane at times, but we were safe enough and there was no damage on the campsite.

Home for the next two weeks

Unusual for a Bank Holiday the weather was warm and sunny so we visited Croome Court, a national Trust property a short drive away. 

It was nice to see a Great White Egret on the river, there were a couple of swans too hiding in the reeds.

More of the house open now than it was the last time we came, but the highlight of Croome Court are the stunning grounds designed by Capability Browne.  They are said to be one of his first designs and remained one of his favourites, he visited the Earl of Coventry often.

We did walk some of the grounds but the purpose of our visit this time was to see the Walled Gardens.  These were still closed last time we came and the Easter Weekend is their first opening of the year.  Back in the day these gardens would have grown the produce to feed the household but it was neglected for almost fifty years, fallen brickwork and overgrown structures all had to be dug out and repaired so it's taken a number of years to get it to where it is now.  There are information boards as you walk around telling you about the work that was done.  There is an extra charge of £7 to see the Walled Gardens but It was worth it and I daresay the money goes to the work that they will carry on doing in the future.

As I said Mark has gone to work this morning so I've had a nice relaxing day on my own, the weather has been hot and sunny again and after a walk into and around town I've spent the time knitting, with a little afternoon nap thrown in, ha ha.

I won't be on my own for the next couple days though, Bonnie and Jacob have just arrived, they are playing outside at the moment but have already decided the sleeping arrangements!

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Our first outing

 Weather wise we couldn't have picked a better week for our first caravaning adventure, there was only one night that we had a little bit of rain, but other than that it was hot and sunny every day, sometimes a little too hot.  

We chose Upton on Severn for our first trip, just 45 minutes down the motorway, a little longer If you take the scenic route.  The site was small and quiet and had everything needed, both the showers and toilets on site were clean.  The only downside was that there was no WIFI and it was hit and miss as to whether we could get online on our phones, although the call signal was fine, I was surprised how quickly I got used to not picking my phone up to check it every five minutes, lol.

We arrived on the Friday lunchtime and it was baking hot, Mark had never put an awning up before and although it was fairly straightforward, working in the heat made it difficult, while I sorted everything inside the van I could hear a fair bit of huffing, puffing and swearing going on outside, lol.  But as you can see he got there in the end.  

There were a couple of things that took time to sort out, the water wasn't coming through and it took the rest of the afternoon for Mark to sort that out, then the water wasn't getting though to flush the toilet so it was the next day before all the little niggles were sorted but there was nothing major and everything works as it should.

It's been an expensive month, besides buying the caravan its been like setting up another house with all the bits and pieces but we did have a couple good buys from fb marketplace, the porch air awning, roof bars, ground sheet and air pump cost us £140, they had only been used once and would have cost over £300 new and the awning carpet was another fb find for £40 again looked like new and the price ticket of £72 was still on the bag.

As I said the weather was great all week so we have spent a lot of time sitting and reading, listening to music and in my case some stitching and knitting and the occasional afternoon nap.  It was very relaxing, just what we both needed.  We did have a few outings, we walked into Upton a couple times and drove out to Tewksbury and Ledbury, both about 20 minutes away.

I'll leave you with some photos I took while we were away, we were both pleasantly surprised by Ledbury and will definitely try and get back there over the Summer.

Upton on Severn

We both fell in love with Ledbury, lovely shops, beautiful buildings and great history

Enjoying the beautiful countryside

Lovely sunset at the caravan park

Start of a new month tomorrow, hope you have a good one

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