First signs of spring in the Yorkshire Dales
I was going to Start this weeks blog with how wonderful it is watching the Dales slowly wake up after a long, cold and wet winter... however in much more exciting news - lambing season has started! My favourite time of year. We arrived home yesterday to the sight of 4 gorgeous, skipping lambs in the field next door. There is nothing better than waking up to the sound of them bleating away and watching them play.
We have managed to get out on a few walks around the village and have stumbled across some beautiful moss covered, snow drop lined country lanes to explore. The garden has started to come back to life and the first daffodils are out in bloom. We are starting to notice the lighter nights and on Monday night we had the most stunning sunset.
We have even managed to fit in a longer hike between the rain storms and explored the hills above the village of Stainforth. There is a steep, winding lane that leads to Catrigg Force waterfall which was quite an impressive sight after all the rain we have had.
The fields and paths are really starting to show what a wet winter we have had - at times we have been ankle deep in mud. I definitely feel that it is time for the weather to buck up and for the sun to come out more!
The Camping, Caravan and Motorhome Show at the NEC
On Thursday, we took a trip down to Birmingham to the Campervan and Motorhome show. It is still a couple of years until we can swap Nelson the T6 camper but after hearing tales that it can take up to 18 months if ordering a new van, we wanted to see what was out there.
After over 6 years of van ownership, we know what features we would like in our new van - being able to stand up and a toilet! But beyond that, there is just so much choice and such a variety of styles. We adore Nelson and the freedom that he has given us and we want to make sure we make the right choice with our next van. Its still very early days - but we did find a couple of vans that were just perfect for us!
First experience staying at a CAMpRA aire
Instead of heading back to the Dales after the show at the NEC, we decided to make a trip of it and stay in Shropshire for a couple of nights. With a quick search on Park 4 the Night and Google Maps, we found a new small CAMpRA aire near Market Drayton. It was £8 a night and had a toilet. These new style aires are popping up all over the UK and are perfect if you are wanting a quiet, reasonable priced stopover. They can only host 5 vans due to their licence and planning permission laws and most of them do not have facilities so this was a real bonus for us. We had 2 quiet nights in a field in the middle of the country side and it was bliss!
The toilet was a little quirky. We were given the code and the instructions to go through the green house into the garage - that was all good. The next instruction was to watch out for the 2 friendly peacocks that live in the greenhouse! They were quite magnificent and rather large!
We set off on a long walk from the aire into the small town of Market Drayton. As the fields were quite boggy we walked on the country lanes which were really quiet. After a 5km walk, we decided to treat ourselves to a drink in a local brewery based in the town centre. What a find!! Our attention was piqued by a sign for the 'Mouse Room' and we were delighted to find that it was a room full of panelling and furniture made by Robert Thompson - The 'Mouse Man of Kilburn'. Local to the Yorkshire Dales, each piece of his furniture has a mouse carved on it. We spent a pleasant couple of hours searching for the carved mice - we found 9 - and playing dominoes. The beer was pretty awesome too and only £4.30 a pint!
Date night and pancakes
Monday night was an early Valentines date night. I had seen an advert on Facebook for half price pizzas at Rind on Mondays. It is a trendy new cheese themed restaurant near Settle, based at the infamous Cheese Courtyard Dairy.
The Pizzas were delicious and the newly built restaurant was stunning in its design. It is all glass fronted with views over both the Yorkshire Dales and the Forest of Bowland. Eating scrumptious pizza while watching the sunset was pretty special.
Breakfast on Tuesday had to be pancakes (of course)!
Nelson finally gets a good scrub clean - It didn't last long!
Having realised we have already been home for 2 weeks from the Alps, we decided it was time to give the van a good scrub and clean from all the dirt and salt off the roads. It was that dirty we did 2 cycles on the jet wash! He was gleaming and sparkling for all of 24 hours until we took him on the mud lined country lanes of Shropshire! At least he looked smart parked amongst all the other vans on the carpark at the NEC - if only for a day.
With being at home for a couple of weeks, it has been easier to get back into a routine of healthier eating and meal planning. so I am signing of from the blog to go and cook this weeks Sunday meal - roast lamb with LOTS of veg - a refreshing change from lots of bread and cheese in the Alps!
Have a great week
Jackie and Richard
Comments