Blogger’s Block

I coined this term after declaring to Lawrence that I had writer’s block and that was my reason for not posting a blog for so long. Then I thought I was being a bit ambitious calling myself a writer, hence ‘blogger’s block’.

I also felt that we hadn’t done anything exciting to report and he was horrified! “We picked up the Landcruiser!!!” he exclaimed, as though this was excitement itself. So yes, several weeks ago we picked up our shiny blue Landcruiser from somewhere in London (having made it safely from Australia with only dead battery to bother us) and drove it back up to our friends on Northamptonshire. As it has been modified to support a one tonne living space on the back, the damn thing was like driving in a bouncy castle.  I felt sea-sick.

Landcruiser with coffin attached.

We then had to drive it to Munich – the prospect was daunting. Can you imagine driving a bouncy castle 1000km, and on bad roads at that. Fortunately it settled down a bit and wasn’t quite like being on the high seas.

We spent overnight in Strasbourg - beautiful

As I write, the gorgeous new ‘home’ is being fitted and we should be driving off on stage 3 of our adventure next Thursday.

We have been staying in Bonn with Stuart, Lawrence’s brother. He’s had some surgery and spent 5 days in hospital so we were chief dog sitters. I’ve been force feeding him (Stuart, not the dog) healthy food and stocking the freezer for the next few weeks. I also put the dog on a diet.

Prior to all this excitement we spent 3 weeks doing the rounds of friends and family in the UK. Sister Helen in Glasgow, Paul and Liz in Stratford-on-Avon, Priscilla in Surrey, Pete and Kath in Wales (yes, they had us back), and finally Stephanie and Mark in Spratton. The weather slowly improved and summer finally arrived.

Lunch in a castle in Wales

Today in Bonn it’ll hit 30 degrees – now THAT is exciting.

We’ve bought new bicycles as the fold-up ones have outlived their usefulness. We’ll leave them in Bonn for Stuart and his daughters when they visit. Our grown-up bicycles looked a bit daunting at first, but yesterday we cycled the 62kms to Koblenz, along the Rhine. My arse may never be the same again. I feel like I’ve been on a camel.

Ready to hit the road

We bought some of those padded cycling pants. They give you the unfortunate feeling that you done something nasty in your underpants, but they do help pad out your bum. Maybe this is why so many Germans have fat arses, they do cycle a LOT. It really is the thing to do here. I love watching the old ladies, riding along sedately to do a bit of shopping or go to the pub. A nice change from the UK where they get on motorised scooters and terrorise pedestrians.

Today is Sunday, so we’ll walk down to our favourite pub on Rhine for lunch and enjoy this brilliant weather while it lasts. Stuart is allowed out now and can finally have a drink, having finished his antibiotics. Lawrence and I have had quite a few days off the booze, getting in some liver cleansing ready for the next onslaught when we get back to France. Needless to say, yesterday we had few beers after our LONG bike ride.

So, Hilda has been sold and is now living with Steve. Mojo has also gone to a new home with Tim and the trailer has been sold for a song (some lucky character got a real bargain there.)

Will post photos of our new home once I get my hands on it – can’t wait!