Our (Mud) Island Adventure: A catch up, January to Mid February

Hello Dear Friends,

I bow my head in shame at how I neglect our blog. So here is a nice long catch up with what we have been up to for the last three months!! (I know, months! Somehow admitting how bad I am at blogging on every blog for the last six months has become a habit. One I must break....next time)

When we moved over to Mud Island, we had no idea how much of an adventure lay in wait for us, pouncing on top of us from the shadows, and enveloping our lives as much as England has so far. Over the last three months we have been back to South Africa for three weeks, and I had trips to Scotland and Barcelona to add to my collection. So where to start?

We should tell you about the traditionally bad period of weather and cold in January and February. We should be telling you about dull boring grey skies, freezing temparatures and generally wallowing in self pity. But really, as has become the theme here, January and February were nothing like that! In fact it was early February before we had some really cold days, where the cars were well iced and had to be scraped before going to work. There is a picture below of my car on a frosty morning, but the trick I have learnt is to fire up the car, put the demister on full blast, the window and seat heating on, close the door and go back inside for a cup of coffee before coming outside 5 minutes later to clear windows and a warm car. Tigger and Jinx hardly registered the winter flurries, spending most of their time curled up on the couch, bed or their favourite winter spot the floor next to the heating system, which is very warm as the pipes distribute below the floor to the rest of the house. We had a little bit of snow in the south, and only one real night of snow in Bournemouth. I happened to be travelling north to Norwich for the day the next morning and it made for a very long drive with some of the roads slow going. But even though it was pretty cold, because it was not raining and snowing most of the time it was completely bearable. In fact I am proud to say that even Sammy venture out for a ride on her bicycle. It was a bit breezy that morning but Sammy was fantastic and didnt complain even though she was clearly frozen! I started to ride seriously again in the middle of January, and I have to admit to some pretty frosty rides on the bicycle over the last few weeks of winter, with some rides cancelled due to ice on the roads. On those days I would join Sammy at the gym, as we worked together furiously on our diet and exercise plans, making sure that we went to South Africa in reasonable shape! Our friend Shaun came down a few days after his birthday for the weekend and we cooked him dinner and spent a great evening boozing together. Some of you will know this from the pictures we posted on Facebook at the time. Funny that, it always seems like a brilliant idea to advertise the fact that one is drinking, bizzare. The next morning we wanted to show Shaun around our favourite parts of the Purbecks, but had to start with a greasy breakfast in Sandbanks to pep up before cruising off into the hills. As with most of our tours, we base the route on food, so we plan to be in different parts of Dorset at set times so we can eat! I took Shaun and Sammy out to a spot I had been introduced to on a ride, and we loved the walk towards the cliffs, even if there was a cool wind blowing! At one stage we passed a sheep enclosure which caused some giggles as a number of sheep jostled for position at the top of the mound. You have to see it, so a picture is below! Lunch was at the Scotts Arms in Kingston, a favourite watering hole, that you will all be taken to when you visit us!

In mid February I went back up to Scotland to see some customers, sadly this time without Sammy (although she will join me on a trip in June when I drive up again). I flew into Edinburgh and met a colleague Mark and off we went for three days. The first day was very very busy and I nearly fell asleep at the dinner table, but a good nights rest sorted that out. The next morning we received a call cancelling the main meeting for the afternoon, which left us with a short meeting near Sterling which finished at 11h30. We were heading for Aberdeen for meetings the next morning, so Mark decided to take us along the alternative route up from Sterling to Aberdeen through a mountainous area known as the Cairngorms National Park and beyond. It was a brilliant drive, weaving through quaint villages in the lowlands and climbing up into the mountains, passing the Scottish skiing area covered in snow, and through forests and valleys towards Aberdeen. We stopped briefly in Braemar, and then onto a small cafe/bakery in the Woods of Garmaddie just next to Balmoral Castle. We only arrived in Aberdeen in the late afternoon having made the most of our impromtu afternoon off! The next afternoon the drive down from Aberdeen only took three and a half hours and we flew home on the Friday night with a very chatty pilot who pointed out the location of all the major cities we were flying over, almost as if he was reassuring himself that he knew where he was. Still he managed to find the airport in Southampton and the train arrived quickly after landing to take me back home to Bournemouth. We are so lucky that work can provide such adventure. Towards the end of February the weather really started to warm up and it was clear winter was almost over. Conan came over to spend a Friday night with us as we had not had the time to get over to the Isle of Wight for a while. As we have come to expect from him, he was in top form and the three of us had a lot of laughs and wine on the Friday night. Next up I will give you the low down on my trip to Barcelona, the stolen bag, and our trip to South Africa. Until then much love from both of us