I woke up this morning at about 5:30. That's not unusual for me with the light mornings. I sat, as I often do, in the garden with a cup of tea, Gus by my feet and Fast Eddie weaving around my ankles purring and nudging me until I stroked her. Bear of Little Brain curled up in the huge Belfast sink amongst my tomato plants and I felt totally at peace.
I came in to have my shower before the morning rush and when I stepped out I caught sight of myself in the mirror. Amazingly I was fully dressed.
I shit you not!
From head to toe I was wearing sunglasses, a bikini top, shorts and flip flops which was when I realised that spending a full weekend soaking up the sun might have it's drawbacks. Fortunately the people who are likely to see me naked are limited as I look faintly ridiculous at the moment. Also fortunately, other than a slightly singed patch on my right thigh I'm a pleasing shade of tan rather than lobster.
I have had THE BEST WEEKEND!!!
I know, I know, I said the weekend at Run To The Sun in Cornwall a couple of weeks ago was the best weekend and it was! But this weekend was ALSO the best weekend ok and next weekend I'm going on Safari so that might ALSO be the best weekend but I'll tell you about that one after I've been.
I spent the weekend with about 10000 other people, give or take a thousand, at a car fest'. I confess that the cars don't really hold much interest for me, I go for the atmosphere, the music and the beer.
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| Although these were a bit of fun |
It's set on a beautiful site with fields and countryside as far as the eye can see and the sun shone for the whole weekend.
We took Maudie with us. Now Maudie is the name I've decided to give our little caravan but don't tell SD, he can't get his head around the fact that I want to name her and for god's sake don't tell him I'm planning bunting!!!. She's small and quaint a proper old fashioned, no frills van who get the job done without any fuss. She could do with a little TLC and I plan to work my magic on her as soon as I have some free time but for now she's just perfect.
To misquote, she is:
A homely home with simple pleasures, somewhere to sleep and somewhere to dress. A place to eat and more than enough space to store the beers, for a thirst is a dangerous thing .....
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| Miss Mac airing her feet out of Maudies window |
We rocked up early on Saturday morning and chose our spot with care.
One of the many advantages of going anywhere with SD is, as I've mentioned before, that he knows EVERYONE!
Adrian (the guy who runs the event along with many other festivals) is a good friend of SD's which means that not only do we get complimentary tickets to many events in exchange for SD helping out a little with the off roading ect (something he doesn't see as a job anyway) but we also get free range of the choicest camping positions.
We could have parked in one of the main camping fields along with thousands of other people. We could have parked up with the traders or alongside the campers who had brought along various car parts for the auto jumble. We found ourselves the perfect position in a tiny part of a sectioned off field near the off road course. Our very own private field (into which we invited a few friends) 100 feet from the main show ground with plenty of people walking through during the day to the off road site but quite and secluded, just out of site and totally private in the late afternoon/evening.
We set up camp, pulled out the deckchairs and made ourselves comfortable in the sun.
SD had brought along about 20 wheels and tyres to sell along with various other bits from past projects so we took it in turns to watch the stock and go off and explore.
Miss Mac was in heaven. Not only was there loads to do and buy but there were also hoard of young, very 'fit' boys wandering around. There was some confusion when she muttered 'cor, Mum, look at him!!!' and we realised that I'd skimmed over the boy in question and was busily eyeing up his Dad!
Two young and totally gorgeous boys wandered over to take a look at some Steels (I know!!! I sound like I know what I'm talking about don't I??? ;) and I chatted to them while Miss Mac blushed from the depth of her deckchair. Suddenly there was an almighty crash as the front bar of the chair she was sitting on snapped and she landed in a heap of green canvas and splintered wood. The horrible boys laughed till they cried, her horrible mother laughed till she cried and poor . Miss Mac, being nothing if not a good sport laughed till she cried too ...
Later, as I recounted the sorry tale to SD and I'd just got to the part where I was telling him about the two gorgeous boys etc I noticed Miss Mac making agonising faces and gesturing with her eyes behind me. They'd come back to take another look and were standing RIGHT BEHIND ME and heard every word I'd said!
I think I might have actually been more mortified than Miss Mac was when the chair collapsed!
SD, the bastard, laughed at me until HE cried.
I am NEVER looking at boys young enough to be my son in that way again!
To cheer us both up I took Miss Mac shopping. We wandered around the stalls and bought her a new bag for school and then we hit the jackpot. A stall selling second hand Vans and Converse shipped over from the states at silly money. One pair of grey Vans and a pair of mint green Converse later Miss Mac was ecstatic.
So much happened this weekend I could write forever . We met up with friends. Drank coffee from the back a beautifully converted camper van. Swigged beer in the evening. Listened to bands. Ate olives in the sun. Raced over the off road course in a beach buggy. Watched the sunset and rise over a sea of flags fluttering from the back of thousands of vans across the skyline. We laughed and joked around campfires and watched as a fire eater danced in the darkness and finally, hot, happy and tired, we packed up Maudie and brought her home totally replete and planning our next adventure.
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| Barbie time |
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| Stunning sunsets |
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| To die for olives stuffed with citrus peal, capers and rosemary, sun dried tomatoes, peppers stuffed with feta and herb marinaded garlic |
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