We arrived this morning at Mum’s.  She lives a couple of hours away from Bristol.  For me, that is a huge phew!  Last time the car died and it was all very stressful.  Although, it has been a long journey, having Floss with me made it all much easier.

Amongst many things, we brought Ted a present – a squeaky toy sloth.

We all think he is a sloth.

And Ted loves his toy.

Obviously the squeak has gone!  It only took him under half an hour.

And now for the unstuffing!

This is Ted’s party trick.

Yes, you are a very clever boy, Ted.

And then I fed him his tea because it is The Law.

So, that’s us. We did it. We are here for just over a week.

We left Tebay after an excellent breakfast that hit many spots perfectly.  The Twat-Nav took us on a scenic tour of the Lakes before putting us on the motorway again.  I highly recommend the village of Orton – utterly beautiful.  I would love to see more of this area.

A quick lunch stop somewhere – I actually have no idea where we are.

Once a year, just once a year I have a Burger King and secretly, I do quite like it (not the chips, though).

And finally, Bristol where we cleared out Floss’ rented room which she stayed only a few months in but was forced to pay a whole year’s rent for.  Hmm… More student debt.  Thanks, Boris.

We packed up the car which is now bursting at the seams, ate a Krispy Kreme doughnut (we have two boxes – gosh, they are yum) for energy and set off to find our Guest House for the night.

I will not be sorry to see the back of Bristol.  Their roads are shocking but some of the houses are pretty.  Onwards to Mum’s tomorrow first thing where we will stay for a week and I get to hug the luscious Teddy (and my Mum!)

A calm sailing, so lots of sleep. I didn’t even wake up when the boat stopped at Orkney (around 11p.m.).  So that was me nicely set up for the long drive south to our hotel in Cumbria – roughly the half-way mark.

We renamed the Sat-Nav to Twat-Nav as it at first determinedly tried to make us pull a U-ie on an Aberdeen dual carriageway and return us to Shetland!  After some drastic reprogramming (with a large axe), it luckily saw sense and directed us south, as originally instructed.  In revenge, it duly fell off the windscreen at a vital moment while negotiating Glasgow so Floss had to tenderly hold the bloody thing and tell me what it was saying.

We only got hooted at twice (I have no idea why).  We sat in a traffic jam for a while until we got bored while discovering it was going nowhere we wanted to go!

There was some mighty rain, for a while, and my granny-like driving in my granny-like car coped.

We had one stop at the Temple of Tesco, Dundee.  So many things to buy but so little anyone actually wants, or needs!

And this is the view from our bedroom window.  Trees!  I do miss them.

A good supper, bed and then onwards!

Floss and I are in our cabin on the boat going south now.

A long journey lies ahead but until then we are hunkering down with our supplies. Xx

Well, I told the little ones that I wouldn’t be around for almost two weeks and Daisy will be in charge.  Albie wanted to be packed in my suitcase.

As did Newt.  I told them sadly no, and I doubt my Mother would mind.  Her beautiful garden might, though!

They went through all my belongings – Fivla’s eye cleaning stuff, the teeth swoosher, the bucket of water for the swooshing.

I call this photo “My Little Hippo” rather than My Little Pony!

The flowers are stupendous in this field.  Fivla looked beautiful in them.  She has *** cough *** put on her summer weight!

And Vitamin is a much better shape, which is encouraging.  We will fatten her up ready for another Shetland winter.

I am so pleased I moved them all yesterday, because the lime arrived possibly in afternoon (it just appeared out of nowhere!) and already the bunny rabbitses have made it their home.

This afternoon, watching Star Trek Voyager, I tackled my ironing mountain this afternoon so I can pretend that we are always clean and tidy.  Then I try to pack what I actually need, will wear and use.  I don’t find any of this easy.