Kentwell House

Kentwell Hall, August 2023

Lola II's significant birthday was in 2020, and she had planned all sorts of excitement with friends. Then it all had to be cancelled, but this year she has returned to the Belated Birthday Event list with a vengeance. I've already attended a concert at the Regent Park Bandstand, watched the rowing on the lake, enjoyed an ice cream sundae Sunday, and last weekend included camping (fourth time this year for me, first time for Lola II and Mr M) and a visit to Kentwell Hall.

The Kentwell manor is recorded in the Domesday Book and dates from about 1040. The full history of the property (mostly completed in 1530) can be found on the website, but in 1971 it was bought and the new owner restored it and now facilitates the historical re-enactments that take place there. When we visited it was 1564, and there were about 200 volunteers on site dressed for that period and fully inhabiting their roles. Inside the house were the gentry, their stewards and their servants, and throughout the grounds we found all sorts of different workers. Woodcutters, glassblowers, potters, victuallers, the woolshed, dyers, felt- and hat-makers, bakers, the forge, the foundry, alchemists, embroiderers, apothecaries, cheesemakers, cobblers, the brewery, woodworkers, mummers, the alehouse and more - we arrived not long after opening time, and closing time came before we'd seen everything.

The volunteers playing all the roles stayed firmly within the 16th century with their speech and knowledge - nobody admitted to knowing what a potato was, for example, nor how a volunteer could possibly support their family. There were children as well as adults - one notable young boy gave us a brief performance as one of the mummers playing the Devil. It was fascinating and fun and educational, and I'd go back again.

Alongside this visit we camped together with another couple of Lola II's friends who joined us for the weekend, visited a country park for a walk, played games and ate far too well. We had a lovely camping spot facing out into a field of what I thought was spinach, but turned out to be sugar beet. (My reputation for plant identification was never strong but is now in tatters.) The campsite even laid on an ice cream van which arrived around 8pm and attracted many customers. This resulted in one of the highlights of the weekend - as Mr M walked away from the van with a large twin cornet 99 with three flakes, there was an audible gasp and then actual applause from the people still waiting in line.

Retreating

Rivendell, July 2022

First the usual explanation of the delay between blog posts - I managed to leave the power cable for my PC at mum and dad's so I couldn't type until I'd got that back, and as usual there have been a million things to do since getting back home.

The retreat was at a centre I hadn't visited before, with enough space in the glorious gardens for my luxurious tent and a more modest tent belonging to another retreatant. The weather was perfect and by chance (or maybe the other camper knew what he was doing) we both had found the best orientation for our tents - facing the early sun for warmth in the morning but shaded in the hottest part of the day.

The grounds of this retreat centre were amazing. The house was at the highest point with a beautiful garden at that level, then wide terraces descended to a pond used for waste water treatment and beyond this there were woods. The trees were mature and enormous: mighty oaks, a stupendous lime, willow and more towered in the distance.

The theme of the retreat was Buddhist practice outdoors, led by Vajragupta who wrote the book about this, and it was for 'beginners'  which meant that non-Buddhists could also attend. These two points meant that the flavour of the week was very different from my 'Seven Days of Silence' in Wales. We had periods of quiet and spent quite a bit of time outside on our own, but it was very sociable at other times. On the last full day we were given our own packed lunch and sent off until tea time.

I love Vajragupta's book on how he spends solitary time living in basic conditions, and would love to do the same. This week felt like practising for that situation. While some spent their day on a long walk (as I did on that previous retreat in Wales) I decided I would sit in just one place for a day and see how that felt.

I chose a meadow with a few isolated mature trees that I visited individually. I sat under a sycamore, and there were also two copper beeches, two trees I didn't recognise and a magnificent and beautiful oak. There were also deer grazing and resting and keeping well away from me at the bottom of the meadow, and I saw birds, butterflies, insects, spiders and rabbits. I sat there all day apart from a short walk to visit the trees, and didn't get bored for a minute.

That was probably the best part of the week if you don't count the time that three of us rolled down a short but very steep slope in the terraced gardens. That was a lot of fun. The worst part of the week was less than a mile from the centre - as I started my journey home I ran over a squirrel. Proper squashed. There goes all the karma gained from my good deeds for the week.

Lolatastic in the Yorkshire Dales

Buckden, September 2021 (photos by Mr M, Lola II and Lola I)

Another successful camping trip undertaken, this time in the splendid company of Lola II and Mr M. The campsite was on a farm in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and when I say in the middle, it really was. We were there for four days, the weather was mostly kind, and Lola II made notes so that I can put extra detail into the blog. Whether I satisfy her or not is another matter...

Monday

The campsite was long and narrow, and we pitched our tents facing one another at the far end of the site, down a short slope. The first day is always spent getting there (I stopped for lunch at an unlikely vegan cafe north of Bradford), pitching the tent, getting all the gear sorted out, getting familiar with the campsite facilities and planning the next few days. 

Unusually there was a little kitchen with a kettle, fridge and microwave as well as the usual toilets and showers, so hot water bottles could be filled very easily rather than boiling water in pans. In the toilets there was free midge spray - not a good omen. We were tormented by midges in the evenings to the extent that we couldn't eat out in the open but had to retreat to the zipped-up porch of the tent.

Because the Leamington Food Festival had been taking place over the weekend, I brought a contribution for our dinner - two different felafel bakes, which confusingly turned out to be three different types, and tasted just OK. Lola II and Mr M contributed the most delicious French cheese and crackers, made even more delicious by the fact that I very rarely have cheese at home. And dessert wine. These guys know about high class camping.

The tiny village with the farm and campsite also contained a tiny village shop (which we visited the following day) and a rather nice pub. It's been ages since I was in a pub so I was quite excited when a visit was proposed, and it also meant that we could charge electrical items and get a decent mobile signal and escape the midges too. The beer was tasty as well, although of course Lola II ordered her traditional lime cordial with water, but also treated herself to a hot chocolate with Baileys in it.

Tuesday

The sky was grey and the forecast was for showers, but we decided to get out while it was still dry and planned a short walk to the next village where there was a pub, although the information provided said there was no food on Monday and Tuesday evenings. The walk took us up high on the way there before dropping down into Starbotton and the pub, which turned out to be closed altogether on Tuesdays. Big disappointment - we were hungry. The walk back was along the river, and then we drove to Hawes and a very late lunch. Mine was a 'half portion' of fish and chips with peas and salad which was so big that I was glad I hadn't ordered a whole portion, Mr M had chips with cheese and gravy, and Lola II went for egg, sausage, chips and beans. Not quite so high class today.

We didn't do much more in Hawes except top up our chocolate and cheese supplies before driving back in the rain. After a nap we went off to the pub again, and despite  arriving 10 minutes after the kitchen closed they were kind enough to let us order food anyway.

Wednesday

Sunshine! Today the walk took us to Malham Cove, which is a famous attraction formed by river and glacial erosion. A dry river valley ends in a spectacular limestone pavement and cliffs (which featured in one of the Harry Potter films). We did the circular walk starting from the top, so were able to descend the hundreds of steps rather than climbing up them. We met a school party coming up - we didn't envy the staff in charge, given the unprotected nature of the drop from the top. 

We made it to Malham village for a pub lunch before returning over the heathland, passing a few notable features including the ice cream van, more waterfalls and cliffs with climbers abseiling around them, and an abandoned bath tub miles from any habitation or road. I really enjoyed the walk; Lola II and Mr M found it a bit challenging, but the roles were reversed the following day.

Thursday

Lola II and Mr M had arrived at our four-day camping holiday at the end of a longer break where they had been in the Lake District and hired electric bicycles. They had enjoyed this so much that we hired bikes for a day with the aim of cycling the Swale Trail from Reeth to Keld.

The guys in the shop showed us how the bikes worked - there were normal gears operated by the right hand, and extra controls for the electric power operated by the left hand. The weight of the battery means that with no extra power it would be impossible for us softies to go anywhere much. Eco mode provided enough power to make the bike ride as though it were a normal weight, then there were three extra boost modes. A low gear and Turbo mode made it possible to ride joyfully up a one in five hill as though it were completely flat.

A quick test ride around the car park made it very clear to me that the optional cushioned saddle cover would be a good idea, but it didn't prevent the pain derived from being battered on the rear end for six hours by the gravel trail and uneven surfaces. Mr M finished the full length of the trail, but Lola II and I turned back when it stopped being fun, and continued to lunch at the tea room in Muker via the road. By the time we got back to the start Lola II was having a bit of trouble with her gears and I was not only suffering pain in the rear end but at the base of my spine as well, so when we got back to the town at the start of the trail I was happy to sit with the bikes while Lola II and Mr M had a quick look around the shops and brought back a restorative Freddo chocolate bar for me.

After returning the bikes we came back to the town centre. Lola II and Mr M have a habit of taking pencils and blank postcards on holiday with them and doing a bit of drawing, so we each took a section of the view and sat quietly for half an hour creating a triptych of the church, buildings and view. Then it was time to find something to eat, and we decided to try a different town that had a selection of eateries, all of which were fully booked except the Indian restaurant (which was perfectly fine).

Friday

Time to pack up and go, and minister to the many bites and bruises that we had accumulated. Before we left Lola II kindly provided me with a haircut, and while she did the same for Mr M I examined the outcome and returned for a few extra bits she had missed the first time round.

Lola II and Mr M were going to finish their holiday in Staffordshire while I went straight home, so we drove together to Skipton for lunch before splitting up. I must say, our choices of food had been exceptionally good throughout the holiday, and this was no exception - I had an egg sandwich which was perfect; Mr M had a great ploughman's lunch (the cheese in the Dales is really good) and Lola II had a salad without onions where they had clearly just tried to pick out the onions and missed quite a few, but the cheese scones were great. The vegan hot chocolate with oat milk was the best I've ever had.

So that's the end of the camping season for this year, and we were lucky with the weather and not so lucky with the midges.

Summer ends

June 2021

August has come and gone; that's the end of the summer and there has been even less 'summer' weather than in most years. September sometimes brings pleasant sunshine, so that's what I'm hoping for. I don't mind clouds as long as it's not raining, and it hasn't rained much, but it would be nice to wake up to blue skies once in a while.

Enough of my complaining, there's a small amount of interesting material to present. Firstly, dog news. As requested, I sent off photos of my house, garden and car. Ten days later I received a message informing me that they hadn't received any photos, and could I send some if I was still interested in fostering a dog, so I sent all the photos off again. The next message said that unfortunately the grass in my garden is too long, making it difficult to pick up poo and potentially leading to risk of disease for the dog.

Cutting the grass is actually quite an enterprise. It's much too long for the lawn mower so I had a go with a strimmer, but made little impact and eventually the strimmer packed up (probably overheated, but it is very old). I carried on using ordinary hand shears in sessions of two hours so as not to cripple myself, and it's nearly ready for an attempt with the lawn mower. I'll be sending off new photos when it's respectable.

I spent August Bank Holiday weekend camping at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival, with my phone turned off and no camera. Covid precautions meant that instead of being in marquees all the stages were in the open air, and we were incredibly lucky that it didn't rain at all. It would have been pretty miserable if it had rained, as well as being cold - it was very cold in the open air at midnight anyway. By the last evening I was wearing all the clothes I'd brought - two T shirts, fleece and jacket and two pairs of trousers as well as my woolly hat and scarf. The music was great as usual, but not as much of it as in previous years because of extended changeover times, during which I understand they have to sanitise a load of equipment (e.g. microphones).

The English National Lawn Bowls Championship is back in Leamington, and this year for the first time they offered local residents two free tickets to one day of the event. I invited a friend who also used to be a Dietitian, and we installed ourselves on one of the greens for an afternoon. We happened to watch the Senior Singles semi-finals (men and women), and then came back for the finals. There are a myriad of competitions divided by age, sex and number of players, and the whole event lasts more than two weeks. It was nowhere near as interesting as watching badminton, but I can see the attraction of playing. Spectating is a fairly dull affair, though, and all the other spectators appeared to be players and their spouses.

Quick LTRP update - the pub wall has been drying out, and as planned I got in touch with Glf's plastering mate who was going to put on more permeable lime render. After a prolonged delay he came to look at the job, and gave me the news that the price of lime render had gone up a great deal, but he would let me know what would be involved. After another prolonged delay I called him, and discovered that he's taken a full time job, but wouldn't mind doing my job at weekends except that I would have to buy and store two tons of lime render. I expressed some dissatisfaction about this situation to Glf, who has arranged to call round so we can work out what to do next.

I continue to provide my services to the vaccination clinic, where we are mostly vaccinating 16 to 20 year olds along with a handful of older people who weren't able to get vaccinated earlier because of pregnancy or allergies but have now been given the all clear. The clinic is still only operating three days a week, but after a break is due to come back full time at the end of September when it will be giving booster shots to front line workers - or at least, that is what is suggested. What actually happens is anyone's guess.

And lastly, my work for Mr MXF is getting on quite well, as long as I don't imagine that I can do more than four hours (and sometimes less) before hitting the buffers. Either there's a problem I can't get around, or something fails, or most recently the website slowed to an impossible crawl for no apparent reason. But I'm really tantalisingly close to actually achieving some useful results.

Field of Games

Field of Games, August 2021 (photo credits: all Lola II in this post)

There has been a lot going on and I'm a long way behind in the news reporting department. Key events: 

• Vaccination continues, but the centre is only open for three days a week. The customers we're getting are mostly the 18-year-olds who generally have beautiful deltoid muscle definition.
• The most dangerous thing I've done this year is go to a gig in a basement without air conditioning and people dancing without masks. I kept away from anyone else for the next few days and was glad that my lateral flow status remained negative.
• Filled in the fiendish Attendance Allowance form with mum, seemingly designed to be impossible to complete by the people it is supposed to help. It took us two sessions and more than seven hours.
• Decided to get a dog. Yes, I'll just slip that one in here. 
• Joined the 'Borrow My Doggy' website community and arranged to walk with a lovely lady who owns a husky, King. Over the course of the walk and our chat it became clear that not only would a husky be a totally inappropriate breed for me, it was also a pretty poor choice for her.
• Investigated the options for rehoming a dog from the Dogs Trust before discovering the fostering option available by applying to Guide Dogs. A friend is already in this scheme, so went for a walk with him and dog in training, Morgan, and found out lots more about it. My application is under way.
• Field of Games is an event that I found out about from one of the doctors I used to work with. It combines camping and board games, two hobbies that I enjoy, so I persuaded Lola II and Mr M to sign up for it with me for last year. What with one thing and another it took place a couple of weeks ago, and Lola II helpfully made notes and took photos for me. So here's my report.

I got to the field first and had just finished putting up  my tent when Lola II and Mr M arrived. Once the tents were up we wandered round the small campsite and saw that there were three larger tents containing tables, and people were already playing games. We wondered where to start. We had a look at what was going on in the games tents - I don't think I've ever seen such complicated board games. Most had a board with at least four different sections and multiple games pieces representing people, goods, money and much more. There were a couple of cars parked nearby with the boot open and full of games, as well as big bags containing more games belonging to people in the tents.

Everyone was really friendly, though. One chap in particular was very helpful, and one of the car boots was his, so he suggested a couple of the simpler games for us to get started with. At that point all the tables in the tents were occupied, so we sat at a picnic table outside and assumed our roles. I was generally the one who read the rules out, and Mr M interpreted them and generally identified how things ought to be done. As ever, Lola II was responsible for morale.

Deep Sea Adventure

The first game we tried involved us diving from a submarine to retrieve treasure and trying to get back to the submarine before we ran out of air. It didn't go well on the first round and we were surprised by the low scores we were getting when throwing the two dice. It wasn't until the second round that we realised the dice only contained one, two or three spots so six was the maximum roll. We played three rounds, with everyone suffocating each time. Thumbs down for this one.

Azul

Not a good start, but then we tried the other game that had been suggested, Azul, which involved selecting different ceramic tile designs and winning points for various arrangements of these tiles. This was actually my favourite game of the weekend, and I would have liked to have another go at it later but there were so many other games to try that we never got round to it.

After lunch (local pub, two portions of fish and chips between three of us plus a jam sponge for Mr M) we returned to the fray and were lured into playing a game with one of the more experienced gamers - actually his son, although he stuck around to show us how to play. It is called 'Quacks of Quedlinberg' and involved cards, rubies, rats' tails, droplets, more cards, victory points, a long spiral track and another track around the board perimeter, and I didn't get on with it at all. Every so often there was an extra rule announcement that made no sense - "this round your rubies are worth double or allow you to win two potion points" - and combined with the fact that the son was cheating shamelessly and continued to do so even after he'd been asked not to, I was quite glad when it was over. I got a telling off from Lola II for being so grumpy.

Lola II and Mr M were in charge of catering that evening, and produced a delicious nacho dish followed by the obligatory chocolate. I don't think we played any more games that day, but it had been a great introduction and we'd met some nice people already, so I was looking forward to more of the same. And the weather had been kind - there had been occasional showers but not for long, and some sun but not too hot either.

Chakras

On Saturday a different person let us borrow a game called Chakras that involved collecting gems, aligning them on your chakras and meditating to replenish your energy. We were joined by another stranger, a grown up this time, who knew the game from playing it online, so we had a bit of a struggle with the rules and scoring because online it was done automatically. It wasn't bad, though. The fabric bag that contained the gems was torn, so I got out my sewing kit and  mended it, which felt like a useful contribution and thanks for the loan of the game. 

Apotheca

Lunch was at a local airfield. Mr M was enjoying the whole thing enormously, so when we came back from lunch he joined a hugely complicated game that lasted 3½ hours while Lola II and I tried another recommendation where the aim appeared to be to create a potion to satisfy three mystical apothecaries (who comes up with these ideas?) We played twice, and each time it seemed strangely unsatisfactory, although I couldn't say whether that was the fault of the game or our interpretation of the rules.

Then Lola II and I were invited to join in a game called 'Word Slam' with some of the other people, including children, and it wasn't bad and resembled Pictionary but using word cards instead of drawing pictures. Mr M came to join us at this point, and was playing with a card that said 'starfish' but halfway through he'd converted it in his head to 'octopus', so that was confusing. We got as far as guessing 'moonfish' but never quite made it to the finish line.

Bites

Supper was my responsibility on Saturday night, and was a chilli that I'd made at home and frozen and which had been thawing gradually over the past 24 hours, with boil-in-the-bag rice and, of course, chocolate to finish. And fruit. We're not complete heathens. This time we returned to the fray for an evening session, and joined another player who introduced us to 'Bites' which was all about ants eating picnic leftovers, and had the virtue of being quite short while also having lots of different ways to play. Then we played the classic game, Rummicub, which resembles the card game Gin Rummy, and then Lola II and I were ready for bed. Not Mr M, though, who was up for another game, retiring half frozen at 12.45 a.m.

On the last day we started with 'Bunny Kingdom', with a complicated board containing representations of forest, plain, mountain or farm with pieces representing castles, cards containing rewards or instructions, and each player represented by increasing numbers of rabbits on the board who amassed treasure in the form of carrots, wood and fish and other items while moving a game piece to record the score. We were joined by another stranger for this one, and at last I'd found something that I could win, although I was probably helped by the luck of the draw as well. Lola II had the same look that I'd had during the Quacks game, so I don't think she enjoyed this one very much.

Mr M stayed on to play another long duration game while Lola II and I headed off for lunch at a cafe, which was observing Covid ventilation rules by keeping all the doors open. This meant it was so cold that I kept my coat and hat on, and while the food was good I wouldn't choose to go there again. The poor waitresses were allowed to wear only the branded T shirts, and looked frozen. While we were gone Mr M finished the game, took the tent down and started another game, so Lola II and I took down the other tent and tried yet another game.

This one, called 'Santorini', contrasted with all the other games in its simplicity - a five-by-five board without any other decoration, two player markers each, four different components of a tower, and only one significant rule: move your player one square and build part of a tower in an adjacent square. You can climb up one layer or descend any number of layers, and you win if you can get one of your markers up to level three. It was impressive how this developed into a chess-like strategy game, and in fact it could easily be reproduced without the sophistication of the actual board and plastic pieces.

That was it for the games, and although Lola II and I enjoyed it a lot, Mr M enjoyed it even more. When I was back home I got in touch with the doctor who'd told me about it, and he told me about more venues and options, and I am even thinking of going back to my local games shop and am only hesitating because of all the other things I cram into my spare time, and is there really space for this too?

Camping with friends

Walking to the pub, Kent, June 2021 (picture credit: Mr M)

Despite a number of reviews endorsing the Long Versions, I don't think I can keep up that level of detail, especially when I'm not making notes at the time. So I asked Lola II to submit some notes, which she did, but they seem to be Short Versions. I have to conclude that this is my blog and I'll look after it...

After the triumph of the Afternoon Tea, the next treat that Lola II had in store for me was a camping trip along with some less experienced campers: J&J (from family JJL&J), and a new character for the blog whom I'll call The Bursar, as well as Lola II and Mr M.

We determined to make the lives of the less experienced campers as easy as possible. To start with we made sure there were enough chairs, and Mr M and Lola II brought an extra tent for storage so there was more room for them to sleep in their smaller, less luxurious living space, and we also brought all sorts of luxury food items and promised real coffee (see note 1). This all went down very well. The Bursar's tent was actually more sophisticated than the others, requiring just a minute to erect, and he didn't even bother pegging it down.

After all the tents were ready we went for a stroll around the site before returning  to our pitch for hors d'oeuvres and the first night's meal. The food throughout the trip was important to all of us, and we managed to keep standards high. Here is a full review, with notes below:

Thursday lunch: café meal (just me, Lola II and Mr M) where I selected a holiday treat which contains far too many calories to be allowed in normal life - a baked Camembert. It was delicious, and kept me feeling full for the rest of the day.

Thursday evening: campfire cooking courtesy of Mr M and Lola II complete with olives, cocktails (containing nasturtium flowers) and corn and potato snacks. The main event was grilled sausages, marinated chicken and halloumi in buns with salad (I brought the olives, the salad and some of the snacks, Mr M and Lola II did everything else). Delicious. This was followed by S'mores, which are marshmallows on sticks toasted over the camp fire then sandwiched between biscuits with chocolate. 

Friday breakfast: pain au chocolat provided by J&J and The Bursar. No coffee (see note 1 below).

Friday lunch: unremarkable panini at Riverhill Himalayan Gardens café.

Friday evening: the weather was too unsettled for campfire cooking, so it was Wagamama in Maidstone. There was an allium fiasco (note 2).

Saturday breakfast: same as Friday.

Saturday lunch: pub lunch with burgers, salads, chips. The chips were excellent.

Saturday evening: Local restaurant with speciality mussels - they coped better with Lola II's requirements than on Friday evening (note 3).

Sunday brunch: same café as Thursday, but with the whole group this time. The order included two identical breakfasts, one without chives. The waitress brought both without chives, and told us that the chef "didn't know which one was supposed to have no chives."

Note 1: When the time came for real coffee, the cafetière could not be found. Despite hunting high and low (mostly low) among all the many boxes of gear, Mr M and Lola II had to conclude that it had been left behind. Much disappointment  ensued (not for me, I don't care about coffee) but it was clear that if this was the worst that the trip could bring then it was still a very fine trip.

Note 2: Lola II's intolerance to alliums and peppers has been a constant companion whenever eating out takes place. She has many tales of chefs 'forgetting' and waiters denying that the clear piece of onion on the side of the plate doesn't exist, or is something else entirely. The situation improved slightly following the tragedy of a girl who ate a sandwich that wasn't labelled with an allergen, but mistakes continue.

Wagamama operates on the principle that food arrives as it is ready (rather than all at once for the whole party), so when Lola II's meal hadn't come after everyone else had been served, she predicted that they had made it with onion, then realised their mistake and had to make it again. When it finally arrived her prediction was proved false because it clearly had onion in it and had to be sent back. She was served her meal after nearly everyone had finished theirs. As she requested, it was deducted from the bill.

Note 3: For those not used to eating out with Lola II, the allium business was new and interesting, and many jokes were made e.g. about the onion content of desserts. In this restaurant, however, they excelled on the allium exclusion, but looked a bit taken aback when Lola II asked for a pint of lime cordial with some tap water. It was explained that what she really meant was a pint of water with some lime cordial in it.

Aside from the food, our outings were pretty good too. On Friday we went to Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, which contains some lovely plants, a maze, some sculpture, and the direction that the men's toilets are "behind that tree... obviously not literally." There were various activities for children, and the picture shows two  people who are clearly not children occupying a swing.

After lunch we drove back to the campsite, and I'd arranged to meet a friend and his dog in the Country Park up the road. The more energetic of the party walked there while I drove with my friend's Christmas presents, which I was finally able to hand over six months after Christmas was cancelled. He had forgotten mine, so I'll have to wait a bit longer.

On Saturday we woke to the sound of rain, but when I finally braced myself to go out for a shower it was clear there hadn't been any rain at all, just heavy dew from the trees above. We went for a longer walk this morning, and took a very canny detour to the pub for the lunch with the very fine chips. When we got back later in the afternoon Lola II cut my hair, we all played a board game (picture below courtesy of J), then it was off to the slightly upmarket restaurant for dinner. On Sunday the rain finally started in earnest, but only after we had packed everything up and headed off to the café for brunch, then home. With any luck we haven't put off the inexperienced campers and they'll be willing to do it again (probably with coffee next time).