Newport, Shropshire

Just got back from a few days in Newport in Shropshire, it was a small site, and only 3 minutes walk from the town which had every shop you could think of for a small town. The site was well kept and surrounded by lovely old trees. I collected a few pine cones, and conkers, yes i know i'm too old for that hehe. Paul and Bryan went fishing, it was only 200 yards away, and guess what? it didnt rain! we had two very sunny days and it was quite warm too for late October.

There was a lovely fish and chip shop, but quite expensive. The fish was to die for though, and was as nice as Chorley chippy. We will deffo be returning there at some point. It was very cheap, almost half the normal price.

Now then ! who is going to clean the car ? that will be me again then i expect hehe

Yorkshire born...

There are some lovely places in Yorkshire, and we found a cracker of a site at Bolton Abbey, called Strid Wood. It has a river running right along side the site.


The site was wonderfully clean and well laid out, with hardly any distance to walk to get the water, and empty the wastes. The only drawback was that the television reception was poor and no signal for the mobile phone or broadband dongle, but hey! we can do without those for a few days cant we? hehe.


We took a return trip which i made, must be 40 years ago, to the biggest fish & chip shop in the World; Harry Ramsdens. There were very few people in there, and i remember all those years ago, it was almost impossible to get served it was so busy. We did have some fish and chips, but even if i was being kind, all i can say is that it was average, and expensive too.


The building is as it was, and brought back some memories of Preston North End away games, when we used to call at 'Arrys on the the way home.


We took a trip to Lake Coniston on the third day away, and Dale and Paul went on a paddle boat for a couple of hours, its a wonder one of them didnt fall in!

Gone Fishing!

Off we went, four of us, to Poolsbrook, which is near Chesterfield in Derbyshire. It is an eco friendly site, which means windmills and solar panels, and the water which is used in the showers, is re-cycled and flushes the toilets!

As is normal on Caravan Club sites the place was spotless with friendly wardens, and we were surprised by how many people were there, considering it was a mid-week excursion. We stayed for three days, and Paul bought an annual rod licence and the large ponds near the site cost £3 per day for a permit.

Of course it did rain for two of the days, but we are quite used to that now, and it was noticeable how much cooler it was this time, but thanks to Katie's Husband, Alan, we got the central heating working fine.

We loved the place and nearby were any amount of shops, and a Morrisons just down the road. We will be going back there next year im sure of it.

The journey back was very slow, and the roadworks around Stockport and Hazel Grove meant that it took us a lot longer to get back home, but the whole mini break was great.

Soups are us!

Thanks to Katie from the BBC for the following receipe. It sounds really nice, so i shall try it myself this week. here it is...


Here we go a recipe for Bean Soup, it tastes better than it looks.
4 baby leeks
1 large carrot - finely diced
1 large onion - finely diced
2 sticks Celery - finely chopped
400g tin Cannellini beans in unsalted water
2 cloves garlic
2 pints stock
1 tsp dried thyme or a few sprigs of fresh Thyme
2 bay leaves (I didn't use these)
Black pepper olive oil
Method
1. Cook onion and garlic until brown in a small amount of olive oil.
2. Add vegetables (except mushrooms) and cook until slightly brown
3. Add stock and herbs and bring to the boil then simmer for 15 mins until vegetables are tender
4. Add mushrooms and simmer for 5 mins, then add beans and simmer for a further 5 mins
5. Liquidise soup ( think it's better not to do this but it just depends how you like your soup)
6. Season with black pepper
Enjoy!!!!!

It's been a good month for the Rhodeses

Well i went and bought a tourning caravan! I have no idea if i can tow it or not, and how difficult it is, but i'm going to have a damn good try! more to follow soon. Our first outing is to a lovely site in mid- wales, called Corwen.

The picture was taken on the day we picked the caravan up- i was really nervous, and my asthma was bad too!

The man took over an hour to show us about how everything works, and i was non-the wiser...good job paul and bryan were taking notice!