MAY again!

Sunday 12th - saw us heading once more along the M25 and down the M3 in to Dorset, back to one of our favourite CL's, West Farm in Verwood.  We were meeting up with Chris and Trevor who store their cravan there. It was a fairly nice day and we made good time, arriving around 2.00pm. However it was too windy to put the awning up so we left it for another day. We all sat and had a cuppa, then went for a stroll after dinner and had an early night.

Monday - was less windy so we put the awning up and sat in it to have our lunch.  Afterwards we went for a reconnaisance walk across the golf course to find the back way in to Verwood. It was quite a bit further than we had expected so we stopped off at The Hub for cake and coffee before making our way back.

Tuesday - the less said the better!  It rained and blew a gale all day so we did not venture out, just sat with the fire on reading and playing cards etc. bolstered by our wine box.

Wednesday - much nicer so walked in to Verwood and caught the bus to Poole.  It took about an hour, but was quite pretty through all the villages. Poole has all the usual closed shops and charity outlets of any other town, but at least it also has quite an interesting quayside with lots of boats to look at. We sat on the front and had a sandwich and coffee watching the world go by before making our way back to the bus. We joined Chris and Trevor for a fish and chip supper in the evening, chatting and putting the world to rights until about 11.30pm.

Thursday - had a lazy morning then went for another 'stroll' in the afternoon across a different part of the golf course in to the woods. We ended up doing our usual trick of not really knowing where we were going, so after about 2 hours of wandering around in circles had to ask a friendly native how to get back to where we came from! Again much further than we expected, so more sore feet!

Friday 17th - we left West Farm and set off for Lower Odcombe, which is near to Yeovil, to another lovely small CS attached to a pub (The Mason's Arms). As it was not a long drive we decided to check out one or two of the Britstops that were on the way. First, the Crown In at East Stour, a nice looking pub but closed until 12.30. However the car park seemed to be quite adequate for our overnight needs should we decide to stay there in the future.  Then, on to Kimber's Farm Shop near Wincanton.  A very nice lady showed us the field they use for parking motorvans in and then we bought a lovely turkey and ham pie for tea as well as some eggs. We will certainly use this one.  We arrived at The Mason's Arms around 2.00pm and were soon set up on the field with our chairs out in the sun.

The Mason's Arms

Our view over the fields

Saturday - a lazy morning watching our neighbours pack up and leave - maybe something we said! Then a wander through the village and back again.

 

Some of the cottages in Lower Odcombe

  Sandra and Perri arrived just after lunch so we drove along to Montacute House and spent a very pleasant afternoon looking around the House and Garden.  Back to the van for a cuppa and tidy up, then dinner in the pub in the evening.  The food there is excellent and not too expensive (£45 for 2 courses + wine for Brian & I) Bedtime was once more around 11.30pm.

Sunday -  after a late breakfast and slow pack-up we left about 12.00am and wended our way home again, getting back around 4.00pm. 

 

Breakfast on the terrace

A really nice relaxing week seeing friends and forgetting about all the house traumas of the last couple of months.

Now we need to get to grips with our next trip.  We have booked a ferry to France for 29th May, coming back a month later, now just have to decide which direction to drive once we arrive in Dunkirk.