Back for Christmas

Late November sees us returning to the UK with the intention of spending Christmas and the New Year at our adopted home of Crich Lane Farm 

Several previous stays here have been very convenient as it is well situated for us in stunning countryside in Derbyshire. David gave us a tour in the summer of his newly furbished B & B accommodation which I must say is first class

You will see that we are entrenched in the lower part of his farm yard just down from the B & B and in front of the summer CL which is currently home to our nearest neighbours, Monty and Cyril, their breeding rams

Even when we are not touring we seem to hit the jackpot with views from our bedroom window..

We are of course now chomping at the bit a little to return to the Continent, as soon it will be 2014 and there are so many places to see this year. At the moment we are visiting my elderly Mum in hospital as much as possible. She has just had a hip revision done and is such a remarkable brave lady. At nearly 85 she never complains and is a great motivator to us to continue exploring and enjoy our lives while we can. We are really pleased with her progress to date and are relieved she is in good spirits given the extent of her recent trauma

A mention must go to the local pub here in Wessington, the Horse & Jockey. Its managers, Phil & Tina are excellent hosts and both the traditional food and real ales are what makes our stay back here a very pleasant one. Not that we are there every day but our recent visits have been great. This is a traditional English pub with roaring fire, friendly dog and regular locals. 

So the plan is………

See in the New Year with a meal at the emporium above and spend a few more weeks here and locally in Derbyshire, visiting Mum when we can and departing when she's a lot stronger on her feet.

We plan to drift down to Portugal again and fly back late May and stay with friends whilst hiring a car. This will be so much easier and less expensive for us as we can leave the van in storage in Spain. We then plan to drift through the Med to Italy and spend the summer there following the coast, we may even be tempted to jump across to Greece but that may be another year!

Happy New Year and good luck for 2014!