As I mentioned in my previous entry, Dad turned 60 the other week and he'd very kindly rented a place up in Norfolk for us all to spend the weekend and celebrate the occasion with him. Having just downloaded my pics of the weekend I have realised a) I didn't take many and b) those I did take were pretty poor. Wish I had stuck the video camera on black and white like I normally do, oh well nevermind.It was proper in the middle of nowhere. Sat navs tried to take you into the middle of fields, and navigating wives tried to take you into the middle of a mental breakdown. All I can say is i'm glad we went in daylight. Those who arrived in darkness had a much more harrowing adventure ... especially when the mobile phone is still to reach these areas, and as such there is no signal!
I think Lindsey and Dave nearly camped in a field Friday night, and I knew Emma, Daryl and the boys (Josh and Thomas) nearly turned back on Saturday night. I guess when you are totally lost, covering 75 miles you know can be quicker than 2 miles you don't. But somehow everyone made it, and with Doug and Jacquie stopping over Friday night and a flying visit from Dale on Sunday it meant numbers totalled 14 at various points over the weekend!
Still, the old stately home was gorgeous and came equipped with snooker table and access to indoor swimming pool and games room ... and it could all be yours for just under £1million!
Upon arrival Tash and I set about in the kitchen whilst Dawn and Dad were placed on Alfie sitting duty. All I can say from that experience is that I am never again baking without scales ... although somehow my loaves, rolls and muffins all turned out pretty OK.
We had a lovely evening Friday, although I learnt that in the 10 or so years since I last played snooker I have become absolutely rubbish. People will not be calling me Ronnie O'Batsford, thats for sure!
On Saturday we went out for the day. I think the place we stopped at was called Morston, but one thing I am sure of is it had speedbumps the size of everest that were desinged solely to remove the Mighty Benz's exhaust! Why oh why must these places do that!?!? Thank the lord for sump guards, thats all I can say!
The chosen venue gave those who wanted to, a chance to hunt seals, and the rest of us an opportunity to enjoy a nice autumnal walk.
Heres the seal hunters about to depart. They came back with tales of 'the ones that got away', and no blubber to show for all their efforts.
And this little guy joined them, he was captain of the ship! Without doubt, a damn cool dog!
In the meantime, Doug, Jacquie, Tash, Alfie and I walked. We got to a gorgeous little seaside village, which even had a token VW bus! I would love us to do a trip around this coastline in our bus once its done, it was a gorgeous part of the world.
The seal party eventually caught up with us, and after a cup of tea we headed 'home'.
After dressing up the dining room with balloons and bunting we had a gorgeous meal of paella, and a small drink or two. Sadly I appear to have no photos, but I think Dad had a nice time.
I remember very little of Sunday as Alfie woke up a 3am (cos he was too hot, and we foolishly put him in his sleeping bag) and decided he wanted to play. With the 125 race about to start I decided to get up and spend the early hours on 'boy watch' whilst viewing the BBC's MotoGP broadcast. Alfie lacked stamina, and passed out at 4:30am, only halfway through the Moto2 coverage.
We left in the afternoon after a game of 'extreme ping pong', where gladly no-one managed to lose an eye! Which, if you know what Dawn gets like, is an absolute miracle!
I was shattered after the night I'd had and promptly forgot to pack Alfie's bowl. I then passed over driving duties to Tash after about 30 minutes of our journey.
Still, I think we all had fun, right?
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