Driftwood and Weather

The cold winds shook the caravan, just a hundred feet from the beach and the North Sea we could have easily have been lost adrift at sea in a life raft with the caravan moving around as it was, even though it was anchored to the ground and we were in fact quite stable.
We were cosied up inside, the fire on, a glass of wine or ale in hand, laid on the seats and covered over with a duvet, watching a movie, loving every minute of our long weekend away at our holiday home by the sea.
That night we cuddled up together as it was very cold in the caravan, even with the little heater on in the bedroom, we didn't care, we loved it!

The next day was just as windy, we ate when we wanted, cheese and biscuits here, a sandwich there but we wanted a cooked meal. Unfortunately we were missing a few things to cook a bigger heartier meal, which we would have to wait until the following day to get, when we were to be joined by Caron's nephew and his girlfriend.
It didn't matter though, it was Saturday and the club/restaurant was open. by now it was raining as well as windy and we got ready with a slight dread at the thought of the five minute walk to the restaurant in such miserable weather and could have quite easily stayed in our caravan until the following day but we wanted a meal and a few drinks and to see what was going on.

The site was holding the International Beach Fishing Championships and for a cold spring weekend the site and the Bar were busy, the barman (new to the site for the upcoming holiday season) noted we didn't look like we were there for the fishing, we were not wearing all weather fishing gear and stinking of sweat and salt for starters.
We ate and inevitably we got drunk, we watched the awards ceromony for the days fishing competition and then we watched the classic rock covers band before heading back.

It was a new day and it started off with plenty of sunshine, later we were joined by Dan and Sammy, we visited the supermarket as they had a car, we got supplies and then spent the night getting merry and playing a party game I had got her for Christmas called A Game of Wine, much fun was had.

The following day we ate breakfast and lounged around, enjoying having nothing to do and nowhere to go, after we were showered we decided to take a walk and get some fresh air, we all got wrapped up and ventured out but within 10 minutes the sunshine was gone and the bad weather was back. We headed straight back to the caravan and watched as the rain gave way to a heavy but short lived snow storm and then sleet. Dan and Sammy left for home a little later and I read for a bit, then it was bright again, so Caron and I decided to head back out for a walk on the beach.
It was still a little cold and breezy but we walked hand in hand keeping an ever watchful eye out for interesting stones, fossils and juju. We came across a few nice big pieces of driftwood and if I could have then I would have taken them with me, they were interesting and could have been made into something beautiful for the home, a lamp stand or a shelf perhaps, sadly we couldn't take them with us!
We had another cosy night in watching tv before retiring to bed knowing the next day we were heading back home to Hedon and our flat and that we would soon be back at work, but we made the most of our time at our retreat on the last day relaxing and reading, with the sun shining once again!

Holiday booked, but it's the caravan for us this weekend!

So our holiday abroad for this year is booked and after spending a long time in the travel agents trying to decide where we wanted to go, we chose the place we initially liked the look of from a brochure before we had even set foot in the place, typical!

So now Caron and I are going to be visiting Madiera at the beginning of June. It's kind of a shame that we both couldn't stretch our budget to a few hundred pounds more  and go to the Greek Island of Skiathos, a place I visited a few years ago for my friends Mark and Sarah's wedding. The reason it's a shame is because Mark (my best mate) and Sarah will be working at the same resort for six months later this year so it would've been nice to have my friends there on holiday with me, even better is that Mark would have been pulling/serving my beers to me, what more could I ask for. Alas, it's not to be......unless I somehow found enough money from somewhere for a second holiday this year, unlikely!

This weekend Caron and I will be going to our new caravan holiday home for a long weekend for my birthday, looking forward to it. It's even better because Dan (Caron's nephew) and his girlfriend Sammy are joining us for a couple of days and we always have fun with those two!

In other news, I'm moving shifts at work, back to my old shift for three months to cover whilst someone is on long term sick, it'll kind of be a bit of a nice change although it's messed a few things up which I had planned, so a bit of rearranging and booking of days off was needed. Fingers crossed it doesn't end up being a permanent move though!

Just lately I’ve been thinking about a a story I wanted to write with vague hopes of becoming a published author. It’s a comic- sci-fi fantasy and I started the planning phase for the story about 4 or 5 years ago. It just popped into my head again out of nowhere, probably because of my desire to actually write a book and a yearning from my creative side which tends to get pushed into the recesses of my mind by my lazy side. 
Maybe if I actually follow through with this I could have a story published which people might want to read, maybe it would sell well enough for me to build my ultimate man cave, ideas for which I’ve started collecting on Pinterest. That’s a fantasy in itself but in the near term I better start working out some story ideas!

The pictures are ones I took in Skiathos, showing two of my favourite taverna's, Stamelos Bar and Portobello bar.

Finally visiting my birthplace - York

To say York is the city where I was born, it's a real shame I hadn't properly visited the great and scenic city before!

I had done a booze cruise down the Ouse before, kind of a works night out and I had run a 10k around the city center a few years back, in fact that was when I realised I needed to come and pay a proper visit!

Caron and I chose to take the two hour bus ride from Hull which wasn't too bad and late on the Sunday morning we arrived in York, We didn't have to check in to our hotel until 14:00 so headed to Lendal Cellars for a beer in a subterranean vaulted cellar. It was a beautiful, gothic environment to enjoy a pint of ale or a glass of wine in Caron's case. Not only that, it was very warm on what was a very cold day!

We then headed back out into the cold to explore a little more, meandering the city streets checking out the shops and more potential watering holes. A short while later we discovered The House of the Trembling Madness, set on three floors, the ground floor being a shop selling all kinds of craft ales and beers, a visual treat in itself, shelf upon shelf of tipples from all over the globe. The basement was again beautiful in itself and this floor was dedicated to spirits from here and there. The top floor was a fantastic if small bar and looked wonderful in it's medieval environment, the crap taxidermy adding to this with great effect. We stayed for a pint but as it was full to the brim with people from all over the world eating and drinking we had to settle for the little bench at the top of the stairs to rest our feet.

We had to move on of course and headed back out to explore the streets, taking in the famous shambles, a small collection of higgledy piggledy buildings down a narrow street which transported you right back to the middle ages. 

We had to check into our hotel of course and it was time to head there. We wanted to make the most of our time and have a proper night of it, so after checking out the room and dropping our things off we headed back into the center and two a great but overly expensive bar called Missoula which had it's own terrace overlooking the river, far too cold to make use of at this time of year though so we took a seat by the window. 

We later visited the pubs along the river, the ones you see in the news every few years because they have flooded, and the marks where there on the walls in the pub (the Kings Arms I seem to recall) showing where the river level had reached over the years.

We walked again visiting a few more places before finishing our evening in ....................... drinking wine before walking back to our room.

The following day my lady wanted to do a bit of shopping so after checking out of our hotel, off we went again, at least it was more opportunity for me to take photo's, after grabbing some things here and there we needed something to eat and paid another visit to ......................... for lunch, Caron having................... and me choosing ............... and I got a fantastic ...................... a fantastic concoction of IPA, whisky, ginger ale, lemon and ice presentd in a metal tankard, very refreshing.

After our lunch we visited the National Railway Museum for an interesting if slightly geeky look around, although it did provide some great photo's!

Finally it was time to get our bus back home to Hull, a great couple of days!