317 January to April 2020

 
January 2020

We decided that having used the van to go to Harlow for a few days that it just was not big enough for us and the dog. This becoming a very expensive dog. We surfed the net wanting something between the van that we still had and the monolith that we had some years ago.  We eventually came across the motorhome below (these are the edvert pictures) but it was in Bolton, about 250 miles away. Fortunately, our local branch of the same company shipped it down to Ipswich for us to look at. 

On viewing the MH we fell in love with it. It only had 18000 miles on it despite being 12 years old. Layout wise, it had everything we needed but had no extras whatsoever. We got it home and I started making it for us. I installed a huge solar panel and a satellite dome and TV.  I also put in an extra battery and put a refillable gas tank in so we could fill it up whilst in Europe. We also put on a towbar for the bikes or a trailer.

 

This is what we were loookig for, a U shaped lounge.

For some unknown reason, the front seats swivelled and they are practically useless.

22nd February 2020

Skiing again. This time back to our old favourite of Livigno. We flew into Innsbruck in Austria and then were bussed to Livigno. 

As is normal with these trips, there is a lot of drining mixed in with the skiing and to be honest, the drinking is taking a larger and larger slice of the holidays as we get older. Oh dear, never mind !!!

Gotta start as you mean to go on......

There are some downsides to the funny coloured drinks....

This is the other downside- ish ;-) - drunken ladies dancing on the tables.

Top fuel price for deisel equates to about 76p per litre. This what it would cost in the UK if there were no tax on it. Only 2 cents dearer than it was in 2011 !!

There is no hope....

The bad news had just hit us....  read below.

On the Wednesday of ther trip, Karen had a 'Facetime' call from her brother John. John, knowing where we were,  asked asked how we were dealing with the virus. Somewhat confused, we asked what he meant. His answer was mindblowing. The county/region that we were skiing had just been on the news in the UK as having been hit by a new virus from China, now called the Corona Virus. There were apparently hundreds going down with it and the hospitals were already overflowing and some were already dying of it. We had no clue. We contacted the holiday rep and she told us that she had also just found out and the bars were going to close at 6pm. She also told us that the Austrians had closed the border to all persons coming in from Italy. Doh!!! We were suddenly wondering if we were going to be stuck in Italy but the closure was soo lifted so we were able to go home at the normal time.
 
 

29th February 2020

We arrived back in the UK on the Saturday evening to a world that had suddenly changed drammaticaly from the one we had left only a week ago.

5th March 2020

Our new motorhome had it's first outing. We drove to Mums in Scotland in it, to celebrate her 80th birthday the following day, the 6th. There were a lot of guests due to stay at Mums house so we took the motorhome to use it for sleeping in.

6th March 2020

Happy 80th Birthday Mum. 

7th March 2020 

Party time for Mums birthday. Karen arranged a familiy meal at a restaurant called Casa Mia in Dumfries.

Derek, Judy, Mum and Ewan.

Phillipa, Mum and Ben.

Karen, Mu and Ray.

Cake time.

John giving a small speach.

 All in all it was a very good night and we all had a lot of fun. It was good to catch up with the family and the timing could not have been more critical. It was to be the last time we saw Mum in a long time.

The UK was going into meltdown as the virus was spreading throughout the world and as there was no manual to refer to it took the country some time to decide what to do.

The virus appeared to be spreading by people flying from country to counrtry so virtually all flights were cancelled. This was handy as we were due to fly to Iceland for a mini break on the 25th March. 

23rd March 2020

We were walking Meg on the beach near Scratby and decided to have a beer in the California Tavern. Whilst there, the 6 O'clock news came on the pub TV and told us that all pubs would be shutting from tonight onward for an indefinite period. Bugger!

We decided to go home, dump the car and go to our local pub to make the best of our last free pub time. It was a hazy night !

24th March 2020

From today, the country is in lockdown. We are only allowed out for 30 miunutes excercise and in groups of no more than 2 people. 

7th Apri 2020

With the pubs all shut we decided to set up our own pub in the garden....

Meg clearly does not like the cards she has been dealt.

Due to the restrictions I walked Meg on the farm tracks to the South of our house anf this came to an abrupt end when the ignoramus of a farmer decided to throw me of his land. I had no problem leaving, I was just not overly impressed at being called "Oi". Oh well. such is life.

20th April 2020

We decided to take Meg to the beach instead. It is only a 5 minute drive and she loves the surf.  She is turning into something very special.