318 May to October 2020

 25th May 2020

Took Meg for a long walk around Hickling Broad today. The wild life was everywhere.

Not sure but I think this is the British Yellow Darter dragonfly.

 

This beauty is the British Swallowtail. It is only found in Norfolk and is the UK's largest butterfly with a 9cm wingspan.

A very common (in Norfolk) Chinese water deer.

A very naughty dog about to be thrown in the river for jumping in a bog.

 

 20th June 2020

An old mate, Stuart Burnham rung up and we decided to have a biker meet up, with wives, at Hunstanton. It was a bit of a trot but it was worth it. The weather was glorious and it was good for Karen to meet Stuarts wife, Teresa. Stuart is a guy I taught to do motorcycle mechanics and to map read prior to the Falkland War. We were both issued with bikes as dispatch riders. Sadly Stuart has recently developed Parkinsons disease but he is working round it for now. 

Looks like "Little and Large".  Old Sapper comrades.

21st July 2020

Time to get the boat out for a mini booze cruize. We sailed over Hickling Broad to the Pleasureboat Pub. It was good to finally get out after COVID lockdown rules had been eased. The lines are for 'Social Distancing' - a phrase elevated to hated status for 2020.

Finally, out for a lonely beer.

 

Topping up on the way back with the boss at the tiller.

 

 5th September 2020

In anticifation of a trip to the Cumbrian Lake District, we decided to buy a lager canoe that we could fit Meg into. So Far so good...

Cumbria

Now, Meg: Pick up the paddle and ...left...   right....  left

 

9th September 2020

Having packed up and overloaded the Motorhome, we set off for Bristol to Vist Karen's Uncle Richie and aunt Anne.

En-route, we stopped off at a pub stop (like a campsite but free if you use the bar) at a village called Turweston, just outside Brackley. We took a stroll into Brackley and saw this on the way there. 

 

Good to see this so early in the rembrance season.

Further along the walk, we made the mistake of letting Meg off the lead. As is her want, she jumped straight into a bog !!!!!

 

 

She absolutely stank and we were going to do some shopping.

                   

We could not take her shopping like this and as we were about to abandon the trip, Karen said we could wash her in the river. Now, when she says we, she means me........

Fish in the river Nene have never been so scared. A fat boy in his underpants washing a very smelly dog.

This the pub that provided the accommodation. First class place.

10th September 2020

 

Then it was off to Bristol.

Ritchie and Anne live overlooking the Severn Bridge in a beautiful country setting. Sadly Anne has dementia and needs constant care. Richie trains sheep dogs and took us out for a little display on his land with a couple of sheep that he keeps for the purpose. We rounded out the evening with a lovely portion of fish and chips. It was great to catch up with them after a break of about 4 years. We spent the night in the motorhome and parted company in the morning. We then set off for Telford to meet up with Karen's neice, Phillipa, Pip for short.

 

11th September 2020

 

We arrived at Pip's fairly early and booked into a local campsite. We did not pitchup but soon left to visit Pip, Ben, Thomas and Nancy. Nancy was only a couple of months old at this point and she was just so cute. We had a chinse supper and again, it was good to catch up on family issues. We left around 10 and went back to our campsite for the night.

 

12th September 2020

 

We drove to another campsite in a small village called Appletreewick. It had two pubs and was only a 20 minute walk from the campsite. It was great little village and the pubs were buzzing, probably as most people had been locked up for so long. The one way systems and social distanceing were a pain in the butt but it was still good to get out and socialise even if at a distance.

13th Septenber 2020

On to Cumbria. We drove to a campsite on the side of lake Conniston. The narrow road leading to it was a bit scary having stone walls either side and lorries in both directions. Still, as we were only about 4 miles from the campsite, we saw Kevin and Sally cycling in the opposite direction !

 

We met up with them a couple of  hours later. They were doing a cicuit of the lake !! We all made a bee line for the lake for the dogs to play. And play they did....

We did a lot of drinking and walking for 5 days and had a thoroughly great time with Keving, Sally and the dogs.

Out for a beer in Torver. Due to the COVID restrictions, the toilets were the portable plascic ones outside. Kevin and Sally decided to go to the loo together. When they came out the were in stitches of laughter. ... As were we... I videoed it !!!

Meg in normal mode. For some reason she just likes sitting in the water while she waits for us to throw the ball.

100% psychotic concentration.

 17th September 2020

Now it was off to Scotland to visit Mum. Due to the lockdown, we have not seen her since her 80th Birthday in early March. She lives alone and has also had to isolate so it cannot have been easy for her. Fortunately, we 'Facetime' her a lot so at least  we get to see her sort of, face to face.

29th September 2020

The long 340 mile trip back home. As normal, I drove most of the way home and was not completely happy with the way the motorhome was handling. I suspected it may be overloaded so made a mental note to get it weighed before we unloaded it the next morning.

30th September 2020

I took the motorhome to a local weigh bridge and bloody hell - it was 380kg overweight on the rear axle and 340kg overweight overall - without us in it  !!!! To quote a weel known phrase....'Houston, we have a problem' .....

We unloaded absolutely everything out of the Motorhome and on the 3rd of October took it back and it weighed half a ton (500kg) less at 3240kg. If we added us and the dog on to that we were just about on target at 3500kg. This was OK provided we had no water, clothes, food or anything else for that matter in it.

I did some reserach and ascertained that I could increase the payload to 3850kg by uprating the suspension and getting larger rear tyres. Not a difficult job with the parts costing £570 and the certification costing £312, total £882. I also noted that the water tank was overhanging the rear axle and saw a large space that it could occupy right in the centre between the wheels. I had to purchace a slightly smaller tank at a further £120 but the difference it will make to the rear axle load is around 55kg. 

The upgrade is a fairly simple big rubber baloon on each side.

The baloons are pumped up from inside the cab and can even be used to level it. All good and no leaks.

 As I write we are still waiting for the DVLA to uprate the Log Book.