I have been on holiday for the past few week. Week one of the holiday was H and me walking the Cumbrian Way [click HERE] for a information courtesy of Dik. H will update her blog in due course. Miss L spent the week in Manchester being spoilt rotten by the grand-parents. The second week we spent together in a cottage in Cornwall. It was a classic journey. Solid traffic from a hundred miles out, eight hours sat in the car.
We toured about checking out the towns of Cornwall. We have never been in that neck of the woods before. We went all the way down to Porthen Leven which is right on the very end of the Cornwall, next stop America. We found a smashing restaurant called Kota [Click HERE] Very fresh food in stylish surroundings. Most of Cornwall seems to be pub food and Fish & Chips. Kota was different. Another evening we got the makings of a picnic, a nice bottle of wine and went to Trebarwith Strand. We sat on the cliffs and watched the surfers in the tide as the sun slowly sank in the west. It was a moment. I long moment but a moment. H wants to go back, that says it all.
At the end of the week we dropped Miss L off in Tiverton with her cousins to spend a week. H and I went back to work. Just before I went on holiday I decided that I needed to get aerobically fit and maybe lose a bit of weight in the process. Work has been getting in the way of Fencing and it has been telling. Whilst away I ate smaller portions and lots of fish. Well Cornwall is the place for fresh fish. I got a push bike just before my hols and whilst away bagged some cheap cycle shoes, pedals and cleats. When I got home it only took quarter of an hour the fit everything to the bike. I go out every evening for a six mile circuit. The first circuit was a killer. Luckily I need to stop to adjust the cleats, "a hem". Since then it has got a little easier.
Wednesday evening was the first warm evening with free time since I got back. H and I went up to the apiary. H installed herself by the river in the shade of the Willow tree with a book and left me to the bee fettling. It has been weighing on my mind whether or not the new Queen, introduced just before the hols, is viable. I happy to say she is. I was really chuffed. The other hive is in poor shape. I had put the clearer boards on to isolate the honey in the super before the holidays. I was able extract the honey and with a bit of luck there might be some more.
I had to go to Bournemouth on business on Thursday and was treated to lunch on the prom and to watch part of the air display of the Bournemouth air show. I was able to get back in time to meet Steve and Dave P to meet them in the Railway for the chat and a pint.
Saturday was a drag. We had to collect Miss L from Devon. We were to meet my brother and sister in law at Gardano services, on the m5 at a Avonmouth, to pass over Miss L. Brover and Ali were going to see U2 at Cardiff so it was should have been straight forward. However on the way down we discovered the M5 was suffering heavy traffic south bound due to an accident. We changed plans via the mobile to meet at Magor services on the M48, just a few miles from Newport. Our drive down the M50 was easy but the "A" road from Monmouth to Chepstow was beautiful. H was moved. The journey that should have took brov and Ali 45 minutes took more than two hours. The M5 was suffering from holiday makers going and returning from Devon and Cornwall, the "V" festival and 80,000 folk going to U2. The drive home from Magor was in heavy traffic but it was at least it was moving. We set off at 10am and get home at 18.00 so another eight hours in the car. As an antidote to the travelling we had been invited to a "do" at our neighbours Sheila and Graham on Saturday evening. Miss L's young man was invited too so the "love birds" were inseparable all evening, sweet really. We had a great time. I caved in at 1am. H came home much later but paid the price the next day.
On Sunday afternoon I had decided to exchange the contents of one the hives as it was on loan and has to go back soon. Fettling the bees on Sunday meant driving Degsey. It is a treat every time I have a spin in it but thank god I don't have to travel in it all the time. Max speed 40mph and vague steering and we will say nothing about the fuel consumption.
A quick thanks to Steve for watering the Toms whilst I was away.
