Holiday

A ray of hope flickers in the sky, a tiny star lights up way up high

Tuesday 17th December 2013Saturday 21st December 2013Baggie

I bet you had all thought that I had forgotten about you. It has been three weeks since an update so what has happened? To be frank not a huge amount. I have been using up my annual leave and taken weekdays off but with Éowyn at school and boxes to unpack we haven’t done anything exciting apart from settling into our new home and getting the house ready for Christmas.

As quite often happens when you have been very busy and suddenly get some time off, the body waves a little white flag and all the bugs it has been fighting suddenly take their opportunity and you fall ill. That is exactly what happened to me. Nevertheless we are finally getting boxes emptied, furniture placed arranged and pictures hung. There is still a lot to do but there has been progress and the Christmas tree can take pride of place in the lounge.

The time off has also given me time to write Christmas cards, go Christmas shopping (mainly, it has to be said, through the medium of the internet) and attend the girls’ Christmas plays. The first was Éowyn’s. In these days of political correctness gone mad, in order not to offend non-Christian religions the school is unable to put on the traditional nativity. Absolutely nuts you have to agree. Indeed, one of the mothers of the other children (who happens to be a Muslim) said that she is more offended that they don’t put on a Nativity play because they think that she would be offended. Anyhow it is what it is and let us not get too distracted from the fact that the children and the teachers put a lot of hard work into the performance.

So, if it is not the Nativity what was the play? It was based around the Nativity but the main protagonists were the stable boy and a talking shrew. The stable boy was being advised by the talking shrew to ensure that the hay in the manager that the unnamed baby was to be lain in was soft so that the baby wouldn’t cry. The usual suspects were there: Shepherds, Angels, Wise Men and Cowboys (!). Éowyn was a cowboy (cowgirl) and had a line to deliver ‘Joesph tried to find them a safe place to stay.‘ We were both very proud of her because she delivered her line with a real projection such that you could hear every word of her line and in addition, she also put some intonation into the line so that it wasn’t flat – way above her tender years. Obviously we would say that. The play was actually very good and all the children performed well, especially considering they were 4 and 5 year olds. There were plenty of songs (none of which I knew) and they all sang well, it was actually thoroughly enjoyable.

The Christmas play also explained Éowyn’s Christmas song that she had composed. I was putting them to bed one night when Éowyn said that she had written a Christmas song and would I like to hear it. I thought this is a good idea, Slade apparently rake in £800,000 per year for Merry Xmas Everyone. It is something that I have thought about myself, indeed I have written lyrics to a Christmas song, just need a musician to make it work and you never know. So I sat in eager anticipation for Éowyn’s song. It started off really well with stars and presents and snow but then deteriorated into cows in a field (not an animal traditionally associated with Christmas) pooing and there was poo everywhere, then the traditional hero of Christmas – no not him, or him, or them, or him, i am obviously talking about the stableboy who cleaned up all the poo and put it in the poo dustbin. A few sleigh bells and maybe a glockenspiel solo and we may just have a hit on our hands. There have been worse Christmas songs.

Amélie may not have written a Christmas song but she was in a Christmas production of her own. Amélie’s Christmas play was a week later and was the more traditional nativity story. Amélie was an angel and was one of the few children to have a speaking part. ‘They all bowed down before the baby Jesus‘ was the line she delivered with aplomb (for a three year old). Again a lot of effort was put in by all the children (and the adults!) and the encore to the play was a toddler mosh to the song of 2013 (if you are three years old): What does the fox say?

We returned home (after a quick cup of tea and a mince pie around Nanny and Granddad’s) to decorate the Christmas tree. A little later than usual but we wanted the house to be sorted before we decorated for the yuletide. We are very happy with our new home but we probably need a few more now that we are in a bigger house.

Although happy with the how this year has turned out there was a slight disappointment that happened at the end of last month. All year I had been looking forward to the arrival of a comet. It was in this update that I was hoping to write about comet ISON, the heavily body that was going to be ‘the’ comet of our generation. I was even hoping I could take a good photo of it and post it on the website. Unfortunately comet ISON was a sungrazer and on the cusp of being big enough to survive the close encounter with our star. As it approached the sun there was a day or so of confusion over whether it had been destroyed or simply lost its charge (earthing or more accurately sun-ing itself in the sun’s corona). It became known as comet ISON, ISOFF, ISBACKON, ISDEFINITELYOFF. There are still a couple of comets in the sky indeed the past few weeks have been an unusually active time for comet watchers as four comets were visible simultaneously with binoculars: ISON, Lovejoy, Encke, and LINEAR. So as the title of this post states (and the Christmas song lyric quiz for 2013 – award yourself 10 points if you have got it) a ray of hope flickered in the sky, unfortunately a tiny star did not light up way up high (not without binoculars anyhow). However regardless of that a child was definitely born this year.

Ezra’s obviously a little young for a Christmas play but his time will come. He is content with pulling himself up on his legs when there is something to grab hold of. Then stretching those arms of his, Mr Tickle-like, until he can find the exact thing that you don’t want him to have. Anything he can find that is smaller than his mouth will be chewed. He is quick, too. Put him on the floor and he will be exactly where you don’t want him to be before you have a chance to turn around. He is still very well behaved though. He only cries when he is hungry or needs a nappy changed. He goes down at 1900 and will sleep through tip 0500 before his stomach wakes him up. Then he will go down for a nap at 1000 for an hour or so. He still has his cute smile and when I come home from work, the one thing that can be guaranteed is a smile from Ezra. What more does a dad need?

So with the Christmas tree up, the annual trip to the cinema to see the Hobbit done and presents bought, it only leaves the wrapping to do and the food to buy. I will leave you a paltry set of photos and remind you that the annual Christmas message is due up on the website on the Northern hemisphere’s shortest day: 21st December. There will also be a write up sometime between Christmas and New Year so stop by and for those of you that I will not see: Merry Christmas.

Peace and Love

Baggie

PS. I am not allowed to post any of the photos from Éowyn’s nativity but there are some of Amélie as an angel and some from our annual Christmas card photoshoot.

Christmas Sisters

Christmas photoshoot

That’s our brother

Cheeky girl

And this is how you use an iPad

Amélie Angel

Smiling angel

Posing angel

Angel delight

Ezra close up

Blue Steel

The Bagnall tree

Badger Moot 2013 – The Tenth Anniversary

Thursday 7th November 2013Friday 8th November 2013Baggie

A trilogy of November updates end with today’s update: the 10th Annual Badger Moot. In 2004 Nick and Bonita Badger (Lucinda’s cousins from Australia) were preparing to leave the UK to return to their homeland and decided that it would be nice for the entire UK family to spend a long weekend together in deepest darkest Dorset. Nestled in the Bride valley village of Puncknowle, Berwick Manor fitted the bill as a reasonably priced house that could accommodate the family. The Badger clan enjoyed it so much that it has since become an annual event (changing from a long weekend to the full week) and Berwick Manor has served the family well over that last decade.

Unfortunately this year Berwick Manor had already been booked (which was slightly disappointing it has to be said) and so an alternative was needed to keep the tradition alive. The Old Rectory at Symondsbury ably filled the bill. Eight miles further down the A35, Symondsbury at the foot of Colmer’s Hill lies a mile or so to the west of Bridport. This eleven bedroom home is reputed to be one of the largest rectories in England and to be honest I could quite believe it for the three floors, eleven bedrooms and nine bathrooms that we hired is not the entire house for the owner lives in a separate wing.

Initially built in 1730 (although expanded in 1814) the Old Rectory is a grade II* country house and as such retains much of its original décor, with a large dining room, a library that contains a 6 foot pool table and upright piano, a breakfast room, fully equipped kitchen and a drawing room replete with a grand piano. It many ways it was far grander than Berwick Manor and the extra bedrooms and en-suites certainly helped make everyone feel more comfortable. However it lacked some of the charm or perhaps more accurately the familial atmosphere of Berwick Manor. Now whether this is due to familiarity, we know Berwick Manor inside out, or the lack of focal point. In Berwick Manor this is most definitely the kitchen and there is always someone in the kitchen whether preparing food, reading the paper or having a cup of tea, at the Old Rectory one could be completely unaware that there was anyone else in the house.

It is difficult to say which one was it better, they are different, however the Old Rectory feels more part of a community with a pub a thirty second walk away and Bridport a 30 minute stroll away. Those points coupled with the extra bedroom tips the balance, in my opinion, to the Old Rectory but not in any detrimental way to Berwick Manor and have no strong opinion as to whether it should become the new venue for the Badger Moot. We will have to see what the majority decision is.

As usual the Badger Moot began Friday afternoon, with a number clan members arriving for the official handover time of 1600. This would usually include the Bagnall sub-clan; however that was before half-term and a child of school-attending age. Although we could have written Éowyn a sick note and taken her out of school for the day, it seemed a shame to ruin her perfect attendance for the want of a couple of hours. In addition, the school was marked down in its Ofsted report on attendance and somehow it didn’t feel right to take her out for such a trivial reason. Indeed our decision bore fruit with Éowyn receiving a certificate for perfect attendance.

So with the car loaded we picked Éowyn up from school and drove the 130 or so miles to Symondsbury. We arrived in unfamiliar territory in the dark, the landmark of Colmer’s Hill hidden in the Cimmerian blanket of night and drove right past the entrance to the Old Rectory. In fairness, even in the day it is quite easy to drive past. Fortunately there was enough of a mobile phone signal for the family to guide us in and so the moot began.

The first evening meal of the week was prepared by Uncle Bill and Auntie Sally, a variety of curries and Indian side dishes and they delayed dishing up until our arrival. We had just enough time to unpack the car before tucking in.

The bedroom that we had been allocated was impressive. It was at least 7 metres by 6 metres with an en-suite shower room. It contained a four-poster bed and two single beds for the girls. Ezra’s travel cot easily fitted at the foot of our bed and there was still room for 5 tables, a large wardrobe and two settees. To say it was adequate would be a gross understatement.

I think most of the family were happy with their rooms too, and the elder cousins were happy because they got to share an attic room and a bathroom which was seconded as the obligatory Spa for the week.

A disturbed night (a template for the week) followed so the Bagnalls were the first awake on Saturday morning. We were therefore washed, dressed and breakfasted bright and early ready for the traditional visit to Bridport’s Saturday market. Very few bargains were to be had, although Éowyn and Amélie treated themselves to a small toy each and Lucinda bought herself a hat.

Saturday afternoon we decided to visit another of our traditional haunts, Hive Beach just east of Burton Bradstock. Sea spray hit you as you stepped out of the car in the car park and as you headed to the shore you couldn’t fail to be impressed by the power of nature. The sea was incredibly dramatic with waves heralding the advent of what was to become known as St Jude’s storm (a weather event that some countries would consider a squall which hit Sunday into Monday). Wrapped up with coats and wellies the girls headed to the edge of the sea, playing chicken with the waves. Confidence was high as they turned and fled each incoming breaker, but the sea is a cruel mistress and before you knew it we had three (Éowyn, Amélie and their cousin Lauren) wet children! Time to go home. Saturday night was hearty casseroles courtesy of the Swindell arm of the clan and the first fancy dress night of the holiday: Wigs and Hats.

The highlight of the evening though was to be found in the garden. Uncle John and Auntie Margaret (over from Australia) were the only named Badgers at the moot this year (although there were three ex-Badgers) but (potentially fleeing the badger cull in nearby Somerset) we were graced by the visit of a real badger in the grounds of the Old Rectory. It is quite rare to see them for us townies and so we all took delight in gazing through the window at our nocturnal visitor.

The Ilchester Arms, the only pub in the village, has a reputation for a mean Sunday lunch. At only a 30 second walk away it seemed rude not to head there for a family meal. Since there was 27 of us we had pre-booked months in advance and took over the majority of the restaurant area of the pub. Nevertheless the meals came out relatively together and it was without doubt the finest Sunday lunch I have had in many a month. (This is nothing to do with the fact that I am usually at work and Sunday lunch is usually a packed lunch or a takeaway, rapidly eaten between phonecalls and problems).

After lunch was the traditional post-lunch slump so we were glad that before we had headed down the road to the pub we had actually ventured out of the village. The weather was still in its threatening phase but dry nevertheless. We therefore decided to take the girls down to West Bay. Primarily for them to play in West Bay Play Area and for us to have a mooch around the West Bay car boot sale. The car boot sale was very disappointing, just a handful of stores but the girls thoroughly enjoyed the play area. Éowyn made a little friend named Tia and played nicely with her until we dragged her away to have a look at the sea. Like Hive Beach the day before the low pressure heading our way was travelling across the Atlantic churning up the sea culminating in dramatic waves crashing against the shore. This time there were no heroics and no damp children to take home.

Sunday night was the second of three fancy dress nights planned for the week, ‘A onesie/ pyjama party’. As I don’t own either I decided to go for a onesie, quite a nice one, from Next. I didn’t realise how popular onesies are. There are a plethora of designs (most bought for the party were amusing) and indeed Lucinda had difficulty buying one for her as most were sold out in her size! After wearing one for the evening I can see the attraction, especially if you live in a cold house, they are extremely warm. A little too warm for me!

With the media hype surrounding St Jude’s storm we were half expecting total destruction when we woke on Monday morning. Yes, there were individual tragedies around the country but the effects in Dorset consisting mainly of a lot of leaves and small branches in the road. Therefore we decided that we would take advantage of a bonus day and again head for another of our usual haunts: Lyme Regis.

Lucinda and I are big fans of Lyme Regis and with its sandy beach it is an excellent place for the girls to play and make sandcastles. So after a tour of the town and a quick toasted teacake we headed to the beach. As we wandered down the front, watching the waves break over the Cobb we randomly picked a spot on the sandy part of the beach for the girls to play. Then one of those quirk of fates occurred, sitting not 20 feet in front of us on the beach was Tia and her family, the little girl that Éowyn had played with at West Bay Play Area the day before. Éowyn, Amélie and Tia played together on the beach very nicely, however Tia had sea interface error and as she was due to go to the cinema later that afternoon her mum had to run off and buy a new set of clothes. She wasn’t the only one in the shop either, it seemed to be a very common occurrence, bonus time for the children’s clothing department!

Tuesday saw a departure from our usual haunts and instead we headed to Portland (Dorset not Oregon) to visit my mom’s cousin Margaret and her husband Ray. My mom and Auntie Margaret were close when Auntie Margaret still lived in West Bromwich and growing up we saw a lot of Auntie Margaret but it wasn’t until my Nan’s funeral the previous Thursday that I had seen them this century. It seemed to be a shame to be so close to them and not pop over to introduce them to the latest members of the Bagnall family.

We had a fantastic day on Portland. Éowyn and Amélie made themselves at home at Margaret and Ray’s and were on their best behaviour entertaining us all. Before the rain swept in we paid a visit to Fancy’s Farm, which if you ever find yourself on Portland you should visit. It is a community farm and is free to enter (although donations are welcome) and kids (and big kids alike) will enjoy feeding the animals. Éowyn was a little nervous of the animals and was shamed into feeding some of them by her little sister. Amélie showed no fear at all, even when feeding Harvey the shire horse that dwarfs me and whose head alone was bigger than she was. Amélie also held a guinea pig which Éowyn reluctantly held afterwards, just to show that she wasn’t scared. We returned just before dark, in time for the evening meal and the third, and main fancy dress night of the week. The theme this year was 70’s and 80’s.

As you can see from the photos, once again everyone took the theme to heart. Again it was the brainchild of Adam and Lucy and Zoe and Steve. The evening meal was suitably fitting to the era with Cordon Bleu Chicken, Spam Fritters, Potato Croquets and Spaghetti Hoops for main course and Viennetta, Arctic Roll and Black Forest Gateau for desert all to a 70’s and 80’s soundtrack. For some reason I felt very comfortable in my flowery shirt and bell-bottom jeans. Once again the family owe a big thank you to the organisers, it was great fun.

Wednesday saw the Bagnalls chilling out at the house. This was in part to the fact that neither Lucinda or I had had a full night’s sleep all week and in part due to the excitement of the girls by having their cousins on tap all week and journeys across the Dorset landscape. Also it was our turn to cook the evening meal.

The house was hired from Friday 25th October to Friday 1st November but Friday 1st November was the day that we completed on our new home (see the following update) and so we had decided that we were going to leave on Thursday night after the evening meal. Therefore we didn’t want waste the day. Earlier in the week a number of the family had headed to Cerne Abbas to solve a treasure trail. Everyone said how much they enjoyed it and so we thought that it would be a fitting end to the week. Plus I have always wanted to see the Cerne Abbas giant so what better excuse?

The treasure trails are great fun, you have to eliminate suspects in a fictional murder but following the trail and solving clues. The trail took us all over Cerne Abbas culminating at the Giant viewpoint. It was great fun and we got to see far more of Cerne Abbas then one would normally of a day trip to a town. There are a large number of these treasure trails as you can see from the website and I would heartily recommend them.

So ten Badger Moots have come and gone and new members have been added to the clan (myself and our three children included) let us hope that this is a traditional that continues for at least another ten years.

Peace and Love

Baggie

PS: Sorry for the longest write up in this site’s history, to recompense you for the lack of photos in recent updates here are 33!

Run!

Jazzy!

Aaarrgh!

My first pint

Wow!

Go on, another sip

And the final touch

What is this stuff?

Nanny and Granddad

Just walking on the beach

Not leaving!

OK, I’m coming!

Wellies in the sea

Why the big horse?

Can I have one?

80’s girls

I was your age when that was fashionable

Nice mullet

Nice afro

Pacman

What have you done?

Jive talking

Nanny and Granddad

The Badger siblings

The Old Rectory

It’s a bit windy

Portland Bill

Think I’ve pulled

This isn’t fancy dress

Have you seen my mommy?

Oh, Mickey you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey!

Afro brothers

80’s girl

A week in St Ives

Wednesday 26th June 2013Friday 28th June 2013Baggie

It is that time of year again, the Bagnall summer holiday. You may recall that last year the four of us headed to the Canary island of Tenerife, this was to erase the memory of a rather wet Kent from the year before. With Ezra only three months old and not in possession of a passport a return to Tenerife (which is something that we would like to do as we thoroughly enjoyed our week there last year) was not on the cards. Thoughts therefore turned to the UK and after eliminating some worthy resorts we opted for St Ives Bay Holiday Park and a six berth static caravan. Somewhat misleadingly (but nevertheless geographically correct) St Ives Bay Holiday Park is not in St Ives itself but Hayle on the eastern side of St Ives bay.

Lucinda and I have previously visited St Ives, although not since 2005, and St Ives was the Bagnall exotic holiday (every three years or so) when I was a child so it is a place we (especially me) know quite well. Cornwall is a peninsular county in the South West of the UK usually warmed by the Gulf Stream, the warm Atlantic current that keeps the UK warmer than its latitude should dictate, therefore, it seemed a good bet to provide the best weather for a UK bound holiday, especially since the week we chose didn’t coincide with Wimbledon or Glastonbury. However, as seems to be new paradigm for the 2010’s (what is this decade called?) this summer has so far proven to be cold and wet would it be for our week away? More of that later.

Our holiday started on Saturday and the early start that we had planned went by the wayside. Trying to usher three children into a car with all the associated paraphernalia is tantamount to herding cats and so we left two hours or so later than we had wanted. St Ives is close to 270 miles (435km) from Stanwell Moor and so with three small ones there was a need for a major pit stop. Rather than 20 minutes or so at a service station we decided on a familiar haunt: Lyme Regis. It is a town we know quite well and coincidently approximately halfway. This, in turn, dictated the route we would take to Cornwall.

We didn’t quite make it to Lyme Regis. The weather was poor, Ezra was crying (he was hungry), the girls needed the toilet and we had been caught in heavy traffic so with another familiar haunt five minutes away we took the detour to Hive Beach café in Burton Bradstock. A stretch of the legs, a refuelling and a walk along the beach that certainly blew the cobwebs away we were back on the road next stop Hayle. We arrived in Hayle at around 1800 and after checking in and unpacking there was only time for dinner before turning in.

We awoke to heavy rain, caravan technology has certainly improved since I last spent a night in one for in the older style one would have heard every single drop. It was also Father’s day but with the poor weather we decided not to head too far and instead headed to the local supermarket for supplies and scope the surrounding area. Driving through Hayle we spied Salt, a restaurant/ café/ bar that Lucinda had seen on t’internet that had received rave reviews. Father’s Day dinner was sorted and we headed there early. On our return to the holiday park we decided to check out the entertainment: Mr Bamboozle the balloon magician. The girls enjoyed it especially receiving a balloon creation at the end of the performance.

The weather was still poor Monday morning, so we decided to take advantage of the on-site swimming pool. However there was a break in the persistent rain in the afternoon so we decided to venture further afield and headed to Penzance. Not the prettiest of Cornish venues but the journey through the Cornish countryside certainly made up for it.

Tuesday was altogether a little brighter, not exactly blue skies but the rain did hold off and so we headed into St Ives. Now for those of you that have never been to St Ives, it is a beautiful seaside town that grew up as a medieval fishing village (the Sloop inn claims to date from 1312) but expanded in the late Victorian age due to the St Ives branch line from St Erth. It was this branch line that proved to be the most convenient way for us to arrive at St Ives. Medieval fishing villages were not built with cars (especially S-Maxes) in mind, hence with the car parked as Lelant Saltings station we took the scenic route (the railway line runs along the coastline and has to be one of the prettiest views from a train line, certainly in the south of England).

With buckets and spades we spent most of the afternoon building sandcastles and running into the sea (it was freezing), then as the skies turned threatening (although it still didn’t rain) we went for an obligatory ice cream and a mooch around the shops. On our return to the holiday park we decided to check out the facilities and after Éowyn challenged me to a game of table football and air hockey we tested out the adventure playground. It was there that Éowyn met her new best friend Lila (not sure that I have spelt that correctly). They were inseparable and played together most nights for the rest of the holiday. Indeed the next day we decided not to venture too far from the park just down to the beach so that if Lila was about Éowyn could play with her. Unfortunately we didn’t meet up with them until the evening, we had somehow been missing each other all day for Lila’s parents had had the same notion. When we were at the club or adventure playground they were at the beach; and when we were at the beach they were at the club. It was possible we were both on the beach at the same time but with over 3 miles of golden sand it would have probably been more luck that judgement that we would have bumped into them.

We did however leave the park for an hour or so to go for a cream tea at Green Pig farm. Half way between St Ives and Penzance it not only served a fantastic cream tea (and ice cream for the kids) but from its lofty position you could see St Michael’s Mount and the Lizard peninsular.

The weather forecast for Thursday was for heavy rain so we looked for something close that would entertain the kids yet at the same time provide shelter should we need it. Paradise Park in Hayle seemed to fit the bill. A wildlife park specialising in birdlife, mainly parrots, penguins and birds of prey with the added bonus of the Jungle barn a huge indoor softplay area for kids of all ages! We arrived just in time for the bird of prey display which was excellent. The Eagle Owl flew between the rows of seats not more that a foot (30cm) off the ground (as you can see from the photo below). Amélie and Éowyn were both fascinated with them and when they asked for volunteers to hold a barn owl both wanted to but were disappointed not to be picked, I promised them that when they are older that we will do it (any excuse for me to do it again!). As we were leaving the arena they had bought a male Bald Eagle for a close up photo opportunity, Amélie had other ideas: ‘I want to hold it‘. I explained that it was bigger than her but she was very insistent, so I took her as close as I dared for fear that she would try to stroke it and the eagle may have an unscheduled snack of her fingers. There seemed to be a mad rush at the end of the performance for places at the café and so to avoid the rush we walked around the mini farm and the girls fed goats and sheep.

In hindsight it was the correct decision for after lunch we headed into the Jungle Barn. We thought that we would be there for an hour or so and then finish off walking around the rest of the enclosures. No chance, the girls loved it that much that it was about three hours later before we left with two very tired girls straight into a downpour. Seemingly as soon as we had entered the Jungle Barn it had begun to rain and hadn’t stopped all the time that we were in there. Amélie was so tired in fact that she fell asleep in the car and didn’t wake until the next morning (good job she had had a large lunch). Éowyn on the other hand woke when we returned to the caravan and wanted to go and play with Lila. So after something to eat Lucinda took Éowyn to find Lila while I looked after a sleepy Ezra and a completely zonked Amélie.

Unfortunately Lila was not about but instead of returning to the caravan Lucinda and Éowyn decided to check out that evening entertainer: Wishy-Washy the magician. I am not sure that Wishy-Washy was entirely glad that they had. Wishy-Washy needed an assistant and Éowyn was the first to put her hand up and volunteer and so was picked. She thoroughly enjoyed being a magician’s assistant and thought that Wishy-Washy was hilarious and I think that Wishy-Washy was enjoying having such an euthusiastic assistant, indeed when she wanted to go to the toilet he paused the show so that she wouldn’t miss anything. Éowyn got so engrossed in the role that when she thought that Wishy-Washy was being too silly she would smack him on the bottom with his magic wand that he had entrusted her with – much to the embarrassment of Lucinda. Unfortunately they could not stay to the end of the show (they did leave at 10pm) as Ezra was due a feed. Éowyn was full of her role as a magician’s assistant and told me every little detail on her return, I think she was quite enamoured with the glamour of the limelights.

Our final full day came far too quickly and we decided that we would return to St Ives. We decided on a change of plan and that was to park at St Ives train station and spend the day on Portminster beach in the shadow of the train station. Unfortunately, the car park was full and so plan two was put into action, catch the train into St Ives again and then head to Portminster beach. This time however we parked at Carbis Bay train station. As we parked I decided to contact my mom’s school friend Teresa who lives in the area, to introduce my family and arrange to meet up in St Ives. By sheer coincidence we didn’t need to go too far for she only lives a stone’s throw from Carbis Bay train station and quickly walked down to meet us.

Friday was probably the best day of the week and we all thoroughly enjoyed another day building sandcastles and splashing in the sea. Again the girls were completely worn out and Amélie fell asleep in the pushchair as we walked into town missing out on an ice-cream; Éowyn had the good sense not to fall asleep until after she had eaten hers. Even though both girls were very tired Éowyn was determined to go to the adventure playground to see if she could see Lila for one last day and give her a picture that she had drawn for her. Fortunately Lila was of the same mind and the girls played together for one last time and both were upset that they would probably never see each other again. I am sure that Éowyn (and Lila) will get over it (as Éowyn did over Brooke who was her best friend that she met in Tenerife) but it was quite upsetting that she got so upset about leaving her friend and wondered if we returned next year whether Lila would be there. Bless.

We had to leave the caravan by 0900 Saturday morning, so most of the packing was done on Friday night and we were only 30 minutes late (well within the one hour grace period). Again to break up the journey we decided to head to Lyme Regis for we thought it would be nice to see Lyme Regis in the summer. To be honest I would prefer to see Lyme Regis in the autumn! There was a gale force wind (maybe a slight exaggeration there) blowing and it was bitingly cold, the British summer! After a brief stop and a bite to eat we were back on the road home and the holiday was over.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cornwall and I am sure that we will return, possibly even to St Ives Bay Holiday Park for caravaning has certainly changed in the 30 years since I last caravaned. I think I have bored you enough (if you thought the last update was long this one is 20% longer!) so I will leave you with a selection of photos.

Peace and Love

Baggie