Countdown is now in single figures!!

The excitement is mounting and the shopping is almost done.

Nothing more can be done for Delfy.
 Tyres, brakes, lights, oil, water and every other container with a level , has been checked. She is running smoothly, purring in fact, which for a diesel engine is in itself quite amazing.

Almost all the food shopping is loaded; tins for quick, lazy meals; boxes of pasta, rice and cereals. Fresh fruit, veg and meat will go in the fridge and freezer on the 21st.

Then there are all the pills, potions and lotions that keep us oldies young. Sun and moisturising creams for the more crumpled skin, chemicals to keep us on the move.....or not, and enough first aid to kit out a field hospital! No sex, got the drugs and loads of rock n' roll !!

CDs , cards, Scrabble, crib and chess, DVDs and  games to keep the brain cells active, are stowed  in a cupboard above the dining table and the outside lockers house everything for our mobile patio ... BBQ stove, table, chairs and a special carpet for dusty stop-overs

  

 Once we reach warmer places, more time is spent outdoors. Cooking, eating ,washing and reading.
Can you spot Sue's marigolds?

As for now, there are clothes that still need to become acquainted with an iron ; too chilly to put bedding in yet and we are still  using the maps to decide how to find our way to The Sahara.

Untidy house.

There are piles of partly assembled items for the journey, all through the house.
On the settle are the tekkie goods and maps
In the kitchen the drier is strewn with clothes fresh from the washer.
Why a giant torch is parked in the middle of the dining table, only time will tell.
The pantry is clogged with emergency tin diners and cereal boxes, whilst the conservatory has bedding airing in the sunshine.
There are clothes and towels in a corner of my bedroom and I fell over a pack of water bottles as I came through the back door.
Message from Sue........."Gone to buy battery for the big torch"....ahh, mystery solved.

Talking of houses, how about this for a colourful advert for a well known paint manufacturer, but without the big dog. What appear to be white dots are in fact beer cans stuck on the fence!

Discovered on the road to Argostoli. Greece.

Today's news.

Some news to share.
We have been out and about visiting friends to say our "goodbyes".
I have been to Buckingham, Sue is off to Uttoxeter, then there are a few pub lunches to have with folk locally before D day.
Just when you think the to do list is done, you find even more to do, so the list isn't getting any shorter at the moment.
 Yesterday I realised that the garden required a quick face lift otherwise I would return to a jungle. So grass was mown, some pots were emptied and last season's growth, cut back. The hedge can wait!
One job to do on Delfin today is to fill the fresh water tank and add some Milton to the water. Then we'll prime the taps and run the water through so that the pipes will be sterilised. After rinsing, it will be ready to fill for the trip down, but because of the cold weather and freezing night-time temperatures, we can't leave any water in the system in case of bursts so that will be done just before we leave.
There was one minor problem after the new tyres were fitted. I lost 2 wheel trims when we went on a run because the plastic ties had not been replaced. Good old Amazon to the rescue!! Cheap replacements were found, rapidly delivered and installed this morning.
Andrew set off today for his crossing to Santander in northern Spain where he will meet up with a friend and see something of Spain and Portugal before hooking up with us in Algeciras in May.
Ced and Deb go to Portsmouth to meet their brand new motorhome off the ship from Germany, so we wish them well on their inaugural journey in the shiny, new "posh house".
Finally, it won't be long before Col and Pam fly in from New Zealand to collect their van "Lefty", which has been in storage since October. They will embark on another six month wander around Europe, so "Welcome back " to them.
All in all , it seems as though the motorhoming fraternity are finally waking up, smelling the open road and are heading south for the sunshine. Secluded bays and long, empty stretches of sand for the shell-seekers.

Bring it on !!!

Portugal in the sun.....in December !!

Would you believe it? Well we couldn't. All the glorious sun and warmth that is Portugal but in December.
We went on a pre Christmas jaunt and got to know The Algarve, from the sheer cliffs of Cape St. Vincent in the west to Mia Priah and Lagos to the east.

We saw fishermen perched on ledges on the cliffs with knee wobbling drops beneath them.

 Marvellous rock erosion with spectacular colours visible in the strata.

There were trips  inland to the Barragem , a vast resevoir  whose waters were held back by a massive concrete dam and also the beautiful fortified town of Silves, with a quaint street market, storks on chimney pots and steps.

Sunset at Pria de Luz