Shropshire 25-27 Feb 12

A short run across to the wild west to spend the weekend at Jenny & Peter's house to join the celebrations for her birthday. Packing all sorts of crockery, food and other accoutrement (including 3 dozen eggs and a grandmother), we were grateful for our very large fridge, enabling us to store a vast quantity of salad and cheese.  The grandmother, obviously, did not travel in the fridge.

Stopping off for a quick lunch, we arrived in the early afternoon, said a quick hello to the rest of the family gathered for the occasion, before setting up at the top of their garden whilst the mob disappeared into Ludlow for their lunch. Ludlow may be one of the gastro-centres of the UK, but a limited availability of some basic items on the menu at their chosen venue ensured that one member of the family did not fully appreciate the experience. All too quickly some of the family returned and took up station in the bus to drink my secret stash of ale, eat us out of sausages and to watch Ireland v Italy on the TV.

Border control established. They shall not pass!

The afternoon was spent in front of the telly watching England's very unlucky loss to the Welsh. Never mind, it was a better performance than expected from a young team that has not been together for very long against the Welsh windbags, who were not so cocky after a scare from our brave boys in white. I'll just have to cheer for France for the rest of the competition. What is worrying is that my nieces, for some obscure and ridiculous reason, have decided that they are leek-bashers, despite being born in God's own country. I count myself very lucky that I have managed to avoid the streak of insanity that runs through my family!

Saturday night was spent enjoying a very sumptious meal and some exemplary cooking from said demented nieces, with Katie in particular demonstrating that she is a bit of a dab hand in the kitchen. Full, we climbed the hill to bed.

Sunday I awoke early and watched the dawn break over the Malverns. A quick breakfast, then it was all hands to the pump to prepare for the party. The bus was turned into a salad factory, churning out tray after tray of salad and, at 12 sharp, the hungry hordes of locals descended for their scoff. In all, it was a great party, despite some examples of the impact of living in a remote rural community for too long.

Monday, after a bit of furniture removal, we packed up and, knackered, headed back to civilisation to unpack and prepare for the next adventure.

Learning from experience:  It's easy to leave a cab window open when you have screen covers. Wondered why it was a bit chilly in the morning.