The Benbridge Hotel Maldon

... I counted 21. Blimey what a feast they would make !!. Granny feels sorry for them, as there are no crops growing now and not much to eat.There are loads of Blue tits hanging off the feeders, what little pigs they are.!
Mr. Robin pops by daily to check that I am shut indoors then tells the others it is safe to feed here. Now as if I would ...

... on, broken by students or bent in the packing process. My co-worker and I spent a good half hour perusing Staples and trying to think of ways to build a stand out of book ends and paper clips, until she suddenly suggested making one out of a metal coat hanger. Hurrah! So that was today’s project, frolicking outside in the sun, bending 6 hangers into various pretty shapes until finally we have display stands! Yay! If I could bottle that ingenuity and sell it, I could make a fortune!

... s house in Maidstone, with a mug of tea reflecting on an amazing 5 days. I have met old friends and lots of new ones. I have never laughed so much or been so impressed by the generosity of complete strangers...a big THANK YOU from us all.

Well I know it's a Friday night & I should be out celebrating but I think I might just have another cuppa & early night!

So after 6 months away and visiting 8 different countries, we have now arrived, reluctantly, back in England. Although its not as cold as we were expecting, which is a bonus!

We have had a fantastic time and visited some amazing places, and we are now hoping that reality doesn't hit us too hard!

Hope that you have enjoyed our blog and will probably see most of you shortly.

Well I'm getting quite excited now! last night I met Colin, Wendy, Leigh and Sarah, 3 of the team that will be riding with me. They were all really nice and Wendy had even made me a leather waistcoat but I might have to cut down on the doughnuts as it was a little snug!

It was good to meet them all and we discussed the trip, what gear everyone was taking and what the weather would be like. I told them that the sun always shines up North! but I don't think ...

We were up, showered and taking the main down by 07:30. Fortunately, the wind was no more than a F3 so it wasn't too much of a struggle. As soon as the sail was down, the racket from the freed furling foil started and it was with thankful relief that we had remembered this problem and resisted the temptation to take all the sails down the evening before. Then all we had to do was to have breakfast and wait till 09:00 when ...

... as I struggled with trying to come unstuck. Fortunately, with full reverse and the bow thruster pushing us to starboard, we slowly, very slowly, came off and were soon on our way, fondness for the east coast restored. Within a few minutes we were able to switch the engine off and sail downwind with the genoa only. We followed another Thames barge, I really do think they are the most attractive of vessels. The Westerly, with all his sails set ...

... thing and inflated the dinghy and headed off up the canal for an adventure. The journey took us as far as Tesco, about 2 miles up the canal and very pretty it was, until we reached Maldon's environs, with factories and Tesco looming large on the horizon. Adventure over, we happily spent the rest of the day reading and watching another of the American Pie series in the evening - thank you Simon for providing them!

... handling. At 15:00 sharp, the lock gates opened and we were helped with our warps to secure the boat as the waters of the river equalized the levels in the lock and within 10 minutes, we were secured and safe in fresh water, immediately inside the lock gates. All that was left for us to do now was to pack for the weekend (in our case) and pack all Elaine's belongings and wait for Rosemary. We had a pleasant walk a way down the canal in the warm sun ( the ...

It rained hard all night and it was raining as we got up and about. However, the wind wasn't that strong so there was room for hope and for a decision to make our way to Bradwell in the rain, should we wish to. By 13:00 I was sufficiently twitchy to warrant going. Actually, my reasoning was sound, in that if we were going to have some bad weather, it would be better for us if we were on a marina pontoon, with shore ...