We spent 3 days at home and on Saturday we just had to visit the Peak District. Wherever we’ve been we always return to the Peak District it has a magic all of it’s own and we know it so well but can still find unknown paths or roads and corners.

Sunday morning was spent at The Threshing Barn, a kaleidoscope of colour, a tavern of textures, a world of wool, Aladdin’s cave - it’s brilliant, knitted, felted, crocheted, braided, you name and Janet sells it as well as all the ingredients for self make and workshops to show you how. If you’re looking for that unusual Christmas present - look no further, visit Janet The Threshing Barn near Onecote, Leek and have a wonderful shopping experience. http://www.threshingbarn.com/home/main.htm

Tuesday arrived and we’d restocked the van so set off South. Pat decided that sunglasses were the order of the day, yes it was shining again. No sooner had he changed his glasses for the film star look when the sun went behind a cloud that was 7 hours long!

At Much Wenlock we had lunch but didn’t ‘do’ the abbey because the heavens were having a good cleanout and emptying it’s water contents on us.

After much discussion and 2 cups of coffee we headed for ‘The Bog’ on the Western edge of The Long Mynd. We went there a few years ago in our first motor home, a tiny Daihatsu van called Ady, but neither of us can remember what The Bog is so this time we’ll make a note.

Well, we did have good intentions but whilst crossing the Mynd we cam across a lovely afternoon tea stop with good views (once the rain and low cloud had cleared) over the Welsh Marches. So we stopped and had afternoon tea, dinner, supper and breakfast.

That evening, we sat and watched the moon playing hide and seek with the clouds left over from the rain earlier in the day. The moon was only 3 days away from full so was casting a lot of light and lighting the clouds to give a magnificent wild stormy look to the sky.

We woke at dawn, mainly due to a herd of cows that I’m convinced thought they were Cockerels! They had been practising there ‘singing’ at intervals during the night. We took our early morning stroll along side of the field only to realise that we were being eyed in a ‘keep out of my field’ look by a great big white bull. We seem to having these meetings on a regular basis, let’s hope that this is the Southern trip meet over and done with.

It was a lovely sunrise and we decided to go to Ross on Wye, well we can please ourselves and change our minds at will now. Ross on Wye is a lovely town full of old timber framed buildings and one shop, antiques I think, still had the old bowed window frame with a single piece of bowed glass about 4ft by 6ft. I wouldn’t like to have to replace that.

I had to have a stroll along the river before we left and I was surprised to find out that it was a 6 ft slide down to the waters edge and a rope and piton job to get back! You’d certainly need a long handled landing net here if you fished here!

As the Forest of Dean is only just down the road and neither of us have been there we tried, in vain to get Sally Anne (TomTom) to get us into the heart of the forest. Sadly no-one had told her of the one way system in Ross and after two passes of the same shops we thought we’d better just take any road out of the town before we got booked for loitering.

What a lovely area, the first pull in we pulled into I was in love with the area. The ground was littered with sweet chestnuts that Tesco’s would have been proud of, and joy and joys I found some new fungi! Two of the species here I had never seen before and was happily lying in the leaf litter getting that shot of shots when I noticed a forestry commission Landover driving slowly past. I smiled at him and he gave me a ‘at least you’re happy but there’s no hope for you’ smile back. We found at least seven different varieties of toadstool. I shall have great fun trying to identify unknown ones later.

This pull in was called ‘Boys Grave’ and we didn’t know if there was any historic reason for this so moved on. I’d love to live here amongst the forest, just being on the edge of the woods made me feel so good that to live in the heart of it must be amazing.

We found a forestry commission ride and stopped to have a walk. We met a chap walking his Alsatian, a beautiful animal but very shy. I totally ignored her and it wasn’t long before she was investigating my hand and I was allowed to pat her very gently. This ride, he calls the Turtle Dove walk because he has seen more Turtle Doves here than anywhere else. We heard a few Robins and I was thrilled to hear the distinctive ’gronk’ call of the Raven. There were Sweet Chestnut trees all around, I have never seen so many and fruits were enormous but sadly they were very well protected and I would need a suit or armour to penetrate the briars and gorse and bracken to get at them.

We’re moving further South tomorrow but I’m already looking forward to visiting this area in spring and summer and autumn well anytime really.