Lazy days of Summer

After returning from holiday to 'not so great' British weather imagine our joy when the forecast was for the temperature to reach the dizzy heights of 24c!  Woo hoo!  As we still had a few free days from work we decided to make the most of the dry spell and headed off to Bidford-on-avon for a picnic and afternoon by the river.

A walk along the Avon

Arnold having a lazy afternoon

Frisbee!

Arnold gets his own ice-cream

We arrived around lunchtime and tootled off for a stroll along the river to let Arnold stretch his little Border legs.  We ate lunch and then spent a lovely, lazy afternoon playing games, reading and doing the crossword.  And what trip to Bidford would be complete without a trip to the chip shop for tea.  By the time we left for home it was around 8.30pm which meant we were treated to the most beautiful sunset throughout our journey.

The following night, although cloudy, we enjoyed a smashing barbecue in the garden followed by an evening around the chiminea.  Many, many games of pictionary and uno followed then lo and behold the cloud shifted and we were left with an evening of star gazing.

'A' & 'P' enjoying a night in the garden

Saturday saw us taking a drive out to Mom and Dad's caravan as they'd decided on a short break near Enville.  Another leisurely afternoon ensued with an attempt at our 2nd barbecue of the week.  Unfortunately the wind had other ideas leaving us to use the small caravan oven to cook for 7!

I've only just realised that I've not yet told you of my new addition, so now seemed a perfect opportunity.  Her name is Glinda (as in 'Wicked'/'The Wizard of Oz') and she's a beautiful Ice Blue Mini Convertible.  She arrived just before our holiday so I'd not had much chance to test drive her.  However, Saturday's sunny trip to Enville was a superb opportunity even if it did mean we had to take two cars to enable us to transport all of our junk!  It was worth it though, nothing more exhilarating than powering down the country lanes with the wind in your hair.

'Glinda'

A bank holiday stroll

Last Sunday saw us taking a lovely trip to Ludlow, in particular Whitcliffe Common.  We decided to have a family day out and asked Mom-in-law, Mom, Dad and bro along.  Our original plan was to head down to the Cotswolds for the day but unfortunately at the last minute we discovered the M5 had been closed due to a major accident so Mom suggested heading over to Whitcliffe.

[caption id="attachment_1051" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dinham Bridge"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1057" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Weir along the River Teme"][/caption]

We parked the car in a little layby right next to Whitcliffe Common and then headed down and along the path towards the River Teme taking in the very scenic bridges and weirs along the way.  Arnold as ever felt the need to lead the group and wasn't happy unless out in front, showing the way!  When we arrived at Dinham Bridge we realised that our last visit there had been around 14 years ago when 'S' was just a baby.  We decided to try recreating the photo we'd taken all those years ago.

[caption id="attachment_1052" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Me and 'S' at Dinham Bridge, Ludlow in 2011"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1053" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Me and 'S' at Dinham Bridge, Ludlow in 1997"][/caption]

(Sorry terrible photo! Original was awful and then a photo of a photo is never good lol)

[caption id="attachment_1054" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Arnold has an afternoon swim"][/caption]

After our leisurely stroll, which included a lunchtime swim in the River Teme for Arnold, we headed back to the car for lunch.  I'm glad to say that this is when we had our one and only heavy shower of the day which we thankfully missed whilst tucking into sarnies galore.  We headed on further up the road after lunch to Mortimer Forest.  This was a real little gem of a place and not too busy, even considering it was bank holiday weekend.  Again, the showers held off and the weather stayed clear and warm.

[caption id="attachment_1055" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A stroll through Mortimer Forest"][/caption]

A little detour was made on the way home to Titterstone Clee Hill.  Although we'd driven over the Clee Hills many times this was the first time we'd headed right up to the top.  The views were magnificent and well worth the trip.

[caption id="attachment_1056" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View from the Clee Hills"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1058" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="'A' and 'S' on top of the Clee Hills"][/caption]