Since our last blog which was a couple of months ago while we were in North Yorkshire we have been travelling up and down the country like it was going out of fashion. Thankfully we still have our car with the minibus still out of action and we are still waiting. I have to learn to be patient which is not my strong point.

We are now back at Yorkshire for the rest of this week and then we travel up to Newcastle. The area is beautiful and we are not far from Whitby a fishing port much like Brixham. We managed to spend a day in Whitby and went out on a boat trip. The harbour is larger than Brixham but still quite impressive. The port has a very large abbey up on the cliff top which I believe controlled the town's trade. The town has been known for fishing, extraction of Jet and also shipbuilding, however now its main industry is tourism although it still has a very large fishing port. We saw quite a few trawlers berthed and even saw one from Brixham. How did we know because each boat has a registration and boats from Whitby start with letters WY and boats from Brixham start with BM.

Whitby is also famous for being the place that Captain James Cook's 3 ships were built and launched from Including the Endeavour and like Brixham there is a replica of this boat that is based in the harbour for people to go on, although unlike the Golden Hind it is seaworthy and people take trips on it. They call it their Pirate Boat with the pirate flag flying proudly from its mast. Um! Feeling of déjà vu here.

After leaving Yorkshire we travelled to our next sit in Newcastle again this time to look after a lovely little terrier called Millie. She was a very little dog with a big mouth who loved the sound of her own voice.Mille would bark at the postman, the peple walking outside , doors closing , doors opening, people talking , in fact she barked at everything she could think of .

This sit was much more relaxing and we were able to meet up with Terri and mike Nigel's sister and brother-in-law In Hexham about 20 miles west of Newcastle who had decided to cycle Hadrian's Wall. Hexham is a small town again with an Abbey, although we weren't able to go in as we had Millie with us. Maybe next time. On Richard and Ali's return we went with them to a charity event at a local club to help raise money for a charity that looks after the families of children suffering from cancer. There were a lot of people there and some 70's and 80's music which we enjoyed. I know you didn't think we were old enough to know 70's and 80's music did you?

After leaving Newcastle we had a very long journey back down to Bristol although we did stop at Roberts in Bristol on the way. We had to travel south but only had a 4 days to catch up on doctors and dentists and hair appointments and also work out what we were going to do with our bit of land on Si and Ali's plot. We couldn't find a sit nearby so we decided to stay at Lands cove Holiday Park on berry head in a caravan.

Practically the land had become unmanageable and so we have reduced it down to a much smaller plot for the time being although the intention is still to come back and grow more food for us and to give away. The caravan was nice and clean at Lands cove but it was not very peaceful. Every morning we were woken up in the early hours, well 7am, to the sound of workmen swearing and a digger engine right outside the doors having put us and several other customers right next to their building site area they were developing. Needless to say we and others were not happy so the management were spoken to who promised to stop this but had no control as head office made decisions and didn't see it as a problem. So Nigel has taken this further and after much communication we got our money back.

So after a fleeting visit to Brixham we headed back up the motorway again for our next sit in Newcastle!! Becoming a bit of a habit I think. I know I said this year I would be able to see the boys and Reuben more and that is exactly what has happened amazing! Staying at Abi's sister's place 4 doors away from Abi and Kieran we looked after Zero the cat, Santa the giant snail and I forget the corn snakes' name, also the gold fish. Although I managed to give myself food poisoning this week we did still get out and went for a drive one evening to see Kielder forest about an hour away. The evening was very warm and sunny and the skies clear. We didn't reach Kielder Water but drove through the Northumberland forest park and saw some spectacular scenery. The land was rugged and sparse moorland in some areas and deep lush green hills and woods in other areas. Very much like Dartmoor. Hope we will be able to spend more time there in the future.

Well this has been a long blog will update you more next time. Scotland here we come.