Bottles, Bins and Blizzards

 We have been at our caravan for five nights now....our third stay and the longest so far. This was intended to be a restful pre-Easter break filled with walks around the lake and evening drinks on the decking. Sadly, the weather has not been on our side. Tuesday afternoon was thankfully the exception. The sun appeared for a couple of hours. I uncovered our patio furniture and sat outside in comfort without a coat, G &T in hand. 

I watched a Gold Crest dancing around in the adjacent shrubbery, showing off its striped head and distinctive song. It was not still enough for me to capture its presence with a photo, but this will now be my challenge every time I sit outside. I also watched a crow transporting long sticks to his nest in one of the tall trees.

Generally speaking, though, the weather had been murky, chilly, damp and overcast but I had no idea that the worst was yet to come.  Tuesday evening brought heavy rain which descended on to the caravan waking me in the early hours with night-time creaks and splashes.

Despite the weather so far, there had been plenty to keep us busy. We are still caravan newbies, and there is a lot to organise and learn. The central heating in the caravan is good, but I nevertheless reinstalled the curtains which the previously owners had removed for aesthetic reasons, They were there for a reason and provided an extra layer of insulation at night.

Despite my initial worries, the heating seems reasonably inexpensive to run. We've had the boiler running day and night for most of our stays so far, and have only just emptied the first half full gas cannister which is one of two attached to our caravan. Following a walk to reception and a payment of £79 the newly filled gas bottle was reinstalled later that day, though I'm guessing that prices will rise this year.

It's been interesting watching the very friendly staff prepare the park for the extra Easter visitors due next week. The grounds are kept looking natural, but nevertheless paths are cleared and the site is neat and litter free. There are several fenced in areas filled with large lidded rubbsh skips for residents to use and these are emptied very regularly so there are no overflowing bins or unsightly piles of rubbish.

So we reach the finale...April snow...not the occasional bit of sleet, but great lumps of endlessly floating and icy fluffy bits. These flakes haven't read the UK spring weather manual as, instead of melting they cover the ground in a white and very disconcertingly Christmas Card-like image.

      

Home now, I've put this freakish weather episode behind me and started to compile a places of interest pack for when our first friends and family visitors arrive. The first visitors however came uninvited on the final day of our stay.