Confused at Hill Farm

 Thursday 29/12/22

Even though the snow and extreme cold has passed, there is still ice about.
These are the swirling patterns on a cover outside.

As 2022 comes to an end, we have completed our final house sit for the year and returned to our campsite at Hill Farm.  

When we arrived, the wind was howling from the South and is expected to blow until we leave so we decided to reverse into our parking spot.  We usually park facing the field for the view but prefer to take strong winds from the front of Bokkie as the vents then face out of the wind and the bicycles and bike cover are protected by Bokkie.

However, this caused an unexpected problem - confusion!  We have stayed here quite a few times recently and, for some reason, it felt completely wrong to be pointing the wrong way.  We thought it would improve when darkness fell and we lost our outside references but once Bokkie was all closed up we could hear the occasional car coming past on the road.  The only problem was, they kept going past on the 'wrong' side and sounded to us as though they we going straight through the campsite.

Aren't our brains funny things?

We had deliberately planned to fill 2022 with house sits for various reasons, and ended up doing just that.  We completed 11 sits, sitting 294 days in total and looked after 18 dogs, 5 horses, 4 cats, 7 birds and 10 other little furry creatures.

Although we both love dogs, looking after other people's dogs can be quite difficult and we are definitely ready to go dog-free (and dog-hair free!) for a while and are looking forward to our familiar Brittany with the cats, Jess and Jasper, starting in about a  a week.

Possibly the cutest - definitely the noisiest birds we looked after.

It was a pleasure looking after these two over Christmas.

The rough plan for 2023, with our shiny new French visas, is to spend three months in Brittany,  then a short trip to South Africa and finally to travel in Europe until October-ish when we will head back to Brittany if all goes according to plan.

We are now staying at this campsite until New Year's Day and will then travel down to Canterbury for a night before taking the Eurotunnel across to France on the 2nd.

We hope you all have a sensible New Year's eve and a fantastic New Year ahead!

Bonus pic:  We have spent so much time at the Brittany sit, that Google satellite has captured Bokkie parked on the property so we are now a permanent fixture there!

You can get an idea of the size of the garden / property.

Snowy Little Chalfont

 Tuesday 13/12/22

We woke early yesterday morning to sound of snow falling on Bokkie's roof, hoping that it would just be a light dusting as we needed to move on to our next sit.  

When it got light, we could see there was a dense covering of around 3cm of snow - I felt it shouldn't present too much of a problem.

We woke up to a rather white scene!

We had to get our of our parking spot and drive a short way up a hill to get to the main farm driveway, from there it was another short, downhill drive to the tar road which would hopefully be clear by the time we needed to move.  Our neighbour also usually left in the mornings so we could check to make sure he got out okay.

The frost has now been covered by snow

Well, sure enough, he packed up mid-morning, reversed out of his spot, pointed his nose up the hill, gunned the engine...  and slid backwards down the hill.  He swung back into his parking spot and tried to reverse up the hill, with the same result.  Except this time it was even worse and he was getting rather close to Bokkie's backside.  Eventually he realised it wasn't going to work and he got the aged farmer to pull him out with his 4x4, in itself a scary manoeuvre, which we watched in trepidation.

I was determined to spare Bokkie the indignity of being towed out, so we waited until a bit later (and there were no witnesses) before trying it ourselves.  By then all the tracks from the other attempt had frozen making it even more treacherous.  Toni chipped away at the worst bits with our tiny recovery spade (slipping and falling on the ice while as well), and soon it was time to test Bokkie.

I reversed out and she spun a little so Toni chipped some more ice in front of the wheels, I put Bokkie in second gear and she chugged cheerfully up the hill at an idle.  What a superstar!

The snow has turned the garden into a winter wonderland

Tiggy, Bramble, Orio, Sprite and Blue

We took a slow drive to Amersham to do some shopping before heading to the final sit for the year.  It is a lovely warm house with an elderly Jack Russell / Norfolk Terrier cross, a Golden Lab and three (noisy) budgies to look after.  

The owners kindly put up a Christmas tree for us as well, and they have now headed to sunny Antigua with their kids.

The snow looks like custom cushions on the patio furniture

We're staying for two weeks so will enjoy Christmas here with Charmaine, and then head off again on the 28'th.  Hopefully there is a slight thawing of the weather after this icy blast! 

Frosty walk to Tring

 Sunday 11/12/22

The cold snap continues here on the hill and the weather alternates between crisp, clear skies and a freezing fog.  Frost has been a permanent fixture since we arrived with temperatures rarely getting into positive territory.

A frosty, misty start to the day.

We've managed a nice long walk every day and decided to try to get to Tring.  Although it is a 6km drive away, it looked like the footpath network would get us there in only 3.5km so we set off.

The frost is absolutely amazing here!

Crispy leaf litter, Mother nature's art

The sun put up a valiant fight against the mist but ultimately lost.

It was a lovely walk with amazing views on the way there, although the walk back was much more misty.

Tring church

By the time we headed back the mist had really set in for the rest of the day.

Bokkie is doing an amazing job of keeping us and our water system nice and toasty and the dry weather means we have managed to get out enough to keep cabin fever at bay.  And before you think we're 'roughing it', there is a gentleman staying here in a tent until Christmas eve...  Then he moves to Snowdonia - he must be made of tough stuff!

Freezing at Hill Farm campsite

 Friday 09/12/22

We handed back the Stoke-house and animals to the owners and have headed for the hills - back to a now-familiar campsite near Wendover Woods.  The UK is experiencing a bitter cold-snap at the moment with temperatures plummeting to 6 below at night and by Sunday it will only get up to zero during the day.

Wendover Woods looked magical in the morning light

Not ideal conditions for camping but luckily Bokkie is very capable of keeping us toasty warm while we are inside.  Of course, going for walks in the icy conditions means taking extra precautions like making sure you take all the right gear, but we're enjoying it and had a lovely walk into Wendover today (8km round-trip).

Heavy frost

The condensate from the boiler freezes as it drips down on Bokkie's wheel arch

Bokkie had a few neighbours overnight but they have all left now.

Most of the campsite's water supply has frozen but luckily we have everything we need on board so should be fine.

We are here until Monday and we then tackle our final house-sit for 2022; two dogs and three budgies in Little Chalfont over Christmas.

Bonus pic: this house in Stoke Poges take the prize for best Christmas decorations we've seen to date, an entire elf village complete with railway.

Not happy with a just few fairy-lights, this owner has gone all-out!

Starting to wind down at Stoke Poges

 Tuesday 29/11/22

A misty, milky sun on a very chilly winter's morning

We're two-thirds of the way through our sit and starting to look forward to a few dog-free days in a campsite before the final sit for 2022 - we have certainly looked after enough dogs this year!

Happy Birthday to Teddi who turned 2!

The weather has taken a wintry turn and is grey and very cold at the moment, with no end in sight.  Saturday's maximum temperature is forecast at 6°C so we'll certainly be testing Bokkie's heating system once we're back in her.

Wonderfully detailed little cabins at the Common

The Stoke Poges community have decorated their Common with miniature elf-houses which are incredibly detailed, and they had a small Christmas market this last Saturday as well.  We popped across to admire the reindeer on show, sampled the mulled wine but had to skip the visit to Santa's grotto as the queue of toddlers was too long!  A fun time was had by all and the rain luckily held off until we arrived back home.

Spotted on our walk to the market, some people certainly go all-out at Christmas!

We've added two videos, one showing the dogs frolicking in the field under the morning (almost) sun.  In fact, I think that's the best view of the sun we've had in ages.  

The other is mostly for the sound effects - we get treated to major excitement when it gets closer to walkies-time.  By the time we get the leashes out they are completely beside themselves, you can see what Tea, the old Lab thinks of the display.

Testing a new phone at Stoke Poges

 Friday 18/11/22

Both of our iPhones are fairly old, having bought them second-hand from Toni's previous employer and, although they still work reasonably well, they are no longer supported by Apple so many modern apps won't work on them any more.

It's frustrating that we are forced to replace something that still works but, as many of the banking apps were not working anymore, we decided to replace one of the phones.  We've bought a refurbished phone which should keep us going for a few years and I am still trying to get used to all the features, including the camera, see photos and video below.

Typically highly-strung Spaniel, terrified of missing out on something.

Cute-as-a-button Teddie, a Cockerpoo

Old girl, Truffle, getting some love.

Peace and quiet, unless any human moves a muscle...

The two old girls chilling out

We've had a few days of rain but it has now cleared up but become decidedly more chilly.  It has been a mild Autumn so we wait to see what winter brings.

We've been trying to capture the manic young dogs on their daily park visits but, as usual, the video doesn't do them justice.  They both run around like demented cheetahs, even Rolo, who is a little on the pudgy side.  I think they will both be a little fitter and slimmer when the owners get back.

Full house at Stoke Poges

 Monday 14/11/22

Remembrance decorations on a local post box

A lovely sculpture in Stoke Poges

We are looking after three dogs and a cat in Stoke Poges for a month.  We normally try to limit the number of animals we look after but really liked the location and duration of the sit when we booked it a year ago.  

Unfortunately the owners forgot to mention they were moving house until a couple of weeks ago, so we are in a half-unpacked house while they take a cruise around Hawaii, not an ideal situation but we have to take the good with bad sometimes.

Scratches for old girl, Truffle.

Rolo, Teddy and Tia getting some ball-time in the garden.

Lovely British weather on our morning walk - NOT!

We have an elderly Labrador, a Cocker Spaniel, a Cockerpoo and a very infirm Burmese cat.  The two younger dogs are very highly strung and can be quite a handful as they are prone to bouts of overexcitement but, as usual, we have bonded quite closely with all the animals.

You can see from their tongues that they love the park - the dogs, not Toni as it was cold!

We'll give them our utmost care while we're here, especially Truffle the old cat, who loves regular grooming sessions as she can't manage them herself anymore.

How can you not love a face like that?

Rolo and Teddy watch your every move...

In other news, we have booked our flights to South Africa with Charmaine in April 2023 and have some time with family as well as a week in Addo to look forward to while we are there. Very exciting!  

Four year update in Four Oaks campsite, Henley

 Monday 07/11/22

We've come full circle (almost) and are camped less than 300m of where we spent our first night in Bokkie on 08/11/2018.  Four years ago we handed over the keys to our house and shakily made our way to Henley to begin a new adventure in our life.

Bokkie camping near one of the campsite's oaks.

On Friday the Farnham owners returned so we reluctantly handed over the animals and the house (but forgot their house keys in my pocket!) and headed off to Henley for a few days before our next sit starts.  Luckily my driving confidence has improved substantially since those early days and we have settled into camping life in spite of the grey, wet weather currently on offer.

Walking along the river Thames in Henley

We have now been 'on the road' for 1,461 nights and have spent 861 in house-sits, 192 with Charmaine, 188 in campsites, 141 in official aires, 39 in national park accommodation and 39 wild camping.  We hadn't really considered house-sitting as an option when we started this adventure, but we quickly realised that we needed something to keep us busy and give us new experiences along the way.

We've also had our French visas approved which opens up travel opportunities for next year and so, the adventures continue.  We still have two house sits in the UK which will see us through the rest of the year and will then head to Brittany to look after Jess and Jasper for three months.  

In April we head to South Africa for a few weeks to visit family and then plan on spending the European summer travelling in Bokkie.

The three of us enjoying a meal in the Giggling Squid in Henley

Electric driving in Farnham Royal

 Saturday 29/10/22

On Sunday we handed the dogs over to the next house sitter and drove to Farnham Royal, just managing to outrun a thunderstorm on the way.  We stayed at this house for a weekend in July so we were able to settle in very quickly.

Goldie - every day is a bad hair day.

The owners are extremely generous and, as they know we don't go out a lot in Bokkie when on sits, lent us their electric car to get around.  I went for a test drive with the owner as it is quite daunting at first but it has quickly turned into my favourite drive of all time - apart from Bokkie, obviously 😉

The Honda e - We are big fans!

This particular model has every electronic gizmo one can think of but it is quiet, nippy as you like and turns on a dime.  You don't have to worry about gear changes but, if driven on regeneration mode, you almost never need to use the brakes, you just speed up or slow down using the accelerator pedal - it is fantastic.

Poppy

Cuddle time

Maggie, an elderly Boxer and Mae, a young French Bulldog

Beau

Bibi

Goldie and Poppy

We're lucky that Charmaine could pop in for the weekend

The animals we're looking after are an absolute treat, the dogs are such fun and the furries are great for cuddles.  The only problem we've had was all the fireworks being set off for the Diwali celebrations - the dogs are terrified and it really reinforced to us what an effect humans have on animals.  We sat and cuddled them for hours during the worst fireworks, to keep them calm.   Unfortunately we still have Guy Fawkes and New Year ahead of us.

The dogs have their own sofa

Practicing our fireworks drills...

We've just had our passports returned to us with nice shiny 1-year French visas printed in them which is really good news for us.  This has been the year of house-sitting and next year will definitely be more travelling.

Bonus video:-  stroking a furry animal is so relaxing!