The Empty Nest

It's been 24 years since I've lived alone.  I've no idea where the time has gone but it has, and now I can be very proud that I've successfully brought up my two lovely boys by myself.  Both are at university and they are capable and independent; my job is done.
It's been an emotional 2 weeks since I made the long journey to Ormskirk to take my youngest to Edge Hill university; I never thought I'd be sad to come home from work to find the house still tidy, the fridge still full, the dishes still clean, but I'm beginning to adapt to and enjoy this new chapter.
There are many aspects of it that I don't enjoy; eating the same meal for four nights in a row because I can't get used to making less, not being able to buy chocolately goodies under the pretence of them not being for me, the emptiness and quiet in the house despite the television or radio being on, a lack of sense of purpose (although the dog is happy; he thinks I exist only to serve him now).  But I focus on what I have achieved and what I will go onto achieve in the future and I'm looking forward to new adventures and lots of fun.
So, what's next?  I wouldn't say that the world is my oyster as I do still have one remaining dependant ... the dog, and whilst a doggy passport will get him around Europe I can't put him in my backpack and trot off to places like Africa and Asia.  But that still leaves a lot of options and plenty of freedom to decide where I want to be and what I want to do.  So, watch out, here I come!

The second (mini) adventure

Sometimes having a really acute sense of smell is a wonderful thing but when faced with having to empty the waste tank of the caravan toilet into a cesspit, it most definitely isn't.  Somehow, the addition smell of the chemical toilet fluid only made it worse (if it could have been).  I've vowed to seek out caravan sites with flush waste disposals if they exist.
On the plus side the CL (certified location) I stayed on was incredibly spacious and peaceful.  It was completely full (the 5 van rule) but my nearest neighbour was about 50 metres away. I managed to overshoot  the entrance to the site the first time which resulted in me having to make a very large square with 4 right turns to get back.  This added about 5 miles to my trip.  Doing a quick u-ie isn't the easiest manoeuvre with a caravan.
The behaviour of the water pump remains a technical mystery to me but I will be the master of it in time.  If it doesn't behave for my next adventure it will be replaced by a new shiny model - it has been warned.
My nose has sensed that autumn is on its way and this is my favourite season for many reasons. One is the promise of foraging for blackberries to bake into all sorts of luscious delights.  Recipes, photos and tasting notes to come .....

The first (mini) adventure

There is an amazing Caravan Club site practically in Cambridge, Cherry Hinton to be precise, which is hidden away in an old quarry and circled by a nature walk.  It is an oasis of calm set on different levels and sandwiched between Addenbrookes hospital and Cherry Hinton park and it really is beautiful.  This was to be my first outing with my caravan.  I knew the route like the back of my hand (it's 3 minutes from work) and if it all went spectacularly badly, home was only 20 miles away!
I found a lovely spot surrounded on 3 sides by trees and bushes and attempted to reverse in.  Eventually I decided that having the caravan sitting diagonally across the pitch with the door facing back was a really good idea - lots of privacy.  And I'm sure it was sitting much more level in this position ...
So out came the various tools (well, spirit level), locks and keys (*hitch and wheel), cranking thing for corner steadies with plastic coasters underneath to stop them sinking, 25m long electric cable (well you never know when the nearest electric post might be in the next town), water pump (which behaved very irrationally the whole trip), water and waste containers (unfortunately I'd only got one hose for filling the fresh water and disposing of the 'grey' water so things got messy but I'm not suffering from anything tropical yet, wheel chocks, levellers (sadly not the band), and two pretty looking and pleasant smelling liquids for the toilet.
Three hours later I was settled (read broken) and put the kettle on for a cup of tea.  This is when I realised I hadn't replaced the broken mug.  This resulted in a rather expensive shopping trip which included some yummy Belgian beer, olives, cheese, dips, vegetable crisps, and a cheap (but light) wok, and of course, two mugs (the second for emergency back-up not uninvited guests or the dog).
If you ever want to work up a sweat and lose weight go caravanning, especially when it's 25 degrees.
*Andrew Ditton - I still haven't forgiven you for making the Milenco hitch lock look so easy to fit in your You Tube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0AI8rKIMZE - I need a hammer to fit mine.

The cup of tea ...

Armed with a tiny electric travel kettle (I haven't yet worked out the gas connection and it scares me slightly) I geared up to make the mug of tea.  After breaking my mug by knocking it off the only work surface I resorted to using an old camping tin mug. The low wattage kettle is a slow boiler but even more so because I had forgotten to switch the electrics on.  Eventually it all came together and with cold milk from my cold fridge I had my first cup of tea!  Being British I am now confident that I can deal with pretty much anything that is thrown at me (unless I run out of tea bags)

A new chapter and freedom according to me, a midlife crisis according to one of my sons ...

With a recently attained certificate from a Practical Caravanning course, a map of caravan sites and CL's (certified locations) for the British Isles, an occasionally badly behaved terrier and a complete fear of towing, I will soon be on my way.  But first, I have to spend many days circling or sitting in my shiny, new caravan reading instructions and manuals to work out what all the pipes, hoses, wires, switches, and various other indescribably technical thingies do.
Today I managed to park it on my brothers driveway (badly), attach a hitch lock in 20 minutes (which should have taken, allegedly, 30 seconds), tune the radio to BBC Radio 2, plug the electrics in, get the fridge to start cooling using the electrics, and soak myself from a water pipe which has something to do with the toilet.  Tomorrow I hope to make a cup of tea.