Wednesday 8 May 2013

Making A Silk Purse From A Sows Ear














The picture says it all, don't you think?

We were all so excited about our weekend away in Betty. She was packed to the rafters. We had made play lists for her. The boys had promised to try and be nice to each other. Sam was looking forward to some time out from revision, and cycling. Alfie was looking forward to his very own pod in the awning, and toasting marshmallows. Olly loves Betty almost as much as Marc, and was along for the ride. I think that Marc was looking forward to a family weekend, and a chance to test run Betty. And me? I just wanted some time out with everyone.

The short of it was that Betty's offside brakes seized and we had to be towed to a garage, where we waited a very long time for a mechanic to fix the problem. He in turn broke the calliper and so we had to be towed all the way home. It was the most rubbish day. The boys were fabulous given the circumstances, but it was such a shame that we couldn't make good on our promise of a fun filled weekend.

So what to do when things don't go according to plan? How do you rescue the weekend from disaster? Here's what we did.

Saturday

  1. After a gruelling day of disappointment and a lot of waiting around, finally get home .
  2. Have fish and chips at home. With white bread and butter.
  3. Watch 'Finding Nemo' with the younger boys.
  4. Go to bed early in order to get rid of the horrid day.

Sunday
  1. Wake up to beautiful sunshine.
  2. Have breakfast outside.
  3. Drink copious amounts of tea.
  4. Finish reading book group book.
  5. Craft with Olly.
  6. Allow Sam to get to work on rotten decking with hammers and saws.
  7. Potter in the garden, and do all those little jobs you had put off doing for another time.
  8. Decide to have a barbecue.
  9. Build a camp fire in the garden. (Well why not? There's always stuff to burn).
  10. Invite sister and brother in law over to share the beer.
  11. Toast copious amounts of marshmallows.
  12. Watch the day turn to night with Jack Johnson in the background.
  13. Go to bed feeling relaxed and happy.
Monday
  1. Wake up to another corker of a day.
  2. Pack the bikes onto the car.
  3. Cycle the Bissoe to Devoran cycle trail and part way to Portreath.
  4. Skim stones at the creek, eat bacon butties and cake.
  5. Come home tired and happy.
  6. Celebrate Marc's birthday a day early with cake and presents.
  7. Congratulate the fact that even though Betty is poorly on the drive, it's fixable and the weekend was still pretty good.












In fact the weekend turned out to much better than we could have imagined. The boys loved the camp fire in the garden, and our day out cycling was a lot of fun. To top it all, we heard that Bodmin was beset by fog and cloud all weekend. So maybe our enforced weekend staycation wasn't such a bad option after all.

Leanne xx

6 comments:

  1. I'm so glad the weekend was rescued, and in such a terrific way! Yay. I wanted to say thank you for the comment you left on my giveaway post. I am glad I can convey myself so well, it's what I'm aiming for when I blog. :)

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  2. Looks like you had a great time anyway.....things happen for a reason - so they say! x

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  3. Well that is a pretty impressive salvage job, I must say! At least you had an unexpected weekend at home during beautiful weather. The bbq and toasting marshmallows sounds just lovely. xx

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  4. What a shame that poor Betty couldn't get you to your destination, I'm glad your weekend turned out to be good despite the change in plans. My daughter and boyfriend enjoyed their bike ride along the Devoran cycle track when we were staying in Cornwall.
    Sarah x

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  5. Betty could be a twinny with our 1974 campervan Dennis. He too has a knack of making weekends away 'interesting'. Accelerator pedals falling off in Cheddar Gorge, getting stuck in a muddy bog in Devon, costing me a fortune when he fails his MOT.... I could go on. But he's old and precious and as you say, sometimes good things come from the unexpected. We have had a lot of good cups of teas on the sides of roads waiting for the AA...

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