The light at the end of the tunnel is nearer. Mr Mark Drakeford who runs Wales has said if things are still looking good on the sixth July we are going to be allowed out to play, free movement all over wales and even into England. Now this is good news. Why’s it good news, because that means I can go and get my new bike at last. After deciding to treat myself to a new bike on my big birthday and finding one in a bike shop 120 miles away in England, a deposit was payed to secure it and the wait started. It will be six weeks of waiting when I eventually get my grubby little hands on it. Ten more sleeps to go, not that I am counting. 6th of July I will be up early and out on the road with a grin from ear to ear. My old bike is sold, that sold within 36 hours and is all cleaned, polished and waiting to be picked up.

More good news is that we are being unfurloughed on the 1st July which is good, that means we will be back on full wages. And the site is looking like it will be opening in the 13th July and we are fully booked. It’s going to be very busy for the rest of the season. As we close at the end of October we only have three and a half months of work before we have our winter break.

The site is looking like a Jungle at the moment with the grass so long because we’re not allowed to work but we will have two weeks before it opens to get it looking good. Just hope the weather stays good.

We have a pet Robin. Robbie has been hanging around our compound after food for a couple of weeks now. Meet Robbie.

He is not very old and comes round every day. Robins can get very tame and are always hanging around gardeners for the chance of a meal etc. We had one a few years ago when we had our Winnebago, he used to come and visit when we were sat out at the picnic bench and I used to feed him from my hand.

I decided to see if I could do the same with Robbie, so every time he came round I had some food and tempted him nearer and nearer each time. After a couple of days he ate out my hand. He is still a bit nervous but will soon learn that we are no harm to him and will feed more and more from our hands. He often sits on the sun chair arm while we are sitting in it looking at us as if to say where’s my food. He even sat on Nikki’s wine glass, but that was a step to far. Nikki almost had a seizure thinking someone else was going to have some of her wine.

One more photo of Robbie. I have taken a lot of photos of him and will properly take a lot more. This one is my favourite so far. A bit of a lucky shot, but with some skill and patience involved. I love the way the sun lights up his wings as he dances for the camera. This is Robbie dancing. He taught himself to dance.

The BBQ has been getting a lot of use this season with all this good weather we have been having. It’s great sitting outside having a cool beer and something to eat. It’s nice for Nikki to get outside and cook sometimes rather than being stuck indoors cooking. LOL. Yesterday’s offerings were trout with garlic bread. We know a man who fishes and a couple of weeks ago asked us if we liked fish. We like fish but I don’t like all the fiddly bones when eating it. Anyway he bought us round a trout. I gutted it and chopped it’s head off. Just point out at this point the fish was dead although he was looking at me. Nikki was busy on google looking at ways to cook it. The next day Nikki cooked it wrapped in foil with slices of lemon inside, on the side new potatoes and veg. My mouth is watering now thinking about it. She even managed to de bone it before serving it up.

The following week another fish arrived and we had that one the same. Then a couple of days ago he said he was bringing around some fish, have you got room in your freezer he said. A couple of hours later he arrived with a carrier bag full of fish. Our wardens also get the same. I got them already for the freezer except one nice big one. Cut into two portions, one big for me and one small for Nikki. We had a BBQ yesterday with the trout. Nikki’s was wrapped in foil, mine was just placed on the BBQ. I can’t tell you how nice it was. Well I can but you will just have to look at the picture and imagine the taste. But I can tell you it was bloody loverly.

I now know what the saying Groundhog Day means. It is beginning to feel like it now. Don’t get me wrong I love having all the time off work but we feel trapped. Nikki goes shopping once a week a journey of 20 miles round trip. We go for walks, I go out on my bike. But it’s not the same as being able to go where we want. If the world was normal or as normal as it was before COVID-19 we would have done so much by now and seen so much of this beautiful area we are in for the season.

You look at the news and see groups of peaple, protests, party’s etc. Peaple just doing what they want as if nothing is wrong. The media has a lot to answer for also, never reporting on the good things. Ok that’s it, getting off my soap box now.

This little bug is just going about as normal, in his or her own little world visiting flowers or weeds.

The campsite is looking a bit like a jungle at the moment but as we are furloughed we are not allowed to to do any work on the site. By the time we get un furloughed we will need to get a combine harvester in. If we were in England this season we could possibly be opening on the 4th of July so would be un furloughed so we had time to get the site tidied up. As we’re in wales we don’t know when we will be opening so the furlough goes on. And the bank balance is not as good as it should be. We do still have jobs and somewhere to live though which is a real bonus.

Out on my bike a couple of days ago I found a different track, google earth is wonderful for looking at the area. Still no one around while I am out only a few sheep who don’t really care, they just look up carry on chewing. The views from this route are so nice. The pic below is from the highest point, not the best of days but still awesome views that I never get tired of looking at.

A bit further on is another track I just had to explore. Found a great little lake and further on is a disused quarry. The track goes further but I will leave that to another day to explore. Also I pass a old roman ruin called Tomen y muir which me and Nikki are going to walk up to.

So that’s us up to date, hopefully the next blog post will be telling you we have been out somewhere. This weekend is the longest day. I feel since COVID-19 everyday has been the longest day. The last photo is on my early morning walk around the site looking for photo opportunity This reed/ leaf looked so peaceful with the morning water droplets on. Stay safe everyone and to those that know us, see you soon hopefully. And to those that don’t know us, maybe one day we will meet on our travels.

We have had a great run of good weather considering everyone said to us it always rains in Wales. I think we have had more BBQs in May than we had all last summer. As I sit here now typing this blog it’s pouring down outside, I can’t see the mountain I normally see out the window and the temperature has dropped by about ten degrees. I normally have the chairs outside by now and sit in the morning sun with a cup of tea. All this is after I get up early and get out on my bike before it’s too hot. Leaving the camper yesterday at 5.15am and doing 32 miles. Last week I did similar silly early morning rides.

With all the free time we have been having because of being furloughed it’s been good to catch up on jobs that need doing and other jobs that just pop up and need doing that aren’t on my list. Washing and polishing the car and camper is always on my list and they are or should I say were looking very shiny up until now. In fact they were shiny on top of shiny. The two photos below are water droplets on a very waxed and shiny car roof and the camper also has a nice shine to it demonstrated in the photo of the reflection.

Other jobs to do are to fix the door, I mentioned this a while ago and am still waiting for a part, a small spring which I am hoping is going to do the job. And now we have another problem, our fridge has gone Kaput. This is a bigger problem than just a spring. It is dead, kaput, out for the count, deceased, knackered what ever you want to call it, it is not coming back to life. I smelt ammonia and that means one thing, it’s lost all it’s coolant. The fridge is ten years old and when you think what the fridges in campers go through with all the miles we do on the lovely smooth roads NOT it’s surprising they work at all. Now our fridge is not like a fridge you have in your house, it might look the same but it runs on 240v, when we’re on hookup, 12v when we’re driving and gas when we’re not on hookup. It also has a oven on top of the fridge all connected and can’t be separated. And just to complicate things you can’t get this model fridge anymore. So the search is on for a replacement and then a dealer who can do the job. And of course get stock of replacement. Nothing is simple living on the road.

On the brighter side of life, walking around the campsite I have managed to get some great photos in the sunlight. The flowers, or weeds to some look like they’re floating, almost like spaceships coming into land on planet Snowdonia. The damsel fly was enjoying the morning sun. It took me ages to get that photo because every time I got close he flew away so I had to follow him until he landed again and try again. The things I do to get these photos for you out there reading this blog. And you just think we sit around all day in the sun drinking beer. The last photo is my favourite for a long time. This is a grass snake and was curled up basking in the sun. I was lucky to spot it and surprised it didn’t slither off as soon as it saw me. Even more surprising I got really close to get the photo and when I say close I mean within a foot of it. If it was an adder I would not have got this close. I got a couple of photos and then stood back and it slithered off into the undergrowth. It was about 3 ft long. That’s the snake not the undergrowth. Really pleased just to see one and even better to get a photo.

So that’s us up to date, still waiting for the welsh leader to say we can go out to play and travel around. And open the campsite. Nikki says I need more peaple to annoy and talk to. Stay safe everyone. We will come out of this mad world soon.