It all worked out rather well. For sleeping arrangements Dad took the bed in the tent, Peter joined me in Percy. I continued with my meals as planned to compliments from all sides, I quite surprised myself with how tasty and interesting some of the meals were, my exploration of sprouted seeds was in full swing and the garden had started to provide quite bountifully. Cucumbers, courgettes, green and yellow beans, spinach, swiss chard, the occasional beetroot leaves, lettuce, nasturtium leaves and flowers, even a few tomatoes - despite the blight, all made their way to the table. A few plums remained on one of the trees after a ferocious storm and a neighbour kindly offered me a bag of Mirabelle, a tiny plum like fruit the size of a cherry, sweet and juicy, we ate them whole, spitting the tiny stones out wherever. Perhaps I should have planted them, maybe next year when life is a little more organised.
I supplemented garden supplies with frequent trips to the local markets, a good opportunity to get out and about to see the surroundings and show off the area that I have decided to make my home for the forseeable future. Both were suitable impressed even though the weather was unseasonable cold and cloudy. The old folk of the village can’t recall a summer so cold or wet in living memory, usually by now the fields and lawns are parched and brown and the gardens watered every day. I haven’t touched my hosepipe in over three weeks and the countryside is as lush and green as Devon or west Wales would be at this time of year.
My guests and I experienced an impressive storm one night. The wind howled, the rain came lashing down, the trees thrashing about and the van rocking violently for several hours. Life in the tent was reportedly noisy to say the least with rain, twigs and leaves falling on the canvas and the wind billowing and buffeting the structure. In the morning Dad emerged from his internal cocoon unscathed, the weather calmed and we continued none the worse. Two neighbours appeared during the morning, concerned that we had been blown away and offering alternative accommodation should it be required.
