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June 4, 2026

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Dodging the rain, into the heatwave – 4/6/2026

Who would have thought that I would start writing this blog when everywhere we looked we were checking the sites to ensure they had hardstanding as the ground was absolutely saturated? The weather then changed drastically the other way and the heatwave hit – with us searching out the shade – 37 degrees of craziness. Then the last couple of days some of the areas of France have been hit by torrential rain and storms. Relatively, we have been pretty lucky, but it has been a bit of a weather journey…but at least the rain today has finally given me time to catch up on the long over due blog!

Leaving Challans, we decided to head to the coast again where I had found La Faute-sur-Mer which is on a quiet peninsula with a couple of stunningly beautiful nature reserves and long beaches filled with sand dunes. The area is just North of La Rochelle and not quite as ‘on the tourist track’ as Ile de Re which sits just slightly further South, so relatively tranquil but with all the beauty. It was however, evident to see how it would get full in the summer as there were campsites dotted around the place along the coastline.

We had found a shaded Aire just in the town which was pretty full. It wasn’t the largest area and only a few of the spots were big enough for us because of all the overhanging and encroaching trees, but we only needed one, and we had it, so it didn’t matter.

We had recently noted that there were a lot of cuckoos amongst the incredible amount of bird song, so I looked it up online and apparently this area of France is known as a stop off when the birds are migrating both South and North as not only is the distance apparently perfect, but also the habitat with the wetlands and type of tree that encourage hairy caterpillars! Just the kind of food that Cuckoos thrive on!

A great spot for a few nights, as not only were we able to explore the area and enjoy the surrounding nature, we also found a good market to restock on fresh fruit, veg and fish.

With the Ascension bank holiday looming – despite it being a predicted wet one – we headed to a little town that Keith had found called Saint Jean d’Angely which had a lovely Aire on a lake as well as a beautiful Abbey. Another nice little stop over which was beautifully tranquil and had some nice little walks.

After a few days in land, we headed back to the coast … or at least on to the estuary. We were edging our way closer to the Medoc region….wine was finally in sight!!

Once again Keith had been doing his research and found a great Aire just above a town called Blaye which had an impressive Citadel – which is a UNESCO site, and a great Saturday market.

The estuary is quite wide at this point but with an island in the middle which blocks the view of the other side. Blaye was a strategic point dating back to 14th century for people wanting to quickly get from the North to the South (and vice versa) which is demonstrated by the sheer size of the the Citadel/Fort.

Although smaller vehicles can cross the estuary from Blaye with a ferry now and avoid going all the round and hitting Bordeaux, we had decided to go by road and the journey was pretty good thankfully, however next time we will look at the ferry option as it’d be far quicker and probably the same cost.

We were heading into Medoc, an area that we hadn’t visited previously but had tried a few wines and marked it on our list to pass some time here next time we were coming this way. So, with no real plans this time, we headed to our first France Passion of this trip – Chateau Osmand – and back into the vineyards….

Chateau Osmand is in transition to being an organic vineyard, and we were blown away with the amount of time and effort that they put into marketing their produce as most of the Vineyards we visit are quite amateurish with their marketing despite having amazing produce – especially considering they only have 9 hectares of vine…which is relatively small for a vineyard

We had an hour long tour, taking us through the process they follow – which is quite different to most we have seen previously as it has a multi stage process to both increase the tannins and also the length of time you can lie the wine down for. We have obviously moved on to a new level of wine…. and we like it!! No hesitation in buying a few cases, and we will be back, as not only are they great hosts with good wine, it was also a lovely, tranquil location.

We had planned to take in another market on the Saturday to restock in Lesparre Medoc, but when we arrived the spaces in the Aire were too small for us. So, needing to find a place for the night we took the decision to head back into the Vineyards and ended up at Châteaux Tour Castillon & Moulin de Taffard

Such a beautiful place and wonderful wine. Once again, amazingly welcome and chatty and a stunningly beautiful location despite times obviously being incredibly difficult for them. It is quite funny though, as the son produced a wine following COVID called RIP – it is good, but not as aligned to our taste as the other more aged wines. Another France Passion that we will come back to when we are in the area and buy more wine.

With the heatwave upon us, Keith had found another shaded Aire in Montalivet-des-bains which was on the West coast of the Medoc peninsula. It meant that we were able to catch up with some washing – sorry, probably more detail than you need – but it was also peaceful, despite the whole area being highly populated with campsites which is unsurprising really when you look at the expansive beaches. Not that it wasn’t nice, as it suited our purposes, but it isn’t somewhere we would come back to as it would be horrendously touristy as the season starts and there are so many other beautiful places here.

Searching out the shade again as it was 35 degrees and rising, we decided to head to Pauillac – which in theory is the ‘heart’ of the Medoc region.

Another Bank Holiday weekend – the last of four in May – so in fear of not finding a place, we booked Camping Pauillac – which is a municipal campsite just outside the town with very shady pitches…. some may say ‘overgrown’, but we like to be polite!! But we did cut back the trees to give Fawks a little bit of space. That said, it was incredibly tranquil and very, very hot as it was unfortunately airless too.

We just took it very easy, walked a little along the river and we did venture into one of the big wine houses – simply because it had air conditioning and we were curious as to see what it offered, but didn’t buy from them or do a tasting.

As it was the Whitsunday weekend they had quite a few celebrations on over the three days, including the ‘Fete d’Agneau’ celebrating the arrival of French Lamb. It was quite a sight to see the sheep being sheered and a few meters away the leg of lamb being slowly roasted over the fire…. not one for everyone but it did look pretty tasty!!

As it was actually cooler to be on the bike than walking, we decided to head up to Saint Estephe which is roughly 12km north of Pauillac to explore on the Saturday afternoon. A very beautiful little town/large village – albeit also every sleepy – where we happened upon a little wine shop in the ‘main square’…so felt we should have a quick look and ended up doing a little tasting and buying a couple of local wines …obviously, research is important! Needless to say that we have tried one of the wines since, and it is nowhere near as good as the ones we bought directly from the Vineyards….perhaps that was why it was on offer!

After an incredibly hot weekend, and the weather certainly wasn’t cooling, we decided we were going to still head out to another France Passion Vineyard – but hadn’t decided whether we would stay or not until we saw whether they had any shade. The vineyard was Chateau Moulin Rouge – and once again, great wine – rose and red (old Vines) … so another 19 bottles added to our stock cupboards. As we can only take 48 bottles back to the UK with us following Brexit – we are a little more conscious of the stock levels and are now over our limit with 51….. but will drink some before we leave. So there will still be a little place for something else should we happen to find anything along the route!! Fantastic, accommodating hosts again, and we found a spot under a tree to give us shade – albeit that we needed to move slightly due to an Ant invasion as we appeared to have a branch touching us which gave the ants easy access – it was a lovely overnight stay, and another that we will come back to…. I especially like the bottle options, although not sure we have the right tools to decant the 18 litre one!!

Despite wanting to head south and visit the Olive groves to buy some more Olive oil and also olives, we worked out that we would actually be chasing the heat wave and extending the 35+ degree period for longer. So, as we have actually found some good sources of organic and recent harvest olive oil in the UK, we bit the bullet and decide to head across the country into the Central Massif – another part of France that we haven’t visited for 11 years.

We had found another France Passion destination that looked really interesting – Moulin de la Veyssiere – and decided to head there to see what it had to offer and it is fair to say, we were not disappointed. Set in a beautiful location, the Moulin de la Veyssiere is a Mill that dates back to the 13th Century, milling Walnuts, Chestnuts and Almonds to produce oils and flours. Slightly different to wine tasting, but equally as good… not only producing top quality, flavoursome products, also an incredibly interesting process and history, so well worth the visit.

They have a large, shaded parking area which was beautifully tranquil and as we arrived at lunch time, we headed into the Mill afterwards and joined one of the tours with a group of French friends who wouldn’t stop talking mid afternoon. They walked us through the process step by step, explaining that they had actually paused production for the afternoon as it was simply too hot for them to have the furnaces on in addition to the heat – to be fair they do heat to 500 degrees, so understandable. All of the Almonds, hazelnuts and Walnuts are locally grown and the process – depending on the nut, can take between 1.5hrs and 3 hrs to grind the nut and produce the oil for approximately 35kg of nut.

Feeling educated in the nut milling process, we were then offered 6 different oils to taste, and bought some of their walnuts and flours before walking up the road to pop into the Caviar farm.

We had no idea that this area was so full of culinary delicacies, but it is apparently a bit of a food destination, with Perigueux at the centre of it. The caviar farm was incredible, and also offers tours and lunches, but we decided to save this one for a future visit and simply bought some smoked Sturgeon which was delicious.

The whole area is beautiful and we would like to come back and visit again to do it justice. Neuvic, which is the little local town looked wonderful as we passed through it and the walking and cycling routes were abundant. So, we have added it – and a couple of the incredible sounding restaurants to our list to return to and visit.

We had hoped to stop at Perigueux to take in some of the culinary delights, but having read some of the reviews for the Aire and due to the heat meaning we wanted to leave windows open, we decided it wasn’t worth the risk and instead, this time would pass it by.

Therefore, we headed up into the hills a little more – approximately 550m, so quite a bit to be fair – to Ussel, where we found a lovely Aire by a lake, where we had a nice breeze as well so could cool down a little, restock the fridge as there was an excellent Intermarche, and visit our first restaurant in a while for lunch….Cafe Ventador. All in all an excellent little stop off point.

It is fair to say that Keith’s meal was slightly more indulgent than mine, and in the true French style oozed butter, cheese and cream wherever possible – but mine was still delicious and the restaurant was incredibly accommodating.

After a couple of days of tranquillity and slightly cooler weather, we moved a little further east, following our new route where Keith had found a lovely Aire by the side of the river in Moulins. Once again there was shade, a breeze, good walking and cycling …. and a great market which helped us soak up a few days of heat until the storm came and the weather finally broke.

Talking of storms….. we have been cooking up several… well, possibly not a ‘storm’, but as always, we have been enjoying our food to the full and changing some of our existing recipes to adapt to my ‘ intolerances’, whilst ensuring that every meal is full of flavour and nutrition. It is amazing how creative you become when you love your food so much and need to adapt for one reason or another. Our incredibly flavoursome Chilli, which used to be completely Vegan using cacoa to provide the depth and flavour, had previously been adapted to use Tempeh, and now more recently we have tried it with one can of kidney beans and any firm fish – like monkfish or a good chunky white fish. Our Spinach and mushroom tart, which used to also have black beans, now has prawns or trout…. which adds another dimension.

It does really make you appreciate that the only limitations to a diet and restricting flavour are in your head – as when there is a will, there is a way.

New recipes however – as in completely new – and delicious are as follows:-
– Gluten Free Pittas – which are not only incredibly easy to make, but also pretty tasty
– No Bake Almond and Walnut Brownie with optional Ganache topping
– Fudgy Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie

The only issue now that we have so many varieties of no bake (and also baked) brownies – is how to choose between them…. I feel a bit of a bake off test coming on soon!!

I know its a long blog, and we have done a fair bit of hopping – so just to ensure you can get a picture of where we have been I have added the map below….

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May 11, 2026

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Back on French soil…. 11/5/26

It is lovely to be in France again with all their lovely markets and fresh seasonal products…. I don’t know why, but they just seem to do it so much better than we do in the UK.

As you can see we have done a reasonable amount of travelling – well, for us anyway – and time has flown by as always, and somehow, we have already been away for nearly three weeks. We really didn’t have a plan this time, apart from stocking up on wine and olive oil which meant heading anti-clockwise towards the Medoc/Bordeaux areas, so our first stop this time was St-Valery-Sur-Somme….always an absolute pleasure, the views out onto the Somme are spectacular, no matter what the weather or the time of day. There can be mist rising from the water, moody grey clouds, or bright blue skies – just the views of the estuary with the changing tide combined with the higgledy-piggledy abandoned fishing boats and the beautiful architecture make me smile every time we come here.

It was however just a two night stop to lick the windows of a few patisseries – these new gluten and dairy intolerances mean that these are definitely a thing of the past for me …. for now at least – and stock up on all those things that we ‘shouldn’t‘ bring into France, so try to minimalise. We then decided to head to Honfleur to take in our first French market of the trip as well as being honoured by seeing possibly the highest costing Insurance Rally in France….The largest French Porshe ‘get togetherwith approximately 500 Porshe of different styles and ages, all parked up under the wheel…quite a sight!

Having not been to Honfleur for quite a while – and only ever visited Deauville and Trouville once before – we decided to get on the bikes and cycle over there as well as we couldn’t remember too much about it, apart from it being quite a ‘wealthy’ town and having loads of fish stalls and restaurants.

It was a beautiful cycle ride along the coast and up over the hills and we were really pleasantly surprised by the feel of both the towns… and although we didn’t know before hand, we happened upon the local market day in Deauville which was great…..shopping wise, it is definately the ‘Bond Street’ of the North of France…. quite a unique place – in a nice way – and a lovely feel to the town overall. We won’t leave it quite so long before we come back next.

We decided to put in a quick call to Mary and Melvyn, friends who live in Bagnoles de l’Orne, where my parents used to have the house, and they were going to be home for the next few days so we did a little detour to meet them and check up on the sleepy town as it is so beautiful. It was lovely to see them, catch up on all the news as well as be introduced to their new favourite French Bistro before moving on again slightly further south, back to La Fleche.

La Fleche has both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ memories for me….The ‘good’ – are very good, as they are the restaurants and the market, the ‘bad’ being where my problems all started 18 months ago with a running injury which turned into a little more.

La Fleche is one of those little hidden gems that is still quite ‘local’ but appears to have a very high quantity of culinary delights, from local produce to excellent restaurants, serving everything from ‘proper home-cooked food’ through to ‘Gastronomique’ and ‘Gourmand’. We followed our noses and found a lovely artisanial chocolate shop, where we bought a couple of bars to see whether they, like many other chocolate at the moment, trigger any issues. We are starting to get to know alot more about chocolate and especially the taste profile of 100% cacao.

Naturally, we also headed back to one of our old favourites La Table de Lauren to eat delicious home cooked bistro food. Not quite the same for me as previously, but they were still pretty good considering. Keith, once again enjoyed the flavours to their full, including the delicious baked Alaska for desert.

After three nights of tranquility – as the Aire is out by the lake – we moved further south on the Friday to Nantes for the long weekend. France, as you would expect, takes full advantage of any time to take a day off work and May specifically, has a lot of ‘Bank Holidays’. Like every other country in the world apart from the UK, France takes the ‘date’ off, rather than shifting the holiday to the Monday… so in May we have 1st May (Labour Day), 8th May (Victory Day in Europe), 14th May (Ascension Day) and 25th May (Whit Monday)…any excuse, but they do lose the days holiday if it falls on a weekend.

For this reason though, we had decided to book into the campsite in Nantes as we were concerned about lack of space and fancied re-visiting the Elephant and seeing how much the city has changed since we came last, just under 12 years ago.

It was dryer that we expected on Friday and Saturday – but the heavens opened on Sunday, in proper ‘April Shower’ style. Really heavy downpours for about 10 minutes at a go, during which we were luckily enough each time to find somewhere to dive into so we managed to stay mostly dry. It was a good re-visit and we explored both on foot and bike, the campsite is great, and the Elephant and Jules Verne ‘Ile de Machines‘ is still as spectacular as ever!

It will probably be another 12 years until we come back again though, but if I had my time again at university studying French, I would be looking to come to Nantes.

With the weather still looking a little ‘changeable’, we decided to head to an area we hadn’t ever been to before on the coast and found a little town called ‘La Baule Escoublac’, which was developed for Parisians to explore the seaside when they selected it to put in a train line for easier access in the late 1800’s. It later was developed based on the ‘Deauville’ concept as a Victorian seaside resort, but although the architecture is very similar, and it definately shows alot of signs of being another ‘affluent’ area, it doesn’t quite reach the levels of Deauville. A nice balance of beauty, elegance and tranquility with what appeared to be a good selection of shops, cafes and restaurants as well as a long, long beach. A great little stop for a few days.

Another little short hop along the coast and we found ourselves in a place called La Pree, just outside Prefailles where the sun was shining, enabling us to catch up on some washing…boring stuff, but it still needs to be done!

The area was beautifully tranquil once again with just the bird song to keep us company. Although we are sure it would get busier as the season goes on as we left on the Friday of the bank holiday weekend and by Thursday night it was obvious that there were more people arriving at the coast.

The walking was just as we like it, dishing up miles and miles of rough and rugged coastline, although not as many hills as we are used to in the UK or even slightly further north in Brittany.

Wanting to take advantage of another French market to restock the fridge, we had found a little town called Challans where, although it wasn’t their weekly ‘outside’ market, they appeared to have a good sized ‘Les Halles’ which is the indoor market that has stalls every morning and Saturday was no exception. It was an excellent ‘Les Halles’ with a huge variety of producers from fishmongers and local vegetable producers, through to cheese stalls…. enough for us to restock for the next few days at least, and another location that we will add to our list to come back to if passing through the area. A great little town with an excellent variety on ‘normal’ shops and restaurants.

We have been cooking as always, but only really ‘tweaking’ existing recipes instead of searching out too many new ones at the moment. Except for an unusual sounding ‘Carrot Cake Flapjack’ that popped up on one of the wholefood suppliers we use which Keith tried, then adapted to use quinoa flakes instead of oats for me, and it is a lovely. The quinoa flake version is more dense as they are far finer than oats, but if you can eat oats the texture does give that additional flavour/texture combination boost.

…and of course the map, just so you can see where we are and where we have been these last three weeks.

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April 23, 2026

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Back up to the Lakes…and no surprise, late in posting the blog! – 23/4/26

After 5 nights back at the farm catching up with friends and family and taking advantage of a Wine Society ‘tasting’ event, we hit the road again and headed up to Leicestershire to catch up with Gail, a friend who lives near one of our favourite little CL’s – Orchard Views, just outside Lutterworth.

It is the home of Wind Turbines … or at least that is what I think, as they are like giant ballerinas on every rolling hill you look at in Leicestershire. Personally, I think they are beautifully, simple, structures…almost pieces of art – especially when they have a lovely backdrop of bright vibrant blue skies and fields full of rapeseed, but I do appreciate that if you have them in your back garden you may well not feel the same. However, wind turbines, yellow posts for footpaths and the huge quantity of distribution centers summarises Leicestershire for me…. perhaps I need to get out more!

Despite Keith and Gail’s miscommunication – Gail drove all the way down to Holyport to see us before us realising – we had a lovely catch up and dinner, got woken by the Donkeys and then got on the road again to head up to Kendal for a few nights where we had booked back in at the Club site just outside town by the farm shop.

The campsite had only just opened for the season the previous weekend so it was busy, everyone obviously wanting to get the walking season going – albeit that the weather wasn’t looking quite as good as the last couple of weeks has been. It is a great campsite, like many others as they have lots of little wooded cul de sac’s holding 4 or 5 caravans/motorhomes so that no-one feels on top of each other and it doesn’t feel big, or over-populated.

The weather was definately better than it was last autumn when we came – although it was pretty poor on the Tuesday. So we walked into Kendal on Monday and had a look round to accompany coffee and cake, then on Tuesday took a taxi in to have lunch at Babaganoush and do the shopping….we love Booths – it’s almost like Waitrose – but the products are even better!

Babaganoush has two cafe’s – one says it is more of a soup kitchen, but only does vegetarian food, the other has some meat and fish too. All the food though is home made, plant lead and rusticly delicious. Keith and I had quiches, salads and soups, followed by a Bakewell tart type slice and a carrot cake….our kinda food!

From Kendal, we headed back over to Cartmel where we had booked back in at Valley End CL, once again a great site, nestled amongst the beautiful countryside – well situated for walking into Cartmel, or up and over into the hills to look down on the lakes.

It is a beautiful area – even nicer when it is dry – but the real reason we came was to visit Rogan & Co again in Cartmel. We had such a lovely meal and experience last time we visited, we decided to come back – and it was every bit as good as the last time.

Every plate was perfectly balanced and full of flavour, even my version of the meal – it is fair to say that not only do they serve excellent food, they also do a good job with dietary requirements.

Needless to say, that will probably be the last visit for a while as we do really prefer slightly more rustic, hearty food to the ‘haute cuisine’. Always good to have in the back pocket though if we are passing this way!

Heading south again to get home before the general rush for the Easter holidays, we found a very basic campsite run by the Forestry of England inside Cannock Chase Forest. The area is great for walking and mountain biking and despite being cold, wet and having no facilities on the site apart from running water and a place to get rid of your waste, it was surprisingly busy. I guess it was the first weekend of school holidays, but it was lovely to see that there are still hardcore families and groups of friends who like to get out in nature and make the most of it… BBQ’s, tents and all!

The area dedicated to camping was an old station platform and trainline which was put in place in WW1, and since has been used for the large felling trucks – perfect for a motorhome of our size and weight to park up on… and so, so peaceful!

We got some good walking in, and the sun even came out a little – it is definately one that we will come back to and explore further.

We headed back to Holyport after the weekend and have been hanging low, seeing family and stocking up the store cupboards before we headed off to Europe earlier this week.

We went back to the London Street Brasserie, and also The Crooked Billet (Pictures below) – both of which were excellent,. Keith had an incredible salt beef sandwich with hash brown for his main, and yes, a slightly quirky take on the cheeseboard for desert…. hot cross bun, cheese, chutney and apple!!

We also tried out Skindles on the river in Maidenhead – which if you want a beautiful location, is definately a good choice. The food was good, but some – not all – of the portion sizes were questionable for the price!

We have been cooking a little too with some good results..
– Two halve loaves, GF Sourdough and Spelt Sourdough in one tin….both of us managed to have bread, Keith was the old style but in loaf tin instead of rolls, full of nuts and seeds, mine was the GF option just with a few added pumpkin and sunflower seeds. It worked really well!
– Roasted Aubergine Traybake – One of the best ‘umptious’ one pot dishes we have had for ages. Full of flavour and texture… a hug on a plate!
– Gluten Free Gnocchi – with lemon, peas, artichokes
– Apricot and Banana Flapjack – really simple but deliciously tasty
– Chocolate, hazelnuts Scramble – not what you’d expect, but apparently very good and packs a punch in protein
– Sundried tomato. Olive, Almond and Walnut Biscotti – Deliciously crunchy savoury version of the biscotti biscuits using ground almonds instead of flour
– Lime and Coconut Rice Pudding – rich, creamy and tangy
– Lime and Mango Rice Pudding – a different take on the rice pudding, less rich, but full of flavour too
– Mocha Muscadavo Brownies – a truly umptious brownie, with bite and goo… just how it should be!

We have headed off again this week to France, but to keep the blogs seperate – and as I am so late again in getting this out – the map for the last trip is below…. watch this space for the next one!!

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March 18, 2026

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Bracing the storms…. 18/3/26

Leaving Holyport behind us once more, we worked our way South and West, back to one of our favourite little Dorset towns – Buckfastleigh. It is a little bit of a strange place with not a huge amount going on, but for us it is close to Riverford Field Kitchen, Buckfast Abbey, and also home to probably one of the best ‘Aladdins Cave’s’ of Organic stores called ‘The Seed’. The Seed is run by the community and not only stocks lots of Riverford organic fruit and veg, but also other local supplies… including – as I mentioned last time – the best little bites of chocolate deliciousness that Keith doesn’t make himself!! Tuesdays purchase was a Hazelnut Chocolate Tiffin-like cake, with a chocolatey biscuit crunch base, a hazelnut butter mixed in with a chocolatey brownie in the middle, then topped with dark chocolate and a few more hazelnuts. Such intense flavour combinations, we would have bought more of her delicacies when we popped back in just before we left Buckfastleigh, but they had run out and deliveries weren’t due until the afternoon. Although, I still can’t eat most of them for one reason or another – it is still clearly just yet another reason to keep coming back until I can!

The real reason we stop here, and how we found Buckfast and Buckfastleigh in the first place, was to go to Riverford Field Kitchen – which once again, delivered on all levels. The walk from the Tea Plantation – where we stay – is beautiful, climbing up over the hills and then back down again, whilst weaving in and out of the increasing number of Riverford organic fields. Currently the route is lined with curly kale which is in full bloom in some fields, cut in others just leaving some alien-like stalks sticking up in a weirdly linear manner.

Lunch was as delicious and as varied as the landscape was beautiful. The restaurant was full with a lovely buzz of an athmosphere, and the dishes celebrated the best produce of the season – squash, courgette, aubergines and blood oranges as well as some of the Riverford Organic Porchetta. A true celebration for the tastebuds.

Staying only a couple of nights, we moved on from Buckfastleigh to Tavistock on Dartmoor – apparently the home and birthplace of the Cream Tea, birthplace of Sir Francis Drake, known for its Goose Fair and also one of the wetest places in Britain. The Goose fair – just in case you were curious, has existed since 1116 and traditionally it was an opportunity to buy your Goose with plenty of time to fatten the bird before Christmas… I think that is the old version of what we now call ‘ripen at home’!!!

We were staying about 3 miles out of Tavistock just inside the national park at the Camping and Caravan Club site which worked really well, enabling us to walk in the National Park, as well as through it to get to Tavistock itself.

As the weather was completely changeable – varying from misty and mysterious one day, to beautiful sunshine and clear blue skies the next – we benefitted from complete change of scenary which left us with that feeling that our time was over far too quickly and that we will be back for more – four nights just wasn’t enough to enjoy the moors, neither was it enough time to try out all the local eateries, as there are some fantastic ones!

As Monday morning arrived, we braced the weather and moved on to Launceston where Keith had found a small site on a farm and fishing lakes about three miles out of the town itself.

Unfortunately the weather didn’t do it justice, and it is fair to say that it looked a little drab and run down as we drove in. Everything was saturated and muddy and although the road wasn’t too busy, there were high hedges for the best part, so not very walker friendly at this time of year – although I am sure that once everything dries out it would be great as there are lots of footpaths across the fields.

Not wanting to be stopped, we donned the waterproofs and headed the 600m up the road to the garden center which had really good reviews – and to be fair, it was fantastic. A great ‘local’ farm shop and butchers and a lovely cafe which overlooked the rolling hills and valley – apparently, as we couldn’t see much further than a couple of hundred meters!!

The following day, we jumped on the bikes and headed into Launceston itself – definately the safest way. The sun had come out and after a short walk around the fort grounds and town, we sat in the market square eating our buddha bowl picnic lunch and people watching whilst enjoying the sunshine. We then found a fantastic cafe – Liberty Cafe – to have coffee and cake before finding a far prettier and quieter route to cycle back.

Launceston was definately better than we thought when we arrived, but it isn’t somewhere we would be rushing back to in the near future.

We had cut our stay in Launceston short, and moved on to Exmouth to enjoy a bit of the seaside. Stopping off at Darts Farm en-route. If you haven’t ever been and are in the area, it really is worth a visit whether simply to stock the cupboards, pick up some cakes and bits from the butchers or deli, or to eat in the cafe – just an all round fantastic farm farmshop with lots of local produce….and it has a big enough car park for us, although it’s a feat how they have segretated the spaces!!

Although Matt and Jon – our friends who live locally – are away at the moment, we figured we didn’t need an excuse to spend couple of nights of tranquility, taking in the Sea air, eat some lovely fresh seafood, and listen to our friendly owl who lives in the wooded area behind the Aire.

In addition to raiding the local fishmongers and finding a fantastic Italian deli/cafe, Matt and I had previously talked about a restaurant that had excellent reviews – La Mar – and incredibly, we managed to get a table and they were happy to deal with my dietary requirements at the last minute…. must have been fate!

The food was excellent, demonstrating local produce to its best. From Pig cheek to Scallops and Halibut to Gurnard…. a truly delicious meal. However, we have now also confirmed that Shitake mushrooms really are the devil for me…. not great, but not their fault, mine … and they were absolutely delicious!! We will be back for more….sorry Jon and Matt – being out of the country doesn’t mean that you have escaped from seeing us completely!

After a lovely morning walk/jog along the seafront we moved on again on Friday. We had heard alot about ‘Hunters Moon’ Campsite in Wareham and this time managed to actually visit. Keith’s sister and husband have been here a few times, along with another few friends, and as it is nestled in the middle of woodland and nature reserves we thought it was worth exploring. As it turned out the forest and nature reserves are actually Bog’s – albeit, very beautiful and tranquil bog land – but this meant that they were very, very wet following heavy periods of rain!!

The first walk out to explore the surrounding area left me with a rather wet and smelly foot, having sunk into the flooded and sinking path – I think, despite it being very beautiful it is one of those places that if you want to walk from the door, it is best left to the drier months of the year or donning your wellies!

The campsite is about 3 miles outside Wareham, and if you walked along the road for about 600m you arrived at an entrance to the woodland that gave way to the Silk trail and that was fine – but not one to be done if you have dogs or children as although the road wasn’t really busy, it was busy enough during the day and there wasn’t a huge verge to step onto if a vehicle passed. We took the bikes into Wareham though, and walked a couple of routes from there as well which were lovely, stopping at the Salt Pig for coffee and cake. A great little coffee shop and butchers where Keith had an enourmous slice of the most incredible chocolate croissant and butter pudding… where even the lady who worked there said he wouldn’t need to eat that night….. oh how she was wrong, but he was pretty full!! Once again though, we are glad we came but it isn’t somewhere we will rush back to as there are so many more places to see.

After Wareham we had another few days back in Burton Bradstock where we were blown about a little whilst battling with the storm, but still made it back into Bridport to the market to stock up on fresh fish, veggies, some locally made sourdough and enjoy lunch at The Soulshine Cafe. Still a lovely town to visit for foodies and we will keep coming back when passing this way.

This however led us to our last stop of the trip which was to try out the River Cottage Kitchen and a Long Table Lunch on Sunday for Keith’s Birthday. River Cottage is Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall’s cafe, restaurant and school, and the Long Table lunch basically means that all guests sit together on two long tables sharing dishes, encouraging conversation and interaction between strangers – young and old. Their ethos is based around seasonal, local, organic produce and lots of fermenting – from kimchi’s and sauerkrauts, through to Kombucha, breads, yoghurts and cheeses.

With the lunch looking appetising and inviting, we had found Monkton Wyld Camping and Caravan Clubsite as it was well placed to get to River Cottage as well as into Axminster, Charmouth and Lyme Regis. The campsite was lovely and the views out over the surrounding areas were stunningly beautiful – possibly something to do with the ‘extreme’ hills surrounding us as no matter which direction you turned, the land fell away!

As the weather was beautiful on the Saturday, we decided to walk in to Axminster, taking a picnic lunch with us to fully appreciate the views and beauty of the surrounding area. We had visited Axminster once before years ago whilst on our way back from walking part of the South West Coastal path and happened upon the River Cottage Kitchen Cafe when it was based in Axminster itself, but don’t remember much more about it.

Axminster looked a little tired, with lots of charity shops and other empty units, although it did have a very good organic deli and food store and a little hidden gem … The Waffle House

Riverford Kitchen had moved out a few years ago, but weirdly above where it used to be was a community hub and cafe – a place for young and old to meet, drink coffee and eat waffles. It is run by volunteers and has an area for hot desking, another for games, encourages older and younger generations to mix and talk, as well as people on their own to come and chat to someone in a relaxed environment.

We popped in after we had had our lunch and the staff were welcoming and there is a lovely looking menu. The coffee is great – locally roasted – and the cakes and waffles looked delicious too, but for those who can’t afford to pay – they offer a safe place and toast and drink for free.. A truly fantastic concept, one well worth investing time and money in as it obviously works – just a shame there aren’t more places like this as we would be frequent visitors.

On Sunday morning it quickly clouded over and the rain was looming, but we donned the waterproofs and headed towards River Cottage for lunch. The rain held off until we were just entering the barn and the walk was lovely – albeit along a road – taking in once again very different views from what we have had the last couple of days.

We were told to find our place names on the table and I quickly found that I was sandwiched between two lovely ladies – an 82 year old lady who had been brought out for lunch as a treat for mothers day by her son and wife – an ex-chef, and another who was with her husband, both on the cusp of fermentation and exploring local, season and fermented foods further. The concept of a shared dining experience is great, the food however, was a little disappointing – lacking in flavour and texture which is a shame, perhaps we had just set our expectations too high. Oddly, the nicest part of the meal was Keith’s lamb which came from Riverford Field Farm – Quite ironic really! Glad we came to try it but for a place that does such a large amount of fermenting – it didn’t really come through in the dishes as there was a small pot of kimchi to share on the bread board, and Keith had some Labnah (fermented yoghurt) with his starter, but that was it. Needless to say the walk over and back and the setting were beautiful, despite the weather!

Enough of eating out though as we have also been cooking up lots of old favourites, in between which we have managed to find some time to squeeze in a couple of great new recipes to add to our repertoire:-
– Sunflower Sourdough Bread (Gluten Free) – The first gluten free loaf that I have made in a tin in the Remoska and its actually pretty tasty….but could still kill a duck!
– Seafood Moqueca – a really quick and simple dish with huge flavour that can be made with whatever fish / seafood you have. Great with rice or a chunky bread to dunk

…and of course we have the map.

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February 26, 2026

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….Breaking in the New Year gently….. 26/2/2026

So, I had hoped to prove that I can update the blog in a timely manner and get an update out after our first trip away which took us to Yorkshire. But alas I failed as we came away again on Tuesday. Oh well, at least an improvement on the last couple of blogs, and you have to start somewhere, but instead of overlapping I have only included our trip up North here.

Following an extended period back at the Farm, we finally headed back to Yorkshire to enjoy some of our favourite eateries and beautiful countryside. We had planned to do this trip back in January, but when the snow started to fall and the blizzards came in – we thought it best to postpone….all of our destinations however, were revisits – albeit with one at a different campsite.

First stop was of course Prashad in Drighlington, just outside Bradford – where as always, the food and service was exceptional, offering a wonderful example of elevated Indian Vegetarian cuisine with layers of flavour and spice. Minal – the Chef Patron – was also hugely accomodating with gluten and dairy dietary requirements, should anyone wish to know for the future.

It was then just a hop over to Pickering, via the farm shop to pick up supplies as they have a lovely shop with home grown and local produce as well as a butchers and cafe.

As the little campsite we stayed at last time in Pickering is all grass and the ground is still absolutely saturated, we opted to try out Westgate Carr Campsite, which is slightly further out of Pickering itself – but oh, so tranquil …unless of course you have an adversity to wildlife and particularly owls – of which there appeared to be a few!

We managed to escape with only a light dusting of snow …..along with some rain, naturally – which I think, considering the weather some of Yorkshire had, was pretty good and just gave us even more of an excuse to try out the local cafe….a few times!

Moving on after the weekend, we did a quick pub stop at The Piebold Inn again – I did warn you that it was a short, sweet, foodie trip – where Keith endulged in his favourite pie…The Cleveland – 3 cuts of beef, Beef Skirt, Brisket and Oxtail slowly cooked with black treacle, bacon, shallots, and chestnut mushrooms, apparently, as good as the first time! Unfortunately, my gluten / dairy free option didn’t quite hit the mark – but perhaps that is because I know that I, like Mr Kipling – make exceedingly good pies…. and have managed to get my gluten/dairy free pastry to new heights of flakey deliciousness thanks to River Cottage.

It’s a great set up at the Piebold for motorhomes and they even offer full cooked breakfasts… although to date, we have always eaten so much the night before that we haven’t felt inclined to book in for a full cooked breakfast the following morning!

Instead, we headed over to Bridlington on the coast, where the sun was shining and the wind was blowing up a hoolie. It did however stay dry for our short 3 day stop – or mostly at least. So, we were able to get some good walking done, buy some fresh fish and have a quick visit to Planetwise, sister of The Nut and Nettle – both incredible organic, vegan cafes serving inspirational food.
A lovely few days by the sea, you just can’t beat it when it is rough and feiry….although my photos only show it when the sun cames out!

Keith has been experimenting a little more with his snacks, with his mum being the most compliant taster along the way! And we have also found a great alternative cornbread recipe which has a fantastic flavour and crunch to it.
– Jalepeno Cornbread (Gluten Free) – easy to make and a good crunch
– Mango and Coconut Flapjacks (Gluten Free) – which are apparently truly delicious (I can’t eat oats…. so can’t be a taster on this one)
– Light Tahini Chocolate Brownie (Gluten Free) – really light and not too sweet
– Pecan and Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free) – a quick burst of flavour and protein
– Tahini and Sesame Biscuits (Gluten Free) – almost biscotti like with a lovely crunch…. one of my favourites

And just in case you’d like to see the route….

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February 12, 2026

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Happy New Year ??? 12/2/2026

Ok… I appreciate that really isn’t a really good start to 2026 and our ability to write frequent blogs considering it is almost mid – February….. I am very sorry, I have been distracted and just haven’t got round to catching up on the blog unfortunately.

I’d like to say that we have been really busy and that is my excuse…. or, if nothing else – maybe focussing on tax returns….end of January if you aren’t into that side of things…. but they were all done quite a while ago – so basically, I have just been a little rubbish!

Anyway, wiping the slate clean – I will make this one short – well as short as possible to bring us up to date. Since the last blog in November, we had a short trip down to Bath and Cirencester in the UK, before popping back over to Europe as the spring on the handle to the entrance door to the motorhome – we only have one – went. Although we could still get in and out of the motorhome, we were nervous that should it go completely, we would be stuck…. not a risk worth taking.

As we are always up for improvising, we headed back out to our trusty motorhome dealer/workshop in Belgium on 9th December and managed to squeeze in an additional stock up on wine in Berguez, and a few ‘Christmassy’ nights in Middleburg and Ghent.

We had a lovely time exploring Ghent again and found a wonderful Chocolate shop – yes, I know there are many in Belgium – but this one is slightly different – , where the family spent 5 years in India working and sourcing the ingredients to create some incredible Chocolate products. Innevitably, we bought a few bars, some Cacoa nibs, and despite it being about 2 degrees and Christmas, some Dark Chocolate ‘Sorbet’… which was delicious. Apparently, one of their seasonal favourites to make is chocolate pannetone, but you have to pre-order it…so this time, there wasn’t any left…. have to get in early for next year!

Whilst wandering around and exploring a little further we fell upon an excellent fish mongers, re-visited one of our favourite cafes, and also found a great pop-up Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil outlet to boost our supplies until we get down to France in the Spring! We will definately be adding Ghent – and the chocolate shop specifically – into our ‘pre-christmas’ route for our habitation check from now onwards!!

Door fixed, and back in the UK, we have started to eat out a little too. With a little planning and research I have found a few places that have been able to provide some gluten and dairy free options which has made it a little easier. First sucessful outing was to celebrate my nephews birthday just before Christmas at The Crooked Billet in Stoke Row. The athmosphere was buzzing and the food was excellent… I think I am going to become one of the pieces of art that age in their garden if I can get fed like this every day I’d just stay forever, so it is no wonder that the beautiful old cars have done the same!

Passing very smoothly through Christmas and out the other side, we arrive at my mum’s birthday which we celebrated on Saturday night at The Italian, La Cantina Del Vino in Farnham Common – who were equally as flexible with my complex dietary requirements…even producing gluten free Spaghetti which tasted delicious A lovely meal had by all and I think my mum enjoyed it!

We have been cooking quite a bit as you can imagine with all the complications in eating out. Keith has been busy experimenting with snacks and sweet stuff as well as adventuring out to some baking with Cornbread… always up for a challenge and incredibly supportive on this journey. Some of the great recipes we have found and adapted to our taste include:-

– Cornbread – Gluten and dairy free – A Lovely flavoursome alternative and would work well as a crust to chilli or a casserole too
– Peanut Butter Slice – Gluten and dairy free – a variation on the millionnaire crumb, but nuttier… we have also since added a layer of Chia Jam which uses frozen mixed berries and adds an extra ‘tart-ness’ which is delicious
– Cauliflower Soup with poached egg – James Martin – interestingly different soup, but you definately want a bit of bread to dunk
– Vegetable Korma – A really simple and delicious Korma that you can add pretty much whatever veg you have in the fridge to
– Cauliflower and Brocolli Lentil Dhal – a warming, comforting dhal which is full of goodness. We keep going back to it.
– Tamarind and Tomato Potato – a great tangy twist on saag aloo
– Seed Topped Lentil Cakes – Gluten and dairy free – A delicious alternative to a naan bread, and works really well the following day with breakfast too
– Apple Crumble Tarts – gluten and dairy free and a proper comfort desert.
– Cranberry Sauce – tweaked to be slightly more tart but still using those favourite ‘christmassy spices’ ….who said Cranberries were only for Christmas day??
– Carrot Cake – Gluten and dairy Free, light and moist. Well worth a go if you are looking for a gluten free alternative
– Tray Bake Dhal – Simple one tray dish full of goodness and flavour. Vegetables, fish and lentils…. what more can you ask for
– Fudgie Brownie – Gluten and dairy free and another winner… there seems to be a theme here
– No Bake Chocolate Brownie – Gluten and dairy free – If you only make one chocolate brownie/ fridge cake – this is the one. Pure deliciousness and a great combination of flavour and texture
–Buckwheat Pasta – Gluten Free and tastes great. Really simple to make and cook
– Biscotti – Gluten and dairy Free and you wouldn’t know the difference. They keep for a couple of weeks too in an airtight container… if, of course you don’t eat them all first!
– Stem Ginger Biscuits – Gluten and dairy Free ….. Oh my – the best biscuits ever!! These are incredibly light, have a good snap and full of ginger-y spice
– Carrot Ginger Parkin Cake – Gluten and dairy free A moist, winter warmer mixing the moist squidgy-ness of a parkin with the carrot cake.
– Chocolately Almond and Chickpea Brownies – Gluten and dairy free and no taste of chickpeas. – A good combination of ‘healthier’ ingredients with big chocolate chunks and nuts.
– Shortcrust pastry – Gluten and dairy Free – this one is slightly less flakey than the last recipe I posted, but full of flavour and equally as good… its going to be hard to choose which to do going forwards.

Just in case you’d like to see some of the savoury dishes we have been eating….

And of course the slightly more ‘aesthetically pleasing’ sweet ones!!

I did say it was going to be short and sweet to bring us up to date…. so, just so you can visualise our trip – the all important map!

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November 16, 2025

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A little bit of time to catch up… 16/11/25

With one thing and another time has passed us by again, not only have we arrived in November in a blink, we have already managed to get half way through it.

It’s been a couple of months of catching up with admin and motorhome bits. Can you believe that FAWKS is nearly 3 years old – we can’t – time has flown by. The good news though is that he passed his first MOT without any issues. Always a concern when you have imported a vehicle and it hasn’t actually had any previous UK based checks.

We got back from our last trip at the end of September, and very soon afterwards held the annual Macmillan Coffee afternoon at my mums. Where once again we raised a huge amount of money for the fantastic Macmillan nurses – and of course, plied my mothers friends with lots of lovely cake, scones, clotted cream and homemade jam…what’s not to be happy about!

Mid – October saw FAWKS through his MOT and service with Iveco, and as the process takes that bit longer on the motorhome we had to leave him with the garage (IVECO) for four nights. The first time in nearly three years that neither one, or other of us, have stayed in the motorhome overnight. And previously, the only occassion was during Keith’s mum’s post hip-op recovery, when Keith stayed with his mum for ten nights. It was very strange to say the least.

My brother however, was hugely accomodataing and let us stay at his. In fact as it worked out either we, or he, were barely there so it was home from home – just with a bigger kitchen and views of Windsor Castle…. which admittedly were quite nice!

We used the time (and locatoon) to visit Hughendon National Trust, make the most of Windsor – including some lovely walking in the Great Park, catch up with a few people and head to the Theatre in London, which we don’t do very often. Although with hindsight, my choice – Operation Mincemeat – was a bit average this time and although it was ok, I wouldn’t jump from the tree tops to recommend it.

I know that some of you will be surprised, but we have only eaten out twice since our last post – and bizarly on subsequent days – as I have been knuckling down and focussing on FODMAP to get on top of these intolerences.

Before I entered the FODMAP elimination stage we took my brother out for a curry, and we caught with Richard at Claro’s in London, both of whom were hugely accomodating to my already ‘known’ gluten and dairy intolerances – as well as being pescatarian! – talk about being difficult!! Claro’s was quite unusual, hosting a lovely mediterranean focussed menu which included falafel prawns which were delicious, and an incredible Bread and Butter Pudding apparently…. the latter not being gluten-free unfortunately!

In addition to our trips to London, we have also had a quick hop, skip and a jump over to Europe for the Habitation check in Belgium. The trip was originally planned to be for 5 weeks and include a quick tour of France to visit a couple of our favourite restaurants whilst picking up olive oil and wine, but we decided against it this time due to my food limitions. There will always be next year!

So, this time it was just 9 days stopping overnight in Bergues, France where I think we made the local ‘off licence’ very happy. Despite having been there a long time, his product range is a little unusual, stocking wine, beers, spirits and ciders from small producers as well as a few other artesanial food products, so compeating against supermarkets in the current climate is definately pinching him. He was however very pleasantly surprised when we bought 12 bottles of wine on the way out….and even more so when we popped back in 9 days later to buy another 6. Now we just need to work through them to see whether we want to buy then again.

Begues always works well as a stopover for us if we are heading East. This time sandwiching 4 nights in Middelburg, Netherlands – as we love it so much – and 4 nights in Rotselaar just outside Leuven for the habitation check….as well as incorporating the obligatory trip into Leuven to do our best to buy out the Vaude shop…

A short, sweet trip but enjoyable all the same. Always good to see beautiful places and we do feel like we have a 2nd home in Rotsellaar, Belgium where our motorhome dealer is. It is a bit of an unusual relationship as they welcome us with open arms like family, and even enjoy socialising with us, what more can you ask for?

As you can imagine the food journey has been a learning curve. We have been experimenting with cooking dishes that are Gluten and Dairy free, low FODMAP whilst also trying to get them to taste good! It is a bit of a quest, but we are getting there.

Although I had been doing my best to avoid dairy, gluten and oats for a little while now, it has been 4 and half weeks since I started following the FODMAP diet, cutting out all the other bits and which is another learning curve. Not only do you need to cut all garlic, onion, mushrooms (except oyster) and many other day to day delicacies from your diet, you also need to restrict portion size of everything. The latter has tripped us up more than the former, but we are getting there now.

Obviously, it has been important to also ensure that there is ample protein and a nutritional balance in each meal, which when also restricting beans, lentils and pulses has been a bit of a juggling act. We have however managed to get on top of it a little more and found that we have a good variety of tasty meals now.

We have adapted existing recipes – like soups, chilli, pie, curries, tagine, pasta dishes – including lasagne – and some desserts. Introduced new options like rice noodle stir fries, rice dishes like biryiani’s. And there are even a few of the old favourites that didn’t need to change at all like kedgeree and risottos.

Keith has managed to convert our sourdough ferment into a Gluten Free version by using rice flour originally, and now we have changed to buckwheat. Finally producing some decent subsititutes for naan bread, which is great…. he has also nailed the pancake/wraps by switching out chickpea flour for buckwheat flour… the tortillas however, are still a work in progress – albeit not as bad as the original ones!

I have also produced a ‘reasonable’ shortcrust pastry and cobbles, that although they aren’t quite the same as gluten ones, are acceptable… I will continue to work on them to see if I can improve them at all… as I do feel that the cobbles are still a little ‘squeeky’!

Some of the new recipes that we have worked on over the last couple of months that deliver on taste and are easily adapted to FODMAP are as follows:-
– Roasted Courgette and Carrot Hummus – you can switch out for any roasted veg and it is a great replacement if you don’t like or struggle with beans
– Apple and Pea Chutney (Prashad)
– King of Rice (Prashad)
– Seedy Snack Bar (Rhitrition)
– Creamy Korma (Bosh)
– Green Rice (Prashad)
– Pumpkin, Carrot and Ginger Soup (Dr Rupy)
– Round Aubergine Satay (Prashad)
– Lentil and Thyme Soup
– Layered Biryiani (Prashad)
– Millionaires Crumb
– Cauliflower Capeonata (Riverford)
– Fenugreek Saag (Prashad)

We are about to head off on a short trip away, so I plan to start the next phase of ‘Re-introduction’ when we get back… so will keep you updated and will do my best not to leave it so long for the next update!

In the meantime, our map – just in case you want to visualise the trip.

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September 28, 2025

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Savouring the culinary delights of England… 28/9

Anyone would think we were northerners as we seem to head this way whenever we can, although maybe if we were, we wouldn’t spend quite so much time up here? We love this part of the country even though it is a little wet and damp!

This time, as the trip was slightly delayed, we headed straight to a little village called Drighlington, just outside Bradford, where we had booked ourselves in to do a ‘masterclass’ at Prashad – the wonderful vegetarian Indian we found last year. The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team – Minal in the kitchen and Bobby, front of house…. a clean, slick ship with beautiful flavours.

The restaurant is warm and welcoming and we were so impressed by the food last year, we saw this as an opportunity to learn and eat at the same time and we were not disappointed. Bobby and Minal were open and friendly, sharing lots of knowledge, whilst providing a very relaxed and enjoyable day where we were well fed, learnt alot, and we even had doggy boxes to take home with us. Food aside for a minute, it was apparently the best Mango Lassi Keith has had, and the Mango beer was delicious too – I now know what to be hunting down next time I am out for a curry, or maybe we just need to stock up on it for home curry nights…as those are definately more frequent!

We cooked a lovely selection of dishes – all of which should all be reproducable at home – and being keen curry lovers (and cooks) as we are, we have already started to work our way through some of the recipes from the cookbooks we took home!

Leaving Drighlington behind us we headed further North, up into the Lake District to have a few days by Lake Coniston. We haven’t been to the Lakes for a long time, having been put off by the sheer quantity of people, so it was nice to come back again to explore.

The Club Campsite we stayed at was in 62 acres of National Trust forest. Which interprets to being beautiful, but with lots of trees and shade, so even when the sun did come out, it was quite dark. It was however, lovely and tranquil, and despite being a big site, you barely saw anyone as it was seperated out and very leafy. A great place to walk, cycle and explore and Coniston itself was sprinkled with a few lovely little coffee shops too – well it did rain a fair bit!

Until we saw their beautiful faces, I had completely forgotten that Herdwick Sheep come from the Lake District and fell in love again. They are such beautiful animals you can’t help but want to take one home wih you although Keith has been quite strict about not having pets in the motorhome! Apparently they also make a mighty fine roast…just in case you don’t fancy a pet!

A short skip and a jump back down the narrow windy roads again, and we got to our next stop which was Valley End CL, a smaller campsite at the southern end of Lake Windermere and just north of the little village of Cartmel.

We had opted for four nights here, with Rogan & Co booked on the final day. We planned to use the pportunity to take advantage of the area to get some beautiful walks in. I just hadn’t appreaciated at the time how horrendously wet and windy the weather was going to be!!

We managed to get up onto the ridge on Sunday afternoon and take in some of the views, both over the the rolling hills towards Kendal, and in the other direction out to Morecombe Bay, but they soon disappeared as the mist and rain came in. Heading back to the motorhome where we hankered down for the pending storm with Keith cooking up a curry. Although deliciously good, served without Mango Beer and Lassi unfortunately, I may just have to complain to the management, or has been pointed out to me, go and buy some for myself!

We have definetely been getting the best of all four seasons – mostly in about ten minutes at a time. Torrential rain – sometimes hail – accompanied by really strong winds, then five minutes later beautiful sunshine. Unfortunately the unpredictability of it has led to a few drenchings, but mostly we have managed to avoid them when we have ventured out.

Exploring further afield and walking has been slightly more limited than normal due to the weather. Monday was a bit of a right off and ended up being an admin day. We did however, manage to get up onto the hills and walk over into the Fell Foot National Trust area on Tuesday to lookout over the southern end of Lake Windermere which was also beautiful.

Not forgetting the reason we came to this neck of the woods – Rogan and Co. My brother had very kindly bought me a voucher for Simon Rogan for my birthday, and having looked at the different menu options at his three restaurants in the lakes, we opted for Rogan & Co, which is slightly less formal, and were not disappointed.

We had planned to walk into Cartmel on Wednesday morning to help build an appetite, then back again after lunch to walk the food off, but the weather was so bad in the morning, we opted for not turning up like drowned rats and ordered a taxi.

The food and service were excellent – despite me throwing a last minute wheat allergy at them – already being a dairy free, pescatarian, they took it in their stride, and I would say that the food wasn’t in any way compromised. Although I did sit and watch Keith devour that plate of cheese, salavating at every mouthfull, and he did say that it was excellent.

All local produce, cooked and presented to bring out the best of the ingredient. Another reason to come back to the area slightly more quickly than our last visit, and the sun did show an appearance to enable us to enjoy a leisurely walk home after lunch.

A very short hop down the road again, and a quick stop off at the organic farm, and we arrived at the Kendal Club Campsite, a lovely site just outside Kendal. The site itself is just off the main road but hidden away by the river, and the only noise was the sound of the rushing water as it was very fast flowing…. possibly due to the huge amount of rain we were having!

As we were on its doorstep, we ventured up into the National Trust grounds of Sizergh Castle a couple of times, and although it was wet and very low cloud, it was still very beautiful…. you just needed to wear wellies!

Then on Saturday, despite the rain we walked up and over the hills and along the old canal into Kendal and found an amazing vegetarian coffee shop that needs to be revisited… the cake was excellent, we just want to try more!

It is a beautiful area to explore, just unfortunate that we happened to be here when the storm hit so it was a little wetter than we would have liked. We did however still manage to get out and enjoy the area to remind us what it has to offer, getting a good taster to come back to…. and I am not just talking about the Babaganoush vegetarian coffee shop!

Last stop on this trip was Melbourne, Derbyshire where we have stayed several times as we love the area so much for both walking and eating. We had wanted to try out the Indian Street food restaurant for a while, but just hadn’t had he opportunity as there is so much choice. Last time ended up walking out to a local village pub for a Sunday lunch to meet friends – which was excellent so I am not complaining – this time however, we made it and despite my new found food restrictions, had and fantastic meal.

The food was excellent – both flavour and presentation, and the athmosphere in the restaurant was relaxed and enjoyable. Keith opted to try the Thali and is was full of flavour, although as always – the dhal a little too liquidy for our liking as we like it a little thicker! I had the Goan fish curry and we shared an aubergine side – both equally delicious and loads of fish, and despite being a Sunday night it was reasonably busy. We will be back to try more and Keith did say that the Mango Lassi was almost on par with Prashads, which is a definitely a compliment!

With a trip to the farm shop, a walk around the reservoir which is a National Trust area too, and a cycle ride into Derby, our three days soon flew by and it was time to move on and back to the farm. Such a beautiful area and you can’t not keep coming back for more!

Obviously, apart from eating at Prashad and Rogan & Co, we have been trying out a few new recipes over the last few weeks. Keith especially has been slowly working his way through the Prashad cookbooks – there are lots of recipes on our ‘to do’ list as they all look and sound delicious, so watch this space!

The following are some of the tried and tested ones which we think are delicious… not just from Prashads cookery book, but a few from other sources too.

– Aubergine and Potato Curry – A recipe from one of the Prashad cookbooks, we didn’t have aubergine so replaced it with courgette and it was delicious
– Baked Mushroom and Lentil Koftas – Originally Dr Rupy recipe, can be made as a nut roast or just patties. Simple to make and full of flavour.
– Red pepper and carrot relish – another recipe from the Prashad cookbook, lovely and fresh
– Filled Spinach Leaf Parcels – a recipe we cooked at Prashad and then recreated at home using Chard leaves.
– Bengal Coconut Dahl – we saw this on a TV programme and it looked great, so had to try it… it was delicious
– Piri Piri Tempeh Traybake – Originally a Riverford recipe with Halloumi, but works well with Tempeh. Really simple and full of flavour
– Coriander, Chilli and Garlic relish – another relish from Prashad
– Fenugreek, Chilli and Apple relish – another relish from Prashad, lovely crunch with the chunky apple
– Cool cucumber and yoghurt dip – tangy and fresh, a real winner and could be bulked out into a slaw
– Mixed lentil dhal – a very simple dhal that can bee cooked up to accomany any dish, or eaten for breakfast… very nice with the cucumber dip
– Vegan cottage pie with squash and mushrooms – a really simple and delicious one pot dish with a twist… definitely one if you like the moraccan vibe
– Sesame, peanut and coriander dip – smooth and delicately flavoured and sits well with any dish from simple fish to more complex flavoured curries

Unfortunately the glories of eating out and exotic foods – ok, I am exaggerating, anything more than basics – have once again been put on hold as I still haven’t quite worked out what is triggering the inflammation and pain. So, I have opted to go back on an ‘elimination diet’ to reset and see if I can do the reintroduction more slowly to get on top of it.

In the meantime however, Keith has become a dab hand at trying out gluten free tortilla wrap and flatbread recipes, and I’ve sucessfully made some gluten free pastry – albeit a little crumbly. Most of which are surprisingly ok, I’m not going to say as nice as our previous recipes, but we are in the early days and there is still time to evolve. I am not going to sacrifice flavour and enjoyment of food for some intolerence, I am sure that I can find good alternatives as and where required… going to be an interesting journey.

And naturally, the map of where we have been …..

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September 9, 2025

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Belated Happy Birthday – Liz…….. 9/9/2025

As organised as I think I am, time has slipped by and we have just set off on the road again and I realised I haven’t updated the blog for two months – shocking, so here is a quick update before we start this next trip.

Well, it had to be done… we headed back over to the Piebold Inn on Monday to eat more pie. Keith opted for a last minute change, selecting The Paso Fino (A carnival of spices and citrus fruits), which was ‘Diced pork shoulder slowly braised with red onion, chillies, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes in a Caribbean jerk sauce topped with roasted sweet potato and cheese mash’ …. another corker, although not quite as good as the Cleveland Bay. It is fair to say that when the marker is set so high the first time, you are always going to struggle to find something to beat it!

I was a little dull and went for the Tokara Pony again, and it was delicious but we both said that the pastry wasn’t quite as crisp. So, we reckon that Monday lunchtime is probably not the best time to go as they are finishing the pies from the weekend – there was a depleted choice too – and you’d get fresher ones from Tuesday onwards…still well worth coming back to though!

We popped back into the local delicatassen as well before we left, which is exceptionally good and were introduced to a Yorkshire Curd Tart. As I can’t do dairy, Keith sacrificed himself and said that it was refreshingly not too sweet and very nice….. basically a not so sweet custard tart with currants in it!

This last trip was all planned around Keith’s mum’s birthday. So, after a few nights in Bridlington, enjoying the rugged coastline and more delicious, freshly smoked mackeral, we did a bit of a skip down into Lincolnshire to go and meet up with the ‘Anderson’ Clan to celebrate.

This year was the big ‘8-0’ and everyone had decided to meet up at Keith’s brothers in Kirton Lindsey for the weekend to celebrate. Paul and Carly laid on a huge spread on the Friday night…. where I am not sure who was more excited about the cake… Liz or Reya, we went to the local pub (The George) on Saturday – which was excellent as always – then randomly, to a garden center for brunch on Sunday…. which, despite many an uncertainty, was very good!.

All in all, I believe a happy mother-in-law…. and Paul and Carly were probably glad to see the back of us all to make way for the arrival of Koko, the new puppy the following day!

We have been back at the farm for the summer, mostly through choice, partly through a flat tyre …which to cut a long story short, turned out to be a cracked Alloy.

We had planned to get on the road again 10 days ago, but it was one of those issues that ended up being more complicated than we thought to resolve and as everything was ‘unkown’…and in true european style, Germany was shut for August, getting answers meant jumping through hoops. I am happy to say that we now have a temporary solution though, and a new alloy on order from Germany!

In regards to the back, I’ve had a little bit of a relapse unfortunately – not sure if it is due to the change of HRT medication, or otherwise, but about ten days ago I ended up in A&E thinking I had fractured something else as it was so painful. Thankfully, nothing else is broken – and having reverted back to the previous HRT medication, the pain is starting to subside – but the XRAYS showed that it isn’t healing as well as it should be, which motivated me to take the decision to go back and see the Rhuematologist and take the recommended medication. There is no ‘right’ decision, but I want to put myself in the best possible place to have stronger, healthier bones and enjoy life to the full.

…and finally, an update the food intolerence journey – seriously, anyone would think I am falling apart – despite keep trying to re-introduce it in different forms, dairy is still definately out….and wheat is minimalised at the moment and the Jury is still out!

We have been experimenting a fair bit recently with cooking, so I wanted to share some of the new recipes we have been making
– Coronation chickpea wraps – A new found favourite. Slightly sweet but deliciously creamy and flavoursome…best served with cabbage for a crunch
– Olive Oil Flatbread – so light and fluffy and easy to make
– Spicy Mexican Soup with Pico de Gallo – Full of flavour and really umptious, whether hot or cold
– Falafel – A new twist to the indian style ones I make
– Dr Rupy Scones – A gluten free version that are packed with goodness and delicious, whether for breakfast or afternoon tea
– Lentil and Pea Patties – Wholesome and flavoursome lunchtime snack to go with a salad
– Sticky Toffee Pudding in the pressure cooker
– Jam Sponge pudding in the pressure cooker
– Chocolate fudge cake – a tasty change to a brownie.
– Raw carrot cake – really simple and tasty snack or pudding
– Thai Gazpacho – A delicious thai spiced soup – can also be served hot if you aren’t so keen on a Gazpacho!
– Belgian fridge cake – lovely nutty, chocolately snack full of goodness

…and of course, where would we be without our map to show where we went… or possibly, just to remind me!

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July 20, 2025

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Heading North for a bit… 20/7

As my brother and I are born 10 days – and almost three years – apart, we normally have a joint meal somewhere to celebrate. This year however, we decided to do something a little different in the form of a personal chef. Not just any chef, but Matt, who – or possibly better said, whose cooking, has featured in the Exmouth posts – happens to be a good friend and, who very kindly accepted the challenge, travelling up from Exmouth in their motorhome just before they headed away on a trip… not the easiest way to prep, but it worked.

We hosted the evening at my brothers, and it worked like clockwork. We chose the menu with Matt… Deep Fried Korean Chicken – which I am told was exceptional – and Tempura Salmon and Cod to start, Fillet steak for the carnivores and Sea Bass for those who preferred fish for the main, and a Dark Chocolate Terrine to finish. Delicious food, and so relaxed, such a lovely way of doing it. No background noise – yes, we are getting old – and with the ability to move around and speak to everyone, rather than being stuck in a corner, unable to hear the conversation….we will definately be doing it again.

Matt and Jon set off to find their ferry in Harwich, and we also hit the road the following morning to a little village called Fenwick, just north of Doncaster, Yorkshire.

We had booked FAWKS into SAP for them to have a look at the emergency back up on the jacks as it wasn’t working. It was only a one night stay at a little CL where the husband and wife team – both well into their 90’s – were keeping active by growing tomatoes, welcoming motorhomes and caravans and herding unruly cats… there were quite a few. Lovely couple though, and Keith gave the trees a bit of a pruning for him too as they were a little overgrown and restricting the entrance!!

SAP found that the wiring had disconnected at the back of the ‘brain’, so by late afternoon we were on the road again and decided to pay a visit to Selby as it was just a short hop, skip and a jump away and there seemed to be a nice CL that had one pitch left.

Stockin Green Farm is family run Cattle farm (as well as a CL) – both dairy and beef – currently right in the middle of calving… they were expecting 50. The location was tranquil and very close to the Trans Pennine Way if you are into cycling.

The walks were lovely and had a calming feel about them albeit a little ‘Lincolnshire – like’… i.e. could have done with a bit more roll in their hills. Selby however, isn’t much to write home about but the walk across the airfield and along the canal was pleasant enough…. I even got a swim in at the local pool, which was a bonus.

Thinking of our stomachs, as always… we moved on to The Crooked Billet just outside Tadcaster, a pub that allows motorhomes to park over night, that Keith had found. They are known for their Giant Yorkshire Puddings… and when in Yorkshire …. it would have been rude not to!

I unfortunately have been suffering recently a little as mentioned in my last blog, and have still been trying to work through food intolerences, but we have now pretty much narrowed it down to dairy…. so Yorkshire puddings are currently off the list for me. I did however have the most incredible Salt and Pepper king prawns and calamari to start which helped compensate a little… Keith, however went for the Steak and Kidney stew in the Giant Yorkshire pudding… and it was definately ‘large’. Needless to say, he didn’t have the Yorkshire pudding with gravy and extra yorkshire pudding on the side to start, nor did he have the Yorkshire pudding stack for desert… apparently, despite it being pretty good, there is only so much Yorkshire pudding a man can eat!!

The pub is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it was busy.. unsurprisingly. The area is very picturesque, and the weather obviously helped, enabling us to get out and enjoy some of the beautiful rolling hills and whilst out, we even found a small honesty box farm shop to get some bits from…always a bonus!

After a peaceful night and lovely little morning walk accross the fields – although my hay fever says otherwise – we moved on again to Gateway to the Moors Campsite which is just outside a small town called Kirkbymoorside.

We were getting good use out of the BBQ as the weather has been so warm and dry, a bonus for us but I am not sure the farmers have harvested their crop this early for a while. We knew the rain wasn’t too far off though… we are in Yorkshire, so rain was to be expected at some point, but happy to take advantage of it while it lasted!

There appeared to be an abundance of local produce available so, just after lunch we cycled up to an organic honesty farm shop where we bought lots of greens, then round the corner to an organic dairy shed where we filled up our bottles with milk….unfortunately we had already picked up eggs from someones farm as they too, were also plentiful!

The fields were golden and beautiful and despite having multiple photos of hay bails, I couldn’t help myself but stop and take another….we have obviously been staying on the farm way too long now, and it is becoming part of us!!

We explored the area a little more – cycling out to another farm shop for a coffee and cake the following day, then did a lovely walk through the fields and over the hills into Hutton the Hole, where we sat out on the green eating our picnic lunch and ice-cream…. my first Vegan Vanilla ice-cream as I am avoiding dairy, it was ok. But I wouldn’t have that one again. The Vegan Mango Ice Cream was however better… although why you would go for the Mango Vegan Ice-cream instead of a Mango Sorbet, (we make our own which is delicious ) I don’t know…. It was however a lovely walk and good to try something different!

Monday came and we moved all of 10 miles down the road to Pickering, where we had found a Camping and Caravan Club small site to stay a mile outside town. After lunch we headed out to explore and find the local farm shop, which happened to grow their own strawberries too.

Being a little lazy – and it was late in the day – we opted to buy the strawberries, along with redcurrants and some other farm grown produce and eat Scones, home made jam and clotted cream in the cafe rather than heading out to pick our own…. but those strawberries were amazing!

The rain had arrived but it wasn’t going to stop us heading into town for a little reckie. It is just one main street, but has lots off interesting coffee shops and eateries, a decent Co-op and Lidl. Pickering has also got a castle and is apparently known for its steam train that goes to Whitby.

We happily explored the area for three days, and we both even tried out the pool for a swim….a bonus!

We set off on Thursday morning, stopping briefly en route at the farm shop again. We couldn’t pass the opportunity to re-stock on Strawberries and redcurrents – the strawberries being some of the best we have ever tasted, so sweet and full of flavour.

Our next stop was another Pub Stopover, another good find by Keith, this one specialised in Pie….The Piebold Inn and had 52 different pies on offer. Some may have thought it was a gimmick and would be a case of quantity, not quality… but oh no, they would be so very, very wrong…. what a find!

The pub is set up for motorhomes, with an allocated area in the carpark for those who wish to have electric hook up, and another area for those who don’t. And having had people abuse the set up, they charged £15 without electric to park up, but you receive a £10 voucher to use in the pub for food or drinks.

We booked ourselves in and paid our fees, setting off on a beautiful circular walk to Filey to help build up a bit of an appetite for dinner… a good choice!

Thankfully we had looked at the menu before we arrived as otherwise it could have been a bit overwhelming. All of the pastry is Vegan, so a huge bonus for me as the butter could have been an issue. The pastry was delicious – and that is coming from me, who makes a pretty good vegan pastry! A good bite and full of flavour. I opted for the Tokara Pony, which was ‘Thai Red Curry with diced cod loin, onion, garlic, fresh root ginger and chillies with coconut milk. Keith had the Cleveland Bay, 3 cuts of beef, Beef Skirt, Brisket and Oxtail slowly cooked with black treacle, bacon, shallots, and chestnut mushrooms. Both were delicious, packed full of flavour and filling, even the potatoes, gravy and mushy peas were good. Possibly some of the best pies we have had outside home…. So, good in fact that we have changed our plans to come back again on Monday!

Before we left we headed into Hunmanby as we had spotted a lovely family run deli with amazing cakes…. the triple chocolate brownie was crying out for a home, so Keith couldn’t deny it a place!

We set off to Blue Rose Campsite and Countrypark, a campsite we had been told about last week, about 10 miles outside Beverley on a canal and lakes. We knew the next few days were going to be wet, but we managed to dodge most of the worst of it.

We headed out for a little circular walk, taking in Brandesburton in the afternoon before taking delivery of some locally smoked fish that I had ordered from Staals Smokehouse, a local producer that I found. Then on Saturday, as there was a bus stop outside, we caught a bus into Beverley for the day for a mooch. They had their weekly market on so we bought a few bits, including one of the nicest beetroot date and walnut cakes we have ever had (based on a carrot cake recipe), had coffee and came home to settle into a home made (by Keith) curry night.. what more can you ask for!

The weather managed to hold off until mid afternoon today, so we got out for another lovely circular walk, coming back along the canal and through Leven.

We have been cooking, but not so many new dishes over these past few weeks. The only recipes we have to share this time are
– Meditarranean Rice with Feta, Pesto and Tapanade
– Milaanj Coriander Chutney

Both of which are delicious… albeit, next time I will be switching out the Feta for something else for my part unfortunately.

And finally, the map…. a nice little tour of Yorkshire, we do love this area!