Birthday celebrations in Northumberland 25th - 27th September 2026

Homeward bound

We had toyed with the idea of going to Durham this morning, but with the charging issues, we decided to head home and stop for a late lunch at The Dovecote Inn in Laxton, Nottinghamshire. We'd stopped at this pub before, and it was a convenient place to have a bite to eat before continuing our journey.

I'd had a better night's sleep and felt a little more refreshed than yesterday! We showered (perhaps the worst shower we'd ever used, unfortunately), packed the car and made sure we left the cottage clean and tidy. Sophie had had an altercation last week with the owner of the Airbnb who had cancelled our April booking in Annecy, and we'd reported her in the end because of her offensive messages. We didn't want to annoy our lovely host in Northumberland! It had been a lovely, very comfortable stay in a gorgeous cottage that had everything we needed. We just didn't like the weak electric shower!

We set off at 9:00am and turned onto the A697 towards Morpeth. From here, we joined the A1 and headed for Washington Services, where we intended to charge up Olive to 100%. Even this would only get us to Nottinghamshire, though, where we'd identified another rapid charger at Blyth Services. 

The roads were good, and we had a great journey to Washington, passing Newcastle again and seeing The Angel of the North. At the services, we charged up Olive at a Gridserve charging point that was very rapid indeed. It gave us a chance to use the facilities and partake of a Greggs breakfast. We had a slight bickerfest in Greggs when I threatened to stuff a stottie cake in Keith's mouth as he kept wittering on about bringing Olive and that we should have taken the courtesy car. Sophie collapsed into giggles, making everyone in the queue turn around to see what was so funny!

Once Olive was charged, we set off, taking the A1(M) but deciding to follow the advice from Jeeves about avoiding Doncaster, where there were hold-ups. We briefly went onto the M62 towards Hull, then the M18, and then back onto the A1. All the way, we stared at cars on the road, trying to get some inspiration for our next vehicle. To me, a lot of cars look alike, especially the SUVs!

Our next stop was at Blyth Services and another Gridserve charger. We joined some hefty cars here, including a big Audi, Teslas and BMWs. It was nice to sit and relax for about forty-five minutes, giving us just enough time to get to the pub at Laxton, where we had a 2:30pm lunch booking.

We had stopped here a while ago, on our way back from the North-East, and I was keen to have a meal here again. There were already quite a few people eating, and we were taken to a table at the back of the pub.

We perused the menu, choosing roast chicken and lamb and Sophie and I shared a bottle of Portuguese Rosé, which was an agreeable 9.5% alcohol. The staff didn't appear to know what they were doing, and we eventually gave our orders and settled down to wait. We were all starving!

Sophie was looking forward to her lunch and had been craving a roast all weekend! However, when our roast chicken arrived, we were disappointed to see the promised crispy skin looking pale and anaemic... Keith had chosen a lamb shank, and our meals were accompanied by a Yorkshire pudding, runner beans, cabbage and leeks, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, heritage carrots (they looked like dead fingers), underdone parsnips, a wedge of rock-hard stuffing and extra portions of pigs in blankets and broccoli and cauliflower cheese. Sadly, the meal was disappointing, with the gravy tasteless and thin. We suspected most items had been frozen, especially the roast potatoes, which were dense and unappetising. When I think about how we turn out a roast at home, I could have cried...

We decided to forgo a pud, paid the bill and fled. We all wanted to get home now, see the cats and relax before work tomorrow. The unpacking and washing could wait!

We had a good journey home and turned off the A1 and onto the A43 at Stamford. Overhead, the skies were cloudy, and it looked like there had been rain. We made a brief stop at the Co-op at Kettering, and I bought another pack of sticky toffee pudding and custard.

Of course, there were no cats around, so we unpacked the car, put away as much as we could, and collapsed on the sofa. I had an indulgent hour watching All Creatures Great and Small, and we enjoyed our puds with lashings of creamy custard. Both cats came in eventually and were hugged and kissed!

Tomorrow it's back to reality!

Birthday celebrations in Northumberland 25th - 27th September 2026

Charge anxiety...

I did not have the best night's sleep, unfortunately. I found it difficult to drop off and then was awake several times; I have no idea why! We woke to a grey day, and before we set off, it started to rain. The poor cattle opposite were all huddled together trying to find some shelter, bless them!

View from the kitchen of the surrounding hills under a leaden sky!

We had decided to leave at about 9:30am and drive to Lindisfarne, where we were hoping to be able to charge Olive in a car park. We had about 100 miles of charge, and we were all starting to get worried about the lack of rapid chargers nearby. It had never been our intention to take Olive, and we hadn't rented accommodation with a charging point. The remote location didn't help!

Northumberland is very rural, with small towns and villages dotted about the fells, and it took us over an hour to get to Holy Island, as it's also called, along a series of narrow, winding roads. We had rain for the first part of the journey and then the skies cleared to brilliant sunshine. The scenery was staggeringly beautiful, but I had to concentrate on the challenging roads!

As we turned off the A1, we could see the island in the distance. We had looked up the tide times and knew that we had to be off the island by 1:15pm at the very latest. Getting caught halfway between the island and the mainland would be disastrous! It was amusing to see our satnav enter the sea as we drove along, passing the refuge point halfway. Sand covered the road, and there were pools of seawater everywhere. As we entered the island, we passed sand dunes covered in coarse grass. Some people had parked their cars and were no doubt hiking on the island.

This was our fifth (I think) visit to the island, and we were astonished at how busy it was. On previous visits, we had found the small village quiet and peaceful, and had even stayed overnight on two occasions, enjoying the feeling of being cut off from the mainland by the tide.

Sophie directed us to the car park where we found a small row of charging points. We had enormous difficulty hooking up to one, and had to use our own charging cable. In the end, Sophie had to download an app to use the charger, and became stressed about the whole experience. It certainly wasn't feeling like a holiday for her, poor thing.

Amid the crowds...

We could see a long line of people walking towards Lindisfarne Castle, but as we'd been there before (and there wasn't much to see), we walked into the village. I was determined to buy a bottle of the island's famous mead, and Sophie was desperate for a pint of Guinness. The streets were busy with people wandering about, with many carrying bags from Lindisfarne Mead.

We came to The Manor House Hotel, where Keith and I stayed on our first visit, and went into The Crown and Anchor pub, which was lovely and quiet. Sophie ordered a pint of Guinness, I had a half, and Keith chose a pint of real ale. We sat and chatted, and several people came in, including a couple with two dogs. It was their first visit, and they quizzed the young woman behind the bar, who said she had lived on Holy Island for eight years and loved it. I'm not sure how I'd feel about being cut off from the mainland twice a day! We were keeping a close eye on the time, as we didn't want to cross with hordes of cars!

They had a beautiful poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on the blackboard over the bar:

"The tide rises, the tide falls,

The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;

Along the sea-sands damp and brown

The traveller hastens toward the town,

And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,

But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;

The little waves, with their soft, white hands,

Efface the footprints in the sands,

And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls

Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;

The day returns, but nevermore

Returns the traveller to the shore,

And the tide rises, the tide falls."

After our drink, we walked to Lindisfarne Mead, tried tiny samples of three versions, and bought some booze! I chose a bottle of normal Mead and a liqueur, while Sophie treated us to a bottle of ready-made Negroni. I also splashed out on a new glasses case and a Christmas decoration.

The Manor House, where Keith and I stayed in 1988

We had a slow amble back to the car, found it had charged up to about 100 miles, and managed to get the charger out once we'd locked and unlocked the car. These things are sent to try us! The journey back to the mainland went without mishap, and we stopped halfway to take some photos.

Our plan for lunch was to go to Bamburgh and have something to eat there. We had been before on numerous occasions and had enjoyed eating at the pubs there, as well as walking on the beach and gazing at the impressive castle which dominates the village. It was one of our favourite places to visit in Northumberland, and we were looking forward to showing Sophie the village now that she was older.

It was a lovely journey once we'd turned off the A1, and we followed the Northumberland Coastal Route. The sea looked beautifully blue, and cars were parked along the road with people on the beach. We reached Bamburgh, and I was astonished to see how many people were about, and how many cars were parked along the road. The place was rammed! We had never seen it like that before!

Bamburgh in 2007: empty!

Bamburgh 2007

We knew there was a charging point in the car park on the edge of the village, but unfortunately, there was no space. An ice cream van was occupying two of the charging points, so we gave up and returned to the village so Sophie could use the loo. We realised that even if we had managed to park, it would have been difficult to grab a table for lunch, judging by how many people were about!

We continued to Seahouses, but it was rammed with people there as well, all of them meandering about enjoying the sunshine and partaking of the many fish and chip outlets dotted about.

We gave up and decided to head for Rothbury, our nearest town, where we knew there was a charging point in the car park of the cottage hospital. The route we took was undeniably gorgeous and wound its way up and down, around and about, through remote villages and farmhouses, with stunning views and fields of sheep and cows.

It took us a while to get to Rothbury, and we had a short, sharp argument when we arrived at the hospital, as it was a fair walk from the town, and I suggested having lunch first before going back and charging up Olive.

I managed to park on the street, and we entered the first pub we came to, The Queen's Head. It was busy and lively, so we decided to have a drink and visit a nearby restaurant for something to eat. There was a very convivial atmosphere in the pub, and we sat and did a fair amount of people-watching!

It was a short walk to Bewick's restaurant, an eatery that was run by a London chef who used to have a Michelin star, no less! The restaurant was in a lovely old building overlooking the main street and had an outdoor eating area where people were enjoying the afternoon sunshine. We chose to sit indoors and had a good look at the menu. Sophie said it was different to the one she'd seen online, and we opted for three "small plates" consisting of a Scotch egg, pâté with toast and olives. Sophie ordered a glass of Rosé, Keith had an expensive bottle of beer (£7.95), while I stuck to fizzy water.

By now, we were all hungry, and the food was delicious, but there wasn't enough toast, and the pâté was served in a fiddly little jar. Keith kept vainly trying to get as much out as he could, but failed! He also ate all the salad! How dare he! We would have loved more bread to mop up the sauce from the egg and the olives!

It looks like a lot of bread, but it wasn't!

After we'd eaten and paid the bill, Keith walked back to the car while Sophie and I did some shopping in a nearby Co-op. We bought a pizza and quiche for dinner this evening, as well as wine and beer and salad.

Hanging about!

It was then time to go and park up for a while and charge the car so we could get to the services on the A1 tomorrow! The car park was quieter now, with another car using the second charging point. Sophie had already downloaded the app and put some money on her account, so we hooked Olive up and relaxed. Keith stayed in the car to read the newspaper, while Sophie and I wandered over to a wooden bench and table and scoffed a wrap each as we were still hungry! The views were beautiful, and we could see the surrounding hills and the town spread out below us. It was beautifully peaceful, apart from the happy sounds of children playing in a nearby playground. We could see signs of Autumn everywhere, with the trees changing colour.

We had to wait over an hour to charge Olive up to 150 miles. A rapid charger it was not! Once we had reached our goal, we drove to the cottage and, to our shock, found the front door open... Luckily, nothing had been taken, and we think that the lock was a little faulty and we hadn't closed the door properly this morning. It was a bit alarming, though!

We spent the evening relaxing. Sophie and I sat outside at the front with a glass of wine until the stiff breeze sent us back inside, and I watched a Netflix show about renovating houses in Mississippi. Sophie read while Keith played games on my laptop, and it was lovely and relaxed!

Keith and I watched Unabomber on Netflix over the course of the evening, while Sophie was engrossed in her book. We ate about 8:00pm and even enjoyed a portion of sticky toffee pudding afterwards! Well, we were on holiday!

Birthday celebrations in Northumberland 25th - 27th September 2026

The long, hard slog...

We were up, showered, dressed, and packed by 8:15am this morning, and Sophie did most of the work, putting everything in the car and making a flask of coffee to drink on the journey. We had no choice but to take Olive, as I certainly didn't want to take our courtesy car with "Crash Repairs" emblazoned all over it! This meant we had to research charging stations along the way, and we planned to stop near Wetherby.

The sun was shining when we left, but we encountered cloud and a bit of fog on the A14 and M1. The traffic was heavy and stayed that way for the whole journey. I know I shouldn't compare the roads in the UK to France, but I thought fondly of the empty autoroutes in my favourite country, and the congestion made for unpleasant driving. I had to keep my wits about me the whole time! 

As we made our slow progress north, the weather worsened, and we had rain when we reached the huge services at Wetherby. We were able to grab a rapid charging station and went into the services to use the facilities, buy a newspaper and some food from Greggs. On the journey, we've been on the lookout for inspiration for my next car, and we admired a new Renault Scenic but then found out the new versions are electric only...

It took almost an hour to recharge Olive to 99%, and we set off again on the A1(M), passing Scotch Corner, Durham and then weaving our way through heavy traffic in Newcastle. Sophie had planned on taking us through the Tyne Tunnel, but Jeeves must have had a change of plan, and he took us through the city on the motorway.

Once through Newcastle, we were on a two-lane highway, and the traffic did calm down a bit. Sophie directed me to the coastal town of Amble, where we planned on having lunch at a seafood restaurant called The Fish Shack. Since Wetherby, the charge had dropped again, and we realised that when Sophie charged her phone in the car, this gobbled up electricity as well!

We found a small car park with a charging point where we had planned on powering up Olive while we had lunch, but the time limit was just one hour... We gave up on that, found another car park, but the Pay and Display machines didn't accept cards. We were starting to feel extremely fed up, but the car park next door did take cards. Strange!

We walked the short distance to The Fish Shack to find out they were full and wouldn't be able to seat us for lunch. Arrghhh! One of the staff then told us about their sister restaurant, The Boat House, which might have free tables. It was a short walk away, across a grey expanse of tarmac bordered by an inlet of the sea where rusty fishing boats were moored. It was obvious that Amble was very much a working fishing town.

I was wearing totally the wrong clothes for the weather today, and had on a short-sleeved dress. Other, more sensible people were warmly clothed in jeans, jumpers and coats. Luckily, the restaurant had a table free, and we took our seats before perusing the huge menus. Chalkboards also advertised daily specials, and the dishes were not cheap! Our choice of fish and chips was £22.95.

The service was slow, and the waiter kept apologising, even though his colleague was more interested in clearing tables rather than taking our order. Eventually, our order was taken, and Sophie and I chose a 500ml carafe of French Sauvignon Blanc to drink with our meal, while Keith stuck to lager.

The food was very good, the portions large and the batter wonderfully crispy, with succulent haddock cooked to perfection. Keith was impressed! Sophie and I shared a creme brulée for pud, and we paid the bill.

"I'm not crossing the A1!"

Before heading to our Airbnb in the village of Netherton, we popped into a Morrisons supermarket on the outskirts of Amble and charged up Olive. We bought milk and pastries for tomorrow's breakfast and then sat in the car until we had 150 miles on the clock, watching people arrive to do their weekly shopping or collect their groceries. The experience today has made me determined not to buy an electric car until the range increases and the availability of rapid chargers increases. Travelling abroad with an electric car would make for a very long journey!

We followed Jeeves's directions to get to the house, but he wanted me to turn right over the hectically busy, two-lane A1, and I refused. Cars were travelling at speeds of 70 mph, and the thought of doing this broke me out in a cold sweat. When I was learning to drive, my instructor once wanted me to turn right across a dual carriageway near my house in rush hour, and she had to use her dual controls to get me across. It has been a problem for me ever since, and I look at cars waiting to cross on the busy A43 or A14 with horror!

Instead, I turned left, and when the road narrowed to one lane, I made a right turn. We then followed a very windey, up-and-downy road to the house. It was like being on a roller coaster! I pulled over twice to let locals whizz past me.

When we arrived at the group of holiday cottages, we found someone had taken our space, so we nicked another space and unpacked the car. We were delighted with the cottage, a four-bedroom barn conversion all on one level with a beautiful kitchen, living room with log burner and views across the Northumberland fells.

Once we'd unpacked, we sat on the terrace with glasses of wine and a beer, and chatted. We took blankets out with us as it was quite chilly! In the distance was a herd of cattle (male, I think), and we saw lots more people arriving to stay for the weekend.

The sun came out and bathed the distant hills in a golden light, and we all hoped the weather would be fine for the rest of the weekend! Those hot and sunny days are a distant memory!

Our evening was spent watching BBC1 and we had no inclination at all to eat anything else!

Frustrating issues!

Today has been frustrating at work, mainly due to computer issues and I wrote down a list of things that we've had problems with this week! I asked Sophie if Mercury was retrograde, but it wasn't! I finally managed, with the help of someone from payroll, to get onto one of our systems that I need for my job, but there were still glitches that affected the whole company.

Thankfully, the day passed swiftly, and it was great to be driving home and looking forward to a three-day weekend! We are going away to an Airbnb in Northumberland tomorrow, but I haven't even packed yet or thought about what clothes to take. The weather forecast is mixed for the weekend, so it's difficult to choose what to take!

As it was Keith's birthday today, we toasted him with Champagne, and he opened his cards and my gift of aftershave (Sophie bought dinner and the wine), and he FaceTimed with Mike. We ordered a Chinese takeaway for three people, which was delicious, with a couple of dishes we hadn't tried before.  

We made plans to leave at 8:00am in the morning, slightly later than originally planned, but at least we could have a little lie-in!                                                                                                                                                                                        

Happy Birthday, Keith!!

80 years young today!

Feeling annoyed!

I drove Olive to work today, and managed to call the insurance company at 9:00am to sort out the payment. I now need to find another car quickly, but this is not the ideal week to do it! I want to actually look at another car, drive it and make sure it's OK, rather than buy it online and then take delivery.

Sophie and Keith were expecting a new tumble dryer that I'd ordered today, and I received multiple text messages, emails and phone calls from AO to say the machine was on its way. The driver seemed to text or call me every five minutes, and it was a bit over the top! I also had texts from the insurance company, so I felt frazzled! To make things worse, the owner of our Airbnb in Annecy in April texted Sophie to say she couldn't accommodate our booking any longer, as she had a long-term let. Sophie was furious and extremely upset and refused to cancel the booking, as it wasn't our fault. This was all going on while we were at work, but thankfully it happened during Sophie's lunch hour!

When I finished at 4:00pm, I took Olive to the car wash in Kingsthorpe and sprayed the front of the car with insect remover, as there were little creepy crawlies squashed on the bonnet. Back at home, I wasn't pleased with the result and had to go around with a cloth to finish it off!

Sophie was still looking frazzled with the delivery of the tumble dryer and trying to work with texts flying back and forth, so we relaxed with a drink before dinner. We looked at Airbnbs and found another one that we both loved and submitted a request to book. This one had fantastic views but was more expensive...

Dinner tonight was delicious: we enjoyed chicken burgers with salad and decided to forgo the potato wedges for once. "What? You have no potato products?!"

Hunting high and low!

Today has been fine, and I swing from enjoying this new job to disliking it! I think a lot of employees who worked for the old company feel the same! I know many people who left and bounced right back, so it's not a surprise. We are still getting used to the procedures and the way the company is managed.

My insurance company called me today to discuss the value of the car. I was expecting a battle with them, but they offered me more than I was expecting, so I readily agreed. They wanted details of the logbook, which I didn't have on me, so I would call them back after work. Before I left, I called Keith to ask him to find it so it would be ready when I got home.

When I arrived, he had the wrong one out, as I'd transferred the car into my name last January, with the blessing of my Dad. We hunted everywhere for the proper one, and I even called the repair company to check that I hadn't left it in the VW. She told me off for leaving it in the car, but I hadn't anyway, and she couldn't find it. By now, it was too late to call the insurance company back, and then Keith had a brainwave and checked the little plastic folders we take on holiday. We found it, along with the breakdown cover and the headlamp converters! Phew! One of the French laws is that you need to take your logbook with you when you drive abroad, but I have never been asked for it! I put it in my bag to take to work tomorrow, and I'll call them there.

In the evening, Keith went to see Sileby play and Sophie and I made jerk chicken pasta again. We are watching A Place in the Sun avidly at the moment and focusing on people looking for houses in France, particularly in the Charente region. We are both astounded at the prices! Just over £100,000 for a three-bedroom house with land!

Sophie went upstairs with Mooney at 9:00pm while I settled down to watch another episode of Britain's Lost Masterpieces. Keith arrived home slightly earlier this evening, so we had a quick chat about the game, and then it was time for bed. I am back at work tomorrow, as I've swapped my day off for Friday this week. It was a bit of a shock knowing I was back at work in the morning, while Sophie was working from home, lucky thing!