A Very Quiet Easter Weekend

We thought that our Easter experience last year was a one off, little did we know as we chomped on Easter eggs on an empty site back in 2020 that history would be repeating itself one year on! If you’d have told me back at the start of 2020 that I’d see two Easters on an empty site, I’d’ve said never in the memory of man would caravan sites be closed over one Easter, let alone two!

Anyway, here we are again. Closed. The only sounds underneath the blue skies are the tweeting of birds, squawking of rooks and the distant hum of traffic. No chatting people, no scrunching of Easter egg wrappers, no laughter, no nothing.

The weather over the weekend was cold, beautiful blue skies but with a bitterly cold wind, the odd flurry of snow and hailstones thrown in for good measure. Could the weather be anymore topsy turvy?

A very bracing walk round site, couple of laps this way and a couple of laps that way, just to mix it up a bit. Taking in the peace and the beauty. In just a week, we will be hustling and bustling as our first arrivals breathe life back into the site and all the wildlife goes running for the hedges. It’s looking good in the sunshine, rabbits once again are enjoying having the place to themselves and the nature reserve next to the site has more water in it than last year making it impossible to navigate round.

We head back for the shelter of the yard at the back of the office to sit and enjoy the sun, protected from the wind by the fence. Steaming tea, we put the world and everyone in it, to rights.

Some bright spark, mainly me, decided one of the mornings it was high time we washed the caravan. Not really a good idea, cold water and cold weather make it tough on the hands. After a few rounds of scrubbing though it came up quite well. Must say it dried really quickly in the wind.

Not being a hardy cyclist, I let The Boss spend a morning on his solo bike, a 90 mile ride in the direction of the Malvern Hills brought him back invigorated and ready for the afternoon. Actually, he came back knackered, sweaty and starving. Despite having taken pockets full of snacks he was ready for his dinner. Remember, being northern, dinner is a meal in the middle of the day. I spent the morning, busying myself, slapping butter and throwing fillings onto bread, chopping slices of crusty pork pie and trying to work out how my cardboard, Poundshop, cake stand fitted together without collapsing. Daffodils for presentation, grapes strategically placed. I was ready for when he appeared out of the shower. Even if I do say so myself, it looked and tasted blooming good.

We then spent a lovely hour backed up against the fence hiding from the wind soaking up valuable vitamin D. Close your eyes, I could almost imagine being in Lanzarote, oh how I’ve missed my winter break and sunshine.

One last walk into the Broadway, before the tourists return, was lovely. Not many people out and about, so nice to be able to appreciate where we will have been lucky enough to spend two summers, without the throngs of people you normally have to share the pavements with.

The Easter weekend was the last few days of our time furloughed from work. A time to make sure we’ve got supplies in, not sure when our next day off will be so need to make sure we don’t run out of anything. Time to make sure I’m up to date with the washing, towels, bedding the lot all thrown in. With the washing machine working overtime, I experiment with three different fabric softeners, which one’s smell is the nicest and last the longest is yet to be decided. Oh, the troubles of being furloughed. Normal worries will undoubtedly return tomorrow as we go back to work to get site ready for opening on Monday.

As our final day comes to a close, despite the weather being hit and miss all weekend, nature provides us with one last calming, spectacular sunset over the railway line to soothe our nerves as we head back to some form of normality and back to work.