Gelly Babes: Teversal Treats

28^th July 2017

Making the best of the weather forecast and avoiding all roads leading to Biggin…well, Y Not? The Helens and Betty met at Teversal car park for the first walk of the day. We had planned to have a quiet stroll but excitement was just around the corner and we spied our very first GB snake!

The Teversal Treat

Luckily, Betty was far too interested in sticks ‘n’ stuff so the Helens cracked on and no more wildlife was seen. A pit-stop at the café and a quick google confirmed our suspicions that the snake was perfectly ‘armless.

Meeting up with Alison and Lynn at the Carnarvon Arms, with the rain re-starting, it was clearly obvious to everyone that the only place to have lunch was outside. Whilst waiting for our sharing platters to arrive, the rolling out of birthday present exchanges continued and it can now be revealed that Helen M’s drawers smell sweetly of roses.

The hot heads!

We didn’t have a heated discussion but there was a lot to talk about. Helen M has acquired a second home which might be handy for a Bolt-on trip for the babes. Although the site is family only, it is lucky that Helen is blessed with having many sisters!

Having properly and fully retired, Alison, now wondering how to make ends meet has taken on a newspaper round. Double shifts over two weeks should be just enough to get by. If she had become the local postie and adopted the local cat-in-the-road, she might have developed her own TV show. A pity someone got there first.

Other snippets included the laughs and lows of looking after cared ones, the thrill (or not) of walking on glass platforms high above the ground and the latest gin flavours…. Anyone for lavender? Or, smells of the Galician coast?

With the weather not looking good, Lynn bade us farewell and the rest of us set off in convoy following the blue van, arriving for our walk around the Row Ponds at Hardwick

Betty, pondering whether to risk a paw in the water

Undeterred by the rain, we found our second snake of the day

But, luckily Pegasus had got there first

And, this was when we realised that a serious error of judgement had been made by yours truly. Binoculars left in the car! Argghh! But, at least that meant we could see anything we like. Although lapwings are close to being placed on the endangered species list, courtesy of a curious incident with a blue van; at least we heard a water rail….