The weather has been awful. While on a normal holiday this would not be very good, when one has gone away in order to complete their thesis, it doesn’t really matter. According to the lady in the village shop, the weather last week was superb and according to the chap standing behind me in the village shop, next week the weather will be gorgeous. Good to know.
I was in the village shop restocking with food for the next few days. They had had a bit of a reorganisation. The lady behind the counter explained that I might not be able to find what I wanted because everything had changed location. She added that it wouldn’t help asking her because she had no idea either. In fact she needed me to tell her what a courgette was a couple of times.
The reorganisation was not a problem. When it comes to the village shop you just buy what you can rather than what you want. I managed to buy enough food for the next few days. We then headed off for a drive.
It’s good to have a break after a morning spent writing but when the weather is foul, that tends to mean driving around. So that was the loose plan. Rather than anything solid, we’d see a sign and follow it.
We were sort of heading to Bridport in this way when Mirinda pulled over to allow some traffic to pass her. They were clearly in a hurry to get where they were going and not satisfied with our leisurely pace, so it seemed only fair. However, as Mirinda turned left and pulled over, the cars behind us went right…towards Bridport.
In an effort to turn around we accidentally discovered a craft centre.
Mirinda went into the shop for a look-see while I walked the girls around. The photo above is of the first bit; the centre also goes around the back where more shops (including one that sells rocks) and a café beckon.
When Mirinda rejoined us she said that she’d been told that we could take the girls into the café if we remained in the conservative section. (That’s not a political statement – it was a conservative added to the end of the building.) We decided this was an excellent idea. I had a latte while Mirinda had tea. We also had some naughty cakes but I don’t think this is the place for mentioning that.
Something that does need mentioning is the fact that I seem to have an alternative life as a Dorset watercolour artist with a love of trees.
My apologies for the out of focus photograph but I was so excited I just couldn’t hold my phone very still. To make up for it, I’ve found my namesake’s blog here.
It’s a pity I’ll be in Queensland when it’s on otherwise I might have found my way to Shaftesbury to see it.
Having digested the details about the watercolour exhibition and downed my latte I headed out to check out the rock shop. It was a very peaceful, hippy type place. Sadly there were no rocks for me to buy (all very highly polished and no fossils) however I did find a lovely little obsidian toad and some incense for Mirinda.
The toad was because of a delightful ‘Warning Toads Crossing’ sign we’d seen just before arriving in Broadwindsor. The incense is because she likes making the library very smelly.
All the time we were outside the safety of Max, the weather had remained dry: as soon as we sat back in the car, the rain belted down in that soft sort of way English drenching rain does. There were times when it was very difficult to see anything on the road, let alone toads.
The rain gradually eased when, suddenly, like the inevitable avenging angel, a tractor appeared in the narrow lane ahead of us. Mirinda, calm and assured, slowly reversed into a handy driveway and let him go by. It was wonderfully unlike that time in France…
Arriving back at the cottage we met some of the neighbours (or should that be moo-bours?).
It was then back to the thesis. We’re hoping for some better weather tomorrow.
