A Short July Visit

 Our stay in Parkham in July was only a short one as some of our family also planned a trip down and 6 people is just too much for more than a night or so in a small cottage.  Nevertheless we filled a lot into our 6 days in the village and the weather was also kind to us. 

After a good journey down we planned to empty the food items we had brought down in a cool bag into the fridge, before having a relaxing cup of tea.  However, we found that at some point in the last three weeks the kitchen socket circuit had tripped, switching off the fridge and freezer. Whilst there was not much of value, there was enough to make a mess with thawed raspberry sorbet dripping from the freezer and one or two items of frozen fish  rotting nicely.

It took well over an hour to clean out the fridge and freezer and even then we were convinced the smell of fish was still there. It wasn't until we bought some sodium bicarbonate and put this on saucers in the fridge and freezer that the smell began to disappear.

We had previously decided that this should be a quiet few days at the cottage and we would use our time to catch up with many of our friends and also have a few lovely coast walks. After our efforts to clean up the fridge-freezer this definitely seemed like a good idea. It also meant that we could prepare ourselves and the cottage for the arrival of our visitors.

The family arrived on our sixth day having left Cheshire at around 6:00 am and we had an excellent lunch together at The Bell.  The weather was good and the children were keen to get to the beach.  As it was low tide in the afternoon we decided to visit Bucks Mills, a good decision as there was a wide area of sand .  The children spent a good hour or so standing on the rocks as the tide crept in, until they were forced to take a step back and thus  gradually work their way back up the beach.

Earlier in the day we had been to Honey’s to buy supplies for a barbecue and on our return from the beach the barbecue was lit and the sausages and burgers enjoyed by all.

By early evening the children were exhausted after their early start and busy day and were soon asleep.

The next morning we set off for home leaving the family to spend four more happy days in Parkham where they enjoyed more days on the beach, catching crabs at Appledore Quay and walking the dog in Brownsham Woods.