Hugs in Rawtenstall

Hugs in Rawtenstall

Apart from a short trip by our neighbour to get an up to date MOT, Absinthe hasn’t left our drive since 13th March (pre-lockdown), so it was great to blow the cobwebs off her by driving to two of our best friends’ house in Rawtenstall. It’s a journey of about 30 minutes, made all the better by some sunshine and great scenery along the Grane Road to Haslingden, then onward to Moira and Mike’s house.

The van’s looking a bit minimal at the moment, with no dashboard theme yet (watch this space) and not even any cushions or blankets. We haven’t quite plucked up the courage to go camping after lockdown, but I suspect it won’t be too long before we have a short stopover somewhere.

We were greeted by two lovely hugs from Moira – not real ones of course (we’re nothing if not compliant, something I wish I could say about everyone we know), but we were given two lovely symbolic hugs, which to be honest were perfect for a non-hugger like me. I’m from Middlesbrough, we aren’t big on hugging!

We had a lovely afternoon catching up over tea and cake, whilst Ralf pottered around their fantastic garden. We’re very jealous of all the space they’ve got.

The views are brilliant and just what we needed at the moment.

The time flew by as we caught up on the missing months since we last saw each other – we need to do it again soon.

The drive back was great too and I grabbed a couple of shots from Absinthe’s window as we headed home. I think you can tell from Alison’s expression that we’d had a great time.

Things We’ve Learned

Moira and Mike make great cakes (and Mike accomodated my request for no walnuts in a brilliant way)

Ralf will stop barking after a little while

You don’t need to drive hundreds of miles to have a great time

Our vans can be a super catalyst for meeting lovely people

We need to start getting out more