The last day of my trip away, but again a very busy one. I spoke to the kids the night before and reminded them that they needed to make Mark breakfast in bed in the morning. Well it was Fathers’ Day after all. They’d got his card a present all ready before I went. They did him toast and tea, which he was really surprised about. And they didn’t burn the kitchen down which was a bonus. Emily is very proud of the fact that she knows now how to do toast under the grill, so I’ll expect breakfast in bed every weekend now. I left my grand parents house at 9.45am as I was due to bell ring at a local church from 10am – 10.30am. So I made my way to St Luke, Farnworth. A lovely ring of 6, which is hidden at the very back on the church. It’s a very old church and was built in the late 1100’s but the bells weren’t put in til the 1300’s. I made 4 ringers which they were very pleased about. They knew I was coming, so that was a bonus.

Little ring of 6 bells at St Luke, Farnworth.

So after we’d rung for the service I got back in the car and headed for Daventry to see my cousin Jane. The drive wasn’t too bad, and I stopped half way to have a break at another National Trust place Letocetum Roman Baths. Basically this place is the remains of a load of thick brick walls, with pictures showing you what it would have looked like when it was in use in Roman times. It was fascinating, but you couldn’t spend much time there, as there wasn’t much to look at. Still it was a great place to stretch your legs and stop to have a wee.

The remains of the Roman baths.

There was also a little church up the road, St John, Wall, which I popped along to see, but they only had some very small bells which were chimed, but it was very interesting to walk round and have a look at the ruins from another angle. Then it was off to Daventry to see my cousin. Now I’ve not seen her for a very long time. I wasn’t really sure how long, but she came running up to the car and gave me a huge hug. “I promised I wouldn’t cry” she said, but she did, it was rather emotional. We worked out that the last time we saw each other must have been in 1988 when I was 14!! I’m now 40!! We sat and chatted for 2 hours, drunk tea, had lunch and went out in the garden and looked at some tadpoles turning into frogs. She’s married with 2 children who are really wonderful. We talked about all sorts and it was like we’d seen each other on a regular basis. I then left at 4pm and started on the final leg of my journey back home. It was only supposed to take me 2 hours, but you know what the M25 can be like. We came to a halt around the Heathrow junction because of a “Stranded Vehicle”, not a sign you see very often, but it was stop start until the junction where I got off. I arrived home just before 7pm, very tired, but Mark and the kids were there waiting for me. They helped me in with all my goodies, and we ordered dinner and I think I was asleep by 9pm at the latest. So that was my little trip away. I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did. I saw lots of relatives, not all, but lots. I rang at different towers, had fun at Gardeners’ World and Good Food, and saw lots of culture at National Trust places. How many miles did I travel I hear you ask, well….503.9 according to the car!! Tomorrow I’m only driving to the allotment, and no where else.