A Day of Unexpected Happenings

The day started off with us deciding that - rather than expected - we would come home today rather than going to see our old friends, Nikki and Elaine (who we plan to visit as soon as we can). This was because Bella has been out of sorts - off her food a bit, drinking far more and sleeping even more than usual. This was the van all packed up and ready to go.

So, we headed South rather than North. Stopped for a break and some lunch at Queenswood arboretum, where we saw lots of unexpected things, including this plaque from the International Dendrological Society.

We also saw some of their series of carvings from tree trunks. This one was of pine martens.

This one was an owl.

Found their viewpoint, with vistas over the Herefordshire countryside, and a toposcope (as such things are apparently called).

Also saw this black bear in amongst their stand of giant redwoods, along with Su's arms (and a bit of her head showing).

We pressed on, passing Hereford United's football ground.

On the road to Ledbury, with the weather getting better. Su pointed out the biggest molehill ever in this field.

Got round Gloucester OK, and pressed on towards Stroud, where we ran into roadworks-induced traffic jams. Coming out of Stroud, the clutch on the van suddenly stopped working.  Su managed to get it just off the road into the entrance to a pub.

They were very helpful, and even had WiFi! 

While waiting for the recovery truck to arrive, I took Bella off for a stroll down past this disused mill.

Some interesting street art there

I quite liked this too.

The van loaded on to the back of the recovery truck. We drove through a truly beautiful evening and finally got home (and parked quite close to the house) by about 8.30. You can guess what I will be sorting out tomorrow…

This day a year ago, Su was posting pictures from Bella's Summer holiday…