just another morning here

Steve’s hillclimb season this year has been very different from before. In the past he’s been quite competitive, tweaking his car here there and everywhere at huge expense, etc etc.

This year, he and his dad took a smaller car (a Toyota Starlet) out and both drove the same car, in a different class to Steve’s subaru. They’ve also only done Sundays, so halving the time and cost commitment, which was good I think Steve has missed the competitive edge; on a couple of occasions when Russ couldn’t make it Steve took the Scooby instead, but otherwise he’s quite enjoyed the slightly more leisurely approach to the sport. They are now talking about ‘what we can do to the Starlet’ though

On Sunday we went up to Mamhead House, which has long been my personal favourite hillclimb venue, simply because it is so beautiful. They also have the best catering by a mile, and the central ’roundabout’ area with marquee at the start line just gives it a wonderful feel. However, sadly, the current owner is putting the estate on the market, and so it’s uncertain whether Torbay Motor Club will be able to use the venue again as it will depend on the buyer.

Anyway, it was an early start, and a long day – but the sun eventually came out and I had a lovely time sitting around, chatting with acquaintances, reading my book, and watching the motorsport. I’ve only made it to one other event this season so it was really nice to be there. We left the children at home for the day, because none of them wanted to come, but Grandma kindly took them out for a picnic lunch so they weren’t too bored. Because Mamhead is so close to us, Russ and Steve both took their own cars, so there was plenty for me to watch. It was Russ’s first time at the venue and he did well to improve his time throughout the day. Steve came second in his class, leaving first place to one of his rivals

We decided it was fitting to have a photo, anyway … one of the nicest photos of Steve and I in recent years was also taken at Mamhead in its first year … and we’ve had a few nice days there over the years.

If only we could afford to buy the house … !!

For once, a weekend without many commitments so we decided to go and watch Steve’s hillclimb today. It’s all a bit different; his Dad is taking part too, and the Subaru has been dumped in favour of a Toyota Starlet. It’s not quite the same as watching out for that flash of white, I must admit – for a start it doesn’t quite flash past the eyes in quite the same way, at quite the same speed!

Still, I am reliably informed that it’s not about the winning. No, that would be why he’s home and thinking of ways to make it faster, never mind adding various Starlet related pieces to his ebay watchlist

Anyway, although as usual I quite enjoyed the event, the children were pains in the backside from start to finish, and I am never taking them to a hillclimb again, unless they pay me. Since, therefore, I won’t be blogging about hillclimbs (unless I have a rare opportunity to go without them), anyone who is interested will have to read Steve’s own blog

We’ve had a busy old weekend – though with plenty of nice things in it. Saturday morning was orchestra as usual – busy, with new kids starting and lots to do; all good though I really don’t want to give it up, though just not sure I have time to do it justice. Dithering!

On Saturday afternoon, Josiah went off to evensong, and I took the girls out to Creative Stitches. They were incredibly lucky that I’d just been paid and was feeling in need of retail therapy! We had a nice time – it wasn’t as expensive as it could have been, either. They both came home and got on with their new arty stuff while I cooked dinner – my favourite Cottage Pie … comfort food! Steve came first in his class at the new hillclimb at Manor Farm so he came home in a good mood too.

Today I was up early to take Joe to his morning services – then came home and worked (huge ironing pile plus school work) while the girls did more arty bits and bobs. After picking Josiah up we rushed off to Charmouth to watch the hillclimb – it’s the last race of the season and the first time we’ve managed to go and spectate! The venue brought back happy (and some not-so-happy!) memories of Hesfes, and actually it was a good hillclimb venue too – not too steep, and not a long hike from the paddock to the spectating area! Not as much fun to watch as Wiscombe though, although Steve said it felt fun to drive. (nb turn speakers off before watching video otherwise Abbie’s annoying cheering voice will grate somewhat – I did tell her not to do it but she thought I was joking, apparently )

Anyway, after the race we stood around chatting for a while, then went down to the town for a cache, then to the beach for an earthcache where we had to find fossils, something the kids love doing. Steve found a whole ammonite which looks like we could polish it up – so have been googling that this evening – anyone know anything about that?

Now home and trying to fit too much ‘finishing off’ into one evening – there’s ironing to finish, school work to finish (all four of us schoolies have some!), not to mention a shopping list that needs making and other general tidying up …

Steve beat his class record for the Mamhead hillclimb – and came first both yesterday and today

I think I beat my record for most cache finds in a day, but I can never actually remember it. They were mainly boring clip-lock boxes though so a bit of an exercise in numbers rather than caching challenges, but hey ho. Good exercise, at any rate! Had one annoying DNF which cost us hours of hunting as we didn’t want to get up, but even with extra clues from the cache owner we still couldn’t find it.

Then on the way home I bumped into friends on the M5. Not literally, thank goodness, but it was fun to wave at one another!

The kids, meanwhile, had a lazy day at home having not wanted to accompany either of us – they shopped, practised their music, and loafed around.