Table Mountain's got nothing on Walton....

Ode to Frida 

'We pole danced on signs and then spent our time

Eating hot chips and it all felt divine.

I'll be back soon, dear Frida, it won't be that long,

'Till you lure me to beaches with tea and a song.

Sometimes it's good just to get out of town, 

With a mug full of tea and a right good sit down...'

Courtesy of Pole-dancing Peggy (...as she is known in certain circles...)

Happiness is.... An empty plate of biscuits...

...or too much vinegar on your chips:

 

...or  spending time with a friend you haven't seen in far too long:

Come back soon Hel... there's adventure afoot..!

... and I haven't eaten all the biscuits... (yet.)

Ladies day.... (not Ascot)

In deepest, darkest February, with still no chance of sunshine and warmth, with thoughts of adventure on the open road bringing with them only the fear of frostbite and overoptimism...it was once again time to tie those scarves a bit tighter around the neck, throw on warm coats and remember that darling Frida is the best imaginable cafe on wheels.

 

The BFFs and their mums piled into the van and headed to the favourite wintry spot and Frida's home from home... The Naze. And while the girls danced on the prom and dug sand moats on the deserted beach, the mums sat blanketed on beach-hut steps with hot coffee and chocolate digestives, talking about their nans and piers and whelks....and that glorious dirty, homely, estuary water that somehow matches even memories of the Indian Ocean....

There's just something about the place...

England, your mothers and daughters adore you..!

(...and there was just time enough for fish & chips!)

Fridays with Frida... Gone Seagulling

When you've been working on something quite dull for a German bank until 3am and going back to bed isn't an option, it's quite a treat to gather up a couple of the ladies and head out to the coast for a breath of fresh air...

Michelle, Jo and I took the scenic route through the back-roads to Mersea Island and parked up at The Hard with a perfect view of the floating pontoon, oyster sheds, the boats bobbing about on the water further out and those stranded on the mud flats infront of us until the tide came in...

 

Bitterly cold as it was outside, we decided to stay hidden in the back of Frida under a pile of blankets... we had tea, coffee, beetroot juice, bacon rolls and a pot of Nutella frozen from its overnight stay in the van... what more could we want.

The seagulls began to circle... we hoped they hadn't heard of the new practice Jo had told us about that morning.

Trusty teapot

 

...nothing quite like brewing up inside a cosy van on a cold day.  A nice tablecloth and a pack of chocolate digestives  to round things off... ah, very heaven!

Sunshine on a rainy day...

It had been the kind of awful day that can only be fixed by a ride out to the seaside and a nice cup of sweet tea. Driving out to The Naze the weather closed in and so we parked on the cliffs and brewed up. Cosy in the back of Frida, we watched the waves crash and the van shook a little from the wind outside....it was gloomy.

And then Amy noticed a slither of rainbow by the tower... A little glimmer of hope on a very dark day.

The new teapot was christened...

When Amy met Frida...

In the bleak midwinter...

... on a chilly January day, Abby & I drove dear Frida out to The Walls, parked up by the water and made bacon sandwiches under the grill  to keep out the cold as the winter whipped up around outside the van.

As we set the world to rights, a pair of swans began a graceful dance just outside the van door... slowly copying each other, wings out, heads bobbing up and down until finally they drew their long necks back and down to meet and form the shape of a heart...

We stopped blethering on about loves lost and, sipping our hot coffee, peered silently out of the door, watching their courting dance...

Seaside frolics...

On a dull January day, Abby & I drove The Babbitts out to Walton and parked up for a 'millionaire's view' of the grey sky and murky-looking water there.... with the tide being in - and high - there was little chance for beach-combing and so, after an unexpected visit from the local mad woman, the girls roller-skated along the prom while we brewed tea and toasted crumpets under Frida's little grill... Finally, de-wellied and rosy-cheeked from the cold, they clambered up on the bunk giggling to scoff the hot crumpets thick with butter...

A homecoming...

Frida had been put out to winter pastures  following the snow storms that had hit in early December... but what with the sun trying to peek through the clouds last weekend and the whiff of Spring in the air, I couldn't hold out any longer and got a lift out to collect her from the shelter where she'd spent the last few weeks...

Driving her along the country lanes with a light-hearted feeling, I realised I'd left my happiness on the back seat when I'd left her behind those weeks earlier...

Music playing, sun shining, engine thrumming, I drove her home again...

A reluctant farewell...

When the snow hit, and in the full knowledge that we couldn't bring her inside to weather the storm with us... we reluctantly took Frida to her wintering grounds at Fingrinhoe...