What a Weekend!

What should have been a "normal" weekend, has turned into quite, erm, how shall I put this, erm, an interesting one.
On Saturday my mum rang and asked if we wanted to meet with her and dad in town, which we did. I had been given a "friends and family" discount voucher for Peacocks which offered 40% off any purchases, so mum and I put it to good use, whilst the men waited outside. As we were coming out of the store, mum walked off to find dad who had gone to a nearby shop, and dh told me that a lady had just asked him if he had seen a lost-looking child. I turned to see a rather frantic looking lady, and went over to ask if she was okay. Turns out that she had lost her 9 year old daughter. We alerted the Peacocks staff (as that was the last place she had been seen), and they used their radio system to get in touch with all the other stores in the area, and arranged for the CCTV cameras to be on the look out for this girl. I meanwhile searched a few of the nearby stores, and stood trying to comfort poor mum who really was distraught. About 45 minutes or so later I am relieved to say the girl was found safe and well. She had actually made her way back to where their car was parked as she figured if the car was still there, then her mum would still be around. I think I aged about 12 months in that short time. Even though it wasn't my daughter missing, I still felt sick to the stomach. So thankful it had a happy ending :o) After that though we didn't feel much like shopping, so came home.

Today we were up nice and early and went to a local car-boot sale. Very disappointed as there was nothing worth us buying, and we were home within an hour. I started making a few cards, and dh asked if I wanted to take Kira for a walk up to Dartmoor. It has been so long since we were able to visit the moors (you need a reliable car!) It is probably my favourite place to be, and we used to be such regular visitors. Now we have moved we can drive to the base of the moor in 15 minutes!! Great for dog walks :o) We had a lovely stroll, spotting wildlife and admiring the views...

After our walk, we got back into the car and headed for another location. Then it happened...

Those of you that know Dartmoor, will know about the twisty lanes, the wide parts, the narrow parts, the blind corners, the steep hills etc. We were heading down such a lane, when dh (driving) spotted some cyclists coming hurtling up the lane behind us. He said how stupid they were to be so close behind our car, and how if he had to slam his breaks on sharply they wouldn't be able to stop.

You can guess what happened next.

We went around a bend and the road narrowed. Another car was coming towards us, we had to stop. Not a slam your brakes on quick stop, just an "ease to a steady stop" sort of stop. The cyclists didn't stop. BANG! One went straight into the back of our car, another went straight into the back of the first. Ouch. The lane was filling up with vehicles who couldn't pass us as it was so narrow. We couldn't reverse because the cyclists were still behind our car (one was trying to remove his bike from the hedge, oops!) Our car was slightly scratched, and had a couple of tyre marks on the rear bumper, but nothing to complain about. The front wheel of the bike was crumpled and the rider in a bit of pain. After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually just a few minutes, the bikes moved so we were able to reverse into a layby and inspect the damage. Thankfully the riders weren't seriously hurt, more hurt pride and a little bruised I think.

Kira was going crazy in the car at these men being so close, she got all protective and started barking like mad trying to scare them off *giggle* She is soooo fierce!

We gave up on our Moorland expedition after that, and headed for Stover Park instead. Had a lovely, but brief, wander around the park as Callum was falling asleep at this point and needed to be carried.

I'm just cooking a lovely smelling roast dinner, and the kids are in the garden. We have a new family moving in next door in June, they are relations to the current tenants and have two boys aged 6 and 10 years. Joe has invited them over for a game of football, it sounds as if they are getting on very well :o)