We slept for ten hours.
This marathon dose of oblivion was even despite having made several stops to sleep on the way home, when we had blearily chugged between service stations, passing out instantly and exhaustedly at each one.
At least this had meant that we were capable of unloading the tractor and trailer at the farm in the middle of the night. This turned out to be relatively easy when we did it, rolling gently down a couple of scaffold planks to rest in its corner, where it will stay until Mark has some leisure to look at it and try and make it work properly again.
After that we had to unload the van. We like to leave it clean and ready for its next excursion, with the water tank filled and the loo emptied, and everywhere washed and hoovered and sparkling. We always do this, because it is a present for ourselves the next time we go away, but sometimes it is a bit difficult to love ourselves quite that much, and this time it was hard to achieve.
We did it anyway, and then collapsed into the shower, because we were filthy, and then to bed, where Lethe instantly overtook us.
We might not have woken up even when we did had the telephone not rung.
It was almost lunchtime, so it was a jolly good job that it did.
We sat in bed for ages, steaming our eyes open with coffee, and trying to work out what it was most important to do first.
There was a very great deal of washing, and the yard was a terrible mess.
The old camper van draw bar was there, and our bicycles, and the bits left over from building the trailer, and lots of firewood that had not yet been sawn up and stacked ready for the winter. We seem to have had a very busy few weeks, hastily dashing from one job to another. The left-behind detritus had begun to fill our world.
We could barely get in through the gate, never mind hang the washing. I hung the camper van sheets out anyway, and then got cross with Mark for making rusty marks on them, so he filled his taxi and went to the tip.
I was very glad that we had left the house beautifully tidy and clean for our homecoming. It made the world feel very much brighter.
I hung washing, despite the cheerless grey skies, and made picnics. I had left Lucy with our jar of mayonnaise and brought home her empty one, so I washed it and made tomato and garlic mayonnaise for cheese on toast.
We had to have cheese on toast because the only bread left was far too dry for sandwiches. I am going to have to get our lives back in order once again.
It was just fine with fresh mayonnaise.
I am going to stop writing. I am trying to earn some money, because we have spent all of ours down to the very last pennies. This seems to happen when we go off on adventures.
The picture is the tractor making its way back to the farm.
Quite splendidly, we did not get stopped by the police for the entire journey.
