A couple of weekends ago Paul and I took Trudie into the wilds of Lincolnshire for our annual watching paint dry trip. To be fair Paul had been “umming and aahing” all week, right up until the last minute when he found out an old friend, Mackie, was going to be there. Me, I was at a point where I could take it or leave it; like a lot of things this year; but it’s been such a big part of our lives for over a decade that I really think we would have regretted it if we didn’t go. I just wish I’d had the oomph and the time to make an outfit to go with this year’s sugar skull theme.

Although there were only a handful of pinstripers in the pit the ones that were there made for a very fun and mad weekend. Paul enjoyed meeting old friends and teaching newcomers young and old. Indeed I think I only saw him a couple of times when I palmed Mabel off on him whilst I wandered about with my camera.

Friday was a quiet day with traders and artists alike setting up their stalls so at least I wasn’t missing anything when I had to take a walk back to the services at Caenby Corner to pick up all the essentials we’d forgotten to put in, like tea and butter for my toast!

That evening, once I had wined and dined him Paul was all for rolling the bed out and staying in the warm. He very definitely isn’t one for partying whereas I, on the other hand, am very definitely a party animal so i was determined to get him out. We strolled over to the woods where we bought a pint from The Mobile Monocle and found a spot round the firepit to sit and watch; or dance to in my case; The Hicksville Bombers, who put on an excellent show. I have to say I rather liked the more intimate setting for the evenings entertainment and a good night was had by all, including Paul. It 1am before we wandered back over the field to Trudie.

Next day Paul was up early and heading for the striper’s pit with his brushes and paint tucked under his arm. After our late night I decided to have a slow morning pottering about the camper and taking Mabel for a walk so it was around lunchtime before I got to the marquee and show field. Unfortunately I managed to miss the bikes since by the time I got to their corner of the showfield they were beginning to leave. I did manage to get a couple on the Sunday.

Once again Paul was all for retiring early and once again I convinced him to take a stroll to the woods. What an absolute blast of a night and all we did was sit in the back of Mackie’s pick up truck with friends drinking beer and rum. And was Paul glad he’d made the effort when Mackie’s brother turned up. We’ve not partied with them since 2019 so it all got a wee bit jolly. We were almost the last to leave the woods at 2am!

I decided not to leave it so late to get out and about on the Sunday so I was in the marquee by mid morning. As Paul appeared to be having a rest I handed Mabel over so I could get out and about with the camera. The showfield was full of gorgeous cars and I must have taken hundreds of photos. As I am trying to not use the auto setting and I’ve got a new lens, many of them were discarded as being under or over exposed or just plain blurry but I have managed to get some reasonable ones. And I did spot one or two small every day cars in the mix and if a Nissan Micra can be customised then there’s hope for my Betty Beep!

Looking back on the weekend I’m so glad we made it. The days were good but the evenings were mad, wild and so much fun. And no bottles of rum were harmed in the process!