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I’m writing this post from a coffee shop in Poole having just had a little wander around in the sun. Why am I in Poole? Well, poor Fi is just about to start her clinical exam (MRCPCH) at Poole Hospital and I dropped her off. We drove down with the roof down to the New Forest after work last night and spent the night at Rita and Norman’s park home in the New Forest.

I had met Rita a couple of times and she’s great. She’s Irish and very chatty and friendly – I hadn’t seen her since our wedding. I had never met her husband, Norman, but Fi had assured me that we’d get along and boy was she right!

Norman is great. He’s probably about 80 years old and has had two strokes in the past. Don’t let either of those facts fool you though as he’s in better shape than me (not hard, I know!). They live in a park home (that’s essentially two trailers bolted together but finished very well) on an acre of land in the New Forest. I think they own a couple of other nearby fields as well. Norman keeps ponies and chickens and grows all his own vegetables. The man is up at 05:00 in the morning every morning to water the garden and tend to his livestock. I don’t know where he gets the energy from to be honest (actually, it may be the 2-3 dozen eggs a week he eats!). He’s a fascinating chap having been a pilot in the RAF and a policeman in Northern Ireland (amongst many other things) and so he had plenty of great stories to tell. I spent much of the evening with him out on the land whilst Fi chatted to her aunt. They’ve got a lovely (although quite scatty) collie called Lizzy who is really smart and gorgeous.

The highlight of the evening for me was helping Norman out with his new purchases – 15 hens! He showed me how to grab them and clip their wings so they couldn’t fly off whilst they were still nimble (apparently hens get nice and fat and cosy when kept and become to heavy to fly when they’re older).

I was somewhat disappointed this morning in that there wasn’t time for me to have the offered bacon and egg breakfast (organic eggs of course!) but I’m sure we’ll be back. Afterall, Norman still hasn’t shown me how to break a pony in yet…

I’m not sure how I’m going to pass the next couple of hours whilst I wait for Fi. This mocha is only going to last so long… After Fi’s finished, we’re meeting up with Will and Nancy who we haven’t seen since our wedding. They’re getting married themselves at the end of August so it’ll be nice to catch up with them before their big day. I think we’re going for a pub lunch followed by a walk which should be refreshing.

Plans for tomorrow? Well, it’s currently a blank canvas. Hopefully the weather will stay glorious as I fancy a trip to the seaside with my wife