Valentine's Meet Dirty Duck 2008

[Forestboy]

Hope you're all having a wonderful time .

Attached a piccy to show what a great time I'm having.

Guess where I'd rather be





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[Jim]

This morning the Dirty Duck campsite is bathed in glorious sunshine, the canal froze solid but is giving way to the Sun's rays already. Most of the funsters are missing this beautiful morning because of an impromptu beer or three in the bar last night. I had a few too, but a hint of sun always drags me from my bed. Me and the dog didn't miss any of the morning, watching the swans break the ice on our jog along the canal was a particular joy. Hope your having a good one too.

Stop Press, Kands turned up last night in Woody!

 

[JockandRita]

This morning the Dirty Duck campsite is bathed in glorious sunshine, the canal froze solid but is giving way to the Sun's rays already. Most of the funsters are missing this beautiful morning because of an impromptu beer or three in the bar last night. I had a few too, but a hint of sun always drags me from my bed. Me and the dog didn't miss any of the morning, watching the swans break the ice on our jog along the canal was a particular joy. Hope your having a good one too.

Stop Press, Kands turned up last night in Woody!

Hi all,

It's Sunday morning, about 08.30, and it is so cold outside, that ice has formed on the inside of the MH windows and rooflight where the blinds have been closed.
The contents of the Fire bucket is about as much use as an ash tray on a motorbike now.

Jock & Rita

 

[JockandRita]

Hi all,

Rita and I would like to thank Pammy (& Geo), for organising this Valentine's weekend at the Dirty Duck, (aka The Rutland Arms). We had a great time meeting, dining and socialising with friends, old and new, and look forward to our next time out with Motorhome Fun.

Happy Birthday Ruth (RuthRV), and a Happy Anniversary to Pete & Di, (Blondi), and thanks to Jim & Sian.

Hope everyone got back home safely.

TTFN,

Jock & Rita.

 

[Thepips]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for making the weekend so enjoyable and I hope I didn't make yours any less so!
We arrived safely home about 3pm this afternoon. It's now back to reality, almost 30,000 emails this weekend and 22,500 stopped at the server as spam. I'll bet 7490 of the rest are spam as well.

Take care everyone

Regards
Doug 'n Bar

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[RockieRV]

Hi All

Well we made it to the Dirty Duck in darkness late on Friday eve.

Thanks to the girls for coming shopping with me, and thanks to Pam and Sian for doing a buffet lunch al fresco when we got back to celebrate Ruth's birthday.

It was great to see you all again, and to meet some new faces.........
sorry we didn't make the Saturday eve festivities - was too busy sniffing carpet to be aware of our surroundings by then

 

[thefman]

hi all,
thanks pam and geo for a great weekend, it was great to meet everyone
good company, good food and good weather :thumb: we hope you all had safe journeys home.

linda mark & suki.

 

[RuthRv]

great big thankyou

hi all,
thanks pam and geo for a great weekend, it was great to meet everyone
good company, good food and good weather :thumb: we hope you all had safe journeys home.

hi everyone a million hugs and kisses to everyone for making my birthday weekend so very special, it was a wonderful surprise and will not be forgotten, it was very enjoyable and much appreciated, an extra special thanks to pammy, sian, for organising it for me and the men too ,thanks to sharron for taking me out shopping i like spending money, and it was a fantastic weekend all round it was great to meet our old friends and new ones, hope you have all arriived home safe and sound, and happy travelling. sorry that rory,jan,sue and brian couldn't make it so i ate your share of the cakelooking forward to meeting you all again soon.

love ruth (soon to be pensionerso respect

 

[Forestboy]

Glad you all had a good time sounds like another fun weekend.
The do we went to was ok but not really our cup of tea.

Happy Birhday again Ruth glad you had such a great time Janine's pig sick now she nows she,s missed Shopping and Birthday Cake.

See you at Newark :thumb:

 

[Pammy]

A quick report

Hi all

The meet got off to an early start with Jim & Sian, John and Irini arriving on Thursday – obviously couldn’t wait to just get away from it all and have a good time.

The rest of us followed on the Friday. We arrived at 1pm and were in the pub by 2pm with Jock, Rita, Jim, Sian, John, Doug and Bar. Unfortunately at 3:30 they chucked us out, but nevertheless we were all back there within a few hours only to be thrown out again at midnight. That was the end of a brilliant first day for the majority of the ‘funsters’ and second day for some.

Saturday morning saw a beautiful clear blue sky, not a cloud could be seen anywhere; it was rather cold however, but fortunately Jim was on hand with the good old coffee pot which livened everyone up. Sharon then took pity on Rita, Ruth and Di and taxied them to the nearby Downtown outlet for some retail therapy, which left the men worrying about the credit card bill that would follow later.

If you remember I kept reminding everyone that we had a 60th birthday celebration during this meet and it was originally planned to have the celebration at 10:30pm on the Saturday evening after the meal but the weather forecast was not showing a likely heat wave; in fact it was showing a very hard frost at –6 degrees. That worried me immensely and then fortunately Sian had a flash of inspiration and very soon sandwiches were being prepared, sausage rolls were being heated in the oven, hot peas boiling on the stove, balloons were being blown, tables prepared, banners, bunting going up; everyone was busy doing something. Sharon was also contacted and told not to appear back at the site before 2pm.

Anyway, at 2:30 the birthday girl arrived back at the site and the celebration began. It turned out extremely well - you know sometimes you can plan something for weeks/months and then everything goes 'pear shaped'. This was thought of, planned and put together in the space of 2 hours and it was a complete success and it wouldn’t have happened without everyone who helped to put it all together in that short time so thanks, it was really appreciated. Ruth, we hope you really enjoyed it as much as it was a pleasure to put it together.

By 5pm everyone had retired back to their vans for a quick siesta before gathering back in the pub at 7pm for the valentine’s meet. The menu put together by the Dirty Duck was brilliant, with something for everyone. Geo and I were the first to arrive and the layout of the tables with the roaring fire looked, in my opinion, very welcoming and homely. This is always a good sign to me, if they were prepared to put such an effort to the dressing of a room then the food must be good too – we were not disappointed, the meal was fantastic – yet again the Dirty Duck did us proud – thank you to you all. (I know you’re going to read this Eric).

By 11:30pm everyone was totally shattered and ready for bed, the end of yet another fantastic day. When I walked outside I was so pleased that Sian had had her flash of inspiration – the frost was very evident on the parked cars and I knew at that moment that the original planned 10:30 celebration just would not have taken place. I think the champagne would have frozen in mid-stream and I for one was very glad to step inside my warm van.

This morning, we all got up to yet again clear blue skies, a hard frost still very evident on the bridge. As I looked out of the blinds there was no one about - but the first person to show was Jim taking Rocky for his morning walk. What a real pleasure it is to see such a wonderful animal only too pleased to be walking beside his master waiting for his next command. He is a fantastic dog Jim, a real credit to you. I wish I could get Geo to walk to heel like that!

By 10am the sun was getting a little stronger and the frost beginning to dwindle. Once everyone had breakfasted we were all outside with the coffee pot again once Jim had defrosted it anyway. It had been in one of his lockers over night and the water left in the reservoir had frozen solid. oh:

At 11am the first of the departures took place – Doug and Bar took on their long journey back to Basingstoke with Gary and Barb taking up second place on their way back to Southampton. Don't forget Gary and Barb, if you are not testing in 3 weeks time, we would love you to join us at the Newark show, Jim's birthday bash.

By 2:30pm Geo and I were the only ones left, (apart from John and Irini who are not going back to Wales until tomorrow) and so we relented and hit the road as well.

So there you have it, as you can see we had a fantastic weekend, overall the weather was very good to us – let’s hope that it is just as good in 3 weeks time at Newark with a little more heat in the sun.

I hope you all got home safe and sound, relaxed and storing good memories of the meet. I’m sure someone will put some photos on the forum soon. If you have not booked for Newark, get your names down and join us - it looks like we're going to be the biggest meet on site.

Hope you have a great day Ruth on Tuesday and also Happy Birthday Di (Blondi) on Wednesday.



See you all soon
Pammy

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[Forestboy]

Pammy sent you a pm

 

[Jim]

Wejust got back, a seven hour journey, but well worth it, we had a great time, the meets just get better and better. Thanks everyone it was great:thumb:

 

[Tony Santara]

Hi Everybody
Thanks to everyone who helped make Ruth's Birthdat celebrations a great success

If ever you need party organisers Pammy & Sian are the best :thumb::thumb:
Champagne popping and great food and all the bunting made it a day she will remember for a long while, she was still thinking about it all the way home
Thanks my freinds it was super
It was nice to see old & new freinds once again at another fantastic meet can't wait now for the next one

 

[Suzy]

It sounds fantastic, I am really sorry we missed it! Glad you all had a great time, I look forward to the next one!

 

[Blondi]

We arrived home late last night, after going via the grandsons for a Sunday Lunch.

We had a brilliant time and our 2 dogs loved the early morning (and late night ) walks along the canal banks - not sure the swans were quite as enamoured!!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for signing my birthday card, it's gorgeous and a complete surprise. I know it's not my birthday until Wednesday, but I couldn't wait to open it :Blush:.

So many folks to thank for a great weekend, and like Jim said, they just keep getting better and better (the meets, that is!!).

We can't make it to Newark - family commitments - but will catch up with you all sometime soon.

Thanks again.

Di xx

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[Forestboy]

Many Happy Returns for Wednesday
Sounds like you had a great weekend just sorry we missed out

 

[Jim]

I have just posted some photos in the Link Removed section of the Gallery:thumb: Click on them twice to fill your screen.

Here is a taster

 

[Road Runner]

^^^^^^^^^^Geo can sure handle that beast^^^^^^^^^^​

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Had a great time and decent journey home although the first hour was freezing fog.

5 hours 20 mins and 210 miles.

Nice to meet old friends and new.

Cant wait till the next outing.

 

[Ash]

thanks

Thanx for a great weekend we really enjoyed ourselves .......It was lovely to meet new people ,C U all at Newark:thumb::thumb: Lynn Steve :thumb:

 

[Road Runner]

Just a couple of pictures

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[American Dream]

I have just posted some photos in the Link Removed section of the Gallery:thumb: Click on them twice to fill your screen.

Here is a taster

Now if that were Barry Sheene, he'd have the knee on the deck.

Nice one Geo.:Cool:

 

[Forestboy]

Heh Geo

Should have your head turned into the corner mate.

Recipe for disaster that

 

[TestPoster]

Nice bike Geo

Keith

 

[Road Runner]

Heh Geo

Should have your head turned into the corner mate.

Recipe for disaster that

Later on in the day he was trick riding standing on his saddle while drinking from his thermos cup