The shortest distance between two points is under construction. ~Noelie Altito

And there seemed to be an awful lot of construction on the roads between point a) here and point b) Sible Hedingham, the small village in Essex where Mum lives. On Tuesday I set off at 5.45am to go and get Mum and her broken arm, oh and the Pip the dog too. Ten hours later I crawled into her driveway, opened the door and fell sideways out of the car (that last bit is a lie but it helps to build up a proper picture of the journey). It is an incredible trip really, going through the beginnings of the west Highlands here, through the rolling Cumbrian, then Yorkshire countryside on down to the huge agricultural fields of the South. The A1 was, as usual almost entirely populated by lorries, take them off the road and there would be a few solitary cars trundling along looking lonely but happy. I got particularly intimate with the rather large backside of an Argos lorry when we were diverted off the A1 for 21 miles after an accident only to rejoin the motorway 5 miles south of the diversion off. However, without this diversion I would almost definitely never have visited the pretty villages of Ollerton and Wellow (love to know the provenance of that one). Admittedly, the latter was rather marred by having a large articulated lorry lying on one side in the middle of the main street but it made a change from looking at the Argos Lorry. Presumably it was a recent addition due to the interest of all the local children, curiously and worryingly for the future generations of Wellow entirely male, coming out of playgroup. I say “presumably” as for all I know it could be an unusually inapt feature erected by the Village council in preference to funding something more useful…stranger things have happened. I digress, the trip south wound its way on until the aforementioned conclusion was reached and I was safely in Sible Hedingham. The next day was the reverse directionally with thankfully no diversions and we reached home at 4pm. Four hours later the land of slumber beckoned and a good nights sleep was enjoyed.

PS The photos were taken at a Farm Teashop on the A66 where we sought caffeine and bizarrely found emus, llamas and a camel (the camel sat down behind a gate and declined to be photographed...pity.)