Camping Pizza!

Look who showed up for dinner!!

That’s Honeycombebeach and Mr HCB for those who don’t know!! They have become dear friends who I’ve met through Blipfoto. What a wonderful thing!

The original intention was for me to stop and visit them on my way home from Cirencester today, but plans changed when I decided to stay an extra night. Thursday is pizza night here, as a couple who have a mobile wood fired pizza business come and set up at this campsite. I had their pizza last year when I was here and it is amazing, so we decided to meet here instead, since it’s not far from where Mr and Mrs HCB live.

They came early but would have been earlier if they’d not got horribly lost! so that we would have time for a brief walk in Cirencester Park. There’s a ‘coffee trailer’ (actually a beautifully converted horse box) in the park so we stopped there and had some coffee and tea and enjoyed the sunshine. Actually, it was really quite hot, so we were glad to get into the shade back at the campsite. We chilled out for awhile, got our salad and drinks ready and soon it was time to go order our pizza. The pizzas are made to order and only take a couple of minutes to cook. Because neither HCB nor I could decide what to have, we each ordered a 50/50. We enjoyed chatting to the pizza chefs - they travel around to 4 different campsites in the area - a different one on each of the 4 evenings. They are also commercial bee keepers so I think they’re very busy!

Anytime spent with Mr and Mrs HCB is a time with LOTS of laughter so it was a super fun evening and I really appreciated their visit! Please come again soon!

In other news:
Earlier in the day I went into town and had a late breakfast at the waffle place (the clever sign was in one of the pictures in yesterday’s collage). A Nacho waffle with jalapeños, guacamole, cheese, sour cream and salsa with a side order of scrambled eggs. Scrumptious!

I also went to the Corinium Museum. Not all of the exhibits were focused on the Roman history of the town but they were definitely a main feature, especially the mosaics many of which had been discovered in Cirencester in the mid 1800s. Fascinating. (See first and second extra photos)

One of the things that I’ve enjoyed seeing here are the various painted hares around town (see third extra photo). These are part of the Cotswold AONB Hare Trail 2018 (now in its 5th year). The hares are an important symbol for Cirencester because of the 4th century mosaic shown in the previous extras (middle right of the collage).

The sign in the shop window gives a helpful explanation:
Why are hares important in Cirencester?
Our Corinium Museum houses a Romano-British mosaic of a hare crouched in grass which was excavated here in 1971. Although there are other, very rare instances of hares depicted in mosaic, this one is special in that it is not a hunting scene.

Remembering Dolly
It’s hard to believe that it was a year ago today that I said a final goodbye to my precious companion. I’ve kept our blipname because it just seems RIGHT to do so - she was so much a part of my journal and it was HER journal too! Although a bit sad, I have felt more the joy of so many wonderful memories and have enjoyed looking over pictures from our fantastic journey to Sweden last year - what would be our last few days together. I also was touched by this sweet tribute by our friends in Sweden. I was also blessed to have the company of Mr and Mrs HCB, who also knew and loved Dolly and welcomed her as an occasional visitor in their home.