Essex Round Up

I have hoiked it across country twice so far this year, both times to a cute little village in or near Oxon. Being geographically challenged (at least I KNOW where East Angular should be) I had not a clue as to the exact location. Just that it was over there – *flings arm out to the right*

I was going to see a fellow BT Tradespacer and Birds on the Blog contributor, Elaine Sturgess. Elaine is a fascinating business woman with a seriously smart marketing brain, and just an hour in her company is wonderful. Seriously, you should drive over and meet her.

I am really lucky that she has shared some of her business thoughts with me and on Friday (Friday just gone) I dragged the Blogmistress aka Barbara Saul over with me

Yay! Roadtrip!!!

First stop Costa Coffee Lakeside to load up with hot chocolate, marshmallows and whipped cream, Babs had a coffee and then we set off, Babs was driving and I was yakking 200 to the dozen as usual. Babs used foreign terms like North and South when she drives, but I soon got her out of that habit

We had the sat nav and we had the most glorious drive on the motor way, seeing Kites (the bird variety and not the toy variety) and 4 parachutists hanging in the sky, looking a bit like jellyfish out of water. Mrs Hawkings, the Sat Nav, was suspiciously quiet. Somehow her sound had got turned off and she was mute Only one of can talk on a roadtrip, and I won.

We arrived in the afternoon about 2 hours later than I planned, but that was my planning error and not a driving error so I was somewhat relieved.

Babs planted herself near the open fire and Elaine and her business partner Maria made us most welcome with lunch, chicken in french bread, lemon drizzle cake and Pepsi Max clearly I had died and gone to heaven. The cake was sublime.

Conversation and ideas flowed thick and fast, Jeffery Archer, Madam Cyn, auctions, pelican pens and Iain Duncan Smith on the phone, and of course the work related conversations. Especially about the poppy splashbacks.

And all too soon we ran out of time and it was time to go home. Elaine had once again avoided me filming a video interview, she can be crafty! On the way out, I spied Jasmine’s work of art that she had made Elaine on my last visit. She’d kept it -  I was touched, Jas had spent a lot of time painting and sellotaping a fairy liquid bottle to some boxes for Elaine and there it was on her window table!

Obviously when you are 4 years old you do put a lot of effort into making the most hideous things possible that only parents are obligated to keep (they know their kids will kill them, or at least make their life unbearable for the next 25 years, so everything is kept). See – not only are Elaine and Maria good company, they keep works of art made out of fairy liquid bottles.

Time to go, and Elaine had loaded us up with chocolate eggs and there was no way on this green earth they were going to last until we got home

Back on the road again and we diligently followed Mrs Hawkings into the unknown as on the way back she wanted to go a different route. We were quite worried, we went into Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire… and then finally we picked up the motorway and it was empty… really it was, rush hour on a Friday evening and there were 3 cars on the road!

Mrs Hawkings also started talking again, and although Babs swore she wasn’t going to look at the sat nav, she fell into the habit of glancing at it

By the time Babs dropped me off, we were both shattered. I had to go on to Canvey to get Jess and Babs had to get home to her little ones. Sometimes the best of days are the ones where you see your online friends in the flesh and spend some real time and not virtual time with them.

It was fun, we must do it again soon. I think the next one will be to Brighton, to see Ann Godridge, the crime writer. Watch out Brighton

Sarah