Baltic weather for AGA as our point-to-point series visits the south-east, but Charing turn up the heat!

Did you notice my new word in the title? It's 'baltic', and it follows swiftly on the heels of the words 'raw' and 'bleak' which I used after our visit to Overton two weeks ago. No matter, we still had a tremendous day and our first visit to the south-east area was a resounding success!

We were greeted by a smattering of snow as we drove onto the course, and then we spotted the familiar white hair of Beazo in the distance ... who once again helped Derek to put the signs up while I took the photos. Definitely something wrong there!

"AGA - A warm welcome home" proclaimed the sign by the open ditch, it would be a few hours before we would be warm, although the welcome on course was very warm - something we have come to expect.

Spring is in the air as the sun shines on the AGA point-to-point series at Thorpe Lodge

We are setting off in daylight for a point-to-point and Mrs S has even managed to strike up a conversation within the first five minutes! To put that in perspective, during January on a two hour journey to Larkhill in the dark and fog she only spoke for the first time when we were twenty minutes away from the course! Claire Hart called me as we hit the road today and she complained of not being able to see very well because of the fog, whereas I was scrabbling around for sunglasses!

It wasn't quite AGA polo shirt weather but just look at that blue sky! There are also three AGA boys in the photo above, except one of them isn't an AGA boy anymore. The odd one out is Chris, who has missed pointing so much since leaving in December that he asked if he could come along today - he just couldn't keep away!

The tent was soon up, and the fence, and the signs, and Mrs S was soon in full flow as Pauline Harkin, who trains Doctor Kingsley, popped over for a catch up.

The lorry park is always a good place to meet nice people and Sunday was no exception, pictured with the AGA man are Paul Berrington, left, trainer Heather Dalton - holding Minnie, centre, and Peter Clifton on the right. They resisted my overtures to buy a new AGA but I'm not giving up just yet ...

Another warm welcome for the AGA point-to-point series as we enjoy our trip to a very cold Bonnie Scotland

An early start was required for this mammoth trip - our longest of the season, so my alarm was set for 4.25am, and by 4.40am I was tucking into a bowl of cereal AND positively not looking forward to the journey ahead! However, once we were on our way it was a laugh a minute on the road to Bonnie Scotland, despite the rain - and then snow, which accompanied us all the way to Overton.

The AGA van was our mode of transport this week as we took the AGA message to Lanarkshire, and looked for our first opportunity to take a photo of a sign with "SCOTLAND" on it. The next photo opportunity was a reminder of what would await us on the return journey ... more snow!

Once we were over the border we had a brief pit stop, which involved what Derek called a "posh coffee" - although I had to ask the nice young lady in Starbucks if Derek could have a weak one, he doesn't do strong coffee! The border crossing also saw the rain turn to snow, giving the AGA man an opportunity to take a photo of some snowy fields and trees.