I love a weekend en famille.There is nothing that soothes the soul more than time spent amongst the free-spirited youngsters and the beautiful grown-ups that my sons have become.
We started last weekend with a trip down to Luton where Gloria was holding her ‘Birthday Bash’. Paul drove all of us in his brand new car, with the exception of Harriet and Danielle, who were under the weather and not up to it.
The pleasure we took in each others’ company on the way down the M1 was prolonged, however, as we hit a long line of traffic, all queuing behind a pile-up somewhere further along the motorway. We’d intended to arrive at the venue about 14.30 – and we were on track. Then we weren’t. Oh! ETA: 14.50. No worries, we’d still arrive in time. Delay expected? 6 minutes. 5 minutes later and the delay was still expected to be 6 minutes! Eeesh….. ETA now just after three o’clock. Sit down for the afternoon tea was 3.p.m. “Shall I text Gloria to tell her we’ll be late?” I wondered. Paul nodded. ETA now 15.15….. ‘OK’ she replied, seemingly unperturbed.
We finally arrived and sat down for a very welcome cup of tea and some sandwiches and cake – and a bouncy castle! Oh my, I was a nervous wreck. The last time I’d been party to a bouncy castle with all the family was at Paul and Harriet’s wedding when Ellie fell and broke her arm. I foresaw all sorts of possibilities. I mean, just look at those tangled limbs!!
As it turned out there wasn’t anything too bad. Just a bit of a bloodbath as William’s nose encountered Thomas’s face as they jumped together, and a nosebleed ensued. The white serviettes turned crimson; William’s trousers blossomed, cerise patterned, from top to bottom; the floor was dotted with carmine-red splodges; and there was a wailing that bothered our ear drums.
Anyway, despite the ‘to-be-expected’ injury, the afternoon tea went down nicely and I’m pretty sure Gloria enjoyed herself. She even had a little bounce, too! Brave woman!!
She survived the bounce and made it in one piece to cut her cake – with a little helper, of course! Alexander was on hand to help Grandma – just in case she couldn’t manage it by herself.
The following day, Sunday, our family fun continued with a roast dinner in the afternoon to celebrate Danielle’s birthday. She made an effort at the dinner table but she wasn’t at all well and had spent much of the afternoon wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa. Bless. She even had to get Oliver to blow her candles out….
At the end of the day, we had had a wonderful time – the kids, especially. I could tell that they had enjoyed themselves because there were pieces of paper all over the computer room where they’d been experimenting with the hole punch.
I could tell that we had enjoyed ourselves because there pots, pans and glasses all over the kitchen, all itching to get into the dishwasher. Paul had carried plates and cutlery into the kitchen and managed to stack most of it into the dishwasher, but there was a surplus.
Michael stared helplessly at the mess, saying, “I’m sorry we’re leaving everything but…..” he didn’t need to say any more. The crockery would find its way into the dishwasher in due course. There was nothing more to do. We turned our backs on the kitchen chaos and enjoyed each others’ company for the rest of the visit. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? The kids, of course, the carnage and the clutter?
I love this time of the year – it’s all birthdays, birthdays, birthdays!!
The season kicks off with William. I was on ‘me hols’ when he had his birthday so I missed the celebrations, but not to worry, he had a great time with his friends at his Lego Party. I had made a small contribution to the Lego submarine he’d wanted, and he was up at 6.30 a.m. the following day apparently, cracking on and getting started….
…..and by lunchtime, it was finished!! Amazing, aren’t they, these kids and their Lego?
As I got back from my holiday at the end of September, we celebrated Christiana’s 40th birthday. A family get-together at Christiana’s house where the little cousins, along with the grown-ups, could go crazy and thoroughly enjoy the festivities; and then, in the evening, a pub get-together with all her mates – which I gate-crashed. Here are the little cousins going crazy……hehehe!! There’s nothing so absorbing as somebody else’s toys, is there?
The afternoon event was lovely – just gentle, which suited my mood – and the weather was good. I wasn’t up for a really big bash! I’d arrived back from Athens the day before, and went on to Gloria’s where she very kindly put me up overnight ready for the day of the party. Lovely to catch up with everyone and see the grand-nephews.
Gloria, of course, made the cake…..which was beautifully decorated and delicious, as always.
The Kenilworth contingent made it to the party, with the Newbies – much to the excitement of the children – arriving and going home via multiple trains in the afternoon; and the Originals travelling down to the evening event, so I was able to cadge a lift home, much to my excitement cos they’ve got a new car!!! Nice to be driven home in luxury!
Michael’s birthday follows in mid-October, with Danielle’s hard on its heels. I know we can always guarantee warmer weather for a day or two at this time of the year. Michael’s birthday, warmth weather-wise, has never let me down yet! It was a nice day here in the Midlands. However, with the current weather systems in place, it apparently absolutely threw it down with rain as he and Danielle travelled to Wales to celebrate their birthdays in style at the Ynyshir Restaurant in Wales where Andrew works.
It transpires that they had a grand old time while they were there and were thrilled with the experience though – absolutely loving the food, drink and general atmosphere. They also enjoyed lodging in the Garden Room, with its mahoosive bathtub, log fire and rural view.
Andrew, meanwhile, was hard at work……. never mind, Andy, you’ve got a week off following your birthday in a week’s time, when someone else will be cooking for you!! Something to look forward to.
Of course, I was delighted to be able to look after the Kenilworth Newby children while Michael and Danielle were away. And with one extra for tea, we made a play date of it on Wednesday! The kids were all as good as gold and great company.
Naturally, the talk was all about ‘Daddy’s birthday’, so a cake had to be made. The children helped prepare the mix ready for the oven, and then rummaged to their hearts content in the cake decoration box – or, as Freddie would call it, the ‘Teddy Box’ – and absolutely went to town adorning the cake with icing, candles, a footballer, cars, banners, sprinkles and so on…… they had a ball!.
Daddy was pleased with his cake when he came home the next day to sample it though – mind you, it’s not clear what Oliver was thinking,…. hehehe….. It could be that he’s just zoned out, of course. He decided a nap wasn’t for him yesterday afternoon and he sat in his cot, chanting, ‘Nap! Nap! Nap! Not nap! Not nap! Not nap!’ Hmmm….. made me giggle.
Nipping in between Michael, Danielle and Andrew’s birthday, is Gloria’s. This year, she reaches the big Seven-Zero and celebrations are afoot tomorrow for another party. Another family get-together which is a very good thing. Got to make the most of it while we can, eh?
In a month’s time, it will be anniversary of John’s death. Naturally, my thoughts have turned back to those desperate months leading up to the event, in which Mum also died, when we made great efforts and put strategies in place to try and stave off the inevitable. And I’ve discovered that so far, time is not yet a healer. In fact, those Job’s Comforters around me like to tell me that ‘the second year is the worst‘. Cheers – thanks for that. I’ll gird my loins.
I’ve also discovered that the past year has revealed some amazing things (which I’ve probably described before – sorry): friends who have really stepped up to help me and keep me sane; family who have been there whenever I’ve needed them; leisureactivities which have kept me focused on something other than being bereft; nature that has such healing properties; poetry which I’ve always enjoyed, but now seems to have a deeper significance; and writing which seems to soothe the soul.
All of these things have been available to me for ever previously, but they have not always delivered such a punch that makes me acknowledge their wondrousness. Heightened and honed by bereavement, my eye sometimes sees things dulled and tiresome; and yet, at others, it sees those very same things as sparkling and interesting. The Big Dipper of life has never felt quite so intimate and close. But, I’m taking my time.
In amongst the hectic-ness of everyday stuff, such as another funeral, Prayer Group, Yoga, Quiz Night, Centre Stage (the Murder Mystery offshoot), coffee/lunch with friends, babysitting and so on, I am definitely finding time for some reflection and some down time in which I can addle my brain and (sometimes) prevent it from racing. I acknowledge that this is now my mantra: Take Your Time. I’ll let you know how I get on…….
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Graham sent some holiday photos that he’d taken and which I think are smashing, so I thought I’d share – but beware!! I may share more another day because he’s taken some real crackers!!
Lunch in Dubrovnik…..
On the island of Lokrum. There were loads of peacocks – here’s one that took a fancy to Gail!
And here we are just by the gorgeous blue sea on that same island – I’d had a lovely paddle!
The Athenians seem to like a queue. At least, that was the impression they gave me at the airport on my way home from ‘me hols’ last week. First queue, of course, was to check my bag in. What a muddle. Priority line, or non-priority line? There was no difference. The customer service guy simply split the very large queue down the middle, whereupon I found myself in the queue into which every disabled passenger forged through to the head of it as they arrived.
One and a half hours later, I was finally through – Graham and Gail were shocked. They’d whizzed through their bag check-in, no problem. Ha! Ha! They were boarding their plane!
I wasn’t. There were no queues at the security desk or the passport desk but, guess what? There was definitely a queue at the gate, which turned out to be a twenty-five minute walk away from passport control. A really lovely lounge area with lots of seats, but nah!! They didn’t want to let the passengers in. Queue, queue, queue to even get into the lounge area, with boarding passes and passports to be checked again here.
I took the easy option and sat in the general lounge area to eat my sandwich until almost everyone was through – a good thirty-five minutes later. Not sure why we were herded in like sardines – because the plane was delayed, of course.
Apparently, Graham and Gail’s plane was delayed too, despite them being on it, which meant that they missed their connecting flight to Sri Lanka. Next flight? 2.20 a.m. Eeeeesh.
Before I noticed the inclination for the Athenians to insist on a queue however, Graham, Gail and I had had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Greece. Plenty to see and enjoy, despite one or two hiccups at The Moxy Hotel, like the thumpy-thump ‘musak’; no daylight in the rooms and no view; and disappointingly, no pool or sauna. Graham nicknamed the hotel: ‘The Poxy Hotel’………. I mean, the view from our rooms was a wall. Pretty enough, but not exactly what we’d been hoping hoping for – hehe.
We had arrived at our final tourist destination of Athens via Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia. We had a minibus, with seven fellow travellers, which suited me far better than the bun-fight I thought we might have had on a 50-seater bus. It has to be said though, that in every beauty spot we stopped at, so did a leviathan cruise boat-load of other 50-seater coaches – and our elbows got sharper by the day.
But honestly, these were all very minor inconveniences during the time we had together. We got on well, enjoying each others’ company, we saw lots of interesting historical buildings, learned about the evolution of every country we visited and ate some fabulous food.
And the highlights of the holiday? Main one was meeting up with Graham and Gail, of course! It was wonderful to be in their company and they were as kind as kind, and as witty as witty, could be.
Our first day visiting Dubrovnik is worth a mention. We had taken a tour of the walled city and planned to take the cable car to the top of the hill afterwards, but gosh! The coachloads from the cruise ships were also waiting, so we abandoned the idea temporarily and took a boat to Lokrum Island in the bay. This is a nature reserve which was so tranquil that it blew our socks off. There were gardens, a monastery, caves, beaches (we had a paddle) and a fabulous inland dead sea lake – as well as the Game of Thrones throne…….lovely. I did sit in it to sample it and here’s the photo to prove it!
On our return to Dubrovnik we thought we’d check out the cable car again – and wow! No queues now, so we clambered in and went up to the Panorama Restaurant for the views, cocktails, a bite to eat and the sunset. Absolutely stunning. We loved it and felt like a million dollars.
We could see the walled town of Dubrovnik and Lokrum Island as we hit the heights; behind us there were mountains inland that framed the bay; and then, of course, there was the sunset. It was super.
The next day we set off for Kotor — another walled town, this time in Montenegro. It was incredibly crowded, but very interesting, and I lit a candle for John in the Church of Santa Clara. The exterior of this church was incredibly plain but the interior was another ‘wow’ moment. Such intricate carving of the marble.
Not my photo, I’m afraid – this one is from Trip Advisor – but you can see the phenomenal carving of the curtain draped either side of the altar. It really looked like material, but was marble.
While we waited for Graham in the main square of Kotor, Gail obligingly posed for a photo in front of the Pillar of Shame. She’s a good sport! Apparently, if you had done wrong, you stood there and told everyone about it all day long. Gail had nothing to say! Hehe.
We now know, in modern parlance, that ‘being pilloried’ comes from this practice. See? I told you it was all interesting!
On to Albania next, where I found our stay mixed. The recent history of the country and the capital, Tirana, in particular, was distressing. We heard about the vicious communist rule, from post-war until 1992. It was fascinating to learn about it but I didn’t have the stomach for it, I’m afraid, and opted out of the bunker tour shortly after it had started. Too much blood and gore and injustice to think about all in one go. Shocking stuff.
Another highlight for me though, was the city of Ohrid, situated beside the lake of the same name in North Macedonia. The city, which houses one of only two copies of the Gutenberg press in the world, has an amazing history of different cultures – Illyrian, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Slavic, Norman, Byzantine….. and, of course, the Ottomans and Christians – not to mention the equally amazing statistic of this small city once having had 365 churches – one for every day of the week!
We ate well here, overlooking the lake, and enjoyed the warm breeze from the glorious lake, bounded by mountains, as we walked along the shore.
For all of us though, I think, the most momentous sight of this Ancient Cities and Empires Tour were the rocks at Meteora, which emerged from the ground at an unexpected and massive height, and atop which monasteries and nunneries had been built. How they got the building materials, food and all other supplies up there blew our minds, and the whole site absolutely took our breath away.
I may not have had the best view from my room in Athens, but boy, I had the most fantastic view from my room in the Grand Meteora Hotel! Just look at that!
Naturally, the pièce de résistance of the tour was expected to be the Acropolis in Athens but, although it was fascinating and enjoyable to see, it didn’t have the same ‘wow’ factor as those Meteora rocks. Part of the polish was taken off the Acropolis because there seemed to be millions of tourists there – and I felt apologetic that I, too, was a tourist. More elbow sharpening was required…… but we did find a nice spot in front of the Parthenon for a minute or two.
I was thrilled, however, when the tour guide paused halfway up the steps to the top. She showed us the Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill, which is a rocky outcrop next to the Acropolis, on which Apostle Paul preached to a Roman crowd in 52 AD. More fascinating stuff. I love history.
On our last evening, we also enjoyed a rooftop view of the Acropolis. Once more, we succumbed to cocktails and a bite to eat, and generally indulged all our senses.
