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.
I think I’ve had a good week. I have been out visiting, been writing, helping a friend with her words for the Murder Mystery that we’re doing, done a spot of yoga, met up with two out of three sons and their families, chatted to other son via WhatsApp and, most amazing of all – I finished the jigsaw!!
Honestly, it was the hardest jigsaw I have ever done. Enjoyable in a challenging way and a real sense of satisfaction at having completed it, however. I did wonder, at one point, whether I might abandon it, but Pete encouraged me not to give up, so I persevered. Boom! Made it!!
On the visiting front this week, I went to see our former vicar, Father Peter, and his wife Sandra, on Saturday. A really lovely visit. So relaxed and very, very enjoyable – we chatted and chatted, ate and drank really well and had a lovely walk through the town of Evesham, where they have retired. “I’ll drive,” I’d suggested to the girl who came with me. “No, I’ll drive,” she replied, “I’m a nervous passenger.” Oh. Hmm – it turns out I’m a nervous passenger, too!! Eek! We made it there and back in one piece though!
I did an afternoon of ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ on Sunday, which was smashing. It’s never about whether you can write well or ill; it’s just about writing what you feel in response to some stimulus, such as a quote, a picture or a phrase, to provoke you into thinking of good things. Rebecca F. Kuang said: “Writing is the closest we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, it’s opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you powers to shape your own world.” She’s not wrong. It was a couple of hours of losing myself in a different world altogether. Food for thought.
Not only do I seem to to have (nearly) broken my writing block, but also my reading block. I used to love reading but, for many years now, I’ve hardly been able to start a book, let alone finish one. However, one or two friends have lent or bought me books that they’ve thought I’d enjoy – and I have read them. Fabulous. I’ve even started reading about Van Gogh. Yippee!! There’s hope yet.
On a totally different note, we used to kneel for prayers in church. No longer. We sit, heads bowed, instead. The kneelers, so carefully and lovingly worked by members of the congregation in memory of loved ones, lay abandoned in a side room. For momentous events, like Paul and Harriet’s wedding and Paul’s confirmation, we searched high and low for the one I had made in memory of my Dad – because kneeling is required in those services – but to no avail.
But there’s good news! The kneelers are to be binned and have been shifted into the back of the church. “Have a look through,” announced the church warden to those gathered in church last Sunday, “to find yours to take home, if you like.” Well, yes perlease, I thought……. so I had a rummage and found it. Marvellous and fond memories of the love that went into that piece of tapestry, The Star of Bethlehem, because, as most of you know, I hate sewing.
Mind you, now I look at it in the photo, it looks like a couple of fried eggs on toast, doesn’t it? Hehe!! I bet you can’t un-see that now, can you? God bless.
Life is interesting, isn’t it? You never know what weird and wonderful things are going present themselves to you. And I got to thinking that, as I continue to muddle through the fog, mist and other such cloudy things in my brain, my creativity button has simply switched off. A creativity menopause, if you will.
Which brings me to an apology for those who continue to regularly read the blog. I realise that I am simply recording ‘what I/we have done’ as a memoir of our family life. Mostly mundane with the odd, unexpected excitement – no more of an attempt at making the blog interesting or amusing (if ever it was anyway). A flat, 2D image of an ‘every day story of village folk’. But there we are. Maybe I’ll get my Mojo back in due course. Who knows? Anyway, here we are – a bit more of ‘this is wot I have dun….’
A week last Friday, I enjoyed a wonderful couple of hours at the NEC with Hazel (of Centre Stage and Quiz Night fame) and her friends, experiencing the Van Gogh exhibition. An immersive, 360º digital art exhibition that invited us to step into the universe of the Dutch genius. We all marvelled at the way in which the art was presented as merged, moving pictures, and we loved the event. It was so good that it prompted me to toddle to the library to order books on his life and works. On the BTBR (books to be read) pile now!
I also took delivery of Chester a week last Friday, too. A weekend away for him and a pleasure for me. An elderly boy now and slowing down a bit, meaning that the walks are more leisurely than taken at the usual run. He made himself at home, of course. And he’s not so infirm that he couldn’t woof at the next door neighbour’s cat – or get up the stairs into our bedroom, or leap up onto the sofa – all the places where he’s not supposed to be. Tee-hee.
My weekend didn’t stop there. On Saturday evening, our church choir joined up with two other local choirs to put on a concert to raise funds for supplies to Ukraine. It was great fun as they romped through popular songs; songs from the musicals; and some church music. We even had a sing-song ourselves too!!
I am not sure how much the event raised, but people certainly put their hands deep into their pockets after watching a video of first-hand experience of the horrors of war, filmed by of one of the congregation’s Ukrainian tenants.
Sunday was another Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner at Paul and Harriet’s with all the local family. Great food and great company – including the puppies of course! They are still cute – but growing. Not clear from these photos but Duke is a least a third larger than dainty Mabel and growing fast.
And the week that then rushed past involved babysitting the Kenilworth Newbie children on Monday and Tuesday while Michael and Danielle strove to do a bit of work. I took the children to Kenilworth Castle on Tuesday afternoon where Paul and Freddie joined us. What a great time we all had clambering up and down the ruins – and, of course, the traditional roly-polys down the banks. Not me this time though…… but so much fun that we hardly wanted to come home! Cakes helped the afternoon swing by, too. Here’s two of the brood with theirs. Yum.
Of course, it was back to school for every little boy in the family on Wednesday (much to the relief of their parents) and the obligatory doorstep photo, in which they all looked fabulously cute and – crikey – grown up! Oh, my heart.
Great activities and great company throughout the week which I really enjoyed – and on Friday afternoon, I even had couple of hours of reading in the garden when the weather turned very warm and sunny, beer in hand, of course!
Enjoying the warm sunshine and gazing at the house ‘that Jack built’ brought John to mind. I’m still missing the ol’ man. There’s a constant undercurrent of missing his vibrancy and that strongpresence in my life; his ability to self-start and get on with things; his sense of humour and strong opinions – and, oh, just his being. But on the plus side, everything I look at around the house brings me the joy of having had him in my life so long. Hurrah for that.
It was to be hoped that the melancholy mood might be short-lived. It still might be, but not yet. It’s all feeling a bit of a muddle at the moment and who knows when that will end?
For a while, I had started to feel better, but here we are, back on the ‘down’ of the rollercoaster!! Oh, the thrills and spills of it all! Dizzy heights and low lows……
Mind you, lots of people have reminded me that this is to be expected, so I’ll expect away.
In the meantime, of course, I keep on keeping on (sage advice from several dear friends) and on Monday evening, I went with Linda C to the Birmingham Hippodrome to watch the show ‘Hamilton’. It had rave reviews – ‘brilliant’; ‘superb’; ‘amazing’ – were just some of the adjectives used, so we were both really looking forward to it. I chose decent (expensive) seats so that we’d be in the thick of it and be able to absorb the atmosphere.
Hahahaha…….neither of us had researched it beforehand, so we blithely entered into another realm of music that we weren’t expecting at all. Throughout, it was all ‘hip-hop’, fast-paced and very, very slick. By gum, we didn’t half have to concentrate hard to hear the words in order to get a bit of a gist as to what was going on!!
At the end of the production, everyone was one their feet – a standing ovation – and all whooping and hollering for all they were worth. Linda and I looked at each other and shrugged. Hmmm……..clearly, we’re not ‘down with it’, because we didn’t quite get it. It did make an impression upon me though, and it has set me pondering about modern thinking and how quickly this aging lark catches up with you. Definitely food for thought.
In other news, the ‘keep on keeping on’ mentality has included an enjoyable afternoon and Sunday Roast at the Kenilworth Originals where a decent helping of puppies was the order of the day.
I present to you Mabel and Marmaduke……. she’s an elegant little madam, and he’s a darling little bruiser!! Just how cute are these little dollops of loveliness?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I was up for another open water swim; a fab chat with me bestie, Carol; a spot of gardening (yippee!); a trip to the tip (with a big thank you to Paul for the help); Quiz Night, including ‘happy birthday’ singing (rather badly on Zoom) to Caroline who had a BIG birthday this week; a yoga class (Jaime’s back – hooray!); lovely tea and cake with Margaret who makes excellent cake; and an evening meal with the Kenilworth Newbies just back from their hols – nice.
Jigsaw puzzle is also coming on……. slow, slow progress (it’s only seven weeks since I started it), but I’m determined to finish it!!
In January, I thought I’d better set a monthly ‘something’ to look forward to. In the end, of course, I decided to say ‘yes’ to every invitation that was offered. And what a year it’s been so far. Friends and family have surrounded me with love and support and I’ve had a cracking time.
Plans to spend August fiddling in the garden have come to nought so far, with the grand plans on hold, yet again. Which led me to start thinking about how to live.
I knew this would come. I just didn’t know when.
It also led me to say ‘no’ and cancel some invitations/activities already in place. I am hoping I haven’t offended anyone but I expect I’ll find out when people stop talking to me!!
The thing is, recording what I/we do in the blog puts a shine on things. I usually aim to make it happy-ish. Sometimes, I can’t face sharing how I’m feeling, so the blog takes a back seat and I don’t write it – even when there have been happy events or success stories. To run with the façade of ‘I’m OK’ only lasts a little while before I’m really not OK.
So this week, I wasn’t OK. No matter that I’d had a lovely couple of days at Pete and Fran’s on Monday & Tuesday; a lovely lunch with Mike Downes on Wednesday, then another lovely lunch with Moira on Friday, followed by ‘food for the elderly’ when Catherine came on Friday evening.
No matter that I’d made the effort to exercise with a couple of walks and a class of yoga. No matter that I’d had a visit from Chris bringing a bar of chocolate to cheer me up, and then had a hoot at Quiz Night.
No matter that I’d successfully done a spot of decorating and a little bit of weed-pulling and dead-heading.
As Jaime, my dear yoga teacher says, we are human ‘beings’, not ‘doings’. In ‘doing’, I am hoping that the ‘being’ will reassert itself. However, no luck so far – I am not sure who I am, or what I’m here for; I’m just trundling along doing stuff and hoping for the best. And hoping that better is yet to come.
Gosh! Doesn’t time fly when you are enjoying yourself? I can’t quite believe that it’s over a week since I jotted down all the amazing things that have been happening.
Once again, life has been fabulously full of family and friends – so much so, that I’ve hardly had time to catch my breath!! A very welcome weekend visit by George and Sue for more electrics; another barbecue en famille; welcoming Andrew home for the week; greeting the Kenilworth Originals back from their travels in Oz: more babysitting; a spot of Open Water Swimming and a bit of Yoga.
As if that weren’t enough, it was all followed by a curry with Centre Stage friends; a funeral; a visit to the Jewellery Quarter and a Michelin-starred meal out; Skyping Graham and Gail; birthday cake and bubbles with Pete and Dawn – and finally, a house party at Paul and Harriet’s to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Phew!
Within the wonderful activities, of course, there are moments that make you smile – for example, George making the exciting discovery of a toad at the bottom of the garden. Haven’t seen one of those for years.
Then there was Thomas carrying on the Sleath male-line tradition of showing a bum-crack when bending over. Aww…. bless, picking blackberries on ‘UncAndrew’s’ shoulders is just the best.
And, of course, no family get-together is complete unless one or other of the boys is in strong man Samson mode……
In amongst the fun and frolics however, there have been some poignant moments. Michael and Andrew got the Lotus out last Sunday (11th) to have a rummage in the engine, as they frequently do. I heard a toot-toot on the horn but didn’t take a lot of notice. They often toot-toot just for fun. Anyway, a minute later and in great excitement, Michael came pounding in, eyes sparkling, “Come and see!” he said, beckoning us out to the front drive.
Oh, wow!! There was the car, all running sweetly and everything. The boys had taken the car for a spin around the block. We were all thrilled and delighted. Naturally, there was more to check under bonnet, with the kids joining in…. and guess what? Might have shed a tear.
There was the final photo call in Oz too, posted on the WhatsApp Tribe chat, when Paul and Harriet said their farewell to Graham and Gail. Another moment when I might just have shed a tear.
And, naturally, there was Paul and Harriet’s 10th wedding anniversary house party and memories of the preparations and celebrations of that spectacular day. Might have shed a tear or two then, as well. Well, you know, what can you do?
Despite the emotional roller-coaster, these are such lovely moments mending, mending, mending me; softening the edges of the hurt and continued bewilderment of being a widow. Such moments to treasure. Cheers, everyone!
And the garden? “I’m not planning any activities in August,” I had boldly declared…… ha! ha! ha! August is halfway through and I’ve hardly touched the garden!! Eeek! The wilderness still awaits! Heeelp!! Anyone like to lay odds on whether I’ll get anything done? Hehehe!
Last Friday, it was barbecue time at my house for Pete & Dawn, Alison & Peter and Sally & Leigh. The occasion was a celebration of Alison’s few-weeks-past 70th birthday, and Dawn’s three-days-away birthday. Although tired, I was looking forward to it and it all turned out very nicely. The sun shone and company was lovely. What I hadn’t bargained for though, was a bit of a wobble.
I’d had one or two barbecues in recent weeks with the family when Paul did the cooking, so I thought I was all set. However, as I put out all the chairs, cushions and tables, then set up the barbecue itself, it dawned on me that I’d be doing John’s job – overseeing the burning of the meat! Hmm…… “Do you want a hug?” asked Alison, when she arrived. “Yes, please.” I replied. That helped, along with the fact the Peter Sharkey took over the cooking, so the wobble was over.
It was a very warm day last Friday, so we took ourselves to all the shady areas of the garden to try and keep cool. The parasols made a little bit of a difference at the patio table but, while most of us enjoyed the warmth and the sunshine, it didn’t suit Dawn awfully well. After the dessert, Dawn went home to rest in the cool of her house – after which I belatedly remembered to take photos of everyone. Ah well, next time I’ll get everyone in……
I spent the weekend resting, watching lots of the Olympics and generally fighting off the wobbles, which threatened to overwhelm. I was still in fight mode when I woke up on Monday morning and was just contemplating how to face the day when a phone call came in. It was Paul – all the way from Australia. Oh, my goodness! What a lovely boost to me that was. We spent nearly an hour nattering and saying hello to the family. Freddie, being addicted to digging in the sand, waved and shouted, “Hello Grandma!” from the depths of the beach. “Digging to England this time, instead of Australia?” I giggled. Yep – he absolutely loves it.
Everyone was well, although still a touch tired after all their antics and they had had a good few days with Graham and Gail. They look like they are having fun!
Pete and Dawn came round on Monday for a bit of cake and a glass of wine to toast Dawn’s birthday, so that rounded off the boost very nicely!
Tuesday and Wednesday were babysitting days, which were lovely once again, except that I had succumbed to a bit of a cold over the weekend. A Covid test was done, just to make sure that I wasn’t going to pass that particular dreaded lurgy on, but it was negative, so babysitting could go ahead.
We set up Andrew’s two-man tent in the garden for the children to play in and they had a whale of a time nipping in and out, in between pleas for an episode of Paw Patrol/Octonauts/Grizzly and the Lemmings…….
Meanwhile, I also nipped in and out to get drinks/toys/food/cushions etc and promptly managed to trip up the patio step and splat on my face. Argh!! I now have a lovely fat lip (very pretty) and a scratched lens in my glasses – oh, and a hefty bill for a new pair of those……… that’ll teach me to watch where I’m going!!
