Days Gone By

It’s quite hard to believe that a little over a week ago I was sitting by the pool in Corfu sipping (or is that gulping) a cold one and staring at mountains beyond the ocean.  Holidays are great aren’t they; they provide escapism from real life but once home after only a few days, they seem like a long distant memory.  Did that really happen to me, was I really there??  It’s so sad but a reality of this fast streamed life in which we live.

My new kindle arrived by courier after lunch on Thursday and I was very impressed with the service provided by Amazon.  Okay I had to lie a bit, but this saved me lying and paying out on my budget travel insurance, so it was a win-win all round. I have to confess, I also impressed myself when I logged in to Phil’s Amazon account and managed to transfer my recently purchased kindle e-books onto my old kindle.  Double result.

I made Phil do the final inspection at the Oldbrook flat with the out-of-favour agent.  He was reluctant but I dug my heels in.  Phil came back and said that the tenants who had been in for 4 years had left our flat in an excellent condition.  In fact, he said that it was in the same condition as when we first let it to them.  I doubted his word, because even with the best will in the world, wear and tear and general living causes deterioration and well, accidents do happen.  And yes, I am girl with her glass half empty but I am also realistic.  I had no high expectations.

Which was just as well, because not long after Phil left to go see his mum and dad just after 7am on Friday,  I went to the OB flat to see for myself.  On first inspection all seemed good but then when I looked closer I could see the dilapidations. Fair play to these Australian tenants it is probably the best condition that I have got a flat back.  But I am a fussy and fastidious mare and the more I looked, the more I could see that needed attention.  It wasn’t bad; I did a quick recky and made a list and then went on my merry way with a mental list of things to do kicking around in my head.

I went to Lidl to get bits and pieces for mum, from there I went to Caldecotte and dropped flat keys at Harriet’s through the letter box, bought supplies at Asda and was working out at the gym before half eight.  Not bad going even if I do say so myself.  I had a reasonable post-holiday workout and was back at the flat by half ten.  I packed our bags, made myself a baked potato for lunch and arrived at the caravan at 1pm, having stopped off at The Manor on the way to pick up the post.

It felt strange being back at the caravan; I expected to have to clear up both vans because Jan & Steve plus both their mums had stayed the weekend whilst we were on holiday but actually, you wouldn’t have known that they had been there. Steve & Jan left us a card and what looked like a couple of decent bottles of wine, bless, thank you guys and I hope you and both the mums enjoyed your stay.

I unpacked, changed beds, spoke to my neighbours and time went all too soon before Phil arrived at the van about 4pm.  Phil watched a bit of snooker and then persuaded me to go with him to the club-house.  The sun was still shining and we enjoyed a lovely walk by the lake watching the fisherman fishing but when we got the clubhouse there was a funeral wake going on for a golfing 63 year old park resident that we didn’t know and the mood was sombre.  We had a few drinks and a basket of chips and were back in the van before 7pm.

You don’t realise how close to nature you are until you sleep in the caravan.  I quite like it actually especially in late spring.  I even sleep better than I do in our centrally heated flat and so does Phil, in fact he didn’t get up until 10am last Saturday and even then I had to prise him out of bed.    Phil did a fry-up; he did bubble and squeak, baked beans, fried eggs, bacon and sausage.  We didn’t eat until late so it was almost 11am but the time we got out and on the road.

First stop was ‘The Manor’ to pick up the post and then we decided to drive and explore.  Steve told Phil about Beckworth Emporium so we went there first.  It was a mixture of delicatessen and horticulture and I loved it.  Unfortunately because it was a Bank Holiday it was really busy. We really liked the looks of the restaurant and the menu but because of our late breakfast we just were not hungry.

We drove around aimlessly trying to find that a country pub that we liked the looks of but without avail and then the skies turned grey and it began to rain; by the time we returned to the caravan it was hammering down.  Phil watched some of the snooker, because of the rain we agreed to return to the flat and I packed up.  It was weird because by the time I had everything packed up and in the boot; the sun was out in full glow.  Bummer, I was really tempted to unpack and stay on but by this time Phil had already agreed to give Harriet a lift from Caldecotte to Newport so she could go to the Sausage Fest in Sherrington.   Our Saturday night was ‘The Voice’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and then a reasonably early night.  Lights out by 9.30pm. Sad or what.

Sunday morning wasn’t an early one either. I guess it was gone 9am by the time we got to the flat.  It took me an hour and an half to clean the kitchen, just the routine stuff, grease and grim from the top of the wall units and a blast of bleach in every nook and cranny.  It took Phil about the same time to clean the windows inside and out and what a difference that made.

We walked to The Cricketers for lunch just around the corner; it was a bit of a wait for lunch that involved 2 drinks but it was a much welcomed break in-between works in progress.  It was such a lovely day that I wished that I was somewhere else and wasn’t in my scrubs.  We prepped ready for painting and finally downed tools around 4pm feeling absolutely done in. How old are we? Once upon a time, me and Phil would have worked until sunset but sadly those days are long gone, especially for Phil.

I was upset to receive a text from Sue to say that her dad had taken a turn for the worse and that she and Brian were flying home the following day.  This was our biggest fear when we flew out to Corfu and unfortunately a fear that turned into reality for Sue.  She was only on day 5 of a 2 week holiday. I really felt for her especially as it was me that persuaded her to go. Her dad is being treated in MKG for pneumonia and is scheduled to be transferred to Willen Hospice today.

Yesterday I had planned to go down to see mum in Melton but I switched days and am going down today.  Instead Phil & decided to finish work in the flat.  It made sense because Phil is meeting the agent today to hand over keys.  I was up early and working at the flat by half past seven, Phil arrived before half eight so he wasn’t that far behind.  We went to BM to get some fixtures and fittings and also picked up a vacuum packed double mattress from Dreams.  Then it was a whole morning of toil.

I painted the second bedroom then touched up with white in the hall, landing and lounge.   If I was being really particular, I probably would have painted the whole flat from top to bottom but there was just no time.  Phil put together the double bed and fitted a new toilet seat.  He also drilled down the stainless steel door wells because they’d all come loose.  The final job was to make up the bed, hoover all round and then we were more or less finished.  There are still a few bits to do; if time I will go back and re gloss all of the door frames and doors because they are a little too yellow for my liking. I also need to paint the garden fence and Phil says that he would like to hire a rug doctor and clean all the carpets.  This shouldn’t take long and at least now the flat is ready for viewing.

We had lunch at an Indian-cum-Sri Lankan restaurant in Oldbrook called Planet Dosa just opposite it from Lidl’s.   We didn’t know of the restaurant and just stumbled on it by chance.  Phil had the chicken jalfrezzi and I went for the chicken tikka masala along with lemon rice, a pashwari naan for Phil and some poppadum’s as a starter.  Well worth a visit but just be aware that they don’t have an alcohol licence.  Phil asked if you could bring your own for a corkage fee if we were to visit another time but the owner didn’t really know what we were talking about.  Never mind it was still a very nice lunch.

What a beautiful day it was yesterday and one where I felt I should have been strolling round the lake rather than painting walls but hey ho.  I did feel sorry for the MK marathon runners; it can’t have been much fun for them running in such heat.  I did spot the runners here and there as I drove around MK yesterday and had thought it would have been nice to go to the stadium to support them but it just didn’t happen.  Well done to Vanessa though, who ran in in 5.11 hrs. 

I managed to catch up with Sue yesterday afternoon for a cup of tea and a holiday-cum-life debrief.  She arrived home at half past two on Monday morning and was at the hospital visiting her dad at 9am.  He is on an IV drip of antibiotics and there is a slim chance that this will clear the infection but it is unlikely.  Very sad but at least she is home and can be there for him. Sue is sporting a great tan after only 4 days.  We chatted whilst she did her ironing but understandably she was very down.  Very down, very tired and very sad about her dad.

I have to post and publish and get going.  I am off to Melton to spend the day with mum. I spoke to her last night and she has a list of domestics for me which is absolutely fine, I am not one to sit on my bum, I much prefer to be busy.  Plus it helps her and saves her weary bones and also it passes the time of day.  If I was a really good daughter-in-law then I’d prepare and take down lunch but I just haven’t had time.  Plus the fact that I am supposed to be on a diet, detox and gym regime which just hasn’t happened. Oh well maybe next week when things get back to normal.  What’s normal?  Certainly not me for sure!