All the best laid plans

It’s good to have plans but sometimes even the best laid plans go belly up which is exactly what happened last weekend.  First up, I had forgotten that Jimmy had invited Phil to go round on Sunday afternoon to watch the Grand Prix on Sky.  It completely slipped my mind when I invited Jill & Tony to come and stay at the caravan.  So unfortunately Phil had to tell Jim he couldn’t come.  As it turned out he could have actually watched the race live because Jill then emailed me to say that she and Tony had some god awful sounding summer bug and wouldn’t be able to make it for weekend.  This was a shame because we were looking forward to catching up with them.  Phil did wonder about re-inviting himself to Jim’s but this would have meant that I was stuck in the caravan by myself as I was driving from Overstone to spend the day with Phil’s mum on the Monday.

As it happened it all turned out well.  The weather was so good we decided to head over to the caravan anyway and we had a lovely time.  It was the first time that we have spent in the caravan without guests with brilliant sunshine and we totally chilled.  Actually it was the first time in memory that we haven’t had to switch on ANY heaters.  It was a mad rush on Friday to get packed up and I don’t really know why.  I went to the gym and did a food shop, lunch was McDonalds with money off voucher and then we drove to the park in separate cars.

I guess it was mid-afternoon by the time I got there.  I unpacked, put on my shorts and sunbathed before watching the Murray match in the evening.  We were really lazy on Saturday morning and stayed in bed until 11am reading our books.  The plan was to go to the DW gym in Northampton but to be frankly honest I couldn’t be arsed.  Phil wanted to get in the car and do a mystery tour of the countryside in search of a good old country pub.  I confess I was a little reluctant, on such a fine day I didn’t really want to spend hours in the car and these mystery tours are fruitless and we end up getting hopelessly lost.  It was a bit of the same old on Saturday but eventually we found a village pub and stopped for lunch.  My sunbathing hours weren’t seriously compromised and we were back at the caravan not long after 2pm. 

I did catch some rays in the afternoon but I soon got sweaty and bored and ended up washing bedding, towels and net curtains and which Ianded me with a pile of ironing in the evening which wasn’t pleasant as it was baking in both vans.  We were up at 8’ish on Sunday morning and I went to the gym, leaving Phil to his own devices.  I did try and persuade him to come with me for a work out but he wasn’t in the mood.  In his defence, he did walk around the lakes, got supplies from the shop on site and prepared the lunch.  Our Sunday lunch was simple, roast chicken with new potatoes, a green salad and corn on the cobs.  We’d not long cleared away when it was time to switch on the box to watch the Murray final.  I was torn; part of me wanted to work on my tan and the other part of me wanted to watch the tennis.  In the end I did a bit of both. 

Well what can I say, but what a brilliant match, a real nail biting final and you all probably watched it and will agree how very well Murray done.  When he won, it made Phil cry, the boy does have a heart, it was an amazing victory for us British.  Unfortunately later Phil fell into a deep cider-beer induced sleep and missed the highlights of the German Grand Prix on BBC1.  I wasn’t bothered and busied myself getting the caravans packed up.  I sorted the food, packed my bag, threw out the rubbish, put all the garden furniture away and scattered some bleach.  It was while I was coming from the rubbish bins that I got talking to Richard and Brenda in the log cabin just opposite caravan no 1.  What a lovely couple, they gave me a tour of their log cabin and it made me very envious.  They did make me laugh and I’ve promised to take them out to lunch.

It was nearly 9pm by the time I had finished my jobs, just in time to watch Big Brother.  Phil was still dead to the world and I couldn’t wake him but not for want of trying.  I left him sleeping and went to bed at 10pm as I had to be up early.  I had set the alarm for 6.30 am but awoke at 5.30 am miss-reading the clock for an hour later.  Good job I had packed the night before so I was able to be on the way to Melton just before half seven.  I got to the bungalow at quarter to nine after not a bad run. Phil’s mum, was as always, pleased to see me.  She’d enjoyed the tennis and was taken out to lunch the day before by Joan her ex neighbour who has been a godsend since George died.  I had a quick cup of tea, went through the post and then we went into town to do some errands.  First stop was the building society, followed by a visit to the Polish shop to buy packet salad dressings and on the way back to the car; we stopped in the charity shop and found mum a real leather bag for only 3 quid. A real bargain and she was pleased.  We stopped at Tesco’s to get some shopping and there was just time to drop this off before driving to visit mum’s friends Dot & Alf for a coffee and a catch-up.

Dot is in much in the same health as mum but her husband Alf is very dependent on his frame and his chair.  I do seem to have an empathy with the old folk but it’s sad at times to see them lose their independence, it’s almost like they revert to children.  Anyway, we had coffee and biscuits and spending time with her friend cheered Bet up.  Lunch back at the bungalow was salmon, boiled spuds and frozen peas which despite bubbling over were hard when served.  I don’t do sweets, but so as not to hurt mum’s feelings, I did have a spoonful of stewed fruit and homemade custard.

After lunch it was a few household jobs; cleaning dust from the tops of the wardrobe, hovering throughout and cleaning splattering’s from the new Perspex driveway covering.  Even at the age of 82 Phil’s mum is still so house-proud; I know that she wants me to take down and wash all the curtains plus paint gloss on the new central heating pipes but there was no time on Monday.  I left just before 3 and stopped off to see Sue in Newport when I got off the motorway.  I hadn’t seen her since last Wednesday so it was almost withdrawal symptoms.  The motorway was busy and I was relieved to get to number 2 for tea and a catch-up.  I got back to the flat for half five and Phil was worried because he’d forgotten that I’d said I was stopping off to see Sue.  I had told him, he either doesn’t listen to me or he is going even deafer.

I had a pile of ironing to do but it was just too hot in the flat, after the drive back from Melton I didn’t feel like doing anything, as it seems.  To make up for my laziness I got up before half six yesterday.  The intention was to get on the computer and catch up whilst Phil was in bed but he had the same idea so he got up too.  Two and a half hours on the computer and I managed to renew Phil’s mum European Insurance Card plus get her some private insurance for our week away.  I also managed to book train tickets to Southampton next Monday, some £33 cheaper than when I last looked.  I caught up with recordings, ate my breakfast, emailed a few folks, checked out what was new on Facebook and was out the door by 9am. 

Actually, I did have a very productive day yesterday. I did a big shop at Tesco’s in Bletchley because I had money off coupons with a sell by date, went to DW for a reasonable workout and popped into Asda to return the ice-box that I brought last Friday.  My final stop before going back to the flat was a visit to the train station to collect my internet tickets.  I was home alone because Phil had picked up Steve B in the morning (Happy Birthday BTW Steve) and they’d driven off to Luton to visit Jim at his offices.  After a factory tour and a walk into town for lunch, I gather a good time was had by all.

Boy it was another hot day; it was half past twelve by the time I got back to the flat. I had cold chicken with salad for lunch and then got stuck into an hour and half of filing.  Boring, boring, boring and I wished I was back at the caravan. The flat was stifling so I went into HSBC to bank a cheque.  I returned home, Phil came back and then I decided to go to the city centre to get my eye brows threaded.  Bad timing, the girlie at Superdrug was at lunch and wasn’t due back until after my parking ticket expired so I abandoned that plan and went back to Newport. This time I dumped the rubbish that Phil had forgotten to put out on Monday, then scrounged tea from Sue and then stopped off at the garage to get my car cleaned on the way home.  As I said, a productive day and I was relieved to tick a few things of my never ending list of tasks.

Once again, I apologise for the lack of photographs.   It’s not for the lack of equipment because Phil has sorted my camera problem.  He treated himself to a new camera and gifted me his old one which actually isn’t so old and is a million times better than my old one. The trouble is, it’s unfamiliar and I just keep forgetting to get it out of the old battered hand bag and snap the moment.  I must get back into the knack of annoying folk by flashing it in their faces.  Believe me, it doesn’t make me popular but it’s good for the blog.

As I said in the beginning of this post, all the best laid plans are subject to change.  This forthcoming weekend Sue had planned my birthday surprise and I was told to blank the whole day out.  But then, whatever surprise she had planned was cancelled until the following weekend.   Which actually turned out for the best because when we were at the caravan the weekend before last, we saw on the notice board that party in the park is taking place this weekend.  We went last year and it was really good even though it was wet and soggy under foot.  Sue says the forecast is good for Saturday and I'm keeping my fingers crossed because we are hoping to do a BBQ before going down to listen to the band and watch the fireworks.

Still on the subject of change, we hadn’t been at the caravan very long on Friday when Phil took a call from Rexam asking him to go in today to meet the software consultant and talk rates.  We could do with the money to be honest and I think it will be good for him to be back in the work place but it will feel strange and we will need to adjust our daily routines.  But a change is as good as a rest and maybe it’s time for me to find me a job. But one baby step at a time, first I need to enjoy my BD and get ready for the Queen Elizabeth. Life is looking up.