6th October 2014

It’s hard to believe it’s been over five weeks since we returned from the Arctic Circle. At this rate, I now need to consult my online diary to jog my memory on what we’ve been up to; clearly, my brain cells are on strike.

Sadly, after watching a dismal Tigers performance at the Angel on Saturday, I cycled home in a bit of a huff. As I mulled over the match, I remembered I’d taken a raincoat with me. Returning to the pub, I was relieved to find it still draped over my vacant seat. And to my delight, the All Blacks were playing the South Africans in what seemed like an incredibly skilled and motivated match. I settled back in to watch the second half, thoroughly enjoying a determined South Africans’ victory.

But just as the final whistle blew, an all-too-familiar sense of deja vu hit me. As I pedalled up our driveway, it dawned on me that once again, worryingly, my raincoat was left behind at the Angel. Fortunately, Sarah had returned from work and kindly offered to drive me back. My coat had been noticed missing, and one of my former pupils’ mums, who manages the Angel, had kindly placed it behind the bar. Thank you, Mrs. Hahessy!

September 2nd was Charlotte’s birthday, followed closely by her and Suraj’s wedding anniversary on the 3rd, and then Suraj’s birthday on the 4th. The family gathered for a BBQ to mark the occasion. That week, I also managed a cobnut-collecting bike ride to Arthingworth with Kiwi Peter Cooper, and a walk around Langham in Rutland with John Lee, followed by a lovely lunch at the Wheatsheaf. A few days later, Sue and I picked several buckets of cobnuts from the hedge separating my allotment from the playing field. Thankfully, the current generation of adults seems blissfully unaware that the round nuts they trample on while watching their children play are actually delicious little morsels. Their loss, our gain!

The weekend turned out to be exceptionally busy. On Saturday morning, the Rothwells joined us, and along with Sue and Sarah, we set off to explore the renowned Lubenham Scarecrow Festival. The weather was absolutely glorious, which encouraged us to take in more of the village scarecrows than we ever had before. It seemed there were more stalls and attractions this year, with two fields dedicated to our entertainment, packed with things to see and do.

It was clear that the lovely weather had brought out everyone from the local area, as we found ourselves queuing for a parking spot. By the time lunchtime arrived, the crowds had swelled to such an extent that it was sometimes a struggle to navigate through the activities without bumping into half the village. It was a good problem to have, though, and the lively atmosphere definitely added to the charm of the event.

That evening, Sue and I joined Jim and Kate Crawford for a night of comedy at the Harborough Theatre. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Jim and Brigitte Hankers had also decided to attend and were already settled in, holding our seats for us. For once, all three acts were genuinely amusing, and of course, the female headliner was brilliantly squirmingly observant. A good night was had by all.

The following day was Harborough’s Art Fresco. Since Nan hadn’t come with us to the Scarecrows, I had arranged to take her along to see the various performances around the town. Things didn’t start too well, though, when she ran into me on her mobility scooter. Fortunately, no harm was done.

Once we arrived in the Square, a rugby friend spotted me for a chat. After just a couple of minutes, I looked around to check on Nan, and, not surprisingly, she had vanished. Over an hour later and two transects of the High Street, I finally found her, completely engrossed in a unicyclist on a ridiculously tall machine. Now, you’d think it would be difficult to lose an 86-year-old sitting on a mobility scooter on a straight road, even within a large crowd. The answer is: Not a bit of it, if they’re Welsh, from Yorkshire, and possess the attention span of a goldfish.

By all accounts, Nan had a great time and saw most of the acts on offer. She waxed lyrical about all she’d seen on the journey back to Willow Bank. I was glad to hear the enthusiastic description, as I would have hated to think I’d wasted an afternoon!

The following day was so lovely that I rang Charlotte and offered to take Ellis to Wicksteed Park for the afternoon, while Sue spent her time enjoying herself by freezing carrots and pickling beetroot. With schools back in session, the park was delightfully empty, save for a few mothers with toddlers. All the rides were shut, except the Carousel (which we did ride) and the train (which we didn’t have time for). We did have a go at all the activities in the play park, several times over, and I was surprised when Ellis refused a bag of chips, opting instead to continue playing. It was a tired little boy I eventually took back to Rothwell.

The red grapes were ready, so I spent a pleasant morning picking them. This year, I’d invested in a ‘proper’ press to squish them, unlike last year when I used a potato masher to extract the juice, which was hard work and left a lot of wastage. I’d practised the week before, making apple juice from ‘windfalls’, and it had gone down so well with the family that I was looking forward to making ‘the juice’ from my grapes. This year, because of the volume, the picking took far longer than the squishing, and soon enough, I had bottles and bottles of red grape juice, which over the past week has almost entirely disappeared down gullets. Next on the list: the white grapes.

The following day, Sue and I drove to Loughborough to meet Sarah and look at a house she and Lee were considering buying. It was currently being used as student accommodation, and when we arrived, the two remaining students were busy packing their cases. The house itself was a terraced property with a surprisingly modern feel inside, and the layout was very similar to Charlotte’s old house in Newark. We did spot a damp issue in one of the bedrooms, which I suspected was due to poor flashing around the chimney, and some dampness in the bathroom, which I guessed was from poor ventilation. Thankfully, they were having a survey done, which would highlight any issues and give an indication of how much it might cost to fix. Afterwards, we left Sarah in Loughborough, as she was working later that afternoon and planned to do a bit of shopping.

On Sunday, Sue, Charlotte, Sarah, and I went on a Council walk along the Caudles. It was a lovely hot day, which we finished off with an Indian buffet at ‘Little India’ in Arnesby. I’m afraid we all made pigs of ourselves, and our tummies took a bit of a stuffing!

That night, we had a burglar. Jamie had been having problems with his car, so I’d been giving him a lift to and from work for the past few days. He decided that cycling to work would be healthier, so around midnight, he came to get his bike out of the garden shed. However, a few days earlier, I’d tidied the shed and his bike was now tucked under the pool covers, making it impossible to see in the dark. He sent me a text and took mine instead. Unfortunately, my phone was charging in the lounge, so I wasn’t woken by his text. The following morning, Sue burst into the bedroom in a panic, informing me that we’d had burglars. Finding my bike gone, I then checked my mobile and discovered the text from Jamie. He fixed his car the following day after discovering the hard way that cycling can be quite strenuous.

Meanwhile, the brakes on my car had started squeaking, so, with no bike to rely on, I took it to KwikFit to have them checked. The technicians couldn’t find anything wrong with them, but I had the brake fluid changed and the front wheels tracked while the car was up on the ramp.

On Friday, Lee came to stay overnight, and early on Saturday (the 20th), he drove with Sarah to London. She was crewing on the MS Tenacious, a tall ship moored next to Tower Bridge. They parked on the outskirts of London and took the tube in. After lunch nearby, Lee saw Sarah off as she boarded the ship to begin her maritime adventure.

Unfortunately, we learned later; that the Tenacious’s journey down the Thames didn’t go smoothly. A fishing net got caught around one of her propellers, and they had to stop near Gravesend. A diver was called in to free the propeller the next day. After sailing in the English Channel and along the southern coast, Sarah reported that crewing the ship was tough but exhilarating. She saw the sun set and rise during her watches, climbed the mast, unfurled and took in the sails, helped in the galley, took the helm, and I imagine she probably swabbed the decks as well, though that wasn’t mentioned. She made lots of new friends, including the creator of ‘Bagpuss’, who generously treated their ‘watch’ to a slap-up meal in Dieppe.

While Sarah was sailing the ocean blue, Sue and I made our way to Bournemouth for a few days of R&R. We broke the journey in Winchester, visiting the Cathedral before exploring the town.

In Bournemouth, we stayed at the Carrington House Hotel, which was just a 15-minute walk from the beach. After a delicious evening meal at the hotel, we decided to make the short drive to the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole. There, we watched a superb show that brought the lives of Simon and Garfunkel to life through music

and video. The two singers were spot on; they sang and looked just like the real thing. It was a lovely way to spend the evening, and the best part was that we knew ALL the songs!

The following day, I had planned a walk around Hengistbury Head, starting in Christchurch. After breakfast, we drove there and parked by the marina. The walk took nearly four hours to complete and offered some lovely views, passing beautiful houses and a row of charming beach huts on the spit itself. Once we finished the walk, we returned the car to the hotel car park and set off to explore the beach. We strolled along Boscombe Pier before walking further along the shoreline to the main pier in the town centre. After a lovely lunch near the pier, we stretched our legs once again with a walk to the Lower Gardens.

The Lower Gardens were a strange place. The park was full of beautiful plants and rockeries, and an Arts Festival was being prepared, with peculiar structures and displays being erected. The oddest sight, however, was the hundreds of white vests hanging from the trees. It was truly a strange and intriguing feature!

 

 

 

 

 

That evening, after dinner at the hotel, we drove into the centre of the town and caught a film called ‘Lucy’. Definitely worth seeing, a real edge-of-your-seat thriller.

The following morning, after breakfast, we checked out and took a stroll along Boscombe Chine, hoping to find a geocache. After 20 minutes of fruitless searching, we concluded it had likely been muggled. Disappointed, we returned to the car and drove to Lyndhurst in the New Forest for a walk around the town, which, I must say, was rather posh.

From there, we continued to Southampton to meet the MS ‘Tenacious’ and Sarah. By the time we arrived, the ship had already docked, and the crew was busy getting it ship-shape for its next trip. Sarah had taken the helm on the final leg of the journey and was now coiling ropes and engaging in various other nautical tasks while we stood on the quay, snapping photos.

The crew were given lunch before they were allowed to disembark, which worked out nicely for us, as it gave us the chance to board and have a look around the ship. Afterwards, we gave one of Sarah’s new friends a lift to Southampton railway station before embarking on the return journey from hell. Advice: never, ever attempt such a trip on a Friday afternoon! We lost count of how many roads were shut, mostly due to accidents involving lorries, or how many times Mr TomTom tried (and failed) to re-route us. Having done the same journey just a few weeks earlier in just under 3 hours, this torturous trip took over 5 hours!

Back home, Sue had a late birthday treat awaiting her. Charlotte and Sarah had booked afternoon tea at the Kilworth House Hotel, and a few days after returning from Southampton, all three got dolled up in their glad rags and spent a truly luxurious afternoon rubbing shoulders with the upper crust (and sampling the sandwiches, of course).

On the 27th of September, Suraj and I joined Jim Hankers for Pie Night at Hothorpe Hall. We travelled in Suraj’s BMW and indulged in a delicious selection of pies. It was a pleasant evening, though I must admit the refined surroundings of the Hall felt a bit too formal for my idea of a proper pie night. I imagined something a bit more laid-back, like a pub atmosphere, to go with the hearty pies. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see the inside of the Hall, and we finished the evening with several enjoyable games of pool in the bar.The following day, my car passed its MOT with flying colours (though the brakes were still squeaky), and Nan had her annual flu shot without any complaints. To celebrate, I treated her to lunch at the Oathouse in Little Bowden. Last Sunday evening, I went to watch Jamie play soccer on the all-weather pitch at the Leisure Centre. Although his team was the better side, they lost 1-0. Jamie played well, hitting the post twice and the crossbar once, showing off his skill as a striker. He was definitely the quickest player on the pitch.

This term, Lucas started Junior school, and much to Charlotte’s dismay, Ellis began full-time in Reception after having attended in the mornings for the past few weeks. She has lost her little boys for a big chunk of the day!

On the 5th of October, Sue, Charlotte, and I took part in a Council walk to Peatling Parva. It turned out to be the last dry day of the long, hot spell from September. The walk was a short four-and-a-half-mile route, but it was slowed down by many stiles, which became a bit of a challenge for the large and mostly elderly group. It took a while for everyone to get over these minor obstacles. By the time we reached the pub, it was a relief to sit down with a pint of cider, followed by an exceptional Sunday roast carvery.

I must admit, I was so full that I ended up napping on the way back to Harborough and missed Jamie’s next match, which they won 3-1. Typical!

 

Sarah’s Cruise Photos