13th June 2016
Despite May leaning towards the inclement, the family took the variable weather in their stride, carrying on with life as usual.
While Sue and I kept our feet firmly planted in Leicestershire, Sarah and Lee assumed the international roaming duties, jetting off to Disneyland Paris for a few days at the end of the month. Despite recent terrorist activity in the city, they managed to avoid any major incidents, including widespread strike action and fuel shortages that had left petrol stations empty.
During their trip, we looked after Mia, who thoroughly enjoyed herself as my companion on a grand tour of Leicestershire’s hostelries.
The cold and wet weather didn’t deter Sue from tramping the countryside with her U3A walking groups. On one occasion, however, a walk was rescheduled, much to Sue’s frustration. She spent the afternoon remarking that it was barely raining and asking, “Don’t people have rain gear?” Naturally, I agreed with her entirely.
I managed a single walk in Rutland with John, who had just returned from a two-week fishing trip to Cuba. As usual, we set about putting the world to rights, though we were powerless to change the May weather. Still, we insisted that the sun make an appearance for our outing, and it did.
We continue to attend the ‘Silver Screen’ cinema showings regularly; ‘Dad’s Army’ was particularly enjoyable. Occasionally, on our way back to Harborough, we’ve dropped in to see Roger, who is currently burdened with concerns about his parents. He has reluctantly spent quite a bit of time in Bristol, assisting his sister with sorting out their various medical issues.
Surprisingly, Roger visited us one day, and I agreed to spend a day helping him upgrade his laptop to Windows 10 and set it up to run BT Sport via the app. I had offered to do this a year ago, but as I’d cheekily suggested that the fee would be lunch at ‘The Swan’, I suspect it’s taken him this long to save up! Now, he can watch rugby without the annoyance of buffering, crashes, and the action of “staggering” across the pitch.
Harborough’s Comedy Club continues to be a favourite, and we’ve enjoyed a couple of shows this month. On our last visit, we were surprised to bump into Paul, Louise, and Sean, who admitted they’d never been before.
On the 12th, Sue, Charlotte, Jamie, and Sarah attended a performance of ‘Grease’ at the Cube in Corby, which they all thoroughly enjoyed. Jamie was so impressed that he joined Sue to see ‘Johnny Cash‘ at the same venue on the 10th of June.
At the end of May, I took the bike to visit the Arthingworth Beer Festival with Peter and Jim. Fortunately, the weather was fine, and for the first time that week, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the range of beers on offer, in the dry.
As usual, Friday family curry nights have been a regular feature, although Sarah and Lee haven’t always been able to join us due to work commitments. We did manage to squeeze in one BBQ during the month, though it would have been far more enjoyable on a warmer evening!
There were two culinary highlights this month: I discovered the art of making spicy turkey meatballs and a delicious Fijian chicken dish served with Bami Goreng (fusion cooking).
Back in February, I entered a competition while at Heathrow Airport and recently discovered that I had won. The prize was a Saturday at Twickenham to watch the HSBC World Sevens with Lucas. We were supposed to be England team mascots, walking out onto the pitch with the team. Unfortunately, much to Lucas’s disappointment, the organisation by Heathrow management was dreadful.
The tickets were promised by the previous Monday, with final instructions to follow via email on Wednesday. After numerous emails from me, the instructions eventually arrived late on Friday, along with the tickets. Sadly, I was out shopping for Curry Night when the tickets were delivered, and a card was left stating they could be collected the next working day, as a signature was required.
By that point, train tickets had jumped from £42 at the start of the week to a staggering £137 by Friday. Needless to say, we didn’t go.
On the last day of May, Charlotte and the boys came over, and with Sue, we drove to Sarah’s before heading on to Thornton Reservoir for a delightful walk. We finished the outing with lunch at the Bricklayers Arms. It’s a very picturesque part of the county and one we’ll definitely revisit.
While we were enjoying ourselves in the north of Leicestershire, Jamie had travelled to the east coast with friends for a very chilly camping weekend, brrrrr!
On the gardening front, the cold and wet spring, which continued into the start of summer, has meant that the plants have been slow to germinate and grow. Things didn’t pick up until we had a few hot days at the beginning of June. However, since that early promise, we’ve returned to cool and damp conditions, great for potatoes, but little else. The greenhouse tomatoes are only just starting to form their first trusses, and the vines have only just emerged from bud. Even the elderberry hasn’t blossomed yet, and by this time in previous years, we’ve already been drinking cordial made from its flowers.
June didn’t start well on several counts. We received news from Philippa that she was unwell and is due to have an operation soon.
An ex-rugby chum, whom I had only seen and chatted with a few weeks ago at a reunion dinner, sadly passed away in his sleep. I had known Ian Donald since the 70s when we played for the same club, Wrexham. We met again when I joined Kibworth RUFC. He was a lovely person, full of energy, enthusiastic, and unassuming. We often travelled together to away matches in his Range Rover and played in representative sides around the Midlands before I found out through friends that he was a millionaire. He had bought ‘Neighbours’ and later ‘Home and Away’, franchises bringing them to the UK and adding to his already considerable family fortune. As a family, we had attended a BBQ at his home in Wadenhoe, and I got to know his wife, Tina and son well. I hadn’t seen him for the last 12 years, as he spent his time between his home in New Zealand, where he played polo, and at Wadenhoe in Northamptonshire, where he played polo for Rugby. I attended his funeral with other rugby friends. At 60, he was too young to go.
On the night that Jamie and Sue went to see the Johnny Cash tribute band in Corby, I attended another, more pleasant rugby occasion, Ian Joules’ (father of Tom Joules, the retailer) 80th birthday party. Although Ian was too old for us both to have ever shared a pitch, I did play with his son Tom, and Ian was always on the touchline when I was playing for the first team. I attended with Sean, and we had a very pleasant evening. A comedy band called ‘Fingers and Fumbs‘ provided the entertainment, and the jacket potatoes with chilli went down well.
The other day, I donned my dinner jacket and served at a charity event at Marston Trussell Hall. I have done this for the last four years, along with Sean and Jim. This year, David Tomlinson joined us, which made it a little less frenetic. It was a very hot day, and afterwards, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, cooling off.
Miscellaneous: Jamie and I are planning another road trip. We’re heading to Calgary in September and hope to explore the Rockies around Banff. The flights, mobile home, and hotel are all booked, so now we just need to plan our route.
Sarah and Lee have secured the venue for their wedding reception.
Jamie bought Sarah’s KA to drive to work. He still uses his EVO on weekends and for car shows.
Charlotte is overwhelmed with gardening work and has begun turning clients away, as there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.
Sue, Charlotte, Sarah, and I are heading off to visit Nan’s bench and Caergwrle Castle this week for her birthday on the 16th. We’re staying overnight in a hotel.
England beat Australia 39-28… YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Palmer Family 
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