13th August 2017

While Jamie was enjoying the sun and warmth of Tenerife with his friend Bill, back in the UK, we were treated to a typical British summer. A few promising days were scattered amid a miserable sequence of showers, cool temperatures, and wind. At least the garden and allotments appreciated the regular dousing, and as a result, the vegetables and fruit were ripening well ahead of their usual schedule. Sue took charge of picking the raspberries, gooseberries, and currants, then moved on to bottling beetroot in preparation for winter. The greenhouse sprang into overdrive, with tomatoes and cucumbers joining the growing produce. It’s fortunate that Charlotte and Ellis love cucumbers and eat them as though they were bags of sweets!

On the 18th, Sue took a break from picking and bottling to attend Lucas and Ellis’s sports day. It was a rare, hot and sunny day, just right for children to run around and have fun. Personally, I find the non-competitive sports days favoured by Rothwell School rather pointless and somewhat annoying, so I decided not to attend.

The next day, Pip (Sue’s sister) arrived by train from Buckfastleigh in Devon. Unfortunately, she brought the rain with her! First, Sue took her to visit Sarah, Mia, and Lee, and they had a delightful trip to Bradgate Park, where they explored the ruins of Lady Jane Grey’s house.

On the 20th of July, they caught the bus to Leicester and visited the Richard III exhibition, the Cathedral, and the Guildhall. They wrapped up their sightseeing with a visit to Charlotte’s on the 21st.

Pip returned home on the 22nd, and Jamie came back with a heavy suntan and a spare tyre from his all-inclusive holiday.

On the 24th, we celebrated our wedding anniversary with Lucas and Ellis by having a lunch of fish and chips in Stamford. We did a trial run to Normanton Church on Rutland Water to check out times and parking for Sarah’s wedding. Afterwards, we visited the reception venue before checking out the hotel in Stamford, where we’ll be staying after the celebrations. On the way back to Harborough, we made a detour to the marina and found Sarah and Lee’s newly bought yacht. The boys were thrilled to climb all over it and couldn’t wait for their first sail.

The next day, Sue took the boys on an organised coach trip to Knebworth. Once again, the weather was kind, and they had a lovely day exploring the house, the dinosaur trail, the maze, and the sculpture trail. It was a very full day, and they were all exhausted by the time they returned. Needless to say, they all slept well that night!

After lunch the following day, Sue and I drove to North Wales and checked into the Bryn Howel Hotel near Llangollen. This is the place where we first met in 1972, so it felt quite fitting that we stayed there around the time of our wedding anniversary. The day was sunny but windy, and late in the afternoon, we enjoyed a walk up to the ruined castle above the town. We dined in the hotel that evening, reflecting on our memories and the lovely day we’d had.

After a late breakfast, we drove to the Crematorium just outside Wrexham to attend the funeral of my cousin, Jeff Vaughan. He was the same age as me, and during the visits from the Palmers to our Welsh relatives, he was the one I would often play with as a child. He owned his own building company and lived in Spain for many years. The last time I saw him was when he attended my mother’s funeral. Sadly, he lost his battle with a brain tumour.

After the funeral and tea, we returned to Harborough. It was good to see my Welsh relatives again, but it’s unfortunate that such gatherings now only happen on sad occasions like this. That in itself is regrettable.

On a lighter note, the following Saturday, Lee and Sarah came with Mia for the annual fireworks competition at nearby Stanford Hall. Sue and I looked after Mia while they watched the displays in atrocious conditions. The rain poured down all night, and I was surprised they managed to see anything at all! In previous years, they had camped overnight, but wisely, this time, they returned around midnight and took a disappointed Mia home.

The start of August was no different to July. Optimistically, I bought an awning for the back patio (well, it is summer!). I mounted it on the wall above the dining room window, and it extends by way of a winder. Jim came over to help me mount it on its brackets, as it was far too heavy for one person. Annoyingly, it was too windy to open it and give it a test. That had to wait another four days!

On the 5th, Jim and I attended the Foxton Cider and Sausage Festival. Although we had planned to cycle there, Sue had to drive us in a thunderstorm. The event didn’t go as well as it would have if the weather had been better, but everything has a silver lining. We got chatting with the guitarist/singer who had been booked to entertain the crowd, but had to make do with us two and a few others. It turned out that he had once played with Deep Purple, though we couldn’t cajole him into playing ‘Smoke on the Water’! Later, we struck up a conversation with an Aussie who turned out to be a professional house sitter. He and his wife travel the world, and he is currently house-sitting in nearby Welford. So far this year, they have visited France, Belgium, Greece, and Italy. Now, there’s a thought!

On the 10th, I was picked up at 6 am and travelled with Sean, David Tomlinson, and Rick to Mount Snowdon. Rick had flown over from Texas (where he lives) to attend his father’s funeral. He was staying with Sean, and they had decided to climb Snowdon and invited Dave and me to join them. We had just experienced two days of rain, but the 10th was a beautifully warm day.

We stopped in Llangollen for breakfast before continuing to Pen-y-pass. As expected, the parking at the start of our walking route was full, so we had to divert to a car park in the village, which was three miles away. From there, we caught a bus back. Under clear blue skies, we set off along the Pyg Track, joining the human conveyor belt winding its way upwards. We chatted to less fit fellow walkers as we passed, cracking jokes and generally larking about until the steepness and rugged terrain quieted our antics. With many stops along this difficult route, we eventually reached the top of the zig-zags and found ourselves in the cloud. We carried on to the summit station and Trig point, where we took photos before visiting the centre for much-needed water and a toilet break.

The return journey was by way of the Miners Track, a longer but much easier route than our ascent. We descended once again in the sunshine. Strangely, on our descent, we passed hundreds, yes, hundreds, of Muslims. The men were dressed in sensible shorts and T-shirts, but the women were in full burkas, with only their eyes peeping through slits. It felt and looked odd, but they seemed to be enjoying their hike.

Even stranger, we soon came across hundreds of Jews. The men and boys sported skull caps and ringlets and dressed in black coats, white shirts, black trousers, and shiny shoes. The women wore frocks with purple turban-like hats. Again, they were hiking up with enthusiasm. I couldn’t help but wonder if this had been planned, as neither group seemed to react or respond to the other. Many of them were resting halfway up, alongside the path near the lakes. I suppose they were the sensible ones who realised that reaching the summit might be beyond them in their chosen attire.

It took us six hours to reach the summit and return. On our return to the Midlands, we stopped for a very pleasant meal at a pub about an hour into the journey, before finally arriving back in Harborough at 11:30 pm.

A batch of home-brew beer I’d started three weeks ago was appropriately ready the following day. Though it tasted quite pleasant, it was nothing exceptional.

On Saturday, I painted the balcony decking with some incredibly expensive paint before walking with Jim and his dogs to the pub in Harrington to recover from the effort.

The following day, Sue drove to Tenbury Wells to collect Sheila, who was going to stay with us for a few days and attend Sarah’s wedding on Wednesday. I carried on painting the balcony.