On Vox: Easter 2008
After a week of recovery, I can finally look back on the previous fortnight. In fact I need to, to hang on to the fun and not just the tiredness afterwards.
It started and ended with a wedding, but both from very different perspectives. The first one was of a close friend, whose house we stayed at, went to the village hall hosting it to help their amateur dramatics group rig the scene, and I did a reading. I was as usual anxious about not being able to afford a posh frock, my complexion and my social skills amongst strangers, but I think it went OK. it went OK for the Bride and Groom, so that is the important thing.
The next morning we went straight from there up to North Wales, driving through snow, wind, hail and rain. The white mountains did look very pretty though.
Staying with another close friend, the weekdays were then spent on the Ffestiniog Railway with the reward of seeing the wiring and control panels of a particularly complex railway carriage, destined for the Welsh Highland Railway, take shape under our hands. We were working at Boston Lodge, complete with views of snowed on Snowdon.
There was also the delight of spending time with E & L's baby, as well as, of course, E & L themselves, and exploring lesser known bits of the area, including a visit to Parc Glynllifon.
After reaching a point where we could pass on the carriage to others, despite battling illness in Tim's case, we set off home on the Friday evening, knowing that our weekend (and beyond) house guests would arrive before us and find an inn for the night. Our main aim for the weekend was to attempt to see the Exhibition of the Terracotta Army that was visiting the British Museum, but we knew this might be a tall order given the demand for tickets. You have to turn up early in the morning to queue for the few hundred timed tickets that they have reserved for on the day sales, all of the advanced tickets having sold out months before. This is made more interesting when children are involved. I will let my assistant, one of the aforementioned children, tell you more about their visit in the next post.
After a couple of days of wading through the mountains of washing, bills and housework, another weekend loomed. Tim set off to Essex to celebrate his Mums birthday by decorating their spare bedroom with his twin, and I prepared for the wedding, this time as bar staff for the evening do of a complete stranger, at the social enterprise run community centre I work for as cleaner. This was not a very long shift, but intense, even with a couple of us behind the bar. Among other mental agility you have to add up all the drink prices, sometimes of a long mental list, in your head before typing the total into the ancient till.
Phew, add in the flu shortly before all that, and no wonder I'm tired!
Originally posted on planetprent.vox.com