Holiday
Had a great week off work. Unfortunately, I had to come back, and now I'm back I feel quite lethargic again! I think it's got soemthing to do with our new position and the fact that the aircon units make it about 15°C in here! I had to down a (weak) coffee yesterday just to stay awake!
Anyway, I suppose you want to know how my week went, you nosy buggers!
Saturday was a pretty normal day. I packed some stuff and checked tickets and things but that was all.
Sunday was pretty normal too, for the most part. At 2:45 we set off into town for dinner and went to The Roebuck. I had salmon, much to Matt's disgust. We decided not to stick around for dessert and instead Matt had an icecream from the stall in Broadmarsh. The train arrived and everyone charged forwards, but we took a now-unoccupied bench and waited for the 'Not to be Moved' sign to come off the train and the doors to open. I knew I'd get a proper seat by Derby. Matt saw me off and I took a table seat rather than arguing over my reserved one (no labels were out).
Come Derby, I jumped into my allocated seat and stayed there for the rest of the journey. At Birmingham, only two people remained in the half-carriage I was in: me and one bloke who got on at Tamworth! I'd never been past Birmingham on this line, except on a local train to University, so everything after that was new! Just before Cheltenham there were Highland cows in a moorland field, and immediately before the station there were rabbits next to the track!
I had an hour to kill (well, 45mins by the time we actually arrived) at Gloucester so took the opportunity to go for a walk around town. I headed for the cathedral and, while it was shut so I couldn't see all the cool new stonework and gargoyles, there was plenty of alteration outside to see :) I got some very lovely sunset shots against dark clouds. I was also impressed not only by the fact that there are huge numbers of gulls (docks) but also that they are so HUGE! Herring gulls are very big when you're used to black-headeds. There were plenty of dead young gulls on the tracks at the station ;P
The train to Paddington arrived eventually and I jumped on, grabbing a nearby seat as Stonehouse was the next stop. I listened for the short platform announcement and duly moved down the train when it told me which end was which. Thankfully someone was in front of me so I didn't have to struggle with the door! Rach spotted me as I was orientating myself to the station and I duly asked her how she was feeling ;P
Her parents were waiting by the car and we went back to their house in the failing light (it was about 9pm when we arrived). Tim and Faye were staying too, so I got to meet them again, as well as Alexandre. There was much present-giving and excitement :D
Monday I was up at 7 :O We had breakfast: I tried goat's butter, which is yummy, and Rach's homemade-in-Canada raspberry jam, which is absolutely divine. Then we were off to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral!
We went via a few places like Bath so Alex could experience 'England', which was cool. It was nice to see Bath from a slightly different angle! We were doing lots of sheep-spotting: they have lots of cows in Canada, but virtually no sheep. We arrived at Stonehenge at about 2pm and promptly had some lunch: I'd decided to partly give up on the diet for the whole week as I knew my fruit and veg count would be shot, my water intake wouldn't be great (but my liquid intake would be fine) and my portion sizes would be thrown to the wind by hunger/distorted mealtimes and meals out! Still, it wasn't as if I pigged myself out each day ;P
At Stonehenge, we paid the not-quite-as-extortionate-as-expected entry fee and went for a good wander. I got quite excited when we saw an Apache-D helicopter on the way there, and once there I saw a Hawk (which Alex missed), a Chinook and a Tutor. There were quite a few crows, starlings and pied wagtails hopping about too. It's a pretty sobering site, seeing something as ancient as that, even if you can't climb all over them any more! I bought a postcard showing Stonehenge as it probably looked shortly after completion and some fudge for Matt.
Then it was on to Salisbury which, it turns out, is a pain in the arse to navigate round: it took us ages to find a car parking place and even then, we're not sure it was entirely legal! Still, the cathedral is pretty cool (we had a good laugh about 'suggested donations') and we got to see a contemporary copy of the Magna Carta. I bought a postcard of a view I couldn't hope to acheive without a good wandering that I didn't have time for :)
We went back via Marlborough. Gordon and Anne (Rach's parents) could remember visiting a fish and chip shop but we had to ask for (some pretty crap) directions though me and Rach were about right when we could smell 'clean grease' and 'chips' respectively. We eventually found the place, now run by two Chinese people, and bought some very very good fish and chips! Gordon made some predictably British remark about medals in the Olympics (it was on TV): he's not mean, he's just... ignorant British! We ate them in nearby Savernage Forest which Rach and her brothers had been to lots on birthday parties and things. Unfortunately, the roads we wanted to go down had been barred off! Rach had insisted we buy a bottle of tomato ketchup as sachets wouldn't have done: she was right! I probably had 2 sachets' worth and she had all bar that out of a little Daddies bottle! At £1.10 for a bottle and 10p for sachets, it was well worth it.
We came back by what seemed like the longest route: we passed through Castle Combe and were really quite tired by the time we got back, having been spotting the Westbury White Horse which was rather grey (doubtless they've not painted the concrete in a while!), sheep and countless thatched buildings, including a wall!
Tuesday I got up a fair bit later (8:15) and had another scrummy breakfast. Then we got ready to go to the nearest town: Wotton-Under-Edge. Fay, Rach and myself went as far as the steep hill with Izzy and the lads (Tim and Alex) but then they continued alone (I was charged with looking after the pregnant ladies!). We had a good wander, were very lucky the Heritage Centre was open so we could have a proper look at Wotton's history, and scoffed lunch on a bench under a horse chestnut tree while discussing Gray parental issues. I bought a gorgeous slab of coffee cake (which I scoffed there and then), a fridge magnet and a sheep-on-a-pencil for Alex (because of his sheep-thing!). It did chuck it down while we were chatting under the tree but two umbrellas and a particularly effective tree canopy seemed to work!
After that, we watched some Olympics and then had dinner, which was perhaps the most wonderful cottage pie I've ever had, with veg, followed by a rather nice custard-less trifle. Unfortunately I then had to go, so Anne took me, accompanied by Alex and Rach, back to Stonehouse. We sat in the car chatting for a bit because it was raining but then went outside to wait for the train. I found a bright green cricket on the waiting shelter ;P The train was eventually about 7mins late and that meant my connection at Gloucester got cut to approx. 2mins. Not that it mattered: the first train was going the same way, so we had to wait for it to go to Cheltenham before we left for the same station. We made up the 10mins later on though :D
All in all, my short holiday in the South West/Cotswolds was excellent, and I feel I should do more of the area!
Wednesday Matt woke me up 8 because I had an appointment to get some more pills with the nurse. She said I didn't need to go every six months, just every year, so that's good :D I watched what Matt had videoed for me while I was away before Mum and Dad arrived at about 3:30. They dropped stuff off and then we went to their hotel, the Britannia. It's actually a very nice hotel, but then it is a standard city-centre chain hotel :) We went back and picked Matt up and went for dinner at the Last Post: Mum and Dad had jacket potatoes and I had chicken tikka masala. Then we had to go to Pete's game so left Mum and Dad to go and watch what little TV was free at the hotel.
Thursday I got up about 8 again, had a quick check of the Internet and proceeded to supervise Mum and Dad in the garden and bathroom. I attached more stuff to my bike (yay, rack!) and started setting up the barbecue. I changed from Friday as Matt would be home Thursday but out Friday. We had rosemary pork with potato salad (Matt had cheesy chips), Pimms, apple crumble with runny custard (I like runny custard!) and chocolate bananas; Mum tried some of Dad's but decided it wasn't for her (she's not huge on chocolate). She did like the Pimms though, and it didn't make her go red very much!
Friday I got up early again and the garden and bathroom got finished: sadly we need a new floor before we put the lino down, but Rob's on to it! In the afternoon we went to Crich Tramway Village which was an unexpected surprise :D We had fun on trams and walking around them, going in the old sweet shop and eating icecream. I had rhubarb & custard, Dad had rum & raisin and Mum had mint choc chip. By the time we got there (2:45) it was pleasantly warm and most of the kids had got bored and left. We stayed until it closed and got back about 6:15. Matt had very kindly cooked sausages :) In the evening I showed Mum and Dad more pictures and we talked about stuff.
Saturday I got up at about 10:30 (oops!) but then Mum and Dad were late too. We all, including Matt, attacked the front garden with a vengeance and then went to The Boathouse for dinner. I had an expensive one (i.e. not off the £7.99 Daytime Menu) but it was worth it :D
And that brings it round to (my) normality!
Had my first dentist's appointment at Cripps today: it was really good, but the hygienist is going to cost me £25 a time! Still, worth it for keeping my own teeth ;P
Sahha ohrain.
Anyway, I suppose you want to know how my week went, you nosy buggers!
Saturday was a pretty normal day. I packed some stuff and checked tickets and things but that was all.
Sunday was pretty normal too, for the most part. At 2:45 we set off into town for dinner and went to The Roebuck. I had salmon, much to Matt's disgust. We decided not to stick around for dessert and instead Matt had an icecream from the stall in Broadmarsh. The train arrived and everyone charged forwards, but we took a now-unoccupied bench and waited for the 'Not to be Moved' sign to come off the train and the doors to open. I knew I'd get a proper seat by Derby. Matt saw me off and I took a table seat rather than arguing over my reserved one (no labels were out).
Come Derby, I jumped into my allocated seat and stayed there for the rest of the journey. At Birmingham, only two people remained in the half-carriage I was in: me and one bloke who got on at Tamworth! I'd never been past Birmingham on this line, except on a local train to University, so everything after that was new! Just before Cheltenham there were Highland cows in a moorland field, and immediately before the station there were rabbits next to the track!
I had an hour to kill (well, 45mins by the time we actually arrived) at Gloucester so took the opportunity to go for a walk around town. I headed for the cathedral and, while it was shut so I couldn't see all the cool new stonework and gargoyles, there was plenty of alteration outside to see :) I got some very lovely sunset shots against dark clouds. I was also impressed not only by the fact that there are huge numbers of gulls (docks) but also that they are so HUGE! Herring gulls are very big when you're used to black-headeds. There were plenty of dead young gulls on the tracks at the station ;P
The train to Paddington arrived eventually and I jumped on, grabbing a nearby seat as Stonehouse was the next stop. I listened for the short platform announcement and duly moved down the train when it told me which end was which. Thankfully someone was in front of me so I didn't have to struggle with the door! Rach spotted me as I was orientating myself to the station and I duly asked her how she was feeling ;P
Her parents were waiting by the car and we went back to their house in the failing light (it was about 9pm when we arrived). Tim and Faye were staying too, so I got to meet them again, as well as Alexandre. There was much present-giving and excitement :D
Monday I was up at 7 :O We had breakfast: I tried goat's butter, which is yummy, and Rach's homemade-in-Canada raspberry jam, which is absolutely divine. Then we were off to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral!
We went via a few places like Bath so Alex could experience 'England', which was cool. It was nice to see Bath from a slightly different angle! We were doing lots of sheep-spotting: they have lots of cows in Canada, but virtually no sheep. We arrived at Stonehenge at about 2pm and promptly had some lunch: I'd decided to partly give up on the diet for the whole week as I knew my fruit and veg count would be shot, my water intake wouldn't be great (but my liquid intake would be fine) and my portion sizes would be thrown to the wind by hunger/distorted mealtimes and meals out! Still, it wasn't as if I pigged myself out each day ;P
At Stonehenge, we paid the not-quite-as-extortionate-as-expected entry fee and went for a good wander. I got quite excited when we saw an Apache-D helicopter on the way there, and once there I saw a Hawk (which Alex missed), a Chinook and a Tutor. There were quite a few crows, starlings and pied wagtails hopping about too. It's a pretty sobering site, seeing something as ancient as that, even if you can't climb all over them any more! I bought a postcard showing Stonehenge as it probably looked shortly after completion and some fudge for Matt.
Then it was on to Salisbury which, it turns out, is a pain in the arse to navigate round: it took us ages to find a car parking place and even then, we're not sure it was entirely legal! Still, the cathedral is pretty cool (we had a good laugh about 'suggested donations') and we got to see a contemporary copy of the Magna Carta. I bought a postcard of a view I couldn't hope to acheive without a good wandering that I didn't have time for :)
We went back via Marlborough. Gordon and Anne (Rach's parents) could remember visiting a fish and chip shop but we had to ask for (some pretty crap) directions though me and Rach were about right when we could smell 'clean grease' and 'chips' respectively. We eventually found the place, now run by two Chinese people, and bought some very very good fish and chips! Gordon made some predictably British remark about medals in the Olympics (it was on TV): he's not mean, he's just... ignorant British! We ate them in nearby Savernage Forest which Rach and her brothers had been to lots on birthday parties and things. Unfortunately, the roads we wanted to go down had been barred off! Rach had insisted we buy a bottle of tomato ketchup as sachets wouldn't have done: she was right! I probably had 2 sachets' worth and she had all bar that out of a little Daddies bottle! At £1.10 for a bottle and 10p for sachets, it was well worth it.
We came back by what seemed like the longest route: we passed through Castle Combe and were really quite tired by the time we got back, having been spotting the Westbury White Horse which was rather grey (doubtless they've not painted the concrete in a while!), sheep and countless thatched buildings, including a wall!
Tuesday I got up a fair bit later (8:15) and had another scrummy breakfast. Then we got ready to go to the nearest town: Wotton-Under-Edge. Fay, Rach and myself went as far as the steep hill with Izzy and the lads (Tim and Alex) but then they continued alone (I was charged with looking after the pregnant ladies!). We had a good wander, were very lucky the Heritage Centre was open so we could have a proper look at Wotton's history, and scoffed lunch on a bench under a horse chestnut tree while discussing Gray parental issues. I bought a gorgeous slab of coffee cake (which I scoffed there and then), a fridge magnet and a sheep-on-a-pencil for Alex (because of his sheep-thing!). It did chuck it down while we were chatting under the tree but two umbrellas and a particularly effective tree canopy seemed to work!
After that, we watched some Olympics and then had dinner, which was perhaps the most wonderful cottage pie I've ever had, with veg, followed by a rather nice custard-less trifle. Unfortunately I then had to go, so Anne took me, accompanied by Alex and Rach, back to Stonehouse. We sat in the car chatting for a bit because it was raining but then went outside to wait for the train. I found a bright green cricket on the waiting shelter ;P The train was eventually about 7mins late and that meant my connection at Gloucester got cut to approx. 2mins. Not that it mattered: the first train was going the same way, so we had to wait for it to go to Cheltenham before we left for the same station. We made up the 10mins later on though :D
All in all, my short holiday in the South West/Cotswolds was excellent, and I feel I should do more of the area!
Wednesday Matt woke me up 8 because I had an appointment to get some more pills with the nurse. She said I didn't need to go every six months, just every year, so that's good :D I watched what Matt had videoed for me while I was away before Mum and Dad arrived at about 3:30. They dropped stuff off and then we went to their hotel, the Britannia. It's actually a very nice hotel, but then it is a standard city-centre chain hotel :) We went back and picked Matt up and went for dinner at the Last Post: Mum and Dad had jacket potatoes and I had chicken tikka masala. Then we had to go to Pete's game so left Mum and Dad to go and watch what little TV was free at the hotel.
Thursday I got up about 8 again, had a quick check of the Internet and proceeded to supervise Mum and Dad in the garden and bathroom. I attached more stuff to my bike (yay, rack!) and started setting up the barbecue. I changed from Friday as Matt would be home Thursday but out Friday. We had rosemary pork with potato salad (Matt had cheesy chips), Pimms, apple crumble with runny custard (I like runny custard!) and chocolate bananas; Mum tried some of Dad's but decided it wasn't for her (she's not huge on chocolate). She did like the Pimms though, and it didn't make her go red very much!
Friday I got up early again and the garden and bathroom got finished: sadly we need a new floor before we put the lino down, but Rob's on to it! In the afternoon we went to Crich Tramway Village which was an unexpected surprise :D We had fun on trams and walking around them, going in the old sweet shop and eating icecream. I had rhubarb & custard, Dad had rum & raisin and Mum had mint choc chip. By the time we got there (2:45) it was pleasantly warm and most of the kids had got bored and left. We stayed until it closed and got back about 6:15. Matt had very kindly cooked sausages :) In the evening I showed Mum and Dad more pictures and we talked about stuff.
Saturday I got up at about 10:30 (oops!) but then Mum and Dad were late too. We all, including Matt, attacked the front garden with a vengeance and then went to The Boathouse for dinner. I had an expensive one (i.e. not off the £7.99 Daytime Menu) but it was worth it :D
And that brings it round to (my) normality!
Had my first dentist's appointment at Cripps today: it was really good, but the hygienist is going to cost me £25 a time! Still, worth it for keeping my own teeth ;P
Sahha ohrain.