The Horse Tunnel |
After Marmite popped his clogs, I have been bereft. I have been in search of a reason to continue writing to friends - sharing the ups and downs - laughing at my own blips and mishaps - measuring the passing of time. So here it is. This is me taking a step into the future, sharing my world as an "old dear" living in Blighty.
Neat
Getting Together
A big highlight of my week was meeting Margy in Saffron
Walden. This didn’t go without incident, however. The plan was easy. I had
checked out a pub – The Railwayman Arms which is a community owned pub for our
meet up. The pictures looked good and it said on google that it did food. I got
there ahead of Margy and found it only did food at weekends. The barmaid told
me The Cross Keys on the High Street was the place to go. Change of plan!
No problem. I called Margy, who said she was running late,
and told her that we were meeting elsewhere. I walked down to The Cross Keys –
a pub/hotel that dated back to 1509 – and waited patiently. The barman was
sympathetic. I sat and read my book and drank water. I had another call from
Margy. She was running even more late.
I started to worry that I would outstay my two-hour parking
time but every moment that went I thought that Margy would be here any time at
all so I sat put. I finally bought a drink. Margy then texted me to say she was
parking. Fantastic! Another while passed and still no Margy. I really did need
to move my car now otherwise I would have to leave halfway through my meal.
Margy turned up! The barman put my drink in the fridge and we both left to move my car which was near the other pub. Highly unusual behaviour, I know. We trotted off together through Saffron Walden to re-park. I parked it close to Margy’s one and then she told me how difficult it had been to pay the parking. Second time round it was much easier. We headed back for the pub, retrieved my drink and had a most wonderful meal – despite minor burping as I had had a bit of soya. Whoops!
Finally- together again! |
I got the impression that the barman was slightly amused by
us. I am sure our behaviour had appeared quite eccentric – leaving a drink in the
fridge – spending a long, long time chatting over our meal, arguing about
paying… He did take a lovely photo though… nice man.
Meanwhile… back at the ranch, Ezra- Mae did a bit of cake making on the kitchen floor - tasted good too.
We met at the Community Orchard Heritage Day on Saturday. The weather was perfect, the event well attended and we raised a goodly sum too. Ezra-Mae is very agile and climbs trees easily. Now she has a little sister who is also shaping up to be strong. At 8 weeks she is holding her head up and trying to crawl already! Laura crawled at 3 months so Mattaya has to put in a bit of training before she catches up with her aunty!
Two happy sisters |
And now, the weather... we have had plummeting temperatures and thunderstorms. The noise from the thunder was ominous, even so, we played on. It got so dark at tennis on that Sunday morning we put the floodlights on and still played on. When the heavens opened we ran for cover - so many people squashed in the club house! So sorry I missed out on tennis but I am glad it has rained - my garden desperately needs it.
Last blast of summer
Wow, we are heading for Autumn. A new school year and the first day of nursery school for Ezra-Mae – a big milestone in her life! Where has this year gone? One of the things I really appreciate here in the UK is the seasons. Now, it is more obvious that the nights are drawing in and it gets darker earlier and earlier. In less than a month, sunset will be 7pm – almost an hour earlier than now! I look back on this year as a blur.
Village cricket - closer than the camera shows |
I sat and watched a village cricket match this last weekend
- this being probably the last one of summer. The first team to bat were in the
ascendency. They were tonking the ball all over the green. The wicket keeper
was probably responsible for at least a third of the runs but undaunted a boy
of about 11 years old ran all over the ground picking up and returning the long
balls. It was a joy to watch on a Saturday afternoon.
I do have so much to look forward to as we head for colder
days – a trip to Greece, meeting friends, tennis matches and lots more
swimming. There are a few downsides though. I have just got the results of the
X-ray on my right heel. It’s official, I have a Haglund’s deformity. My heel
has a special name – how nice - and I
know I am not being fussy when it really hurts. It only took the NHS from June
til now to find this out.
As everybody does, I looked it up on good old Google. It
means an operation – something to look forward to, or not. With the speed the
NHS moves I will probably have it sorted just before I’m 70. I cannot wear some
of my shoes and this will be a bigger problem when the weather gets colder. A
swollen heel forces my toe against the front of my shoe and now I am getting a
sore toenail as well.
A Haglund’s deformity could be genetic or the result of too
much running around. A lot of the time it is not too bad but it can keep me
awake at night. This is a very big niggle and another little issue that arises
with old age. I have started practising going upstairs backwards on my bottom
again in preparation for my aftercare. I did this when I had my knees done and
the physio at Gleneagles got me walking up stairs two hours after I came round
from my op. I am expecting a similar speedy recovery from this one – fingers crossed.
And… while in recovery I’ll be able to watch all those TV
crime dramas where at least three people get murdered each episode. When I pass
through typical English villages, I see them as potential sets for murderous
intent where competent but flawed detectives always get their suspect. On
reflection, I probably don’t need to watch any at all as I already know the
outcome.
A village already named for murderous intent |
However, I have mulled over the idea that it could be a good
government policy to share these programmes internationally. With each village
having at least three murders an episode it must put the UK in a dark light
where danger lurks on the tiniest village green. It would certainly make
potential asylum seekers think twice about the danger they would face in our
fair land. Just a thought!
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