Diary 2013 Week 12.
Friday September 13th.
Good job I am not superstitious, touch wood!
I already have one Ft13 mess up. Laura told me last night
her last day at work is tomorrow not today. She will be finishing at lunchtime
and then that’s it. Finito Benito for the Wigton job. We have decided that I
will borrow Dad’s tank on Sunday to drive us down to sunny Sheffield with
Laura’s stuff [it would be a very, very tight squeeze in my little Picanto],
come back on the same day and then drive down to Sheffield proper on Tuesday. I
cleared this with Dad and he offered to simply come down as well on Tuesday
with Loll’s stuff and then drive back. We sort of want to be independent and do
it ourselves. I guess it’s the symbolism of the thing. We are striking out
together; two against the world. So we have gratefully declined his offer.
The weather here [Hawick] is still dreadful. I suppose as an
area the Borders does get more than its fair share of wetness. That could be
one of the reasons Mum moved south as soon as she could. Norwich is a desert
compared to the Borders! Gran has a cupboard in her hall way where she keeps
her coats – they are all waterproofs of one kind or another! Sums it all up,
doesn’t it? I keep my best riding coat at Dad’s, I don’t need it anywhere as
much in sunny Sheffield.
Gran asked me if I could drive her to Morrisons’ to do her
weekly grocery shop this morning. I was only too happy to oblige. I think she
eats way too much processed food. Hardly any of her meals for next week will be
cooked from scratch using fresh ingredients. Obviously I didn’t say anything, I
just mentioned how I plan my week’s meals in advance and then shop for them. It
saves me a lot of money that way and I eat fresh produce every day. [I drew
myself a bank menu on A4 paper which I photocopied. I fill it in each week and
use it to buy my groceries.] I am not saying she didn’t buy some fresh food but
ready meals will be three of her dinners next week. Can that be healthy? She is
in her mid-eighties, so I guess she may be thinking she’s survived this long
eating the way she does why change now? Plus, she does own the renown Scottish
sweet tooth! One bowl in her lounge is full of sweets!
On the drive back down to Cumbria, I stopped in Langholm to
visit the Macdairmid memorial sculpture on a hillside over-looking the town. It’s
just so visible on the skyline as you drive back down the A 7, I had to go up
and have a look. Dad’s favourite band “Runrig” used it as the cover image on
one of their albums – Amazing Things. It is quite an impressive sculpture,
shaped like a book with different icons on the two pages which have a
particular resonance for the Border’s own bard. It looked eminently climbable,
so I swarmed up it and sat on the top, just as another bloody car pulled up for
a closer look. How sodding embarrassing was that?
I was sat there like a bloody ginormous pixie on top of this
national monument. The man and woman found it amusing that I would choose to do
something without an encouraging friend or two at the bottom egging me on.
Guess what? They were also Runrig fans. And… they had been at the Runrig
concert at Preston last year which Dad took me to! I was able to tell them that
the Support artiste, Jill Jackson, had played Langholm Buccleuch Centre a year
before supporting a band from Tiree called Skerryvore. [Dad took me to that
too. We actually met the band afterwards and spent ages in the bar talking with
them. Dad bought me their CDs and I got the each of the band members to sign
the sleeve booklets for me. Rock star groupie or what?]
Leaving the stunned couple behind Callie and I walked along
the track to the Cleopatra’s needle on the far skyline. It was an obelisk
erected to commemorate the life of Sir John Malcom – a bloody soldier and
politician. Why is there no commemoration to the town’s much more influential
son Thomas Telford? I asked this question in the café at the bottom of the road
up the hill to the Macdairmid memorial. The woman inside didn’t even know who
Telford was, never mind the fact he’d been born in Langholm. She did tell me
Scotrail are going to reopen the Carlisle to Edinburgh railway line, which will
be a joy to travel on. There is no time scale for this as yet.
From here, the thoughts of Eskdalemuir earlier in the week
made me decide to make a detour up to the Buddhist temple there. It is ages
since I have been. From the outside you can tell it is something unusual, even
in the driving rain! It is a riot of colour and weirdly shaped monuments and
buildings. A prayer session was just beginning and, as everyone is invited to
go and sit in the temple, I went in to watch.
I had intended to stay for a few minutes but I ended up
being there for the whole session – about an hour. It was sort of intoxicating,
fascinating and totally alien all at the same time. The Monks chanted
throughout and played instruments and span prayer wheels. What struck me most was
the fact they’d be doing this every day of the year, regardless of their
surroundings or the political climate they were in. It was sort of humbling to
think that people were still prepared to devote their lives to a cause they
believed in for the good of the whole planet [in their eyes] even if the rest
of the inhabitants were totally indifferent. In the shop I bought a couple of
“Free Tibet” items: a fridge magnet, a T-Shirt and a poster. I will frame the
poster and hang it in my office at work.
Dad and Louisa were out when I got back to Tallentire, so I
set to and prepared a boeuf bourguignon for dinner, as I’d arranged with Dad last
night. Molly was there when I got back, so I made her stop cleaning and sit and
have a cuppa with me. She told me Laura
was really nervous about beginning the new term in a new city. She was looking
forward to living with me full time but was apprehensive about whether she’d
fit in and be able to make new friends and that kind of stuff. I told her that
was only natural, and I thought that she’d fit in just fine. Embarrassingly, she
did say that she thought I was the best thing that had happened to Laura in her
life so far. She had always seemed directionless and an outsider in things but
now she was much more independent and focused and becoming a personality in her
own right, if I saw what she meant? I think I did. She said she had always
thought I was a very stable and strong willed person and some of that seemed to
be rubbing off onto little Loll.
I told her I was so grateful that she hadn’t reacted badly
to Laura’s decisions and the situation she must have found herself in when
Laura finally “came out”. I promised I would do nothing to harm her precious
daughter because she was precious to me too. She is! She is just as precious as
to me as Richard was, but in a totally different sort of way.
I picked up the subject of our conversation from Wigton as
usual and she gave me a huge kiss as she got in the car. We sat in the car park
and kissed for quite a while to be honest. Apparently I had scared her zooming
off to Gran’s without a moment’s thought like that but she couldn’t explain
what had scared her. I could resist giving her the present I’d bought her
straight away. I got her a paperweight from the glass maker in Hawick [Peter
Holmes used to be Selkirk Glass’ main glass maker but he moved to Hawick a few
years ago]. Laura collects paperweights and this one is lovely. It is all clear
glass and bubbles with no colour at all. There is a ring bubble in the middle
and through the hole in the ring a second bubble, looking like an elongated
tadpole, has just burst out. She really liked it. I sort of knew she would.
That brings her collection up to twenty four.
Louisa took care of the rest of the boeuf so all I had to do
was arrive at the table to eat. We opened a Dornfelder to go with it and
dessert was another of Gran’s rice puddings, specially made for Dad as she’d
remembered how much he loved them. I think it is good there is no animosity
between them since the divorce. The rice pudding was extremely Moorish! We ate
the whole lot in one go! Pigs!
We spent a lazy evening lying on the sofas in the lounge
watching more of The White Queen. Then an early night prior to Laura’s last day
at work tomorrow. No more Ft13 mess ups all day. Phew!
Saturday 14th Sept.
Had a frantic Skype from Oz this morning: the clan are going
to the AFL play of semi at Subiaco next week [21st] even Mum! They
were just so excited. They will play the Sydney Swans; the other semi is
between Hawthorn and Geelong. Freo will know who the opponents will be in the
final proper, because H vs G takes place on the Friday evening! I am rather
green tinted at the moment. Even Dad seems quite stirred up by the news. He has
always ridiculed AFL and calls it a game for thugs.
There were no flags or bunting at the Wigton tool hire
centre this morning for Loll’s final day. I guess there never is. Whenever you
undergo a momentous change there is hardly ever a celebration of it. I suppose
Graduation is the closest most people come to one [other than weddings and
christening of course] and I missed my graduation having had my breakdown in Australia.
I don’t think Laura had actually thought about it, TBH. I took Callie across to
Silloth for a long walk along the prom. We parked up at Skinburnness and walked
all the way into the town centre, had a cuppa at one of the cafes [a bit cold
and blowy outside] and then strolled slowly back. You could see that the fell tops,
away to the south, were getting a battering from the weather but the coastal
strip often misses out on the nastier stuff. I think that is why my folks chose
to buy their holiday home where they did.
Quite often, when the Lakes are being filled from above, there is dry
walking to be had along the Allerdale Coast.
After Silloth I explored the delights of Wigton’s shopping
centre [it took about a minute! Lol]. I was accompanied by the Wigton Whiff.
There is a huge chemical plant right in the centre of the town and this
often floods the area with a dreadful odour. We have always called it the
Wigton Whiff. I really don’t know how the residents of Wigton can stand it. It
means I will never ever buy a house here. Some days, if there is a strong
Northerly wind, you can ever taste a glimmer of the whiff in Tallentire!
I asked if there was anywhere she wanted to go when I picked
her up at 12.30. She said she just wanted to go home. So that’s what we did.
Eric was at work and Stephen was at a friend’s house, Molly was in, baking. I
left Laura with her Mum and she said she’d be round after dinner. I felt sort
of hollow dropping her off and leaving her like that. I hoped there was nothing
wrong. It turned out there wasn’t. She just wanted to be with her Mum for a
while, without the rest of her family about. I knew what she meant. Having Mum all
to myself in Australia was really special. Plus, it gave her time to get all
her things sorted for the move.
Sunday 15th September.
One Cabin Trunk. Two suitcases. One holdall. One flight bag.
Two cardboard boxes. One bag of cuddlies. That is an inventory of what Laura
and I loaded into Dad’s car in Cumbria and unloaded to my little house in South
Yorkshire. It might have been possible to fit it all into my tiny Picanto but I
doubt it.
The journey there and back wasn’t as bad as I thought it
would be despite the awful weather. The rain driving down the M6 was pretty
unpleasant at times. I went the quickest way down. M6, M61, Woodhead Pass, A616, A6102, home.
Dad’s car does just fly.
At my house the process of unloading took about a quarter of
the time that the packing did. We then spent about an hour watching Laura’s
possessions being swallowed by my house. I asked how she wanted to arrange her
clothes and she was keen on my shared wardrobe idea, so we have half of our
clothes in the huge ‘under the attic stairs’ cupboard and half in the freestanding
robe. I cleared one of the chests of drawers for her and rearranged the desk up
in the loft [it’s just a table really] so we could have a side each. In
anticipation of her arrival I bought another bookcase, where she has put her
collection of tomes.
We had discussed the idea that she used the second bedroom’s
cupboards and stuff as her clothes base but she wasn’t keen on that idea. To be
honest, neither was I, but I offered it to her in case she decided she didn’t
want to sleep with me all the time. [I hoped she would, naturally.] We had a
bite to eat in our kitchen and then sex in our boingy chair in the bedroom
before we drove back up to Tallentire. I went back through Leeds, following the
route through Horsforth which I take when I visit Phil and Jane. (A65) I almost
made a detour and called in on them but decided against it. We are going to see
them in the week ahead anyway. The journey took us past Skipton and the three
peaks mountains. I have walked the 3 Peaks Challenge when I was a youngster. I
wonder if we could walk it again?
There was a huge Sunday dinner waiting for us when we got
back to Dad’s, with Molly, Eric and Stephen plus Errol and his partner. We had
quite a boisterous crowd round the table and then on into the evening. We ended
up game playing. Charades first. We used to play this all the time when I was
younger then Errol challenged us women to a Trivial Pursuit match. I haven’t
played this since Christmas 2011! This was so weird because Loll and Stephen
had never played games at home in this way, they’ve only ever been sat in front
of a screen plugged into whatever game console they own. They really enjoyed
it.
I had forgotten just how much I enjoy quizzes. Needless to
say Dad, Errol, Eric and Stephen won. We didn’t stand a chance against two
University Professors really. Although it was pretty close. This coming Thursday will be the third of the
month for our village quiz at the pub. I will have to get on the ‘phone and
summon the troops. We have our Scampi Tails reputation to uphold.
I picked my scab off before bedtime. Stupid I know, but it
was really itchy. Laura told me I needed punishing for being naughty and laid
me across her lap to whack me with my hair brush. The beating lasted only three
whacks before I felt familiar fingers worming their way into my knickers…..
Monday September 16th.
Dad and Louisa went off to Lancaster pretty early this
morning, for the day, so when we were fully awake we carried on from where we left off last
night…
I cooked a huge pile of bacon and we had mammoth BLTs for
breakfast. As the Aged Parent and Louisa had gone in Louisa’s car I took Laura
and the four dogs in Dad’s Citroen to Crummockwater. We stayed in the woods,
mainly, as it decided to rain on us just as we arrived in the car park. This
was a blow but the dogs enjoyed the walk. We went almost to the top of My Fell
– this is Lanthwaite Green Top [I don’t know its real name, it may be Lanthwaite
Hows.]. When I was a little girl my Dad gave me the fell top as a present! So
it has always been known as my fell ever since. His reasoning was as he was a
National Trust Member and all the area was owned by the Trust, that meant he
owned it, so he gave it to me.
Luckily the woods skirt the actual top so we were able to
stay under cover and not get too wet. If we’d gone up to the fell top proper,
we’d have been drenched in minutes. The paths are very well defined up there
and I know them so well. I took us along to the path that leads to the
Lanthawaite Green then we flowed alongside the beck down to the lake itself,
just by the boathouse. We had a drink of tea from the flask here and some
chocolate. Sadly the dogs decided they wanted a swim and all four went into the
lake. I hoped there were some towels in the back of Dad’s car, I’d forgotten to
check. Once they were in we decided they may as well swim properly so went
spent a good half an hour throwing their ball, and any sticks we could find, out
on to the lake. Several people came by and stopped to watch them swimming. A
few of them were planning the circumnavigation of the whole lake. I thought they were mad, but I kept
these thoughts under my hat.
Having taken so long at the boat house we had passed the
magical 12 o’clock. This is the time when the Kirkstile Inn starts serving
food. [It actually opens at 11am but they don’t serve food until noon!] There
was still more swimming to be had at the fish ladder end of Crummockwater, by
the dogs that is, and more chatting to the people who stopped to watch them.
There were towels in the car! Thank goodness, but it took
about fifteen minutes to get them all into a reasonable state of dryness before
I drove us off to the pub.
The barman recognised me and jokingly said, “Glass of white
wine, ham baguette and chips?” I had to tell him we were going to go for the
soup and a sandwich option but could the sandwich be a baguette which we’d
share? That was OK. We also ordered a single portion of chips. I had my usual glass of white and Laura had a J20. They
stock a Riesling here which is really tasty. Not many pubs do, they have all
gone down the Chardonnay road, or recently the Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon route.
I find them too dry for my liking. We had the beef and caramelised onion
baguette with our soup, which was home-made leek and potato! Yummy in my tummy.
The chips were excellent as usual, the only difference to my normal visits here
was I didn’t have Callie in with me, waiting patiently under the table for her
few chips. I thought four dogs might prove a handful in the small bar.
Later in the year they serve a brilliant mulled wine here.
It costs around £5 a glass [it is a 250ml glass though]. When I have been in
the depths of winter, a glass of their mulled wine by the roaring open fire is
heaven.
After lunch we drove straight over to Workington from
Loweswater to look at the sea from the mouth of the harbour. We did a mini food
shop too. I bought us some fresh mussels from the local fishmonger, he assured
me they were fresh Solway ones, I was planning on doing a simple Moules et
Frites dish for tea. Laura still isn’t quite sure about some sea food, but she
said she’d give the mussels a go. As the rain had stopped, and the dogs were
whinging we walked them up Derwent Howe. This is another thing the local girl
has never done! I just can’t believe it. The view of Workington from here is
pretty impressive, well I thought it was, anyway. On a clear day looking out to
sea you can sometimes see the Isle of Man. Today you couldn’t: too much cloud!
Laura was really squeamish about putting a moule into her
mouth. I almost told her she’d had my labia in there, how tricky could a moule
be? But the Aged Parent and Louisa would probably not have found it amusing, so
I refrained. She did eventually try one and was gobsmacked at how delicious
they were. Fresh ones are really tender and “melt in your mouthy”. These
obviously were as fresh as the fishmonger had said. Dad had brought a cheese
cake back with him for dessert. He joked that it was done deliberately as part of my diet
[bastard!] then he brought out the individual fruit tart he’d bought for me
because of my cheese allergy [un-bastard!]. In fact he’d brought five fruit
tarts so we could all have another each with supper.
They were in Lancaster sorting the flat out. We are going to
drive down again tomorrow in convey and Dad and Louisa will turn right into Lancaster
as I carry on down the M6. I bet that doesn’t happen, he’ll hit the motorway at
Penrith, put his foot to the floor and Zooom! We’ll not see him for dust. I’ll
bet they will have been into the flat, and had a cup of tea and be listening to
the Radio by the time we are driving past.
We watched the final episodes of the White Queen tonight.
The actor playing Richard III was very good, and I liked the way they had kept
Gregory’s sympathetic portrayal of him. He really wasn’t the murderous villain
from the hatchet job done by Shakespeare at all. Trust me, I know these things.
No sex tonight, just falling asleep in each other’s arms. I
just love doing that. Tomorrow is one small step for woman, one giant leap for
womankind!
Tuesday 17th September.
Up with the larks. Laura zoomed off pronto to her folks’
house to say goodbye to her Mum and Stephen. Her Dad is out somewhere with the
lorry [he drives for Eddie Stobart’s] so she’s going to phone him later. I took all
four dogs up Tallentire Hill in the rain. It seems to have done that a lot
since I got back from Oz and yet everyone tells me they had a wonderful summer
in the UK.
There were two more condoms at the view point seat. You
think people would take them away when they leave rather than just dumping
them. I used the dog trowel (again) to put them in the ditch where they could
degrade without being an eyesore. I got me wondering was it the same guy who
came twice or two different guys up here? Most guys’ recovery times aren’t all
that quick, so perhaps it was two different guys. Unless it was a pair of gay
men? One girl I knew at University used
to photograph all the guys she’d slept with using an instant camera and hang
the condoms they’d used underneath this “stud’s gallery” on one of her walls.
How tacky was that? By the end of the academic year there were nearly fifty
photographs on her wall.
Back at Dad’s I put our two small bags in the car and had a
final breakfast with Dad and Louisa. We aren’t going to drive down in Convoy
after all. They have some stuff to do in Kendal, so they will have a leisurely
drive through the Lakes and then head off to Lancaster later. Laura decided she
wanted to drive us down to Sheffield, especially as I said I fancied going via
the Skipton route so we could call at Phil and Jane’s on the way. Her practice
with my little car over the summer has made her a much more confident driver,
previously (TBH) I used to be a little twitchy when she drove but 8 weeks of
commuting have put paid to my nerves. She’s pretty good. Quite a bit slower
than I drive but that’s only to be expected. We stopped at a florists’ in
Skippy to buy some flowers for Jane and then to exercise La Woofie, who was
disappointed she didn’t get out when we did.
Jane was in when drew up in Horsforth. So we had a longer
stop than intended. She made us a cup of tea and some sangers. She has gone
part-time at her work but she is thinking of packing up altogether after the
baby arrives. Phil says she needs to take the full maternity leave package and
then quit – but he is an accountant so everything has pounds signs attached for
him! She is hoping for a little girl. [So am I to be honest. I am not keen on
boys, they are too much trouble and hard work. Not that I know anything – this
is just the voice of prejudice speaking.] She had just been to Ikea and had a
look at their baby furniture. They had got rid of all the old baby things from
their loft last year, Peter is 9 and Angela 7 and they thought they wouldn’t
need them again. [That was a telling statement, I thought!]
Phil is now making so much money that they can afford for
Jane to be a full-time, stay at home Mum. I am not sure what I think about
this, TBH, I mean if she never goes back to work what a waste of money her
education will have been. I guess I can’t really imagine the attraction of
wanting to be at home with the baby all the time. Maybe if I have one of my own
my opinion will change? She loved her flowers and put them into two vases
straight away. They needed two as there were so many in the bunch. Apparently
they haven’t had flowers at home for ages. I always buy a bunch a week with my
weekly shop – usually white ones. It doesn’t matter what the flowers are so
long as they are white. I love white flowers! We left just before three as Jane
was getting ready to go and pick the kids up from Primary School.
I decided to drive the rest of the way back as little Loll
has little experience of Motorway driving. The centre of Leeds can be a
nightmare! We hit Oughtibridge at just before 4pm. I parked up, we unloaded and then we both
took Callie for a long walk. We went up to Onesacre, dropped down to Coombes
Brook and then into the village. I called in at Sylvia’s to start my newspaper
order once more and we popped into the restaurant for Loll to meet her boss,
Dominic, again. The cheeky bugger asked
her if she could start tomorrow! She has agreed!
Discovered that the pub quiz is on the LAST Thursday in
month, not the third one. I looked in to check. Eva told me that the Scampis had been in for the
last quiz, in August but they’d missed the July one. They won the August quiz
by one point! That now makes 5 wins out 5! Rah, Rah and indeed Rah! It seemed
pretty cold in the house so I switched the central heating on! It’s
mid-September for heaven’s sake! Soon we were snug bug ruggly.
We had an early night for once, I think I was tired after
all the travelling. Loll was! She was fast asleep and zed pushing when I came
out of the bathroom. She has agreed to come swimming tomorrow morning. I bet
she changes her mind in the morning.
Wednesday 18th September.
I would have lost the bet. When I got in from walking Callie
Laura was up, dressed and ready for the off. So with Callie in the back seat as
usual we went to the pool. I introduced Laura to Sarah and then we had a swim.
I only did half my lengths for two reasons; one, it was my first swim for over a
week and two, Laura wouldn’t be able to manage more. There was also a third reason,
she had brought a totally impractical cossie [a very skimpy bikini] and I just
wanted to keep putting my fingers inside it. This seriously restricted our
swimming activity and got me so turned on I had to get fruity in one of the
changing cubicles. She nearly bit through the towel in an effort not to make a
noise and get us thrown out or arrested [or both]. We drove back home with her
hand down the front of my shorts and at home we only made it as far as the
lounge sofa! It is extremely hard to concentrate on your driving when a dextrous
finger is rubbing your important little places.
We had the day to play with each other if we wanted but we
discovered a terrible oversight! We have left the strap-on up in my bedside
cupboard in Cumbria. That made the decision for us, we would go into town and
get ourselves another one from the Ann Summers shop down there. The only one in town
is now at Meadow Hall, so that’s where we went. Laura has experience of this
sort of place having been to the Carlisle branch but was astounded! The
lingerie was out of this world. I could’ve spent a fortune but we restricted
ourselves on a second strap on. I was very tempted by a new Rampant Rabbit
which was quite a lot softer than the one I’ve got, but I resisted.
We strolled round the rest of the centre and I told Laura
the saga of how Kaybers and I had been thrown out of here for roller-blading inside the
mall itself. On the third occasion we were actually taken to a small office and
held there for over an hour until I called Mrs Briggs at work who went
ballistic at them down my phone and threatened them with all sorts of legal
action if we weren’t released immediately. They called her bluff and phoned the
solicitors using the phone book to look up the number and their land line,
obviously assuming I had just called someone at random to rant at them.
They
crapped themselves when they were put through to her again! While I’d been
speaking to Mrs Briggs she told me to take photographs of all the people and
the room we were being held in, videos if possible. So during their call to
work that’s what I did. She was able to tell them that with the photographic
evidence I was taking and e-mailing to her office, they personally -and the
company they were working for - wouldn’t have a leg to stand on when they were
sued for unlawful imprisonment and worse. Needless to say we were politely
escorted from the building and asked very nicely not to return wearing our
roller-blades as they constituted a health hazard. I just told them, “See you
in court!”
At work I thanked Mrs B profusely but she was as excited as
me and said she hadn’t enjoyed herself as much, at work, for ages. The firm
sent the security company a formal letter stating that their client had decided
to reserve the right to pursue the case through the court but for the moment were
prepared to let the matter rest. I imagine they were not happy at getting that
letter. We never took it any further. Kaybers and I went back to skating in
their car park early on Sunday mornings, which was what we usually did anyway.
[We only went inside the first time because I wanted the loo and couldn’t be
arsed to take my skates off!]
Laura has yet to meet Mrs Briggs, but she will, sometime
this term. She has met Mrs Orr (Kaybers) a couple of times. She says she can
see why we became best friends. We just egg each other on to do more and more
outrageous things. At school we were notorious for our pranks. We are going to see her this week now that she and Jan are back from Norway, visiting the paternal
grand-parents to be!
I was quite surprised by how many people were actually in
Meadow Hall. I mean it was a weekday for heaven’s sake? How come it was so
busy? Loll was impressed by the size of the place and the cleanliness of it all
but it can’t beat a real street with old and characterful shops, IMHO.
The strap-on is just as effective as the one we left in
Cumbria. That’s all I will say on the matter.
From the beginning of the arvo onwards we had a steady stream
of people coming to see me [and meet Laura] from the houses along the street.
We are a very friendly bunch really. I must’ve drunk about a dozen cups of tea.
We’ve got half a dozen invites to drop by for meals, some of which we’ve already pencilled in the diary. The
neighbourliness of my row of houses is lovely. When I first moved in (2010) I
thought they were just being a set of nosey parkers but I was so wrong. The neighbours
are all ages and genders but they all have one thing in common, they do all
care. Laura found it all a bit overwhelming. I have tried to explain why I love
living in my little house but I could tell she didn’t quite get it. She does
now!
After dinner I lost Laura for the rigours of the working
life. She began at the restaurant at 7pm and I went to collect her at 11pm.
They have a longer licence at the weekend, so she’ll be there later on a Friday
and Saturday night. As it was still fine, I walked Callie along the field behind
the house and joined the Coombes Brook path behind the Doctor’s Surgery as part
of my collecting her.
She was a bit surprised to find I had walked. I think she
was expecting to be driven back up the hill to ‘our’ house. I was offered a
glass of wine while I waited for her to finish up and Callie was given a dish
of pasta and sea food which had been left by the last diners! She wolfed it. I
threatened Dominic that if she got me up in the night needing the loo I’d bring
down here to pooh on his yard!
I surprised him by asking if the wine was a Montepulciano
D’Abruzzo? He was astounded. It was! I explained that Dad has a few cases of Montepulciano each year, which an ex-colleague,
Roy, sends him from Italy. He gave up being a Professor and went to live with
his Italian wife in her home village and become a wine maker. They wanted to
bring their kids up in an environment that wasn’t as toxic as the UK’s! Roy’s
wine was a bit like what Dominic had given me.
Walking back up the real hills to Bedfordshire, I could see
that little Loll was done in! I should have fetched her with the car. I let her
have Callie, she pulls like buggery on the lead for anyone but me. Callie
dragged my little waif back home. She was too tired even for a nightcap. By the
time I’d finished my evening ablutions she was pushing the big zeds – again!
Bless!
Thursday 19th September.
We sat and worked out our first week together’s menu this
morning, after the dog walk and joint swim (again). The Red Cross parcel I’d snagged
from Dad was going to run out today, so we’d need to restock! I’ll not bother
with the details of the shopping [boring really] but suffice to say it took
longer than when it was just me who decided what I wanted! We zoomed down to
the Hillsborough Morrison’s for the food shop. I haven’t shopped with Laura for
food before. She is a nightmare. She kept dropping extra stuff in the trolley,
with a “…mmm they look nice,” or “…Oh I quite fancy some of that!!” This
morning’s food bill came to £124! I almost dropped through the floor of the
shop. To be fair we have planned for up to the following weekend too, so it was
bound to be a bigger bill than usual.
From Hillsborough we headed out to Kaybers’ house for a
cuppa and gossip. She’d invited us over last night and had her first ultra
sound image to show us. [TBH, I couldn’t really see anything but a tiny little
blob but I cooed and aahed in the right places.] The Norwegian in-laws were just
thrilled by their news, Jan is the first of their brood to produce offspring.
They asked her if she still saw much of me and Kaybers was able to inform them
that I had become a lesbian! [Well, thanks for that!] Their reaction was, “Oh
her poor mother!” Kaybers asked why and they told her that I’d not produce any
grandchildren for her. To her credit she was able to tell them that if I wanted
to become a mother there was no way that being gay would stop me. That shocked
them even more than the homosexuality! I suppose I won’t be getting invited
over to Norway any time soon then!
Laura told her that I wasn’t lesbian; I was bi-sexual,
because I still fancied men. [How the hell does she know that? I thought I had
kept my desires hidden.] It turns out I am not good at hiding my gawping at men
but I don’t ogle to women. She is a star, little Loll, isn’t she?
Kaybers is like a dog with a bone sometimes, she wouldn’t
let go. “So if Vic wanted sex with a guy would you let her?” [I was thinking,
should I just leave them room?] Loll’s reply was “Well…. I suppose I might but I’d
have to be allowed to have another woman, too!” I nearly choked on my cup of tea! She
just wouldn’t stop though. “Wouldn’t you… you know? Just want to join in too?
You and Vic, having sex with a guy… together? Wouldn’t it be exciting?” Laura
seemed quite affronted by this, telling K, of course she bloody wouldn’t. She
didn’t want a filthy man anywhere near her, thank you very much. It’s a bloody
good job we went to different Universities as I could see that Kaybers thought
this might have been an interesting proposition. The two of us and one guy. I simply
had to stop the conversation going down this route.
“Oh come on, kaybers. We’d never be both satisfied and we may
bloody kill him!”
We had a good giggle and thankfully the conversation
wandered away from this potentially explosive topic. She asked us where we’d
been and Laura launched into a paean about my orgainsing a week’s menu in
advance and how she’d never have thought of that; of how my cooking was
brilliant and she hoped she wouldn’t put on any weight by living with me.
Kaybers said, “Not in the way I am, that’s for sure!”
Phew.
Kaybers rustled up some lunch for us, maybe feeling insulted
by Loll’s praise of my culinary abilities? At about three we wandered back to
my little house and indulged ourselves somewhat until it was time for me to cook
the dinner. A hot mackerel salad, actually – for Loll’s I’d bought some Feta to
crumble into it as well.
She was at the restaurant again tonight, so I promised to
fetch her in the car rather than walking down, I didn’t want to get her
completely worn out after only a few days of living with me. I actually drove the
car and Callie down in to the village, parked up by the restaurant and walked roughly the same
circuit as I’d done last night, now that the rain had finally passed over, and
then we motored back up the hill.
I promised Dominic I’d bring a bottle of Dad’s colleague’s
Montepulciano on Saturday night and we’d, all three, have a glass. I am certain I
have a couple of bottle left from last year’s vintage. This year’s is probably
still on the vine! He said that he’d have a little light snack waiting for me
if I did. That’s good. Isn’t it?
Laura wasn’t as tired tonight after work but we just kissed
and cuddle together as we couldn’t summon up any more energy; we decided we’d save it for
the morning. For before our swim.
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