Grand Tour

The end of May was my next trip to see the girls and use up some annual leave before the end of my year at work. This would be the longest I'd spent away from home for years - a full 10 days on the road.

On the Friday before the bank holiday I drove the seven hours down to Leamington to see Amber and Charlotte. Charlotte made us spaghetti and meatballs for dinner on Friday night and Amber and Mat came over to join us for a lovely dinner, and then I checked into my AirBnB for the next few nights. Saturday was spent with Amber choosing a new bathroom for her new house. Mat's dad is going to do the work for them free of charge, which is extemely kind of him. Then we went to Currys to order a new washing machine and fridge-freezer. I returned to Charlotte's house later on and we did some gardening together, setting up her bargain rotary push mower that she had picked up from the tip shop for a fiver! I loved watching her run up and down the neighbour's lawn with grass clippings flying around her. Sadly her lawn was too long so she will have to strim it first so the push mower will work... I took everyone out for dinner at Pizza Express, enjoying the moment when Amber turned up dressed in the Pizza Express uniform stripy t-shirt, and then I went to see the new Mission Impossible movie, which turned out to be pretty good.

On Sunday morning we all went to the garden centre and bought some plants for rmyself and for Charlotte, along with two obelisk trellises and a watering can, and enjoyed a coffee and cake there. We also picked up some gifts for my onward journey to say thank you to those hosting me. Charlotte and I planted up her new plants and removed a few more bits that she wasn't able to prune into submission in her perfectly manicured beds. So I have adopted the pink geranium and a bit of fuscia. The surprise apple tree, which we've finally identified, will be put in a nice pot. It's looking great. We had a naughty take away for dinner and watched a film at Charlotte and Hugo's.

On Monday morning I headed off to see the Tetbury wool sack races. I had thought it was going to be a series of races involving jumping around in sacks, but it turned out to be people running up a 1:4 gradient hill carrying a huge sack of wool. It was extreme, but much quieter than I expected. It was just a sleepy village race day. I watched for a couple of hours and then decided I'd seen what I wanted to see and made a move for Sidmouth, and Colin and Ali's new house.

What a lovely two days, having a little guided tour around Sidmouth, lovely meals, and practicing Tai chi with Colin (my tutor of 20 years) and another lady from our old class, Esther, who I was delighted could join us. Colin, Ali, and their daughter Lyndsay have a gift for welcoming people and making them feel completley at ease. Lyndsay and I talked about podcasts and recommended tv shows worth watching, as well as the potential to visit Iceland together next year for the total solar eclipse. We visited Mutter's Moor for a lovely walk and view from the cliff top, pretty Conaught Gardens, and Blackbury Camp for a peaceful walk in a little glen encompassed by the remains of a neolithic fort. My visit with them was a perfect little cocoon of calm, kindness and care. It was so lovely to see them and their beautiful home and surroundings, but also it was just what I needed at that time - I wished I could stay. Thirty minutes into my onward journey to Devon I realized I'd left behind the two pieces of delicious homemade flapjack Ali had wrapped up for me, but I am treasuring the purple geranium and little succulent cuttings I've been gifted.

Wednesday afternoon I arrived at Martin and Sarah's and found the complete antithesis of the last two days - the noisy and joyful chaos of a family with three young children and six animals. It was about a year since I had last seen the kids, and the last time I'd seen Martin and Sarah was the day of John's funeral. The kids are growing up so fast and their energy and enthusiam for imaginative lego, telling me jokes and riddles and making smores was just indefatigable! We went to the beach and soft play and had a barbecue and read bedtime stories, and I loved every second. My treasure from my visit is a shell on a coloured string that my lovely god-daughter made me.

The next afternoon I set off back for Leamington. The plan had been to go to garland day in south Yorkshire followed by two nights in Lincoln to visit my family, but Amber's house move was suddenly planned for Friday and I wanted to be there to help. So, I booked a self-drive van hire and downloaded my (proudly and slightly surprisingly) perfectly clean driving license statement. I passed the 4.5 hour drive with many podcasts and grabbed fish and chips from my favourite takeaway for dinner on the way to my AirBnb for the next two nights.

Friday was an early start, up at 6.30am and off to Castle Van Hire for 7.30am. I collected Amber then went over to Solihull to collect a table and chairs she had bought on eBay. The guy was selling some other matching furniture so she said she would like it and we loaded up the van. It was lovely, chunky, solid wood...and really blooming heavy! We headed back to her flat to pile in some more stuff and then headed over to the new house because, well, what else were we going to do, plus we needed all the time we could get to make sure we moved everything and could hand the van back by 7pm. We were still waiting for the keys at 1.30pm so I decided to take a gamble and empty the van onto the driveway and leave it with Amber and Mat's friend Corbin while Mat and I went back to refill. We exhausted ourselves running up and down the stairs refilling the van and eventually, at 3.30pm, Amber said she had the keys and we could start moving things into the new place. Mat and I needed a break so we drove to the new house and emptied the van again and by then were very short on time and we had another load to get. Three of us headed back to the flat to finish off, try and wipe down a bit (it was the buyer's fault the funds took so long to clear, so I don't feel guilty!) and then say goodbye to Amber's first own home. We unloaded the last clutch of boxes in 5 minutes flat and I set off to hand the van back, like a rally driver, and got there with 3 minutes to spare! Having been very nervous of the size, unfamiliarity and lack of visibility of the van at the beginning, not to mention the £5000 excess, by the end of the day I was driving that beast like I stole it. We hit the pub for dinner with Charlotte and Hugo, plus Corbin as a very inadequate thank you for his hard work lifting everything into the house while we filled the van. Afterwards I spent another two hours with them unpacking, assembling and cleaning, before I got shooed out at 10.30pm! I felt energized. Amber is probably overwhelmed with the amount of work still to do, but hopefully she had a relatively uncluttered room to sleep in. As the day wound down and I had a moment to myself I found myself wishing John was there to be as proud of her as I am, to see her life coming together and what a competent and confident person she had become.

Saturday morning I woke Charlotte and Hugo up with the ingredients for brunch at 9.30am. I admired her work in the garden, chopped back her rhodedendron and collected the plants I had bought and left with her for safe keeping while I travelled south. I waved goodbye and set off to Alnwick to break the journey with Mum and Dad at their holiday cottage. Weirdly it was a series of barn conversions that I had stayed at with John and the girls about 20 years ago. And, also, by coincidence John's family were in Alnmouth this week on their huge annual get together, where they usually cook on the beach, play various daft games and generally have a grand old festival. I made my way to the beach first on the off chance and in a bid to surprise them, but they weren't there. Instead, having paid £3.50 for parking, I threw my swimming costume on and had a lovely, warm swim in the sea for 15 minutes. I didn't want to get out. The wind was blowing the sand down the beach in rivulets and I wandered along the sand a bit trying to think back to the times we had joined the party on the beach over the years. Try as I might, I struggled to feel as moved as I had expected to by being there.

I joined Mum and Dad for dinner at the cottage and slept badly. The next morning the weather had changed and it was brooding skys and drizzle. We returned to Alnmouth beach for a windy walk that really blew away the cobwebs - gorgeous.

Finally I set off for my final destination of Stobo Japanese water garden open day. It is only open for one afternoon this year and what luck that I was driving past! I thoroughly enjoyed the country lanes driving from Alnmouth to Stobo, through serene scenery with enough time to call in for the 5 minute walk to the Wallace statue, which was an impromtu stop as I saw a brown sign and took a chance. Not a bad shout. William Wallace, unveiled in 1814, stands proudly, surveying his spoils - Scotland. I also had to really resist the temptation to stop at a spot on the river I was following signed as a pool, with steps downwards to a beautiful little spot on a wide bend, with pebbly shore and, I assume, a deeper pool for bathing at the far side on the inner edge of the curve. So pretty, but I had somewhere to be - I regret not stopping for a dip.

Stobo garden was lovely, if small, and very tranquil. The huge waterfall fed a series of small streams that meandered through the garden, lined by beautiful trees, with multiple small bridges and stepping stones threading between them. Well worth the stop and the £5 entry fee.

I continued home, calling in at Morrisons briefly for food as the fridge was emptied before the trip, and then on to find all three cats having missed me and waiting for thier dinner. A wonderful week, but glad to be home.