August always seems to mark the end of the summer for me. In the old days, I went to Reading Festival for 7 years on the trot which is always held for three days over the August bank holiday. We used to stay in a tent that I bought second hand when I was a teenager. When my parents moved and we helped sort everything out, we found it up their attic. I decided to keep it and transferred it up Harriets attic; not for nostalgic reasons really but because it was kept in my Dad’s old kit bag that he used during the second world war when he was in the German Army. It might still have a few Marks sewn into the seems. Georgina had decided to go this year with a few of her college friends and she contemplated taking the old Reading tent with her as it seemed quite appropriate but couldn't quite talk herself into it because she would have lost so much street-cred. Not just the style but the terrible smell it has accumulated over the years.
This month has dominated my time again by the renovation of the Giffard Park flat as it has taken around 7 weeks to complete. Most of Claire’s work in it was completed last month which gave her more time to spend with Sue who has had her operation this month. Sue seems to have made a remarkable recovery so far and she came out of hospital on Tuesday 28th. She would have been able to come out earlier on Friday the 24th (my birthday) but they decided to keep her in so she would be able to see her consultant much quicker than if she came out and went on the 6 week waiting list. Ironically, when they rang her consultant on Tuesday after the bank holiday, he said tat it was too early for him to see her so they let her out anyway. The operation was a complete success but they seem to have taken a few more things out than expected, including her appendix. I hope they left her vital organs in place. Well done Sue, lets all hope that this marks the end of your terrible run of bad luck and you can start to rebuild your life again.
The flat looks quite nice, especially the kitchen and bathroom, I am pleased that I forced through all the additional lighting in them both. The two main jobs remaining are hanging the new solid Oak doors and fitting the window boards and trim; both of which I am getting professionals to do. We also need a new digital aerial, a telephone connection and wi-fi broadband, none of which I am responsible for. We also need to buy a wardrobe, shallow washing machine and take some furniture from one of our caravans. When i say shallow washing machine, I done mean the water level, I mean the depth so that it will fit in the airing cupboard and we can close the new solid oak door. Do I keep going on about our new solid Oak doors a little too much? Well maybe its because we normally buy the cheap white panel doors that Claire has to keep painting; this is the first time that we splashed out on solid Oak doors. Whoops, there I go again.
Working around the flat all the time has meant that we normally get take aways for lunch or stop for a pub lunch. Our new favorite this time is the Nags Head, an old thatched and stone pub in Linford which will be walking distance when we are in the flat. Its a proper old pub that smells of pubs with sticky tables and carpets. Not like most of the modern Milton Keynes pubs that seem to lack atmosphere. The beer is cheap and the food is tasty at reasonable prices; although Harriet took me for my Birthday lunch and both our meals were a little disappointing.
As usual, we had one day off a week to relax. One weekend Jim, Shirley, Dan and Kylie came over to our caravans where Harriet joined Claire and myself for lunch. As rain was forecast we had decided to take them for a pub lunch. The sun was shining, the Cider flowing and everyone was happy to stay in our gardens so the girls shot to the local butcher to get some BBQ food. The second that I started the BBQ and put food on it the rain came. Good job we have the gazebo to shelter under. I really enjoyed the day but suffered the next because of it. It was nice to see Dan and Kylie as they are to emigrate to Australia in a couple of months. Well Kylie is going in less than a month and Dan will follow when his house is sold and his visa arrives. They will be staying in St Kilda in Melbourne renting a house belonging to one of Kylie’s relatives. Their house is next to our flat. Harriet was quite keen to buy it but Dan managed to sell it really quickly for a good price so it will either pay off his student loan or more likely give them a good start to their new life in OZ. Dan featured in the Olympics opening ceremony with the health service. He had to dedicate over 100 hours practicing before the event but it was worth it in the end. Very few people get those opportunities and he will be able to mention it throughout his life whenever he cant think of anything else to say.
Harriet always likes to come over when Jim and Shirley’s family are around because they are all so nice to her. The other thing that happened this month was a big party at Jim and Shirley’s to celebrate Dan’s 30th Birthday. It started a little early, Claire dropped me off at before 1.30pm when Jim and I opened our first can of cider.
Tom had come over because it was another of their friends wedding the following weekend. Joungja had stayed in KL because of job commitments and flight costs. Tom had joined us with Dan on our Wednesday night old farts night out the same day as he travelled. One of the first people that I spotted at the party was Joungja who was supposed to have been in KL. She had popped over for a surprise visit so she could keep her eye on Tom. Someone had brought Hoola Hoops and Joungja was quick to show us her skills.
As the sun went down, the clouds formed a beautiful pattern across the silhouette horizon. Claire and Harriet turned up. Claire had already been to another party; well not really a party, a regatta at Sue’s Dads old peoples home.
Jim’s Mum seemed to enjoy herself and seemed in good physical shape. Just like all mum’s she kept trying to clear up as soon as anyone put anything down. Jim made her stop, bit thats when the glasses started to get broken. Mum’s know best.
Kylie brought the birthday boys cake out. You cant have you cake and eat it. Or can you?
The last job was for Jon with his van and cat to bring some of our furniture over from our storage unit. He also has a caravan on one of the other sites near us. He has agreed to take his van this weekend and take some of our stuff from the van to the flat on his return to MK on Monday.
Georgina is back from her months work in Shrewsbury, followed by a 3 week backpacking trip on trains around europe, followed by Reading festival. She has a new boyfriend called James. I think we will meet him next week.
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