20 Nov 2012

A change of plan



Our weekend was a quiet one; we had plans but then they kind of got cancelled.   We drove down to Melton Mowbray to see Phil’s mum and dad for lunch on Saturday.  We hadn’t visited for a couple of weeks because of Phil’s ‘man flu’, mum and dad are vulnerable and we really didn’t want to risk infecting them.  As planned, we left the flat at 9 am and landed at the bungalow at quarter past ten which wasn’t bad going.  Mum in particular was really glad to see us.  Phil had taken down some filler and filled in some of the holes where the old pipes had been for the central heating. It wasn’t the best job but it did look better after he had finished. I accidentally had thrown away the measurements that he had taken for the new pipes so Phil measured up again and quite rightly stored these in his phone just in case.

Mum cooked us roast pork with all the trimmings which was lovely.  She did stewed rhubarb with custard which gave us one of our five a day.  George was quiet, I don’ think he spoke 2 words to me other than hello and goodbye.  After lunch I drove Phil’s mum down to the co-op to get some passport photographs done for the renewal of her driving licence.  She hasn’t driven in ages but is still renewing her licence just in case. I think this is very wise but just how safe she will be driving dad’s estate Peugeot I don’t really know. On the way to the Co-op and on the way back she revealed just how lonely she was and said how hard it was living with George.  Bless him; although he seemed to pick up in the summer, it seems that he has reverted to his old ways. Sleeping all day, not helping and not talking to her and of late he has had a few temper tantrums.  It’s not like Phil’s mum to moan, she is not a moaner and when we had the sort of chat that we had on Saturday, I really wish we could have persuaded them to move to MK.  The distance isn’t great between us but it does make things more difficult.

On Saturday evening we were meant to be going to dinner at Mads & Steve’s in Olney.  They had invited us to stay the night but on Friday they cancelled on us.  This was fine but it did mess up our weekend a little bit.  We had thought that we might stay at the caravan on Saturday night and then go to mum and dads on the Sunday.  Our plans weren’t set in stone so I guess it didn’t matter much that they cancelled.  We have had one caravan shut down and winterised but have decided against shutting down our caravan (caravan no 1).  

The main reason is that we are going to have our external staircase replaced and may need somewhere to stay.  It took quite a while but after trawling the internet we have managed to get the quote down from six and a half grand to just under 3k.  We have had to compromise in that we are having soft wood instead of hard wood.  Hard wood would last longer but is hugely expensive and we should be okay with the softwood as long as we treat it every year.  Originally we were going to send the metal steps away to be dipped and galvanised but again, to save pennies, we will sand and spray them ourselves, hopefully they will look okay.  We were undecided whether to give the job to a company called Pearstairs or to Joe a local carpenter from Newport Pagnell.  In the end we went with Joe, not only did he come in £300 cheaper but it’s nice to support local tradesman.  Let’s just hope that we have made right choice.

Sunday was a beautiful day.  A frosty start which came as a bit of a shock but once thawed it was lovely. I went to the gym first thing and then when I got back Phil & I went for a walk.  Phil wanted to see how long it would take him to walk to The Nags Head in Great Linford.  When we got to the little bridge by The Giffard we argued about which way to go.  I wanted to go straight on by the park but Phil was convinced the best way was to walk by the canal.  I wouldn’t budge so we went our separate ways to see who got to the pub first.  I won!  Phil said I must have run but I didn’t although I will admit to a brisk walk!   Phil finally agreed my way was best and we walked back together.

We had arranged to meet Harriet at The Giffard for lunch.  We had also invited Billy (Harriet’s boyfriend) but he had been out on the town the night before so he declined our invitation.  Harriet said she’d meet us at half twelve, we were a little early so decided to get a drink and wait for her rather than go home. It was nearly 1pm by the time Harriet arrived and I was very ready to order.  Unfortunately the food has really gone down hill and our meals weren’t much to write home about.  Still it was good to catch up with HH and it was a pleasant couple of hours.  

The rest of Sunday was chilled; a film, some wine with nibbles, a snooze on the sofa and for me an early night.  Phil stayed up to watch the Grand Prix on BBC and I think it was midnight before he got to bed. Phil’s cold has almost disappeared and yesterday he put on his work stuff and did some jobs in the flat.  He got the DVD player set up and filled in the holes in the airing cupboard.  He didn’t do much in the afternoon but at least he is now back in the land of the living.  Thank goodness for that, this man flu bug seems to have lasted forever and a day.  

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