School Holidays

So this has been the first week of what I have designated as my Easter Holidays.

Actually that designation has worked rather well for me. I haven’t missed work at all. Normally if I have a week with no work I feel guilty and start to worry, but this week has been remarkably care free.

A trip up to Yorkshire to check on Mum. She needed to go to the opticians and as might be expected at her age that wasn’t the end of it. She now has to go to the hospital as the optician suspected that she might have the beginnings of glaucoma so she needs to get checked out and treated. The guilt comes from the fact that having spent forty-eight hours with her, she will be on her own again with me at the end of the phone. Actually the guilt only seems to be on my side. For most of the time I was up there with her she was out. Wednesday I spent in her house watching daytime television and catching up on some work while she went off to attend some function at Sheffield Cathedral. She popped back for a few hours in the afternoon before heading out to bowls in the parish hall that evening leaving me to head back to Sheffield and the train home.

She’s looking forward to her trip down to us next weekend for the Royal Wedding. We’re not going to be standing en route or anything, but we have a much bigger television and thought it might be fun to have her with us and have a wedding breakfast feast as we sit and watch the royal nuptials. I don’t really have an opinion of them. I remember that while at York theatre royal in 1981 we had a royal wedding. All it meant to us was a day off rehearsals and therefore we used it as an excuse to have a day by the sea in Scarborough. Too nice a day to have been sat in front of the tv watching the thing itself.

We’ve had a few viewings on the flat though at the moment no one seems to be rushing at us with a cheque book. I’m trying to be laid back about it, but the minute the estate agents rings it’s duster in hand and OCD to the fore as I just “tidy things up” a little. If we’re still on the market in June I suspect the novelty will have worn off and I’ll be running from bathroom to bedroom draped in a towel while the viewings are taking place.

At the moment I’m still at the coffee machine - bread making stage every time I suspect someone might be in the area.

We’ve done some viewings ourselves, but only one little house has taken our fancy and it looks like we may have lost that as we are not in a position to make any offer until we get an offer on our place.

To relieve all this stress and to acknowledge the holiday feeling we had a day at Brighton yesterday. Brighton is unique. It’s not just a tacky seaside resort. It’s an interesting quirky full of life town that happens to be by the sea. Other countries have them, such as Valencia in Spain and Sydney - great cities that happen to be by the sea, but here we don’t tend to do that vey well. A glimpse at Margate a few weeks ago told us that. Most of our seaside resorts are just that. Resorts - strips of amusement arcades fronting onto a thin strip of shingle or sand. No real identity to the town. But Brighton is magnificently different and we had a great day out. Fish and chips on the front. A wander through the lanes to acquire some royal wedding cufflinks and a £3 cigarette lighter that lasted less than three hours. A win for me on the Dolphin Derby on the pier so a cuddly toy to bring home, and an easter egg from Choccywoccydoodah, Brightons most sensational chocolate shop, for Rich to leave on the train at East Croydon. All the elements of the British holiday rolled into one day.

And another week to go............!