A Mixture of a Day

Yesterday was an odd day. It started well. Kelly, the relief cleaner, turned up, promptly at 11.00 am this time.As I said last week, she is a delight of a person, full of energy & goodwiill. During the course of conversation, she told me she'd had the weekend off. 

"Done anything special?" I asked.


"Yes. We went round all the car boot sales. We got a couple of things, a new rug, some toys for the children. But what we were really looking for was a dining table & chairs."

My head instantly turned to the dining table & chairs that have been sitting in the garage for the last few years, ever since we had the kitchen redone & had bought a circular table to replace the  old square one. We have offered it to numerous people but keep being told it's too old-fashioned, too dark. We were prepared to give it away to charity, to a homeless person trying to set up home. Still no takers. The tables, & in particular the padded seated chairs, are too old to have a fire retardant tag so charities can't take them. The only remaining option is to pay the council to take it to the tip, to break it up into firewood. That just seemed criminal to us when it is a good quality piece of furniture, even if out of fashion. I mentioned it to Kelly. Her eyes lit up.


"Could I see it?" 


"Of course," I replied & led her off to the garage.


Her eyes widened as the table emerged from under the rubbish that had been place on it. "It's fabulous. It's just what we're looking for. It's not for us , but my mother-in-law. It's perfect. Can I have it?" I agreed. Kelly instantly rang up to check it sounded okay with her mother-in-law. They'll come and collect as soon as they can organise the transport.


It's nice to think at last a good home has been found for the furniture. I dare say we could have sold it, but nobody has shown much interest in it so far. The set has been a part of my life. It was in my parents' home as long as I can remember. I'm glad it's going to some use, to a good home where, by the sound of it, someone who will love it as it deserves.


When I told the Fox what I had done, he was equally pleased. And relieved at the thought of some space at last in the garage.


So in the afternoon we set off to the Pub. 

Not long after we arrived, Cheryl & Paul came in. We haven't seen them for a while. It's difficult as they both work so they are generally not availble in the afternoon when we are in the Pub. Paul was telling us all about his camping trip in Broughton -in-Furness. Memories came pouring back.

The village square, Broughton

Broughton is a lovely village at the south end of the River Duddon. We found ourselves remembering the view from the roof of the High Cross Inn, up the Duddon. We recalled when the exhaust pipe of our car literally fell off & the nearest garage we could find was in Broughton. We found a small one-man, rather unprepossessing place. We were told to go away to come back later. When we did, we found  the man had been unable to find a new exhaust pipe so he'd just made a bit to patch it up. That patch cost us about £5 & lasted us a further years. 

The car getting a new section of exhaust pipe

Then there were memories of the time I ended up in stocks.

In the stocks many years ago

We also remembered when the Fox went to Broughton with the Pocket Theatre, a travelling theatre company that toured all over Cumbria. He helped to put up & take down the set. Afterwards they adjourned to a local pub. They were still there at 1am. This was in the days before de-regulation of pub hours. The Fox got worried about the police. He was told not to be so stupid. the local policeman was propping up the end of the bar!


After such memories. Cheryl offerred us some eggs laid by her hens. We accepted with pleasure. We were somewhat surprised when we discovered that two of the eggs were green-shelled. That's apparently natural for the breed of bird & taste delicious. I see the Fox had one before going to bed I wonder if he could taste any difference.


Time came to set off home. We loaded up PD to take him back. En route PD nervously asked us if we would like to spend Chrstmas Day with them. Lin's Dad will be there. In previous years they've half-asked us but left it until too late. By then we've arranged a holiday away or put the deposit on a meal out. This time they're getting in early. We've agreed. Hopefully it should be a good day.


After we dropped PD off things started going a bit aggly. First we noticed the car indicators seemed to be making a funny noise, as though there was an echo, a clunk rather than a tick. When we were safely home, we had a look. Sure enough the lights are not working properly.They flicker a couple of times then just stay fixed on. 


First thing this morning I rang the garage. There's nothing they can do today but he will be around tomorrow to sort it out. I nervously asked whether it was safe to drive today. He reckons so. Just keep switching the switch on & off, thus causing the light to flash.


That's a relief. We had been hoping to go out today as it's our wedding anniversary. We'd been thinking of maybe a trip into Kendal, to look a the new K Shoe Village. I'm still in need of new sandals for the holiday. And the Fox would like to see how he would cope with a longer drive than usual. It's a while since Stoke in June. Since then I think we've stayed within a 10 mile radius of home. The airport will be consderably more than that, even if it is only Manchester we fly from. Admittedly it isn't the most inspiring weather in the world. Damp & grey. So we may just end up going out for a meal somewhere a bit special.


Then last night, it turned cold. The Fox tried to light the gas fire late in the night. Zilch. Nothing happened. Another thing that needs looking at. It's due for its service next month so I'm wondering whether we shouldn't get both jobs in one go.