Home again

We’re home again after a trip to Harrogate. There’s nothing quite like going away for a few days to make you appreciate being home. It was wonderful to see our friends once more. We dined well, firstly at our friends’ home on the first night, then our thank you treat to them of a meal at an Italian restaurant. There is something very precious about renewing bonds with old friends - & these are friends of over 40 years standing – catching up with current thoughts & activities, of loving & being loved.

It also made us appreciate one of the assets of living by the sea as we do. There is usually a bit of breeze off the water, that breaks the heat, stopping it from getting too stuffy. Harrogate is a lot more inland. It seemed very hot & airless when we arrived.

We came back very tired. We hadn’t slept well, mainly due to the heat. I confess I do like to have something to curl into when I try to sleep. At the hotel we only had a duvet, a heavy one at that, far more than we could cope with in the present temperatures. There was no air conditioning in the bedroom. At home we have been sleeping most of the time just under a sheet.

However, we feel it was a worthwhile trip - a change of scene for us, a chance to let go of our everyday worries, as well as a chance to see good friends. As the years pass, it gets harder to make these little trips. The last couple of years we’ve not been over to Yorkshire, what with the Fox’s stroke in 2011 & my pancreatitis in 2012. Our friends have difficulty getting here as one has ME, the other has work commitments. Maybe we will see more of our friends after next year when she retires, so they can contemplate travelling when his ME is in temporary remission or at least, easier.

The journey home was quiet, barely a car on the road, so the Fox has returned not feeling too bad for the long drive. We may yet get a couple of days away to Stoke to see some of my cousins before we go off to France in September. We’ll see.