Well, it’s early December and I am once more bemoaning the anticipation of the end of yet another year whilst I have barely got used to the new one. The ‘noughties’ are coming to an end, to be replaced with… what? Has anyone yet decided what the next decade will be called? The ‘teenies’? I sincerely hope not. Teenage children are bad enough, but a teenage decade’?
The year at Smithy Close has been mixed, as are most years, with sorrows and joys intermingled. Geraldine has had a difficult year with both her Mum and brother being ill. Teresa spent quite a few months in hospital in the spring and only recently returned home to recuperate. Andrew is coping with an ongoing medical condition, which was made worse by having to deal with his Mum’s illness. Thankfully, he is also improving so things are now looking brighter all round. I am pleased to report that other close family members are fit and well.
I say fit, but that is a relative term. I have long harboured a desire go on a long-distance bike ride, like I often did as a teenager. Events have always got in the way and so I’ve never achieved it, but when I reached my half-century in April, I vowed I would do something before I get too old. A few weeks ago, a colleague told me about the ‘Prestwick Cycle Challenge’ which is a three-day charity cycling event from Glencoe, through Skye, over to Applecross and on to Ullapool. I’m telling you now that I plan to take the challenge in June, so if you hear me making excuses why I can’t, just give me a nudge, will you? I’ve already embarked on a fitness schedule to ensure that I will not be embarrassed by seeing little old ladies zipping past me wearing tweed with shopping baskets on their handlebars.
This summer we have been visiting educational establishments to assess their suitability for Emily (university) and Laurence (college). Laurence needs little help since Runshaw College is convenient for us and since Emily is achieving good results there, we are confident that Loz will too.
Universities pose more of a challenge, but the choice was made much easier once Emily decided that Occupational Therapy was the career for her. We made a number of visits to possible contenders and from the shortlist Emily selected Coventry as her preference. She is now receiving interview dates, and I am busy coaching her in interview techniques.
It’s been a busy year, but one weekend in June became rather too demanding. Not only was it Geraldine’s birthday, but we also fitted in two university visits whilst Emily was working double shifts at the Cavendish Arms. The pub was having its first annual [sic] real ale festival that weekend, and so Emily was on duty between noon and midnight on both Saturday and Sunday, as well as working late on Friday night. Despite this we managed to visit to Coventry on Saturday and Sheffield on Sunday, although I’m not sure how much of Sheffield Emily took in. We got a much better idea when we re‑visited both places in September.
The real ale festival was great, with what seemed like the entire village meeting in a marquee to sample up to 50 ales and ciders. There was live music, lots of laughter and quite a few sore heads on Monday morning.
We seemed to spend a lot of time looking at cars this year. I was involved in a bump in my Honda Jazz in December and to my dismay, the insurance company wrote it off. We had hoped that Em could learn to drive in this car, but it wasn’t to be. We bought a replacement in January, which proved so disappointing that when we took it for a service in March, we found we liked the courtesy car so much more that we bought that instead.
Emily passed her driving test in September, so she is now mobile. We didn’t fancy her driving our cars (and neither, apparently, did our insurers, after the prices they quoted), so we bought a little VW Polo for her to use, and it has hardly been on the drive since she picked it up. The plan is that Loz will begin using it when he starts lessons in a year from now. Emily will not be taking the car to Coventry. If you’ve ever had the misfortune to drive round the ring road there, you‘ll know why I am insistent on this. The Nurburgring appears slower and probably has a better safety record.
Emily is gradually getting used to navigating and successfully brought Loz and his mate back from a concert in Manchester last month. More recently, however, she was returning along the M55 from Blackpool, got caught in torrential rain and sensibly drove slowly in the left lane until the visibility improved. When she could see once more, she realised that the left lanes of the M55 had taken her north to Lancaster 20 miles distant. But then she had presence of mind to charge her passengers for the additional mileage on the grounds that they distracted her. That’s my girl – entrepreneur to the last.
We’ve both really enjoyed our time in the garden this year. The veggies have done well, and the flowers lasted right through the autumn. We have thankfully survived the awful rains recently, and in fact, the climate this year seemed better for growing stuff. It’s probably partly down to us getting the benefit of the Gulf Stream coming up the Leeds – Liverpool canal.
We all enjoyed a relaxing family holiday in Gibraltar in the summer. Thirty years ago Geraldine and I enjoyed holidays on the Rock whilst visiting my sister who was stationed there in the Navy, so we thought we would enjoy showing the children the sights, but it wasn’t to be. The place has changed so much since the Spanish border opened that we had trouble recognising any but the most famous landmarks. The monkeys hadn’t changed however, being just as delightful to watch, although there were far more of them. We also spent some time in Morocco visiting Tangiers and Tetouan. We arrived there on the King’s birthday and he just happened to be travelling on the same route as us, so we had a very interesting journey, passing armed guards at each junction of the 60km route.
Loz has recently signed up to play with the Lancastrian Brigade military band, which, despite the name (and the splendid scarlet uniform) are not formally attached to the armed forces but provide a marching band for military parades. Loz’s first gig was at the remembrance service at Preston in November, but several others are lined up. Laurence’s main problem is his long hair. When they are marching, his locks can be hidden beneath his white pointed hat but when they play indoor events (this coming Sunday, for instance), Loz will need to get acquainted with the delights of Brycreem. Or have a haircut.
Talking of gigs reminds me of another interesting development across the road from us. Our neighbour is a music fan, and he has begun to hold ‘house gigs’ where he invites professional musicians to play in his conservatory and up to 35 people contribute to the cost. Whilst the musicians are not quite famous (yet), they are all very gifted, and to see them perform not four feet away is quite something. There is a terrific atmosphere at these concerts since everyone there really wants to listen, and you can chat to the musicians between sessions. We are now looking forward to Brindle Rocks XIV.
I couldn’t attend Brindle Rocks XIII since it was on Halloween and I was on duty telling ghost stories at Hoghton Tower once more. The Halloween event is very special since the tour ends in the Banqueting Hall at midnight, when we tell the final stories in front of a log fire while imbibing the spirit of our choice. (And yes, we do make a cheap joke out of such an awful pun).
I had to do some quick thinking last week however, since I’d been asked to help out on two dates in December when the children come to meet Father Christmas. I’d almost agreed before they told me I had to wear an Elf outfit complete with green tights! It took some nifty negotiations and a promise of an additional helper before I was let off the hook about the outfit. I’m looking forward to working with the ‘additional helper’ though, since it is Geraldine. I knew she’d get roped in eventually.
After six years in the post, I decided to stand down as Treasurer of the Brindle Community Hall, but no sooner had I taken that decision, than I was lumbered with being the key holder for the nearby St Joseph’s Parish Hall! The former caretaker had retired, so I was asked to stand in temporarily, although I fear that I may have the job for some time.
Whilst we were in Gib, we went on a dolphin watching trip and we saw a famous resident of the bay, Billy Bottlenose, who is a dolphin (OK, so you’d guessed). Well it turns out that Billy is on Facebook, and so once I got home I thought I’d log on to see what he had to say. In a moment of madness, I signed up, only to be emailed by total strangers wanting to be my friends. Well, I knew some of the people, but several were strangers. So I was frightened off, and now I seem to be only sad git on the network with no friends at all. Don’t email me, though – I like it like this.
We almost became landowners during the summer. Along with eight neighbours, we began negotiations to buy a section of the field behind our house. We got as far as depositing the money with our solicitor before the sale fell through. The vendor increased the price after we thought we had a deal, so several of us pulled out on principle. Negotiations are still ongoing, however, and we may yet be able to purchase our own little piece of rural England. Our ideas about buying goats, alpacas, a donkey or even an ostrich were perhaps a bit ambitious, but we might yet settle for a few hens if the deal ever comes off.
There’s a lot more I could tell you about our year, but I’m sure you’re bored now, so I’ll leave it here. I do hope to be able to meet up with more of you during 2010. We enjoy having visitors and there is a good chance that we will have finished decorating the hall, stairs and landing before too much of the year has passed. Which has just reminded me what I should be doing now. Back to the painting!
Have a lovely Christmas and New Year.