Wednesday
Brother Dave spent most of the day in bed, fortunately without further adverse effects or redistributing his innards, whilst Paula managed the occasional sleep and I was almost back to normal. Almost.
A walk to pick up the daily papers and more Lucozade was the highlight of the early morning followed by Paula and I heading out to Brookfields garden centre again. It really is a fascinating shop area and we never cease to be amazed at the sheer diversity of products. We could so easily have bought all sorts of quirky stuff but luggage limitations are still key, as we think we’ll manage without an extra case or bag. I haven’t bought the usual pile of books or models this time, so our extras are mainly a two or three tops each, shoes, Everton mints and the MGB rear axle differential kit - weighing 6kg.
After managing a pot of tea and small slice of pizza each (coffee was still not allowed until my system was back to normal), we resisted the urge to buy a couple of floppy eared bunnies from the pet shop area, but it was a close thing that Poppy, the house cat, didn’t have some company.
The days tended to blur into each other as they centred around the same thing each day, namely doing very little indeed, resting, sleeping, reading, codewords and blogging.
You have all heard of the 5-2 fasting diet – 5 days normal eating and 2 on low calories? I think we are doing the 2-5 system at the moment. Has the fat belly gone? No!!! I may well need more strenuous exercise, not just cutting down on food, whether by accident or design. I suppose that will happen naturally when we get home, which we are both now looking forward to.
I called on Stewart after dinner (small portion of chicken pasta for me) just as he’d put Noah to bed. I stayed for one bed-time story then went downstairs until Stewart returned. At least Noah didn’t follow him down 15 minutes later, which was Stewart’s trick as a 3 year old, managing to get past his security gate…
Thursday August 6th
As yesterday, a walk for the paper, with Paula this time, and later, up to Costa for a snack and an overdue coffee. Dave getting better all the time and thankfully, Sue has stayed up and healthy. Let’s hope that continues. Apparently there is a bit of sickness in the street, so it may not have been us after all. That made us feel a bit better with a bit less guilt, but not a lot.
I went up to see Stewart (Paula sleeping!) and took him his present from Scotland. A genuine Royal Stewart wool tie. (We didn’t get him the kilt, but that was tempting.) Noah was of course itching to know what I’d brought him, so he now has his own radio control Mini.
Afterwards, we three went down to see my ex sister-in-law where Noah made himself at home and Jackie made him a sandwich. Judging by his reaction, now another favourite person to visit. Easy to charm a Green. Just offer food.
Dave and Paula managed a poached egg each, whilst Sue and I feasted on crumbed fish (Basa), new potatoes and peas - my first proper full meal for a few days. Delicious. First time I have tried that fish.
The sad news of the day was the passing of actor George Cole – ‘Arfur’ Daley.
The big good news was of course local cricketer Stuart Broad (who made himself very unpopular in Australia by not walking, when out) who demolished the Australians with 8 wickets for just 15 runs. (Kiwis still remind the Aussies of the underarm bowling incident a few years back, to prevent the Kiwis scoring a 6 off the last ball…) Australia all out for just 60 runs was huge news and broke many records, particularly for Trent Bridge, which hosted cricket as early as the 1830’s but its first ever test, against the Australians, back in 1899.
Broad made himself a local hero and the national press are extremely positive and full of praise about Trent Bridge and also Nottingham itself. Nice for me to read and made a welcome positive end to the three days.
This was the last post actually published before we returned to NZ, though we still had a last day in Nottingham, the flight to LA, LA and the trip home.
I promise I will also publish a summary and some pics of the Royal Princess and a comparison between that massive, all modern ship, and the older, smaller Sun Class ships – pre refit.
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