Remembering Carol- Part 2

There's not enough room in one blog post for me to really write all I want to say about my late lovely wife Carol. So here's the second instalment. 

We found that we had plenty in common. We enjoyed each other's company. I went to her home in Crownhill for the first time and her little dog, Poppy, a West/Shitsu cross, must have taken to me, because she peed on my leg! Was that a sign that Carol and I had a future? Possibly. But it was a start. We went out together on quite a few occasions. She drove me all the way to Leicestershire in her Hyaundai Matrix and we visited the village of Thornton, where she lived up until 1979 when her family moved to Bournemouth. I saw the house where she lived and the infamous reservoir, or 'resize' as it was better known. I even saw the school which she attended. We went back more recently and also went into the newest town to Thornton, Coalville. 

Another day out we had together was to London. We went to Tate Modern, which I had never visited before but had always wanted to, since it was opened in 2000 by H.M. Queen. It was here that she thought she'd made a slight fool of herself, by her own admission. We were looking at a painting by the artist Monet, and she turned to me and said 'is it a real Monet?' To which I said that it was, and it seemed unlikely that the Tate gallery would have a fake. I wasn't in the least bit fazed by this remark, because anyone could have made that statement. Well, at least she appreciated art in the same way that i did. We spent some time in Tate Modern and then walked along the Thames embankment and past another place I was keen to visit, the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. I would very much like to see a performance but have, up until now, not done so.

We had other outings, which included a trip to Stowe Landscape Gardens near Buckingham. I think it was here that we decided because we loved visiting the properties managed by the National Trust that we'd join as members, which meant that we could gain free admission. We had several more visits to Stowe as well as to other NT sites, such as Waddesdon Manor, Anglesey Abbey, Wimple Hall and Home Farm and many other places. We also went on holiday together to Yorkshire, staying in a rented property in a village called Cowling. We visited Bradford, which is only a relatively short drive from Cowling, as well as nearby NT properties and also Saltaire, which is a World Heritage site. We saw a permanent exhibition of paintings and other material by David Hockney, one of my favourite modern painters. When, several years later, we went on holiday to Flamborough Head, we went into Bridlington, which is a few miles away, and we leant that Hockney had a house there and spent quite a lot of time in the town. Then he produced a series of paintings and  a sort of video installation which featured the landscape around Bridlington and within the Yorkshire Wolds and there was an exhibition of these paintings at the Royal Academy, of which David Hockney is a member. So, we had a shared interest in art and artists.

Carol was very spontaneous. She was always eager to get out and about. During the long summer holidays from her job at Milton Keynes Academy, we would we out virtually every week, going to different places. We very rarely sat indoors when the sun was out. We went to one of my favourite places, Whipsnade Zoo, which is no more than a 30-minute car journey down the A5 near Dunstable. We went on several occasions and had joint membership, which meant that once we were members we could visit as many times as we liked without having to pay. Then Carol discovered that, because she was a science teacher and also had a degree, she could become a Fellow of Z.S.L., the Zoological Society of London. I could go with her, as her guest! We could no only get free entry, but we could also take the car in, so in effect we saved something like £75-£80 each time we went into the zoo. We had many happy times visiting, loving the lemur walk-through exhibit, the butterfly house, as well as the meerkats and other animals.

So, we decided that we got on with one another. Our relationship blossomed and we decided that we should marry. So, exactly a year to the day I left hospital, on the 26th May 2007, we were married, at Rutland Road Church, which I was a member of when I lived in Bedford. A beautiful day, made even more beautiful by the fact that everyone at Rutland Road pitched in and made it what it was, providing all the music and the food for the reception. I was imagining that only a few people would attend, but it turned out the entire membership attended and made the day unbelievable, along with the whole church band.

Another time, on the way back from somewhere, I'm not exactly sure where we'd been, we stopped at Stonehenge. I had never visited before, had passed by, but never stopped. It's an interesting and quite amazing place and it was here we decided to join English Heritage, the organisation which co-manages the site along with the National Trust. So we were able to visit their sites, free, as we could with the National Trust membership.

It's no good. I still have lots more to say, so I'll end this post there and continue with a third blog post. Who knows? This might even stretch to a fourth.

Car Passes MoT

The car had been booked in to be serviced and MoT's last Thursday, but at the last minute it was moved to today, Monday. I took the car early, to MK Diagnostics in Bleak Hall, arriving there at around 8 a.m. I had to walk all the way home through Coffee Hall and back to Eaglestone. At around 10 the garage rang to tell me it would need two rear wheel bearings. So, the total bill for service and Mot together with parts and labour came to £238.50. The usual garage we go to was going to charge £146 for just the MoT and service, so I'm more than pleased that we rang round for a quote. So the car is done for another year, and hopefully the peculiar juddering which we've had to endure for the last month or two has been cured, no doubt due to having an oil-change. The car is a Hynundai Atos, and it might be small but it's really cheap to run, insure and tax. A couple of years ago we went on holiday to Flamborough Head in Yorkshire and we managed to get all the way there on £35-worth of petrol! I have to say that living in Milton Keynes makes driving more expensive, probably due to the number of roundabouts and 'sleeping policemen' or speed bumps, and also the really poor quality of some of the road surfaces around here. Going over pot-holes and speed-bumps seems to put extra strain on the suspension of most vehicles as well as wearing the tyres quicker.

Another Doggy Walk!

It was a bright and sunny afternoon on Saturday, so we decided to take the dogs for another walk. The usual havoc as soon as we went near the leads! Alfie went totally mad, barking madly and attempting to attack Poppy's lead. We did manage to get him into the cage in the boot of the car and Poppy jumped onto the back seat. We went to Furzton Lakes, which is a relatively short drive up Chaffron Way. The carpark near the lake was really full, and it seemed that every other dog-owner had got the same idea as us as we walked gradually round the lake. It is around a two-mile walk, so the dogs were well and truly exercised. We let Alfie off his lead, and he really loved running up and down and meeting up with the other dogs. We don't let Poppy off when near water as she has a habit of jumping in. It may have been sunny, but I think the water in the lake would have been too cold. Alfie has been in, but I don't think he likes it much. He did an unexpected jump in over a low wall when we walked along the canal some while ago (this is mentioned in an earlier post.) and was somewhat surprised to discover that water is cold and extremely wet, so won't go near again, having learned the hard way! The locals would have been totally aware of Alfie's presence, as he began yapping and generally making a lot of noise as soon as we stopped the car in the carpark.
We had some shopping we needed to do so drove to Morrison's at Westcroft, leaving the dogs in the car as we went in. We were somewhat surprised to discover that the store is in the midst of being re-fitted, as a lot of the shelving units have been moved. When we went to Bridlington in October, as part of our holiday to Flamborough Head, we went into the local branch of Morrison's and found that branch was being renovated, so perhaps all branches are having similar work done.

Holiday In Yorkshire- Part 3

We unloaded the car, and, having explored the cottage, we went back towards Bridlington as we needed to get groceries for the week. We had come past a branch of Co-Operative (as their slogan goes 'good with food.') and decided that we could do our shopping there. The usual basic items like milk, bread and washing-up liquid, which would see us through the week.

 Anyway, the boring bit out of the way, and taken back to the cottage and unloaded, we decided to then take the dogs out in the car, regardless of the fact that we had driven some 250 miles. We went to see the coast-line only a mile or so further up the road from where we were staying. North Landing is a steep cliff-wall down to the beach, and there is a life boat station there where the lifeboats are launched. The dogs had a good time scrambling down the steep incline and Alfie had fun climbing down some metal steps onto the beach. Carol and myself found the slope quite hard going. If you were to run it would have been dangerous, as well as the climb back up the cliff and incline. There are limestone cliffs and in some of these cliffs caves and on one side arches carved out by the wave action of the sea.

Holiday In Yorkshire- Part 2

On Saturday morning we got up really early. It must have been 5-6. We had packed and were ready to go. We had decided that the dogs would come with us. Daniel was prepared to look after them at home (he had a week off work and college was on half-term.) so there would have been no problem in that department. We've taken Poppy before, and we'd specially booked a cottage which allowed pets, but we wouldn't find out the lay-out of the cottage until we got there. Meaning, if we wanted to go out without the dogs, how would we leave them? Was there a room we could leave them in which they wouldn't damage? Neither dogs has a habit of destroying furniture or making any sort of mess. They are thoroughly house-trained, but still there is the likelihood that they will make a mess if not let out regularly. Here they can run in and out to the garden all day. Alfie hasn't been on holiday with us before and doesn't travel well in the car (as mentioned in earlier posts.) although he seems to have settled down more recently when we've taken him out in the car when he goes in the cage in the back of the car.

We continued on our way and eventually found the cottage on Flamborough Head at around midday. We had looked on Google Maps before we'd left so we had a reasonably good idea where we were going, and to be honest, it's not exactly complicated as regards the road network or towns, villages or houses in that area of Yorkshire, so we didn't have much of an excuse. We knew that Flamborough Head Lighthouse wasn't far away, so with that as a landmark, we had no difficulties in finding where we were staying for the week. If we'd driven on, the road would just come to a stop at the edge of a cliff, and we'd have fallen in the North Sea!

Swallow Cottage, Flamborough Head, where we stayed for our week's holiday. Looking the other way you can see Flamborough Head lighthouse.

View of Flamborough Head Lighthouse from Swallow Cottage

Carol managed to get both dogs into the car, with Alfie in the cage and Poppy in the space at the back of the car. With the parcel shelf in place they seemed quite happy. We drove off without any sound from the rear of the car. Alfie doesn't 'do mornings' generally. When he sleeps, he goes off like a light. You daren't disturb him. If you do, it's at your peril, as he will growl at you. I don't think he'd bite you intentionally, but he can become quite snappy. I think he was half asleep when he was put in the car, and I assume he fell asleep. So he would have spend most of the journey north totally out of it. We had to stop at the Shell petrol station to fill up with petrol, and then went to get on the M1 just outside Milton Keynes. We didn't stop until quite some way 'up North.' One of the Service areas, when we used the toilets. We didn't disturb the dogs. We came off the Motorway near York and drove towards Bridlington and found a rather nice picnic area where we got tea and had something to eat, letting the dogs out to stretch their legs. (What the Americans call a 'comfort stop.') There were decent toilets, a kiosk to buy a snack and cuppa and a place to sit and the dogs could have a run. As soon as we opened the back of the car up, Alfie started his yapping, so everyone knew he was around! He can get quite excited and attacks the cage door with his teeth, and tries to catch the lead with his teeth also, and makes a lot of noise. Poppy, on the other hand, takes it all in her stride and doesn't need to make so much noise.

 The old Flamborough Head Lighthouse

Holiday In Yorkshire- Part 1

We've been away for the past week, on holiday in Yorkshire, and Flamborough Head to be more precise. So that will explain to those of you who are regular readers of my meanderings on here, why I have not posted anything. It would have been nice if I had been able to write each day's 'doings' as it were, but the cottage where we stayed, although very pleasant in every other aspect did not have wi-fi, so we were unable to read or send emails or write this blog. We took lots of photographs, so I should be able to amend my jottings with some of these pictures.

We took both dogs with us. We've taken Poppy before, but not Alfie. As I must have mentioned elsewhere in these posts, he doesn't travel well in the car. We got a cage which sits in the back of the car and he's reasonably happy going in that. Carol managed to get both dogs into the car without much fuss. I think perhaps it was so early that Alfie was half asleep when she did it! Poppy seemed really quite happy to sit in the space in the back of the car without making any fuss. Perhaps with the boot closed and the parcel shelf in place both dogs were safe and secure which might explain why they made no noise for most of the journey north to Yorkshire.

We had decided that we would leave for Yorkshire on the Friday, after Carol finished work, but, after some discussion, we thought it would be more sense to go up on the Saturday morning, really early, as it would mean we'd have had a good night's sleep, and we would be driving during daylight. It's a good four-hour drive, if not slightly longer, and going up on the Friday would mean that the last part would be in the dark. When we last drove to Yorkshire, when we'd stayed in a cottage near Northallerton, we'd gone up late and found it quite difficult finding the cottage in the dark.