A difficult time of year

No, it's not been an easy Christmas. I wanted to feel it, you know, all the joy and goodwill, but it's been hard work from start to end. It always seems harder, doesn't it, when everyone else is out enjoying themselves and you're stuck in a dreary grind of endless details. Like you're in a little gray world of your own.

You wouldn't believe how much paperwork there's been. I'd put that application in from my parents' address months ago. Never thought it would come to anything, but all of a sudden I got a call to say there's a council flat available down there. I couldn't say no, could I? Not in the circumstances. Even though it only meant moving to the other end of the sodding country. So we packed up quick as we could and stuffed the Astra as tight as a Christmas turkey, and then - then what happens? "Oh I'm sorry sir, there's been an administrative mistake. You can't move in until the end of January." Fat lot of good that is, when the lease runs out on our old place in mid-December.

You'd think someone could have put us up, wouldn't you? No, everyone was away or had family coming to stay. Merry festive season and all that. I'd found some cheap hotel, but when we got there they knew nothing about our reservation, and were very rude about it. We ended up in the roughest B&B you can imagine. I thought we'd have been better sleeping in the car, but it was a good thing we didn't, as it happened.

Why? Well, you know all those horror stories of the husband having to deliver a baby on the way to the hospital? We didn't even get that far. Oh yes. Right on the stinking carpet. I was absolutely bloody terrified, I can tell you. He came out all right, though. Mother and baby both doing well, as they say...

No, but there's more. We'd just about got the mess mopped up, when someone started hammering the door half off its hinges. Turned out to be the down-and-outs from the rooms upstairs. I thought they'd come to complain, but you know, as soon as they saw the baby they were transfixed. You should have seen it - these rough guys all huddled round cooing over a tiny bundle. So I went off to make everyone a cuppa, but when I got back I couldn't even get into the room. Three more lads had turned up, kind of Arabian looking, but what they were doing there God only knows. They didn't seem to have much English. To be honest I was so exhausted by that point I didn't much care. I just wanted it all to be over so I could get some sleep. They left us some pricey-looking presents, though. Is that some kind of foreign thing? Giving expensive gifts to complete strangers?

Yeah well, it's over now. We moved into the flat yesterday. Mary's been amazing through the whole thing, and Baby J's cute as can be, but I tell you something. I hope I never have another Christmas like that one.

Comments

National Forest Way: The End!

The National Forest Way finishes at Beacon Hill, Leicestershire, with beautiful wide-ranging views in all directions. I'd been hoping for a sunny day, and this one certainly fit the bill. The frosty earth lay under a glorious canopy of shining blue sky. I parked at Swithland Wood, close to where we finished the previous walk. Finding the waymarker on the first gate was bittersweet - this was the last time I would be following these familiar circles. Swithland Wood had been acquired by the Rotary Club in 1931, and later passed on to Bradgate Park Trust. The lumpy terrain was due to slate quarrying. I skirted a couple of fenced-off pits. As I left the wood, I passed a lake which I assumed was another flooded quarry, but with an odd little tower next to the water. I followed a road up a steady hill towards Woodhouse Eaves. Many of the houses were surrounded by walls of the local slate. Woodhouse Eaves was a prosperous-looking village with some nice old buildings. Crossing the wide ...

The Original Limestone Way

Back in March, I finished a blog post with the words: "If I disappear for two sunny days, I'll be walking from Matlock to Castleton." And on a hot sunny day in August, Mom and I put on our hiking shoes and did exactly that, following the original route of the Limestone Way. Day 1 First, there was a hill: a steady climb through fields and along holly-enclosed paths, with a wide view up the Derwent Valley as our reward. We dropped down again on a stone-paved track and emerged in the village square at Bonsall. The cross was decked with rainbow ribbons, and bunting fluttered above us. All very cheerful. Another ascent took us to Upper Town, and then we were out into open fields heading towards Winster. The Limestone Way seemed a little shy of villages; the official route often avoided them. Mom and I preferred to visit, though, and enjoy such delights as public conveniences, postbox toppers and the local church. Winster is a pretty little place, I'm glad we didn't mi...

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog