Tis the season to be jolly

After all the madness in La Manga it all feels a little flat this week.  I guess it’s only to be expected; as always with highs, you get the lows.  Somewhere in the middle would be good.  I make no secret of the fact that Christmas does very little for me but this year I have absolutely no festive spirit or goodwill to all men.  I am not really sure why.  I think perhaps it’s because we are not able to fly off away on holiday.  Normally, by early December we’d either be away already or have had something booked. Not this year though.   The folk here at Overstone take Christmas very seriously and lots of caravans have been decorated with lights and other festive things.  I quite like the twinkles, of course I don’t do coloured lights, but some of the other lit up stuff you see on some of the caravans is just naff.  The only Christmas decoration that I have inside my caravan is some white and silver baubles and I only hung them up to see if they got me in the mood. They didn’t.

We haven’t really been up to much since we got back from La Manga.   Last Saturday we did some food shopping, caught up with post and pretty much spent most of the day washing, drying and ironing.  On Sunday, we drove down to Phil’s mum and dads for lunch.  I am not sure if I have mentioned that Phil’s dad has not been well.  Poor George has not been well for about 6 weeks now and the week before we went to Spain, Phil’s mum had to get the paramedics out because he had a massive nosebleed that just wouldn’t stop.   The paramedics wanted to admit him but George wouldn’t go.  I wished he had gone to hospital but the reason he wouldn’t go is because Phil’s mum wouldn’t be able to get to Loughborough to visit. 

Phil’s dad is just the same as he was 6 weeks ago, the doctor has upped his tablets but his breathing is laboured and he has no energy and can barely walk.  He told me not long after we arrived last Sunday, that he didn’t think he’d be around for Christmas and secretly I wonder if he will be.  Phil’s mum, with a little bit of help, cooked roast lamb with all the trimmings and after we’d washed up and put away, we drove them into Grantham to get some shopping.  I hadn’t realised that Phil’s mum had only been as far as Tesco’s at the end of their road since George took poorly.  I didn’t think to ask if they wanted any shopping bringing when we visited.  That’s my trouble, sometimes I don’t think and other times I think too much.

Grantham town centre was really busy and the traffic lights and the queues made Phil very grumpy.  Our first stop was Lidl’s; Phil’s mum had a list, and of course, we had to go up and down each and every aisle.  Phil’s mum can walk if she holds onto the trolley but I noticed that poor George could only get round by hanging onto the shelves.  In the end he had to go and sit in the car.  After Lidl it was off to Asda to fill up with diesel and then Phil drove to Aldi’s.  We needed a little bit of shopping ourselves and I was delighted to find thermal leggings and a long sleeve top and a pair of pink bed socks, all for the price of £11.29.   Emma sent me a text ages ago to say that Aldi were selling thermals and I did go into the store in MK but couldn’t find them.   Phil’s mum really stocked up in Aldi and I did wonder, why, with an imminent house move, she was bulk buying.  But then I guess, with George being the way he is, she doesn’t know when she will next get out to shop.

We got back to Melton, unpacked the shopping, had a quick of tea and then said our goodbyes.  It was a horrible drive home.  Melton town centre was closed off so we had to turnaround and try another way to the motorway.   It was raining, windy and dark and we were very glad to get back to our caravan just after 5pm.  It is less miles going the back way to Melton but we don’t really know the route very well and there is one roundabout that even with the sat nav, we go wrong every time.  Phil & I decided that we would much rather go early in the morning and leave so that we have daylight the whole way home.

We awoke on Monday morning to a severe frost but all was okay once the heaters were all turned on, and Monday for me, was a nice, easy day; Sue arrived at Overstone just after half past seven.  We’d book a 2-4-1 day at Whittlebury Hall and figured it would be good to detoxify after our week in Spain.   We booked in at reception and got changed into our robes and slippers and did the spa bit.  It was busy in the spa area and very, very noisy.  We did a couple of hours and then went in for an early lunch.  I have only been to Whittlebury Hall twice, but on both occasions, the lunch was very good.  After a big lunch, we were well and truly chilled out so went and laid by the pool area and read our books.  We got back to Overstone just before 6pm. I opened the wine, Phil cooked supper and it was an easy evening.

Sue scraped her car and was on the road before seven thirty and Phil retreated into his office to write his book.  I did some tidying up and then drove to Milton Keynes.  I had really wanted to leave earlier than I did but there were lots of site people in yellow jackets outside and I ascertained that they were getting the plot at the end of our cul-de-sac ready to take delivery of a new caravan.  I was excited but after half an hour nothing had happened so I missed out on the action.   My first stop in MK was Asda and then I went to the gym.   I did some weights and had a good run.  No time for a swim because I had to get changed and pick up Jan for lunch.  We went to The Plough at Simpson which was surprisingly quiet.  It has changed hands since we last ate there.  I had pasta and Jan has a panini, we chatted and the hour flew by far too quickly. 

I had planned to do some Christmas shopping after lunch but I just wasn’t in the mood so I drove straight back to the caravan.  Just as I got through the door, Phil went out; he fancied some Heston Blumenthal mince pies and he wanted to have a look around the big Waitrose that he’d discovered just down the road.  When he returned, he said it was the best Waitrose that he’d been in, so I will just have to go and have a look for myself.  Perhaps ,if we have to stay in this country for Christmas then we’ll indulge ourselves in some treats. Tis after all, the season to be jolly Fa la la la la la la la............