I had such a good time on Saturday. For me it was a Robbie free day because he was out playing trains - nothing new there! A couple of months ago my friend took me to visit the most amazing place, it is called Astley Book Farm and it is the largest second hand book shop in the Midlands. I loved it and I promised myself that I would go back when I had plenty of time to brose. I told my daughter Emily about it and she wanted to go as well, so we planned our trip for Saturday. To say that Emily shares my love of books would be an understatement, I have never seen anyone so excited about visiting a bookshop!
It was a nice morning and we had a nice drive to the book farm, we got there fairly early so that we had plenty of time to explore every section of the shop. It is an amazing place, just when you think you have got to the end of the shop you find a doorway or turning opening on to another section. Emily soon found the English language section and she was in her element, crouched on the floor looking at every book that took her fancy. I wandered off and soon I had found two or three books that would make perfect Christmas presents. I was having a great time and I felt virtuous too, it is only September and I have started my Christmas shopping!
Emily was still sitting on the floor reading text books when I wandered past ten minutes later. She excitedly offered me a book, it was a dictionary of vulgarity in
old English, that girl is passionate about language. I left her surrounded by a pile of books and headed up to the children's section in the hayloft. Who needs anti wrinkle cream when you can visit a place like this. Soon I was sitting on the floor rediscovering treasures from my childhood including Sam Pig, My Naughty Little Sister and many more. Emily came up to join me and we rekindled memories from her childhood too.
Considerably later I made my way down from the hayloft and headed for the transport section clutching the pile of books that I intended to buy. There was a whole section on railway books so I happily whiled away another half an hour looking at some amazing books. I selected a book about the railway companies pre nationalisation, it is a lovely book and it was very reasonably priced.
By then my friend had arrived so we paid for our books and put them in the car before going to the coffee shop for a cup of tea and a natter. Afterwards we had a last look around and we bought a couple more things before going back to my friend's house for a while. I really enjoyed the whole day, it is nice to spend some quality time with my daughter, and I always enjoy spending time with my friend. The added enjoyment of the bookshop turned it into a perfect day. I must take time to do more things like this.
We have had a problem for some time with things being moved, usually out of reach! That little problem has been more or less resolved because as they say, 'where there's a will there is a way'. I have plenty of determination and I have found a way to reach even the highest shelves Now it seems that things have started vanishing too and I am not amused. I don't think we are being plagued by a poltergeist, I suspect our 'phantom' is all too human!
This morning I went to have a bath and the bath plug had 'vanished'. I could have had a shower but I am not so keen on showers and Robbie doesn't like the shower head to be adjusted, so by the time the water gets to my head it feels too heavy - yes really! I decided to have a wash and postpone my bath until I had the plug. That was when things took a turn for the worse, I reached into the little basket by the window where I keep my toothpaste and several other essential bits and bobs. I pulled out the tube that was in the position of my tooth paste and it had mysteriously become a tube of Ralgex! That was a very lucky escape!
Later in the morning I went out to have a bit of 'me time' and to buy a bath plug, it was nice I should do it more often - not the bath plug, the 'me time'. When I got to the shop that sells bath plugs the conspiracy against short people continued, the bath plug was on the highest hook on the rack. There was no one around to help so I selected a metal shelf bracket from a lower hook and used it to reach the item I wanted. Then once I had paid the huge sum of 99p I went home with my personal bath plug and enjoyed a long hot soak.
Just one word of warning, the culprit should sleep with one eye open in future because I have the Ralgex and I may be tempted to use it ...................!!!
I had a really odd weekend, Robbie went off to his dad's on Saturday and the children were out and about doing their own thing, even the dog was out! I am not used to having time to myself, there were hundreds of jobs that I could have done, but I got side tracked and spent a relaxing couple of hours sorting out my jewellery and finding a better way to store my earrings. I like jewellery but I don't wear it very often so it was nice just to remind myself what was hidden away in my jewellery box. I enjoyed the luxury of time to myself, but I had to drag myself back to reality to get on with my writing work, prepare a meal and as always 'mum's taxi' was much in demand.
Sunday morning was quiet, Laura went off to work, Emily was out and Sam didn't emerge from his room until much later. There was nobody to wish me a happy Mother's Day until Emily got home later on, Sam eventually managed to wish me a 'happy female care givers day' (I wonder about that boy sometimes!). I had a number of phone calls from Robbie, but it was a luxury to listen to the omnibus episode of the Archers in peace.
Later in the day I went off to see my mum and then to collect a very talkative Robbie from the Station. He'd had a lovely time at his dad's, he'd seen many family members and he had 'topped up' his accent and was talking even faster than usual. It was now clear why he didn't want me to go with him, I would have cramped his style, he admitted to drinking far more than was wise and knowing Robbie what he admitted to was probably an under estimate! Anyway when he got home he smelled of stale alcohol and smoke (other people's smoke) and he was pointed in the direction of the shower as soon as he got home! Even so it was nice to have him back.
Robbie is out playing trains again today, he has gone to Carlisle on a charter, he mentioned something about tractors but I am not sure of the details because I tend to 'tune him out' when he goes on and on about trains (or anything else for that matter). He had to leave soon after 5am and he assured me that he wouldn't wake me up, as always that proved a forlorn hope, the sound of Robbie galloping around the house was enough to wake the dead, but just in case anyone in the street was still managing to slumber he shut the door with such force that we thought there had been another earthquake!
I had expected him to encounter some sort of hold up, he always seems to attract trouble when he travels north. Today he had hardly left the county before he encountered problems, a cable fire between Birmingham International and New Street had caused chaos. He rang me to tell me about it, but I begged him to just give me the abridged version, so I am a bit sketchy on the detail, but I know that they got away safely in the end.
I decided that I was going to have some 'me' time too, so after providing Laura with a chauffeur service to and from the hairdressers I settled down to some family history research, but it was one of those frustrating days when I just kept hitting brick walls. Laura had gone to town to buy yet more shoes (something else for me to trip over in the hall) and Sam had scurried off to his room allegedly he was going to rediscover the carpet and have a general tidy up, but judging by his lack of progress I suspect he was watching a DVD. At least I had a couple of hours of peace, I gave up on the family history because it was making me frustrated, but I managed a few more chapters of A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh and Dorothy L Sayers, I have read it at least twice before but it is just as good the third time.
Robbie will not be home until after midnight and I don't suppose his arrival will be any quieter than his departure, but if the wakes me up to tell me about his day I may not be responsible for my actions. Tomorrow I intend to listen to the Archers omnibus before I even think about the routine of the day, and Robbie can make me lots of cups of tea to make up for abandoning me today!
