Rain, Rain Go Away!

Tuesday 1st June

It rained during the night and it was a dismal start to the day so it was an ideal opportunity to go to Newquay and take a look at the shops. By the time we got there it had stopped raining and we spent an enjoyable morning visiting all our favourite places. The old Woolworths building has now been redeveloped and the new shops have put the heart back into the shopping area.

Robbie needed to buy some body spray because his aftershave was in the rucksack that he accidentally left behind. On the subject of aftershave I was not best pleased when Robbie confessed that he'd had his aftershave confiscated at the airport because he'd tried to take it in his hand luggage. It costs a fortune and it is really hard to get hold of, I went to a lot of trouble to get him that for Christmas. Anyway back to the present, Robbie chose some body spray and I am already regretting it, he uses so much that you need breathing apperatus. How do I make him understand that in this case less is more?

It turned into a beautiful sunny day so after an outdoor lunch at Subway we headed back to the beach via Tesco to get Laura's birthday cake. It is her birthday on Wednesday and there is no way that she will let us forget it!

It was a lovely evening, I got some really nice photos as I walked along the coast path and on the way back I heard the skylark singing. It sounded as if it was bursting with joy, unfortunately I didn't feel on top of the world because Robbie was having yet another strop!

Mr Impossible

During last week Robbie mentioned that he would like to travel on the last HST to Newquay on Saturday and he asked if Sam would like to go with him. Sam had a better offer for Saturday and he wasn't interested in going on a train, but I said that I would think about going with him. On Friday between all my other jobs I went out and bought soft drinks, bread rolls, sandwich fillings and various other packed lunch treats for the train. Oddly when Robbie got home he didn't seem to want me to go with him, he kept reminding me that I don't like HST's and that I would need to take a footstool. In the end I said that if he didn't want me to go I wouldn't go, he then said that he did want me to go, I was totally confused and said I didn't know.

I went to bed at half past midnight and as soon as I got into bed Robbie decided that he had to ransack the bedroom looking for his yellow T-shirt, because (allegedly) he always wears yellow when travelling on an HST – whatever! I got cross and told him to go away, he'd had all evening to sort out his clothes and I was not being unreasonable by wanting to sleep at well past midnight. I don't recall seeing him again, I must have fallen asleep. I went to the bathroom at about 5am and when I got back into bed I prodded him and said that he would soon need to get up. I went back to sleep and when I awoke it was nearly 7am and the room was deserted – he had gone without me!! I was furious, he could have at last woken me and asked if I wanted to go, I was really hurt. He always wakes me up even when he doesn't intend to, so he must have sneaked out really quietly to avoid taking me with him. He didn't wear a yellow top (he thinks I have stolen it), he wore black with luminous green writing instead!

I had plenty to keep me busy all day but I was so angry with Robbie. As always when he is in trouble he stopped answering his phone, so I didn't know what time to expect him back, it must have been after 11pm because I had already gone to bed. He did wake me up when he came to bed but that was much later, I think it was getting towards 4am!
He apologised this morning, but it didn't last long, he had a full scale tantrum because I bought three new knives (to replace some missing ones) without consulting him, and they do not quite match our set. He yelled at me all because of three knives that cost less than £1!

We also had a heated argument about London Midland and their problems. I can't imagine why anyone wants to travel on lurid green trains anyway, but I am fairly sure that the company could have resolved this months ago because the contracts need to be changed to accommodate the needs of the business. It really infuriates me that neither side in the dispute show any regard for the public. The union spokesman needs an urgent course in basic English (not to mention a Gok Wan style makeover!) and the spokesman for the company was totally unintelligible - I found myself wondering if he even knew what a train was! I can understand why they seem unable to negotiate about Sunday working, with both sides in the same room it must be like Bill and Ben meets the Clangers!

So having hardly seen Robbie all weekend he is sitting in the corner playing his music so loudly that I want to go and punch him on the nose. I will resist the temptation. I will go to bed to listen to my radio instead – at least I can get some sensible conversation from Radio 4!

Crimes Against Fashion!

Having had a fairly lazy day yesterday we decided to get up early and spend the morning in Newquay. It was a lovely morning and by 10am we were in the book shop looking at railway books , then for a little light relief looking at railway jigsaws! It was nice just to potter around for a couple of hours, I refused to go to the surf shops to look at clothes with Robbie because I am still adjusting to his recent purchases. A couple of days before we went away he went shopping unaccompanied (not recommended) and he came home with the loudest shorts imaginable, they are brown with luminous yellowish green in a large flower pattern. I can't provide a photo because I am worried about my camera, but today's photos feature Robbie's new cerise T-shirt, as you can see he is fairly unmissable when he wears it! Sam said that he is wanted in several counties for crimes against fashion!

The Highs and Lows of Newquay

The Coast around Newquay

It was another early start today, we had to get Laura to Newquay by 9am to catch her train. The train wasn't due to depart until 9.40am but Robbie wanted her there early because he said it would get very busy. It was a very misty morning, so I chose not to take the coast road to Newquay, it is challenging even when visibility is good because it is very narrow in places and there some amazing hills and very tight turns. It is no fun when you meet a bus coming in the other direction! I didn't fancy my chances taking that route with the added complication of thick mist, so we took the other route.

We got to Newquay in good time and I dropped Robbie and Laura at the station. It really doesn't deserve to be called a station, it must be the most depressing place in the South West. I have seen some pretty grim bus stations, but I have never encountered such a miserable excuse for a railway station. It is dark, grimy and unloved, in fact it takes grim to a whole new dimension. If that is the first experience visitors have of Newquay I'm surprised they bother to even get off the train. I have seen photos of Newquay Station in previous days when it was still a proud part of the railway network. Now every hint of it's former glory has been stripped away and it is a pathetic apology for a station, Network Rail should be ashamed. At a time when we want to encourage greater use of public transport in order to reduce our impact on the environment surely the government should be sorting out the rail services to popular holiday destinations, and in the case of Cornwall they need to sort out line speeds too - you could do the journey from Newquay to Par faster on horseback than by train at present!

Sam and I went off to park the car while Robbie stayed with Laura to see her safely on to the train. We didn't spend long in Newquay, but we enjoyed an alfresco breakfast at Subway and then we stocked up on food supplies for the caravan. It had turned into a lovely day in Newquay, but as we drove home we realised that the mist had not cleared around Padstow, it was a warm and pleasant day but the mist clung to the coast all day.

Bird Song

It is Laura's last day with us today, she has to go home tomorrow ready for exams on Monday so she got to choose what we did today. She wanted to go to Newquay again, so we got up early and set off in time to get there just after 9am so that we could pack as much as possible into the day. I didn't want to look at the shops again, so after buying a jigsaw I wandered down to the harbour to take some photos. I love listening to the herring gulls, for me it isn't really the sound of the seaside without the cries of the gulls. I have forgiven them for the little misdemeanour on Wednesday when one scored a direct hit on me. Having seen how much mess it made I can now understand why ostriches don't fly! fortunately I was wearing a raincoat so it was fairly easy to remove the evidence! Listen to gulls here Herring Gull

It was a bit dismal early in the day but it brightened into a beautiful afternoon. By 1pm we were back at the caravan and it was so nice that we took a walk along the coast path towards Harlyn, there is a wild spot where there are lots of skylarks. I love just standing there listening to them singing, they soar so high in the sky that it is hard to see them but their song is beautiful. When we got back we sat outside at the table with a cup of tea enjoying the sunshine. There was a male blackbird sitting on the next caravan, he seemed to have a huge personality and he was singing with such vigour that I couldn't help wondering what he was saying. Skylark Blackbird

This evening we began Laura's 17th birthday celebrations, her birthday is on Monday really, but as she has exams on that day she is stretching the celebration over several days.

After the Rain

Monday was wet and miserable, it rained relentlessly all day and it was too heavy to venture far so we enjoyed a leisurely day in the caravan. It worked out quite well because I had some writing work to do and Laura had loads of revision to keep her occupied so that left the boys free to enjoy the television - such a hardship for them!

Today was a much better day, we went to Newquay in the morning to check out all Laura's favourite shops. Sam had his own ideas about shopping, but the things he wanted were either too rude, too expensive or downright dangerous, so I was not his favourite person. He has his heart set on a new hoody, but we haven't found the right one yet.

When we got back I went for a walk along the coast path, it was such a beautiful day and I never tire of the beautiful views around here. We enjoyed some time on the beach, it was low tide and I watched the children fishing in the rock pools. It seems such a short time ago that Emily and Laura spent hours at the rock pools with Grandad, they would come running up the beach with their bucket to show off their latest catch. Where has all the time gone?

There was an amazing sunset this evening. I hope you enjoy the photos.

'Thin Ice' 09.09.2007

Robbie has been 'walking on thin ice' this weekend. We both had an unexpectedly chaotic day on Friday and I was looking forward to a quiet weekend with Robbie, with no rushing around. I was speechless when he announced on Friday evening that he was going to Newquay on Saturday as it was his last chance to go on a Virgin HST. I expressed my intense disapproval but I knew that given a choice between me and a train, the train would win every time, so there wasn't much I could do. Robbie has picked up one of the Children's tactics and he alleged that he had told me about it ages ago, but I must have forgotten - whatever! He left the house at 6.30am and arrived home after 11pm, but he had enough sense not to talk about trains all night. In fact he would have probably survived unscathed if he hadn't slipped into the conversation this afternoon that he had to make an early start next Sunday and he would need a lift. It seems he 'accidentally' booked tickets for an open day somewhere near Mancehster. I haven't plotted my revenge yet, I prefer to keep him guessing!

A Day Out 28.07.08

You will be pleased to hear that Robbie has survived unharmed, but I can assure you that I didn't require a crystal ball and dangly ear rings in order to tell him his fortune very accurately when he got home. I think we have reached a clear understanding that should prevent any further episodes of 'the demon spring cleaner' running amok. That should make life easier for his colleagues, I suspect they found him rather challenging on Friday!

Robbie was up at the crack of dawn to travel all the way to Newquay by train just to come back again! Apparently it is a tradition that he always goes to Newquay on an HST in the summer - whatever! The hedge by the drive is so overgrown that it is threatening to take over the drive and today is the first day for ages that it could have been cut, but Robbie is on a train with a load of other train obsessed men talking about trains! They forecast rain tomorrow so I doubt it will get done this weekend. Oh well, why should he have all the fun, I decided to take Sam and Laura to Wicksteed Park (our local theme park) to celebrate the appearance of the sunshine.

Wicksteed Park is in Kettering and while not on the grand scale of Alton Towers it has more than enough to keep everyone in the family busy all day. When I was a child a trip to Wicksteed was the highlight of my summer, I was very clear about my favourite activities, I loved to visit the pets corner/zoo area and I loved the helter-skelter, both are long gone in favour of more high tech activities, but today's children seem to love it every bit as much as I did. There are very few activities that remain largely unchanged since my childhood, but one familiar feature is the train, it is safer these days, but just as popular. My children always want to go on the train, so today that was our first port of call. Robbie was not amused to hear he had missed out on a trip, but he can't do everything.

When we got home I embarked on one of those jobs that I detest - defrosting the freezer. I knew that I couldn't turn a blind eye any longer when Robbie threatened to take a chisel to it! He is not exactly Mr Practical, but he tries. It is a tall freezer with lots of drawers and it is a bit of an effort to defrost without creating too much mess. Bowls of steaming hot water speed things up a bit, but it is not my idea of fun. Megan nearly drove me mad by sitting so close to the freezer that she was getting wet and I was in danger of falling over her. I don't know why she always has to be so close.

On the subject of Meg she almost got me into trouble with Robbie a couple of days ago. She came in from the park wearing the unmistakable scent of fox poo, it is one of her favourites but it was pungent enough to make your eyes water. She had rolled again and since we don't possess gas masks, a bath was unavoidable. Laura volunteered to do the deed, but Meg had run out of shampoo so we borrowed Robbie's instead. Meg emerged smelling significantly sweeter but feeling very sorry for herself. We thought nothing more of it until the next day when Robbie asked if I had been messing with his stuff in the bathroom. I almost confessed, but before I could say anything he accused me of blunting the blade on his razor, so I was able to summon up my most indignant look and deny the 'crime'. I don't see why he should blame me! He didn't find out about the shampoo (until now!).

The picture today is of Sam's guinea pig Shadow, she is the cutest little thing, but she has attitude. Meg is quite nice to her really, but just occasionally Meg is overcome by the urge to round her up and Shadow has plenty to say about that! I love the noises that guinea pigs make, you can certainly tell the difference between a contented noise and a cross noise.

When in a Hole Stop Digging! 21.07.07

Robbie decided to live dangerously earlier in the week. I was annoyed, not because he was late home, but because he didn't notify me promptly about the delay. By the time he phoned I had already accepted several other commitments all based on the assumption that he would be home at the time he had planned. Somehow the irritation was perpetuated, I think it was partly due to Robbie's habit of digging furiously when he finds himself in a hole. It is silly to get annoyed about lateness that was obviously not deliberate, but a simple sorry and an acknowledgement of the difficulties his lateness caused would have worked wonders, the combative approach in the style of John Humphries was less successful - I must stop him listening to Radio 4 every morning!

Harmony seemed to elude us, I could feel that it was within reach but it just kept slipping through our fingers and the longer the situation persisted the more frustrating it became. It was at this point that Robbie very bravely (or stupidly) clung to the higher ground and told me it was about time I started to toe the line!! Maybe my expression gave it away, or maybe he genuinely had used the wrong words, whatever the cause a look of terror spread over his face and if he hadn't been in the car at the time I think he would have actually run for cover! I don't recall exactly what I said, but it involved him acquiring a much higher voice!

We never stay cross for long and harmony reigns once more. Robbie had a day off work yesterday and he came up over to me and gave me a big hug, he then asked if we could please buy the latest British Film Institute Railway DVD. When he got a favourable response he decided to make the most of the moment and he announced that he was going out to play trains next Saturday - apparently he absolutely has to go on an HST to Newquay and when he gets there he will turn round and come back again! Men! If you didn't laugh you would cry!

A Cunning Plan 09.06.07

It was Robbie's turn to make me feel old this morning. I had an itch on my back and was directing him to the right spot with 'up a bit, left a bit, down a fraction, fire' and the inevitable reference to the Golden Shot. He claimed that he had never heard of the Golden Shot and asked if it was a ship! How can he possibly have no childhood memories of numerically challenged Anne Aston and the mysterious 'Bernie the Bolt'. OK having checked, I admit that Robbie was only 3 when the last series was screened, I suppose it is a bit much to expect him to remember it!

http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/variety/goldenshot.htm

It turned out that Robbie had a cunning plan. In a devilish strategy worthy of Baldrick he told me about a recent conversation with an acquaintance of his who seems to think that enjoyment can only be achieved by a night on the razzle and is disdainful of people who find more enjoyable ways to fill their free time. We were just pondering on the inevitable consequences of his behaviour - brewers droop, and we agreed that he needed to grow up and find some less anti social interests. Quick as a flash Robbie seized his opportunity and requested a 'day pass' to go to Barrow Hill to the I had to laugh, his planning was incredible. He then lost the plot and gave me a minute by minute account of his proposed travel arrangements (including a time allowance for breakfast!). My interest had waned before he had travelled beyond Wellingborough, honestly, Saturday morning with my husband and we have to have a monologue on the intricacies of train timetables! He gradually became aware of my frustration, maybe the fact that I was ready to batter him gave him a clue! In an attempt to redeem himself he suggested an overnight trip to Newquay. I was quite tempted, but I was mystified by his desire to break the return journey with lunch and shopping in Plymouth. I know Plymouth well but the shops are nothing special and we wouldn't have time to get to the Barbican and back. It didn't make sense until he admitted that it would enable him to travel on a more 'interesting' train back to Birmingham! He's impossible.

Newquay - The VW Camper Van Capital 29.05.07

Today was much better, a lovely sunny day with very little breeze. I was able to go out and take some photos from the coast path and Sam enjoyed some time on the beach. We could have spent the entire day on the beach, but the children (and Robbie) were bursting to go to Newquay, so at midday we headed off for some serious shopping. Robbie and the girls love the surf fashion and enjoy checking out all the shops. Sam likes all the gift shops and is increasingly interested in fashion as well. I like to visit Newquay, but I am always happy to drive away again after an hour or two. It is a bit too loud and brash for me to want to stay too long. It is a very odd mix really, hotels bursting with geriatrics and a loud clubby town bursting with young people behaving as if they were on an 18-30 holiday. It is good to get back to good old sedate Padstow. The best thing about Newquay as far as I am concerned is the camper vans. It is the capital of the VW camper van; it is absolutely bursting with them. There is something about them that I can’t explain, but I would love to own one.

Sam and Laura bought lifeguard tops, they look quite good. I made an early start on my Christmas shopping and bought my first two presents! Robbie, well what can I say, I simply don’t have the words to express my frustration. Today he struggled to live up to his shoe size nevermind his age! Sometimes I think he does it on purpose, just to enjoy making up again!