Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable. - Francis Bacon

Sunday 4th August

Walcott Sunrise

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny, I got up to go to the bathroom then went to the back window to enjoy the beauty of the morning and the sounds of the sea. Then I crept back to bed, I was tired, it had been a busy few days, and there is nothing better on a Sunday morning than listening to Radio 4 in bed. Sleeping Beauty was still in 'the land of nod', he'd stayed up late last night enjoying the freedom to do as he liked without worrying about an early start in the morning.

It was nice to have a lazy start to the morning, but we weren't going to waste the day - and we weren't going to miss the Archers! We drove back to Mundesley at midday, Sunday lunch at Jonet has become a bit of a holiday tradition with us, this week it was roast chicken. Robbie grudgingly agreed to have a few peas but he left all the cabbage and carrots for me - I love cabbage. We spent a couple of hours in Mundesley, then we came back and sat in the garden until about 8pm. It was a beautiful day.

I have a lot of writing to do while I'm here (I'm writing a book) but I want to have fun too so I've brought a book with me called ' From you to me - A journal of a lifetime' my older daughter bought it for me. It gives lots of questions and prompts to write about my life and hers. With a bit of luck it will help to get the 'grey cells' working so that I can get on with my book. I also have my question and answer journal with me (another gift from my daughter), some of those questions are really challenging. Anyway I made a start on the lifetime journal, it is harder than it looks, but I am enjoying the challenge.

Probably Not the Next Samuel Pepys

I had to write a one day diary for a local history project that I am involved with so I thought that I would share it on the blog too.

Saturday 22nd September 2012

I really must be mad! The insistant bleeping of the alarm clock woke me at 4.30am, I reached out to turn it off and then remembered that I had moved it out of reach the night before to make absolutely sure that I woke up. I sat up and reached down to silence the alarm clock, Robbie was still sleeping soundly so I gave him a prod and told him that it was 4.30am and if he wanted to catch his train he needed to get moving right now, then I dashed off to beat him to the bathroom. When I got back to the bedroom he plodded off to get ready while I sneaked back under the covers for ten minutes, after all 'normal people' would still be fast asleep. The next thing I knew it was almost 5am and he was back in the bedroom showered and almost ready to go. It is surprising how fast you can get ready when you really have to. 

When I got downstairs he was just packing his lunch into his rucksack and by the time he got outside I had already started the car and we were all ready to go. The car knows the way to the railway station, we do that journey so often. On weekdays we are usually up at 5am so that he can catch his train to Birmingham just after 6am, so I look forward to a more leisurely start to the day on Saturdays and Sundays. Unfortunately the lure of the railway gets the better of him and he just can't keep away. Today he is going to the Deltic Gathering at the East Lancashire Railway, he is absolutely passionate about Deltics, especially his favourite Royal Scots Grey. I would have gone with him because I like Deltics too, but I have a terrible cough at the moment, it is exhausting and I haven't been sleeping very well, so I just don't have the stamina to cope with a long day on the railways at the moment.

He waved as he slammed the car door and walked towards the station. I felt a sense of relief, I had fulfilled my promise and got him there on time, now the rest of the day was my own and if I wanted to I could go back to bed. I clicked the radio on, radio 4 is the soundtrack to my life, I always have the radio on at home or in the car. I only half listened to the discussion about TB in cattle and the pros and cons of culling badgers to limit the spread of bovine TB, as I drove up the hill away from the railway station. I was thinking that my ancestors were closely linked with this part of the town. My great grandfather was orphened when very young, he grew up in the work house, but he when he was sent to be an appentice to a cordwainer in Leicester Street, he found a trade and a family and he spent the rest of his life in Leicester Street. His daughter my great grandmother grew up there, had her first home as a married woman in the next street and she brought her large family up just a couple of streets away. The area as they knew it is now long gone, but there is still one landmark that they would recognise, the spire of Seps Church still points heavenward, the clock still measures the relentless march of time in hours and minutes. The church which for centuries has witnessed the joys and sorrows of the people, stands strong and defiant amid the 'here today gone tomorrow' buildings of our modern town, reminding us of lasting values that are too easily forgotten amid the demands of modern life.

When I got home I put the kettle on for a much needed cup of tea and while I waited for it to boil I sorted the laundry into piles and put on the first load of the day. I was too awake to go back to bed and sleep, but I felt bruised and exhausted from all the coughing so I took my cup of tea and my laptop up to bed. I may not sleep but at least I could sit quietly with the radio and my laptop to occupy me. I enjoyed a couple of hours catching up with email and facebook and I began to write my diary entry for today. I must have fallen asleep at some point because it was mid morning when I woke up. I enjoyed a long relaxing bath while listening to Radio 4, a shower is fine most of the time, but there is something special about a nice hot bath. I wish this cough would get better, it is so exhausting.

It is unusual to be at home on my own, but today was very quiet, my son stayed at his friend's house last night, my older daughter had gone to Milton Keynes with her boyfriend and my younger daughter was shut in her room writing up notes in preparation for her post graduate course at Leicester University which begins on Monday. I like my own company and I never struggle to fill my time. There was a whole list of jobs demanding my attention today, but I only did the laundry and the routine tasks, I decided that the peace and quiet was too precious to waste, the other jobs can wait until I feel better.

The only problem with doing nothing is that you have too much time to think and this was one of those days that provided a lot to think about. Nine years ago today I sat with my first husband Eric in the Three Shires Hospital as the last hours of his life slipped away; then I went home and told my children that their dad was dead. Life goes on but those memories don't  fade, it is not something that you forget despite the passage of time, the details of that day are imprinted on my mind. I found myself wondering how he would feel about the way our lives have changed. I hope that I have done a good enough job as a parent, it hasn't always been easy. Eric didn't want me to be on my own if the worst should happen, but it must be hard at times for Robbie, living with a ghost. Perhaps it helps that they are very different. 

My son came home and my daughter emerged from her room, she had finished her work and was ready to fulfill her promise to paint my nails with crackle nail varnish, silver base with black crackle on top. It looked very nice. I hardly ever wear nail varnish, but it is nice to spoil myself once in a while and it is lovely to share moments like this with my daughter.

Time went on, we ate early because my daughter was going out later. My daughter went to get ready and I left my son to feed the cats while I drove to the station to pick my Robbie up. On the way back we popped into Morrisons for a printer cartridge and one or two essentials. I was glad to get home, but I had to go straight out again because my daughter wanted a lift into town. She looked amazing. We picked her friend up on the way and I dropped them both off at The Goose. By the time I got home again Robbie had a cup of tea waiting for me and I chatted to him about his day for a little while, he'd had a lovely time. 

Later on Robbie wanted to watch a film, it wasn't really my sort of thing so I decided to head up to bed with my laptop to listen to Radio 4 Extra and catch up with my friends on facebook. The cough was impossible, I couldn't stop coughing and I couldn't get my breath, it was a very frightening feeling, I was exhausted but I knew that I had another sleepless night ahead of me. Thank goodness for the internet and friends who stay up late and are happy to chat at 2am. How different from my childhood when my mum considered it very bad manners to make a telephone call after 9pm. 

Making Demands

The last couple of nights have found me doing something rather strange in the bedroom just to please Robbie - I have been hand sweing his PJs! He has a beloved pair of PJ bottoms that have seen better days but he loves them so much that he wanted me to try to extend their life. Not an easy task, the pocket was hanging off, he had a tear running up one leg and the crotch - well lets just say it wasn't there. I sat in bed sewing and listening to Radio 4 while he busied himself with his jigsaw in the kitchen. After two nights of careful sewing his PJs looked almost as good as new, the things I do for that man, but it was worth it just to watch him dancing for joy to have his PJs back. I was pleased with a job well done, but glad to pack my sewing kit away until next time. Unfortunately 'next time' has already arrived, he caught his beloved pair of shorts in the car door this morning and he can't face life without them so for my next trick I need to work a miracle on his shorts. He has lots of other pairs but it had to be his favourite pair that got torn.

It was a beautiful day today, Robbie had been up half the night working on his next jigsaw, so he didn't get up very early. I didn't mind, it gave me a chance to do a bit of the jigsaw without him chasing me away - it is very hard, I didn't manage to do much. When his lordship was finally up and ready to face the day we drove to Wroxham Barns, it is a rual craft/trendy shopping yard with a very nice little chldrens farm and an old fashioned fairground. We pottered around the shops and I resisted the temptation to harm the very annoying man playing accordion, I gave him a deep and meaningful stare instead and within minutes he stopped playing and vanished - result!!


They have added a model shop since we were last there so Robbie was in his element, I only managed to drag him away when he spotted a shop selling local real ale, he bought a bottle to take home, then he took me to the beer garden where he enjoyed a pint of Wroxham Barns Bitter and a pork pie, while I had a rather nice pot of tea and a sausage roll.

The last couple of nights have found me doing something rather strange in the bedroom just to please Robbie - I have been hand sweing his PJs! He has a beloved pair of PJ bottoms that have seen better days but he loves them so much that he wanted me to try to extend their life. Not an easy task, the pocket was hanging off, he had a tear running up one leg and the crotch - well lets just say it wasn't there. I sat in bed sewing and listening to Radio 4 while he busied himself with his jigsaw in the kitchen. After two nights of careful sewing his PJs looked almost as good as new, the things I do for that man, but it was worth it just to watch him dancing for joy to have his PJs back. I was pleased with a job well done, but glad to pack my sewing kit away until next time. Unfortunately 'next time' has already arrived, he caught his beloved pair of shorts in the car door this morning and he can't face life without them so for my next trick I need to work a miracle on his shorts. He has lots of other pairs but it had to be his favourite pair that got torn.



It was a beautiful day today, Robbie had been up half the night working on his next jigsaw, so he didn't get up very early. I didn't mind, it gave me a chance to do a bit of the jigsaw without him chasing me away - it is very hard, I didn't manage to do much. When his lordship was finally up and ready to face the day we drove to Wroxham Barns, it is a rual craft/trendy shopping yard with a very nice little chldrens farm and an old fashioned fairground. We pottered around the shops and I resisted the temptation to harm the very annoying man playing accordion, I gave him a deep and meaningful stare instead and within minutes he stopped playing and vanished - result!!


They have added a model shop since we were last there so Robbie was in his element, I only managed to drag him away when he spotted a shop selling local real ale, he bought a bottle to take home, then he took me to the beer garden where he enjoyed a pint of Wroxham Barns Bitter and a pork pie, while I had a rather nice pot of tea and a sausage roll. It was lovely sitting there in the sun watching the world go by. We returned via North Walsham to buy a couple of presents and then to Stalham for one or two essentials before returning to the bungalow. We've had a lovely evening just doing our own thing and trying not to think about going back to reality on Sunday. I wish I could make time stand still.

Puzzled

Robbie came to bed very late last night or more accurately I should say this morning, so when I got up he was still in the land of nod - and he remained there for half the morning! He was late coming to bed because he had got carried away with doing his jigsaw of the Flying Scotsman. I am not a jigsaw person but there is something about an unfinished jigsaw that demands your attention and spent a peaceful couple of hours with Radio 4 and the jigsaw. When Mr Sleepy finally woke up he wasn't best pleased, but he hid it well. We went out for lunch at Mundesley which was a nice treat. After that we had a bit of a potter around before heading back to the bungalow. I went for a walk along the beach, but Robbie stayed behind with his jigsaw, he made it very clear that my help was no longer needed. I was very happy out on the beach, I found a wishing stone and I wandered along noticing all the little details that you only notice when you are on your own.

Robbie completed his jigsaw, it looked amazing, now he has the next one out and he is planning to start that later this evening. It has pictures of old Hornby models on it, it looks really difficult but apparently he doesn't need any help! I have really enjoyed today, it has been fun, it is so nice to have to relax without the day to day world crowding in on us.  

A Time and a Place

So far Tuesday has been much nicer than Monday was, but everything turned out well in the end, so I can't really complain. Why do Monday mornings come round so quickly? One minute it is Friday and the whole weekend stretches ahead then you blink and it is Monday morning again. We had a nice weekend, but it just didn't last long enough. I think my favourite bit of the weekend is Saturday morning, it is so nice to wake up and realise that you don't have to be ruled by the clock. Cuddling up to Robbie while listening to Radio 4 on a Saturday morning is so special, but it is a struggle to get his undivided attention. I am used to his rather unique ways, but even I can't cope with some things. It irritates me when he notices every bus that goes along the road and then recites the complete timetable for that bus; I get even more irritated when he sits there reading a Quail map and forgets that I'm there, but when he chooses Saturday morning in bed to tell me about his colleagues and their train spotting obsessions I know that it is time to give up!

I Am So Angry

I feel cheated and let down, I have been totally loyal but it seems I have wasted a huge chunk of my life. I am so angry, how dare they do this! I expected far better from them, I will never trust them again! Who am I talking about - the BBC of course! Poor Nigel, he didn't deserve such a stupidly pointless thing to happen to him, he has never done anyone any harm. What a let down, dreadful writing and stupid unbelievable plots, as a very long term listener I feel cheated and disrespected. They said that Ambridge would be shaken to the core in a special 60th anniversary edition of The Archers but sadly, the only core that has been shaken tonight is that of the programme's long-time faithful audience base

I would have danced for joy if Helen and her baby had died, she is so annoying. In fact I could have provided them with a list of annoying people that need culling. Shula, Kathy, Jennifer, Susan ..... but after tonight Vanessa Whitburn is top of my hit list!

A Rather Special Person

People say that everyone remembers where they were when they heard that President Kennedy had died, they say the same about John Lennon and Elvis Presley too. I am too young to remember the death of Kennedy and I have no lasting memories about the other two, but I can vividly remember where I was and how I felt when I heard of the death of John Peel on 25th October 2004. The shock of the news hit me like a physical force. Without him my Saturday mornings would never be the same again. I have been a Radoi 4 addict for almost as long as I can remember and Home Truths with John Peel was the highlight of my week. Home Truths was a rather like John Peel, in touch with real people, interesting, eclectic, hard to define yet always charismatic. John was a natural communicator with an informal conversational style, and those of us who listened to him regularly felt that we knew him because he shared something of himself and his family with us.


In a way it was John Peel who led me to write the blog. I began bloging when my first husband Eric was ill with colon cancer. It started as a very practical way of keeping everyone up to date with how he was, I couldn't cope with everyone ringing every day, so the blog gave us the freedom to just be a family for a few more precious weeks. It was Home Truths that gave me the idea for the blog, sometime before John had interviewed a man who had used a blog to chronicle the last months of a terminally ill family member. I remembered the interview and I realised that a blog could help us too. It enabled Eric to keep in touch with all his friends and they could check on his progress and leave messages for him as often as they wanted. Gradually I noticed that the blog was helping me to process what was happening and after Eric died I continued to write blog, it kept me in touch with people and in a way it helped me to look beyond my grief. I have been blogging ever since.


Life moves on and sadly we have to part with some of the people we love along the way, but we will never forget them and our lives are so much richer because their lives touched ours.

Tickets Please

There is a series on Radio 4 on Monday mornings called Tickets Please. It is about the dysfunctional on board staff who work for a train company and their even more dysfunctional passengers. It is a fictional company and it is a very funny series, but I can't help wondering what company it is based on. It can't be Cross Country because they do not have on board catering, but I can't help wondering if they could perhaps have taken their inspiration from Virgin? I had a look at the BBC Radio 4 web site they do have a picture of a train speeding through a station but I don't recognise the livery. I pondered on it for ages then I thought OMG I am turning into Robbie!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nv6nr

Revenge is Sweet

They say revenge is sweet, I would probably have calmed down about Robbie going out to 'play trains' again, but leaving his flasher mac next to the washing machine for me to wash while he was out enjoying himself was a mistake. I considered accidentally putting it on a boil wash, but I didn't want to ruin the machine, so I had to be more subtle. Sam gave me the idea when he asked me not to play my talking books when we go on holiday next weekend because they get on his nerves. I was happy to agree because I intend to get on someone else's nerves! I have chosen some music CD's for a change, including some that I haven't listened to for a while. Cilla Black, Shaggy, Jimmy Nail, Dolly Parton, and a collection of music from the musicals, It is had to know which one Robbie dislikes most, probably the last one because he detests musicals. He doesn't like Country music either, I wonder how many times he could cope with Dolly Parton singing In the Ghetto - it could be a very long journey! There again I am a reasonable person and`I do quite like to listen to Radio 4 on a Saturday morning, so if Robbie starts being a bit more thoughtful, I may forgive him before Saturday!

Sound Effects

Robbie was late home from work again today and when I left work he was waiting for me in the car park so that he could get a lift home. I love him dearly, but at times like that I wish he could be a little more 'normal', last time he turned up wearing that dreaded flasher mac and today he had his white London Underground umbrella!

He told me a funny story on the way home. This morning he was in he bathroom on 'the throne' when he became aware that he could hear faint music and someone was talking to him. It wasn't 'heavenly' music so he had no fear that he was about to 'do an Elvis' and meet his maker in the bathroom. This was much more down to earth music, and it bothered him, he couldn't believe that someone would be thoughtless enough to have their radio on in the street at 5am loud enough for him to hear it. He then remembered that the bathroom is at the back of the house, so he deduced that the offending radio must be in our garden, but he wasn't in a position to go an investigate straight away. Thankfully the neighbours were spared the vision of Robbie in his smalls searching for a radio in the back garden, because he found the source of the mystery music before he left the house. We have two radios in the bathroom, ours (tuned to Radio 4) and theirs (tuned to something else). One of the children had turned their radio down to almost nothing instead of turning it off!

On the subject of mystery noises, the previous day Robbie and Emily searched the lounge for a phone that kept vibrating. It wasn't a phone, it was the cat snoring!

Excess Baggage Talks Trains.

The 'Nationalised Express ' situation has been getting a lot of air time on Radio 4 today. There was an interesting discussion about it on Excess Baggage with Sandy Toksvig, you can listen to it here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ldbks/Excess_Baggage_04_07_2009/

They also got a mention on the Now Show at lunchtime, I was a bit surprised at the strong language use to describe National Express, this may be a comedy program, but they were spot on about how little they care about the travelling public. You can listen to it on the BBC Radio 4 website until next Friday, just search for the Now Show and press listen again.

Torture!

Why are men such slow learners? I was late going to bed last night because I was listening to the European election results on the radio, and it must have been getting towards 1am when I headed up to bed. Robbie said he would be there in a few minutes so I left my light and my radio on hoping that I would be able to sleep and that Robbie wouldn't disturb me when he came to bed. The problem was that he didn't come to bed and the light kept waking me up so in the end I turned it off. Later I was woken by a searchlight, Robbie had turned his bedside lamp on, and he was kneeling on the bed with his rear end in the air searching under his side of the bed for an Argos catalogue! When I recovered from the shock I yelled at him to turn the light off and let me go back to sleep but he refused and he became increasingly awkward. He then decided to set the alarm on his mobile before turning the light off and setting down. As a final insult he flapped the duvet to let all the warmth out and he kept prodding me just to be annoying. By then I was wide awake and so frustrated that I was ready to harm him, especially when he lay there giggling like Mutley. He was asleep and snoring within minutes, but I couldn't get back to sleep for ages. He needs to watch out because when he least expects it I will get my revenge!

Beyond Endurance

Robbie and I are spending new year apart, I am upstairs listening to Radio 4 and Robbie is downstairs as he prefers to see in the new year with Jools Holland. He is a man by the way way, from his name I had assumed he was a woman. Robbie said he was in a band or something but I had never heard of him or his band. I did my best to endure this thing on television, one woman sang and it sounded like a cat being slowly strangled, I don't know who she was, apparently she was just called Adelle - with a voice like that I am not surprised that she wouldn't give her last name. Then there was a group of geriatrics who sang Jimmy Mac, they looked and sounded as if they had just been dug up, so I thought things could only get better. I was wrong Duffy came on next and that was truly more than flesh and blood could stand, so I voted with my feet and came up to listen to the radio. I am much happier up here on my own.

He Has Been Warned!

Robbie can be so irritating sometimes, but somehow he always manages to make it my fault! It was past midnight when I went to bed, I left Robbie downstairs, but by the time I came out of the bathroom he had installed himself on the bed and was sitting there like an overgrown garden gnome reading one of his railway magazines. I tried to get into my side of the bed but the weight of 'the gnome' made it impossible to move the covers, it was more like a straight jacket than a duvet. After a battle he grudgingly moved for a second so that I could get into bed properly. I asked him to turn off the lights, but he refused, he needed the main light on as well as the 'search light' on his side of the bed, just to read about trains in the middle of the night.

All I wanted was to listen to Radio 4's book of the week, Chocolate and Cuckoo clocks: The Essential Allen Coren while I settled down to sleep. It is only on for 15 minutes and I can set the radio to turn off after an hour so it doesn't matter if I doze of f. Robbie would normally have listened to it too, but last night he turned the radio off without even asking me, I put it back on and he declared war. First he decided to read out loud and the more I asked him to shut up the louder he got, that didn't get sufficient reaction so he decided to eat Minstrels in bed, I can't bear the crunching, it's disgusting. I threatened to kill him but he still wouldn't stop so I lay there thinking about going to sleep downstairs, I started to get out of bed and he begged me to stay, promising to turn the light off. I stayed and he put, and he turned the light off and got into bed, but that was when the trouble really started. He deliberately lifted and fanned the duvet to let all the cold air in and as far as I am concerned that is unforgivable, then as I was finally dozing he kept prodding me and being annoying. Then suddenly he was asleep and once again I was left wide awake having to listen to him sleeping.

This morning he claimed that I was really miserable with him last night and he hadn't done anything to deserve it. Well, I am giving him fair warning, I am now armed with a black permanent marker and if he lets the heat out of my bed again he will wake up to find that his features have been enhanced with a moustache and whatever else I feel inspired to do at the time. I don't care if the RMT have messed up his timetables, it is no excuse for disrupting my sleep!

Five Minutes Peace

I had a back to front sort of day yesterday. I had one or two messy jobs so afterwards I looked forward to sinking into a nice relaxing bath. I took a cup of tea with me and I switched on the radio ready for ten minutes of 'me' time without the rest of the world intruding into my thoughts. I love Robbie, but it is nice to have the occasional break from the constant chatter about the railways. The bath was lovely but as I listened to Radio 4 I realised that they were discussing – trains! In fact they were discussing ticketing, permitted routes etc., I can't seem to get away from train talk. I could have got out of the bath and switched off the radio, but once in the bath I was staying put. I just didn't listen, I have a very well developed 'deaf ear' – I can't imagine why!

The Meaning of Life

Robbie gets up at about 5.15am on weekdays and I get up shortly afterwards. I am not that keen on mornings, they always seem to come around far too soon. It takes a cup of tea and a large dose of Radio 4 (I have a radio in the bathroom) before I am ready to face the day. Even then I find the sight of Robbie trotting around the house in his knickers a bit hard to cope with and I am certainly not ready for 'meaning of life' type questions. This morning Robbie asked "Why are lemmings so suicidal?" I have no idea, perhaps it is because people keep asking them impossible questions first thing in the morning! Once again I was left wondering what exactly goes on in Robbie's head, but that is certainly not a question to contemplate early in the morning.

Reaching For the Off Button

I love Radio 4 and I listen to it in the car, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in fact I listen to it wherever I am. For me the height of luxury is a relaxing bath with Radio 4 to listen to. Yesterday I was enjoying my bath, a tranquil moment in a particularly trying day when my ears were assaulted to such an extent that I had to jump out of my bath to turn off the radio. Can you believe it, Radio 4 is serialising Chere Blair's book. Why would anyone imagine that I would have any interest in that woman, she is an irrelevance and I have no respect for someone who attempts to make money from backstabbing and sleazy revelations about people in public life. I can't undrestand why she would imagine that anyone would be interested in her sex life, even the thought of it turns my stomach! What really makes me cross is that when Tony Blair was prime minister they were fierce about protecting their children from press intrusion - quite rightly in my oppinion (but they didn't mind using them for a bit of PR from time to time). Now, Chere Blair is telling the world about how Leo was conceived, how can a mother do that to their child? I'm not sure how old Leo is now, but he is certainly old enough to be mortified by her revelations. There are standards and there are some things that you just shouldn't do even for money, it seems to me that Chere Blair has put £'s before parenting and I am disgusted. I really would have expected better from Radio 4, what will it be next - readings from the News of the World perhaps?!

Mystery Men

Robbie was at work until late in the evening yesterday because he had to work from home in the morning while waiting for the Sky repair man to come and replace the sky box. We had no TV over Easter because the sky box turned up its toes, I didn't miss it that much but certain other people were having withdrawal symptoms. I am fairly happy as long as I have my radio, I can't survive without Radio 4. The Sky man turned up eventually and everything is back in working order, so when Robbie got home last night he parked himself in front of the TV and watched junk until 1.30am.

Talking of Radio 4 it was responsible for a serious rise in my blood pressure yesterday. The You and Yours program had a 'phone in' about rail travel, George Muir from ATOC, Nigel Harris from Rail magazine, Tom Windsor a previous rail regulator and the dreaded Iain Coucher from Network Rail were all there to answer questions. The first three sounded sensible and plausible, but yet again Iain Coucher sounded totally insincere and complacent. Someone who rang in had been prevented from getting to work that morning because of an engineering overrun at Shenfield. He did his usual splutter and stutter, then explained that the planned engineering work to work on signals had been completed on time but it just so happened that the very next signal to where they were working developed an unrelated fault and this caused the delay. Whatever! When Sam was younger he always blamed the squirrels for whatever he had done wrong, he was very convincing, but that didn't mean I believed him. The calls to the program were overwhelmingly critical, the only company to receive any praise was Virgin; whatever you think about their service you have to admire their PR!

I overheard Robbie making a series of work calls during the morning, he kept talking about Craig and Timmy and I began to wonder who they were, a gay couple perhaps? Did Robbie have a secret life? Eventually I asked about them as I hadn't heard him mention either of them before. It turned out that he was actually referring to a place, Craigentinny nr Edinburgh, apparently it is the place where the trains 'go to bed'.

East Anglian Daily Times

The Tip of the Iceberg!

I was very tired on Thursday morning after dealing with the dog during the night. By lunchtime I could feel myself nodding off and I prescribed a cup of tea and a little rest, with Radio 4 for company of course. I had just settled down when I almost choked on my tea. The irritatingly complacent tones of Iain Coucher were intruding into the room. It feels as if I can't get away from Network Rail. It is bad enough listening to Robbie moaning about them every day, and I'd had a taste of their inability to cope with joined up thinking at Northampton Station the night before, so the last thing I wanted was that man intruding into my lounge.

I'm not sure what is going on in Northampton, maybe the council are challenging Bristol for the title of road cone capital of the UK. For months we have endured road closures and road works involving one of the most important roundabouts in the town. Work on the roundabout finished a couple of weeks ago and I breathed a huge sigh of relief, because it had cased me a lot of inconvenience. My relief was short lived, the roadworks have now radiated out to other equally inconvenient sites and the cones haven't gone, they have just moved down the road. The road outside the front entrance to the railway station is closed and they have dug a massive hole in the road, so I was forced to enter the station via the long stay car park at the back. It is an awkward entrance anyway, but visiting the station was turned into a near death experienced by having six massive lorries loaded with huge bits of track maintenance equipment, parked nose to tail along the narrowest and most dangerous part. They must have known in advance that the council planned to create a 'heffalump trap' at the front entrance, so you would have thought that even with their limited resources in the brain cell department, they could have worked out that this was not a good time to block the other entrance/exit.

Anyway back to Mr Complacent on the radio. He managed to cure my tiredness because I was far too cross to be tired. He is still rambling on about what a good job they are doing and how everyone else was at fault regarding the New Year debacle. That old phrase comes to mind, There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.

As usual when the railways are mentioned in the media Christian Woolmer was wheeled out to give an expert analysis. He talked a lot of sense, but he hasn't really got the sort of voice that makes you want to listen, I guess he is the David Bellamy of the railway world - much better in print. His assessment of the cause of the previous delay and the potential for further disruption was much more plausible, I suspect we have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far! Even if Network Rail manage the Rugby shut down this Easter better than the New Year fiasco, weekend rail travel from Northampton to Birmingham will still be a bit like the dodo - a thing of the past!

Robbie's journey to work today (Friday) took three hours and put him in a foul mood, he arrived home at 9.40pm after an equally challenging return journey. I think we would all be a bit more forgiving about blocked lines and replacement coaches if we thought there was a realistic possibility of a better service after the upgrade, but if they don't tell the truth about the present why should we believe the promises about the future!

Normal Service Has Been Resumed

I am pleased to report that normal service has been resumed, Robbie is his usual cheerful self again after a very challenging weekend. It was his birthday on Saturday, he was 36 and he was an absolute pain. I'm not sure what got into him, he said he wasn't happy about getting old and I came very close to solving that problem for him - there is only so much moaning one person can take in a day! He had some nice presents and cards, two expensive railway books from me, binoculars from the children, another railway mug and money. He'd asked for money because he is saving up for an a camera, not just any old camera, the one he has his eye on does everything except make a cup of tea - and it has a price to match, so he will have to save up. We had a lovely afternoon at my mum's, she spoils Robbie, she cooked him his favourite meal and she made him a lovely birthday cake, so he managed to feel a little better about getting old by the end of the day.

On Sunday I put him in a bad mood by listening to the morning service on Radio 4, I was enjoying it but Mr Moan announced that it was too 'happy clappy' and he sat up in bed with his arms folded and his bottom lip sticking out like a toddler having a strop. He irritated me so much that I was almost tempted to sing along and join in with the service, but maybe that would have been too much for him to bear. I had a couple of errands to do, but I when I got back I made sure that I had some peace and quiet to listen to the Archers. Robbie was kept busy with mending the fence (just the job for a rainy day) and then building his new bookcase (at last).

So now it is Monday evening and the bookcase is positioned neatly in the corner of the lounge with just two books on it. Having waited weeks for Robbie to build it, I thought it would be a simple matter to put the books on it, but there appears to be some delay. He says he has to work out how to arrange the books but I think he has suddenly realised that he will not be able to read his Quail Maps in bed anymore. I have a feeling that this isn't going to be as easy as I thought!
Favourite Railway Books