“Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea”

We have a very confusing little mystery and in the absence of Hercule Poirot, Robbie has been investigating. Just after Christmas I noticed that my tea had a funny taste, at first I thought it was just my imagination but then Robbie noticed that his coffee tasted a bit odd too. He insisted that the problem could be traced back to his mishap on Boxing Day when a bottle of vanilla essence launched itself out of the cupboard and spilled on to the worktop. He thought that some of the vanilla essence must have gone into the kettle, it seemed a bit of a long shot, but it could have been the cause of the trouble. After a couple of days I made a close inspection of the inside of the kettle and found that it was a bit greasy. I gave it a good clean and rinsed it about twenty times before drying it with a paper towel, but I didn't have a chance to test it before I went to work. 

When I got home from work Robbie made me a cup of tea and to my dismay it still had a horrible taste. More detective work followed which led to us replacing the kettle in case there was something wrong with the other kettle. The first cup of tea seemed a bit better but then things went down hill and the nasty taste was back. I tasted the water from the cold tap and it seemed fine, but the water in the kettle had a horrible taste so the mystery deepened. 

We had almost given up hope, but earlier this evening Robbie showed me the jug that he uses to fill the kettle. I always fill the kettle straight from the tap, but Robbie is a creature of routine and he insists that the correct way to do it is to use a jug. Unfortunately the jug that he uses is the old plastic measuring jug that I use to make gravy etc. It always gets washed up but I think it must be the jug that is tainting the water, I will replace it when I go shopping, but from now on Robbie will use a glass jug to fill the kettle. We have had two decent cups of tea since replacing the jug so we have our fingers firmly crossed. I hope we have solved the problem

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. 

A Frivolous Purchase?

I really didn't want Robbie to go back to work yesterday, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. We'd had a lovely time on Wednesday. Robbie asked to go out for a drive and surprise, surprise, the route he chose just happened to take us to the Doc Shop! We went in just to see what new stuff they have and for once it was me rather than Robbie that fell in love with a pair of boots! They were very nice and very comfortable, I would have liked to buy them but I was afraid. Afraid that I was too old for Dr Martins and afraid that my kids would not approve. The sensible 'me' took control and reminded me that I need new work shoes before I even think about a frivolous purchase. I didn't buy them, but it wouldn't take me long to go back if I manage to convince myself that I don't have to be sensible all the time!!

We drove back via Earls Barton and had coffee (or in my case tea) at the Apothocoffee Shop, they make a fantastic cup of tea. Robbie was lusting after a Hornby mug, he will have to save up for that himself, I have a pair of boots on my wish list! I did treat him to a rather apt coaster for his his desk at work. It could be based on Northampton Station, but there again there again it is not unknown for New Street to go one step further and advertise a departure from one platform and then at the last minute announce that it was now departing from a completely different platform - John Peel (Home Truths) used to call it the New Street gallop! 

Normal Service has been Resumed

After our trip to the Warley Model Railway Exhibition we went to Birmingham New Street and caught a Cross Country Service to York. I always enjoy travelling on Cross Country services despite their inability to make a drinkable cup of tea, but when we joined the train I was shocked by the state of the first class coach. I have never seen such mess, there were dirty cups, food wrappings and crumpled newspaper everywhere. The were not many people in first class, but it was impossible for us to find a seat with a clean table. Robbie put down his bags and rucksack and morphed into a tornado as he whisked through the carriage cleaning each table, and carrying all the rubbish to the bin in the vestibule. Before long first class was restored to order and Robbie took his seat. The lady in the seat behind was most impressed and asked why he did it. He told her that he was proud of working for Cross Country and he hoped that any member of staff would pitch in to help if they saw a mess. He didn't tell her that the train manager had watched him open mouthed as he cleaned the carriage, he didn't even say thank you.


I enjoyed the journey, but I struggled to stay awake the early start and the busy morning at Warley were catching up on me. I tried to read my new book about the railways around Newquay but my eyes kept closing and I couldn't concentrate. I decided to look out of the window instead, even a brief stop at Sheffield station brings back many happy memories of my time there. It was a very long time ago but I loved living there. 


As we moved on towards Doncaster the 'trolley dolly' put in an appearance. The first people that she came to asked her for a tea and a coffee and she rudely told them that she was not doing complementary drinks she was only doing the retail trolley. She spoke to them as if they were naughty children. When she got to the couple sitting behind us they asked for a tea and a coffee, again she said that she wasn't doing complementary drinks. The man said that they were so desperate for a drink that they didn't mind paying, but she pushed the trolley away without further comment. In due course she came back and provided complementary drinks for those that wanted them, but at best her attitude was graceless and she made the people who wanted a drink so badly wait until last. Maybe she'd had a bad day, but it left me feeling disappointed because most Cross Country staff are not like that, they are very good and she had let them down. 

Photo by David McCormick

I enjoyed spending time at York station, we went to have a coffee and watch the world go by at the old signal box. Or to be more exact we watched the trains go by, Robbie was so busy jotting down information that he almost forgot to drink his coffee! Our journey back couldn't have been more different, the train manager was very good at his job and the Retail Service Manager was exceptional.
By the time we got back to Northampton I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, but we'd had a lovely day.

The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

Robbie found himself spending the night on the sofa bed last night. He pushed my tolerance to the limit during the evening. He phoned me to say that he had been delayed and he would not be on his planned train so could I please pick him up at 7.30pm, I wasn't overjoyed because it would mean that we could not eat our meal until well after 8pm. I wasn't too impressed with his attitude either but I got on with preparations for the meal and various other jobs and at 7.29pm I pulled into the station car park to meet Robbie. Almost as soon as I turned off the engine my phone bleeped to signal that a text had been received, I rummaged in my handbag for my phone and read the text (sent at 7.25pm) Robbie had missed his train and was still at the pub, he would text me again soon! To say that I wasn't amused doesn't really get close to my real emotions. I went home again, did Robbie's jobs, fed the rest of the family and waited , and waited ..........and waited. Finally a text arrived informing me that he was on the train and in need of a lift at 10.30pm. He always texts when he knows he is in trouble, he is two afraid to ring. I was very tempted to leave him marooned at the station, but I went to fetch him. He got into the car with a daft grin on his face and told me that he'd had a really good time. At least one of us had! As we drove off he informed me that several of his friends were drunk, and I informed him that he stank of alcohol. I was still waiting to hear anything that sounded remotely like sorry, but when I glanced across at him I saw that he was dozing with the idiot grin still spread across his face. He managed a couple of incoherent sentences before we got home, but when I reversed on to the drive he thanked me as if I was a taxi driver, grabbed his bags and trotted off into the house, leaving me outside! I didn't even get the usual cup of tea as a peace offering.

This morning he appeared at 11am bearing a cup of tea and an apology and promising breakfast. I am still waiting for breakfast an hour later!

A Secret Vice

Robbie was unusually attentive on Saturday morning, I knew it was because he wanted to be allowed out to play on Sunday but I decided to make the most of it anyway. Before being asked he got up and went down to make me a cup of tea, when he came back he snuggled down into bed still wearing his glasses and they instantly steamed up. It made me laugh so much, it reminded me of Benny Hill.

On Saturday evening I was busy with my writing work and Robbie was in his corner with his laptop and headphones. He kept making little snickering noises in the style of Mutley (the sidekick of Dick Dastardly), eventually curiosity got the better of me and I went over to investigate. I have discovered his secret vice - he was watching Judge Judy on YouTube!!

Torture!

I had to have a fasting blood test this morning so from 6pm last night I couldn't eat anything. I had a late lunch so going without food wasn't too much of a problem, but I longed for a cup of tea. On my way home from work I congratulated myself on not feeling hungry, but when I got home Robbie had a meal ready for me and a nice cup of tea was waiting ready for me to drink. It was so hard to resist that cup of tea, and watching Robbie eat the meal intended for me made me feel very sorry for myself. Never mind, it is all over now, I went to the doctors this morning, they took my blood and I came straight home for the long overdue cup of tea.

Everyone Has Limits!

Robbie had a very bad day on Sunday. We had to get up early to go and get the dog from the kennels and I decided to take the other car, but I asked Robbie to bring both car keys with us. It was a reasonably long drive because the kennels is near Milton Keynes and Robbie talked non stop about trains, including a very odd statement about a Pendolino 'sitting down'. It was lovely to get Meg back, but the journey home was hot and uncomfortable. We arrived home to find ourselves locked out because Laura was out and the other key that I had asked Robbie to bring was locked inside the house! I had to drive all the way to my mum's to get the spare key. In the afternoon he kept me waiting outside Tesco for an hour and a half, he should have only bought a few essential food items, but he 'accidentaly' went shopping for clothes! I was not amused, in fact I was furious. He did say he was sorry, but he didn't seem very sorry and when he moved my cleaning stuff that evening and then mocked me for getting cross, he ended up wearing a cup of tea! I did regret it, it was a waste of good tea, but everyone has limits – even me!

Pillow Talk

When I woke this morning my mouth felt like sandpaper after yet another night of coughing. I lay there trying to send telepathic messages to Robbie that I needed a cup of tea, but he just carried on snoring. I tried more direct methods and pinched his bum, that was more effective and after several attempts he roused for just long enough to steal the whole duvet. Eventually he woke up but I still had an eternity to wait for my tea. He put his arm around me, cuddled up and embarked on a detailed monologue of the exact journey times for all the replacement buses between Northampton and Euston yesterday – scintillating! Just when I thought my ordeal was coming to an end he decided to name every station between Euston and Birmingham New Street and then he speculated on the meaning of each name! Finally nature succeeded where I had failed, he needed the loo and he plodded off to the bathroom. He returned at last with a cup of tea and when he got back in bed I made sure he kept well away from the subject of trains. He is so exhausting, I may have to send him back to work before New Year in order to get a few hours respite!

'Me Time' 08.03.08

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!

A Long Day 12.11.07

As if the trauma of having to wake up at 5am on a cold autumn morning wasn't bad enough, I found that Robbie was still in 'Victor Meldrew' mode. The world always looks a bit better after a cup of tea and Robbie has sufficient sense of self preservation to ensure that I have a cup of tea to start my day. Somehow the tea didn't have the desired effect this morning and it couldn't compensate for the lure of a warm bed - and the sight of Robbie galloping around in his knickers didn't help either! We were making this stupidly early start just because Robbie wanted to see a different train! I can't even remember what was different about it, I must have stopped listening when he told me that bit! I think it was a new livery or a different sign on the front or something like that, whatever it was Robbie caught a brief glimpse of it as we approached the station and he sped across the car park like a greyhound out of a trap. I hoped a spot of cranking on the way to work would cheer him up, but even then I knew that it was a forlorn hope.

There are several things that are absolutely guaranteed to annoy Robbie and top of the list is to mess with his computer. It seemed the first day of the new regime started badly and went down hill from there as the day progressed. I spoke to him a couple of times during the day - not a pleasant experience! He was up to his eyes with work and he couldn't log on to the computer, to say he was frustrated was the understatement of the year, he had a serious sense of humour failure! He had to stay late because someone from I.T. was trying to sort his computer out. It turned out to be a corrupt file - I'm not surprised it was corrupted, with Robbie in that mood it probably learned a whole new language!!

He finally made his way over to the station, but everything was at a standstill because of a fatality. It seems likely that some poor soul had chosen the first day of the new franchise to throw himself under a train and the whole network seemed to be at a standstill. I always feel sorry for the drivers in these cases, it is a terrible thing to happen.

So Robbie's bad day continued, he's was stranded in Birmingham, his dinner was 'in the dog' and he was cold and miserable. Eventually he made his way home via Milton Keynes and it was past 9pm before he got back. It hadn't improved his mood, in fact on his present form he needs far more than happy pills! Oh well, there's always tomorrow to look forward to!

A Question Of Time

I woke this morning secure in the knowledge that it was Sunday morning. I reached down to turn off the alarm clock and relaxed back into the pillow to listen to the radio. Suddenly I became aware that I was listening to the Today program - and that isn't broadcast on Sundays. My heart sank as I was engulfed by the realisation that it was Monday and it was already 6.50am, we were already an hour late getting up. Robbie was still sound asleep so I had to resort to desperate but well proven measures - I pinched his bottom! The result was amazing he leapt from slumber to standing in one movement, unfortunately his brain needed to catch up and he spent almost 5 minutes working out if he had time to make a cup of tea or not! He made up time on his shave and shower, achieving almost world record speeds and amazingly he was ready and out of the house by 7.05am. I had already woken Sam and prodded him into action, it is hard enough to keep him on task on a well ordered morning and messing up his morning routine is a recipe for disaster! But incredibly by 7.50am I had said goodbye to Emily (she is off to Poland today) and Sam and I were heading off to school and work on time!

It was a tedious day at work and by home time I was feeling really tired. I had to go rushing around to do various errands, then I met up with Robbie so that we could go to the supermarket. By then I was really tired, but Robbie practically sent me to sleep while driving. He spent the entire journey telling me in the most intricate detail about the problems that they had experienced with a rogue pdf file and the various steps he had taken to resolve the problem. I asked him for the abridged version but when he still went on and on I had to tell him to shut up because he was sending me to sleep!

Green Balls 05.07.07

I was really tired last night and I went to bed before Robbie. Some time later Robbie trundled into the bedroom and woke me up to ask what the green balls that he had found were. I had been woken from sleep so the possibility of an unspeakable ailment didn’t occur to me; I thought he was moaning about tumble dryer balls again. I told him clearly and succinctly to go away, and I drifted back to sleep.

This morning I had woken Robbie at the right time, but when he returned with my cup of tea he was running so late that he would need to catch a later train. He asked again about the green balls in the kitchen, but I couldn’t imagine what he was talking about. He said that he had been downstairs looking at them and trying to work out what they were. He said that at first he thought they were boiled sweets, but they were too soft. Then he wondered if they were some sort of grapes but they were too hard. At that point I realised that he was talking about gooseberries! I am going to make a gooseberry crumble and I had left the gooseberries in the kitchen. Believe it or not Robbie has never seen a real live gooseberry before.

Key Facts 03.07.07

Life with Robbie is never dull, but it does have its surreal moments! This evening I was standing in the kitchen cooking our meal when Robbie came in to distract me. I was longing for him to make me a cup of tea, but instead he somehow strayed on to the subject of the T key. At first he restricted himself to the intended uses of the T key, then he went on to the more imaginative uses and then he described in detail the various different designs of T key. I finally silenced him with a rather nice meal and I thought I had escaped from any further information - but I was wrong! After our meal he told me about the Z key, my attempt to fall asleep didn't make him take the hint, so I jokingly asked if there was an X key too - big mistake on my part, it seems there really is an X key. At this point the dog got up and left the room and I was searching for a means of escape. He went on and on ....... about 6 keys later I could bear it no longer and I told him to shut up, just to be sure I sent him out of the room to make the long awaited cup of tea!

Lost in Cyberspace 11.02.07

I often write about the little irritations and idiosyncrasies of life with Robbie, but perhaps I don't often put enough stress on the pleasures of being married to him. He is loving and thoughtful as well as being fully involved in family life. I will keep some of his 'best bits' to myself in order to spare his blushes, but top among his skills and attributes has to be his ability to make a good cup of tea. He makes me so many cups of tea that I cannot sleep through the night, so you can imagine my surprise when I went for most of Saturday without a drink. I can make my own of course, but Robbie is a creature of habit and I was concerned. Was he upset? more ranting from the Wild Woman perhaps? no of course not, I would have heard that!! I couldn't imagine what could be wrong, so I went downstairs and glanced into the lounge and saw Sam and Robbie sprawled on the sofas, watching Futurama. As always Robbie's laptop was heating the parts that other heaters cannot reach! I still couldn't work out what he was up to so I hatched a plan. I went back upstairs and sent him notification that I had changed my email address to dehydratedwife@myprovider.com. He almost believed it until he read it properly! Shortly afterwards he appeared bearing two mugs of tea and a sheepish look. It appears that he had 'got lost on ebay'. Just like Sam he has an answer for everything and I can't be cross with him when he makes me laugh so much.