We had a very nice day today, a long lazy morning listening to the radio and enjoying some computer time. Then after the luxuary of a nice hot bath it was time to go out. We took a gentle drive to Wolaston to check out the Doc Shop. We like to drive to out through Earls Barton, then on towards Great Doddington until then we turn off on to Hardwater Road towards Wollaston. The route takes us past a very pretty old water mill, the water was very high because we have had a lot of rain recently, the fields were flooded and the water came right to the edge of the road. I am so fed up with rain, after the unusually high rainfall in the last twelve months I am starting to feel like Noah!
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| Robbie's new boots |
They had some of the boots from the Boxing Day sale at the Doc Shop, the ones that were used in the Olympics. They were a very good price and the proceeds were going to charity, it was nice to see them but I didn't want to buy any. I didn't think I was going to buy anything, but then I spotted some rather nice ankle boots. They were so comfortable that I couldn't resist them and Robbie bought them for me. He bought some ankle boots for himself too, they are not his usual sort of boot, but I rather like them.
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| My new boots |
It was not too difficult to drag Robbie away from the Doc Shop because the next stop involved food. We drove back to Northampton and had a quick look at the sale items in W.H. Smith, I love books and art products and I can't resist bookshops. I spent more than I should have done, but most of the things I bought were for birthday presents so I'd better not write about my purchases. After that we went to eat and we had a nice relaxing time just chatting and enjoying time together.
When we got home it was time to take the decorations down, Robbie got the boxes from the loft and brought them downstairs, the sight of the boxes cleared the lounge instantly, I felt like 'Billy No Mates' - even the cats scarpered! Robbie went off to the kitchen to feed the cats and get on with the routine jobs while and I spent the next couple of hours taking down and packing away the Christmas Tree and the decorations. The room looks really bare now so perhaps it this would be a good time to redecorate. On the other hand redecorating the kitchen is long overdue so that has to be my highest priority.
It seems that I was wrong, 'monsoon season' is not over. After a perfect week of sunshine last week a very hot weekend and a hot sunny days at the beginning of the week the rain came back with a vengeance yesterday evening. It was uncomfortably hot and late afternoon we had a brief shower which cane as a relief, it was so hot that I wanted to go and stand in the rain to cool down, but unfortunately I was busy at work so I couldn't do that . At about twenty past eight I was at the station waiting for Robbie because he was having a bad day and struggling to cope with the pain in his legs. The sky darkened and the heavens opened, it only lasted for about twenty minutes but it came down so hard that many roads including those in the station car park flooded (the water soon soaked away afterwards). By the time Robbie came out of the station the rain had more or less stopped. I thought his pain and the bad weather would have put him in a bad mood, but I was wrong. He was very happy, because lots of people had admired his new and rather splendid pink Lego brick cuff-links.
As we drove home we encountered huge puddles and several flooded roads. The road where we live is quite high up and not prone to flooding but the drains couldn't cope and when we got home the road was flooded just beyond our house. The people from the houses opposite were all out trying to stop the traffic because the water from the road was flooding down into their houses. Thankfully our side of the road was fine.
It hasn't been much of a weekend. I was kept awake by the wind last night (the outside kind) it rained all night and the wind was very strong. It woke me up and then I couldn't get back to sleep because I was worried about the roof, it felt as if the wind was strong enough to dislodge tiles from the roof. I got increasingly irritated with myself because I was tired and I really needed to get some sleep. Then this morning I really didn't feel very well, I am cold and shivery and I ache, I really hope it is not a bug, I haven't got time to be ill.
This morning Robbie was anxious about the state of the railway, it seems it took a bit of a battering last night and fallen trees and such like have caused problems today. I was more anxious about feeling unwell, Robbie brought me a cup of tea to make me feel better. Then he cuddled up next to me and talked about the weather (and trains). He was surprisingly perceptive in noticing that I am sick and tired of 'weather'. It seems to have rained every day since I they declared that we are in a drought area! I have to admit that Robbie managed to cheer me up with his next topic of conversation. Only Robbie could cuddle up in bed on Sunday morning and talk excitedly about his childhood collection of erasers. Apparently his favourite was one in the shape of a cassette tape which fitted into a cassette player shaped case.
We went out briefly this afternoon to see my mum, there were floods on several roads and our lovely park is flooded; we saw the ducks swimming along what should be a footpath. We were glad to get back to the relative sanity of home. I was still feeling out of sorts, so I wasn't that bothered when Robbie asked to watch Get Carter for the second time this weekend. I had my head buried in the computer when Robbie gave a shout of excitement. He said he had seen a Deltic and he insisted on rewinding it so that I could see it too. He sat there on the floor rewinding it and watching it over and over again. It seems he is easily pleased!
I have a sense of déjà vu. It was January last year when high winds and bad weather resulted in travel chaos and Robbie's journey back from Leeds turned into a 10 hour endurance test. Today we have had high winds and the wrong kind of rain, the wet kind that causes floods. Some of the poor people who suffered flooding last year are facing more floods. Robbie is off to Cardiff in the morning and more rain is forecast, hopefully he will not get stranded in Wales, but you never know. He has given me a painfully detailed account of his journey plans, he seems quite excited about the journey because it is a route he doesn't usually take and it is a chance to travel on trains that he wouldn't usually encounter.
Disaster struck at home this morning, the kettle died! I can cope with most hardships, but I refuse to give up my cups of tea. Having ascertained that it wasn't the fuse I decided that it was beyond hope and I headed off to Tesco to replace it. I was amazed to find that they sell kettles for less than five pounds! Robbie has been bleating on about his cleaning cloth for his glasses which has (allegedly) been stolen, that's Robbie speak for 'lost' but I haven't bothered to argue the point. Apparently life is not worth living without his cleaning cloth and when he was having a 'man stress' at the weekend he vowed to crawl to Tesco's on his hands and knees because I had refused to take him. Well, I have saved him the trouble, he is now the proud owner of two new cleaning cloths (one for emergencies) so hopefully he will now find something more interesting to talk about, I am fed up with hearing about gasses and cleaning cloths. When I got home from shopping the new kettle was soon put to good use, nothing beats a good cup of tea.
I was woken by a text from Robbie asking if I was awake. It wasn't time to get up and replied 'no' but that didn't deter Robbie and he phoned to point out that I must be awake as I had replied to his text. You may wonder what was so urgent, well he wasn't ringing to tell me how much he missed me, no it was something far more urgent - he woke me up to tell me in painful detail about the state of the rail services due to the floods. I was not amused and he must have got the message because he didn't phone again until early afternoon. The next time he called he said he was heading home, that would have been sufficient info for me, but Robbie had other ideas. He told me all the details of plan A, plan B and plan C and then he went on to the more extreme contingency plans. I had to stop him because I was at work and there was real possibility that I might scream with frustration if he didn't shut up.
It will be almost midnight before he gets home, his journey will have taken almost 11 hours, he is tired and his back hurts, so maybe there will not be too much train talk tonight. On the other hand we are talking about Robbie!
Update
The wanderer arrived home after eleven and a half hours travelling, but he was still talking - about trains!! He got up for work this morning, still exhausted, still in pain and still talking non stop about trains! I don't mind the train stuff it is just when he gives endless route plans and timings that I feel like screaming.
I have been abandoned yet again, this time he has gone to Darlington to a Train Planners Meeting and he is not due back until late tomorrow. Robbie had a terrible journey this morning, he had to take a very complicated route involving 5 trains because many routes were closed due to flooding. Have you noticed that there are always extreme weather conditions when he travels to meetings etc., last time it was the gales.
It is very quiet at home, maybe he could be stranded at Darlington for days!
