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!

Cornwall at Last

Friday passed in a blur of activity because we had so much to do to be ready to go on holiday in the morning. As well as washing, packing, getting the car ready and shopping for food, we also had to take Meg to the kennels. She wasn't too impressed when I took her out to the car, but when we got to the kennels she seemed happy to be there, she was very interested in the other dogs and she didn't give us a second glance. By 9pm the car was packed and most jobs on my list had been ticked, so I headed off to bed leaving Robbie to finish the last few jobs. We were planning to get up at 2am so I needed some sleep. I was woken at 1 am by Robbie coming to bed and when the alarm clock went off at 2am there was no way, that Robbie was going to get up. I had to get very cross with him and even then it took half an hour to get him out of bed. Once I got downstairs I found that he hadn't done anything after I went to bed, he had fallen asleep on the sofa. I was busy chasing everyone around to be ready to leave and Robbie was busy - cooking sausages! Totally normal, everyone cooks sausages at 2.30am! In the end I had to give him a deadline and threaten to leave without him.

It wasn't the best journey, everyone was asleep except me of course, I had my talking books to keep me company. Most of the journey along the M5 was through thick fog, there were lots of speed restrictions and it slowed us down considerably, but at last we arrived in Padstow in time to choose the best parking space and be happily settled in the Quayside Café eating breakfast before it got busy. It was nice to potter around Padstow looking at the shops, but we were very sad to find that the lovely old book shop has closed down, we will really miss it.

After lunch we drove to Mother Ivey's Bay and settled ourselves in the caravan. Finally we were unpacked and ready to enjoy the holiday. I love Cornwall and this little corner of Cornwall is best of all

Getting There

Friday passed in a blur of activity, we were packing and preparing for our holiday and it all seems to take so much more time than you anticipate. We took Meg to the kennels after lunch, it is not the nearest but it has a very good reputation and Meg seems to like it there, she loves ball games and as long as they play with her she will be happy. The cats are staying at home, Emily will look after them at the weekends and grandma (my mum) will be in charge during the week. Fortunately Dave's eye is better now so he will not need any more medication, that is just as well because he is not the most grateful patient and I don't want mum or Emily to be scratched to bits.

By 7pm the car was packed and the house was more or less acceptable, after a quick meal I retired to bed so that I would be well rested for our early start. The alarm woke me at 2am, bed seemed very attractive but I forced myself to get going, it took drastic measures to drag Robbie from his bed, but after a shower and 3 Weetabix he was a little more human. It always takes longer to do those last few jobs than you expect, and Robbie kept us all waiting, but by about 3.50am we were on our way. Robbie promised to stay awake to talk to me, but he was snoozing before we had left Northamptonshire!

With three slumbering passengers and only a talking book to keep me company I had a quiet drive towards Oxford and then down to the M4. I wanted to make the most of the early start so I drove on until the second services on the M4 before making a comfort stop, they all moaned when I woke them up and turfed them out of the car. After a quick visit to the facilities and a walk around in the cool morning air I felt sufficiently refreshed and awake to continue. Sleeping Beauty was nodding again before we had rejoined the motorway but it was a good drive, I didn't see any road works or traffic cones at Bristol (there is a first time for everything) the M5 would have been better without the multitude of caravans, but there were no delays and before long we had passed Exeter and headed into Cornwall on the A30. At last I could turn off towards Camelford, Wadebridge and the Atlantic Highway, I love that bit of the journey. By 9am we were parked by the quayside in Padstow enjoying a very welcome hot chocolate, for me this is the best place in the world.
We spent the day in Padstow exploring the shops, enjoying lunch at our favourite restaurant and watching all the activity around the harbour. We booked into the caravan at 3pm and by 5.30pm the luggage that had taken almost a week to gather together and pack was unpacked and put away and I could finally relax and enjoy the amazing view across the bay. I will add some photos later.

It is hardly surprising that I was exhausted, but I stayed awake long enough to see Graham Norton's continuing search for a Nancy and then the beginning of the Eurovision Song Contest. I don't usually watch Eurovision, but I really like Andy Abrahams and I wanted to see the British entry. Thankfully it was very near the beginning and after watching several more increasingly bizarre entries I retreated to the bedroom and the relative sanity of Radio 4! That was the last I remember until I was awoken this morning by a yell from the en suite – Robbie had burned his bum on the heated towel rail!

An Explosive Problem 03.02.07

I was most reluctant to leave Cornwall and drag myself back to reality, but after a good night's sleep I have to admit there is nothing quite like your own bed. We had a new mattress recently and it is very comfortable, it is one of those that has extra support in all the right places, the only problem is Robbie put it on the wrong way round so the head end is where the feet should be and vise versa - typical!

Sam and I went to collect Meg from the Kennels this morning. She was pleased to see us, but not as excited as I expected until I reversed the car on to the drive, then she got really excited and she came bounding into the house to find Robbie. Sam was looking forward to getting his Guinea pig back from Grandma's, but knowing Grandma's passion for feeding everyone to capacity he was worried that Shadow would be anything but a shadow. As he put it, 'she could be the size of a Capybara by now' but his fears were groundless, she was fine and not super sized at all.

On the subject of super sized Robbie came to bed and woke me up at 3am to tell me that he thought his stomach was going to explode. I think he must have had a bad dream because he made a miraculous recovery. Just to be sure, he tested his stomach to the limit this afternoon when we went to tea at my mum's. He ate, and ate but even Robbie couldn't completely demolish that spread. He is such a creep, he told my mum she is the best mother in law in the world, hopefully that isn't just because she feeds him!
Robbie and I had a strong disagreement (not argument) about the most stupid thing this afternoon. It was all about how to solve the problem of bikes on trains, I ended up wanting to scream at him for being so negative! I think we will steer clear of the subject of bikes for a few days.