It Wasn't Me!

Well this must be the longest gap in writing since I started writing the blog. Partly it is because I have been involved with an interesting little project which I should be able to write more about in a day or two. Mostly it is because I have been feeling absolutely dire for weeks. It sounds so pathetic to be moaning about having a cough, but this really is a hell of a cough. I have had it for at least four weeks this time and I only had a gap of about four weeks free of the previous cough which lasted for twelve weeks. The doctor says that my lungs are clear the problem seems to be higher up, but we are still investigating the exact cause. It always seems to happen when I get a cold and then I just can't get rid of it. Maybe I have to accept it as a very annoying symptom of my asthma, but to cough to the point of passing out or actually making yourself sick from coughing tends to limit your social life as well as scaring people who witness it. Anyway that is quite enough moaning for today, in fact I have probably used up a whole months ration of moans!

Robbie has been at home for three weeks or so and it has been frustrating that we haven't been able to enjoy doing more things together, but coping with the 'killer cough' and the fact that I still had to go to work got in the way of Robbie's plans. It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that he has been at home, Robbie gets withdrawal symptoms after one day without trains and I start to feel exhausted after a couple of days with Robbie, so when he asks for a lift to the station I am always ready to oblige! He has spent a lot of time on trains in the last few weeks and lots of numbers / routes have been ticked off in his little book!

This is his last week of freedom and he intends to make the most of it. On Sunday he had an HST day travelling to the South West and back. I love the sea wall, but I don't love HSTs so I decided that I would be happier at home. That turned out to be an inspired decision because when Robbie got on the train he discovered that one of the cats had vandalised his best Sennheiser headphones. When exasperated with the cats he always resorts to alliteration, when Oreo upsets him he is a 'furry, blank, fatherless, feline; but this time Bernard was under suspicion so we had a rant on the theme of 'B'.  

He managed a whole day without trains yesterday but he will be heading off on a train later today and he will probably fit several in several more trips during the week. On Friday we are going to York then at the weekend Robbie is off to a special event at the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. 

Pigs Might Fly

My charm bracelet is one of my treasured possessions, I have had it since I was about nine and it has lots of charms which remind me of various events and special times in my life. I had previously told my friend about the bracelet and when we went to see her last week I took the bracelet over to show her. She was fascinated by all the charms especially the ones that opened, but the one she likes best was the flying pig. I told her that that was a fairly new charm, I chose it because it reminded me of Robbie. I worked out long ago that there is more chance of me seeing a whole heard of flying pigs than there is of getting Robbie to change. I think he will still be train spotting and listing to loud indie music when he is 90 - but by then I will be too old to care!


On the subject of flying, the other day I told Robbie that I had evidence that a flying train had once visited Northampton. He was convinced that I was trying to trick him and he thought up all sorts of explanations, but he couldn't work it out. He was most impressed when I showed him the photo of a  Thomas the Tank engine balloon flying over the rooftops of Northampton in 1996.

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.

To dare to preserve the randomness of mind which in children produces strange and wonderful new thoughts and forms - Gordon Webber

Robbie has been keeping up his reputation for randomness, this afternoon he asked me if it was true that gooseberries were green. When I told him that they were he expressed amazement and said he had never known that. We have been together for quite a few years now and I am certain that the subject of gooseberries has never cropped up until today, the odd thing is that he went on to tell me that he doesn’t like them!

Robbie showed a marked reluctance to get up this morning, so we didn’t go to the North Norfolk Railway, we went to Cromer instead. Cromer is not very big, but it has two very nice book shops and both have a good selection of railway books so it will not come as a surprise that Robbie bought a couple of books, one was about buses and the other is about British industrial locomotives. We also bought a board for Robbie’s jigsaw, he has brought two jigsaws on holiday with him and predictably both have a railway theme.


This evening I haven’t been able to get two words out of him, he has been busy reading his Bus book and reading bus timetables that he picked up in Cromer. There is no hope when he is not train spotting he is bus spotting and when he runs out of buses he stands at the window with his binoculars spotting ships!

To dare every day to be irreverent and bold. To dare to preserve the randomness of mind which in children produces strange and wonderful new thoughts and forms. To continually scramble the familiar and bring the old into new juxtaposition.

Gordon Webber

Rumpelstiltskin! 26.09.07

Robbie fell over again this morning. He cut his knee badly and grazed his hands, worse of all he tore his new work trousers (the ones that travelled to Euston on their own!). He had to come home, clean up, change his trousers and recover his dignity, so he missed his usual train and had to go for the next one. His knee is hurting him badly, but hopefully it will soon get better.

Yesterday proved to be a day of confessions for Robbie. He had meetings in London and I wondered why he left at the crack of dawn for a 10am appointment. I should have known better, he managed to visit four mainline stations for a bit of train spotting - he is impossible! The more surprising confessions involved the kitchen, he admitted that the new arrangement of the kitchen cupboards works much better. I sensed I was on a winning streak and through gritted teeth he managed to admit that the new tea towel is actually very good!

The dog and cat decided to play games with Robbie last night. I had just gone to bed and Robbie was heading in that direction too, when Megan asked to go out in the garden - and she wouldn't come in! The best thing is to ignore her and within 5 or 10 minutes she will rattle the door to come in, but instead Robbie (dressed in PJ bottoms and Dr Marten boots) was galloping round the garden trying to catch her. I could have told him that it was futile, but Meg had fun and Robbie got some exercise - I dread to think what the neighbours though, but they were in for a little more entertainment. The kitten got out and he couldn't catch him either, in the end he had to go out with one of the kitten's toys (a mauve feathery thing on a stick) and coax him in by playing with him. Finally both the little terrors were safely back in the house and Robbie came to bed - it was 2am!! I had already been asleep for a couple of hours, but Robbie was dancing with rage and the air crackled with expletives - he reminded me of Rumpelstiltskin! I finally calmed him down, leaving him sleeping soundly and me wide awake - typical