Another 5 days has zipped past but we are, at last, ready for our holiday to India with the car all packed and ready to leave for Manchester in the early hours of tomorrow morning! Yippee 🥳😎
After finishing off my last blog on the 27th November, I nipped over to see Mum so I could drop off some spending money for her. She doesn’t really need a lot as most things are covered by the fees that she pays for her support. However, things like getting her hair done every two weeks and the odd Raffle, are extras which is far enough! I arrived around 11.30am which is unusual as I tend to visit after lunch usually. This meant I was able to join in a few rounds of “bounce the balloon around” which sounds a bit crap but, as it turns out, is actually quite good exercise for the old gals and helps keep the brain cells active with coordination etc. That said, being a bit different, Mum did insist on “heading” the balloon every time it came her way rather than hitting it with her hands 🤣 Love her! ❤️
I left Mum just before their lunch was served and decided to take a lone walk along the canal just to get some steps in… was glad I did as, after only saying to Pete the other day how I had never seen a Kingfisher sitting on a branch (well, other than in India that is – in the UK, I’ve only ever seen (and only rarely) a fleeting glance of them zipping up or down the canal… this is usually such a quick flash of blue that it leaves you wondering whether you imagined it!), would you Adam & Eve it, just because Pete wasn’t with me, I saw a Kingfisher fly up the canal towards me and land on a branch of a tree on the opposite bank to where I was walking. Of course, the question is, did I get a semi-professional shot of the Kingfisher? Sadly not as, yet again, I forgot my camera. 😫 I did however, get a shot on my phone – see below where you have the “actual picture” and a zoomed in, edited pic…
The Kingfisher spotted on the Leeds Liverpool canal near Silsden and taken with my phone!
One thing is guaranteed, if I carry my camera for every future walk along that darn canal, I will probably not see a Kingfisher sitting so perfectly on a branch again! 🤣 Ho hum! I still felt blessed to see this one 😊 and we should see a few Kingfishers in India!
On Thursday evening (28th November), we went to the theatre (Alhambra) in Bradford to see the musical Hairspray. If you’re not aware, Bradford is the “City of Culture” in 2025 which, as far as I can tell, means that the City is in a right old panic to get their road network dug up, rearranged and fixed before the end of this year – it’s a right mess trying to get into town by car (yes, I know we could get the train… maybe we will next time!), with the roads changing all the time and familiar car parks disappearing, whilst others pop up in places you never realised existed before… If Bradford are trying to discourage people from driving into town (not just with the above but also through the extortionate parking charges too – oh, and having payment machines that do not take contactless payments… grrrrr! 😡) – why are they spending so much money on re-arranging all the roads through the middle of town? Baffling…
Anyway, we found parking and, after a bit of faff trying to get registered on the online parking app (grrrrr! 😡) we made it to the theatre about 30 mins before the show started which was about as long as it took to get through the queue for the ladies… why don’t entertainment venues have enough toilets for us girls?? Grrrrr! 😡. Luckily, the bar wasn’t that busy and we got served (alcoholic cider for him, non-alcoholic for me 😊) pretty quick and then entered the theatre proper… and found it to be quite empty. Perhaps others were having worse journeys into town than we did as they certainly didn’t seem to be in the bar!?? Anyway, I always book the end of row seats as Pete doesn’t like to feel hemmed in (fussy bugger!) – so we were stood at the end of the row, enjoying our drinks and waiting to see if our row would fill up… I noticed a couple of people in the row in front of ours and thought they looked familiar… it turned out to be one of the people supported by Affinity Trust in Keighley (H) and his support worker (J)! It was nice that J recognised me and said hello and great to have a natter with H whilst we were waiting for the show to start / interval and find out how everyone from the “Mill” were doing! ❤️
It’s not the first time we have seen Hairspray – it’s actually probably 5 or 6 times we’ve seen it but it’s one of our favourites… not sure what it is about this one but it’s kind of joyous? We enjoyed this version just as much as we have others – it was great fun!
On Friday (29th November) I decided I would treat myself by getting a pre-holiday pedicure / manicure… something I haven’t done for about 6 years! So I can confirm that I am now fully de-fluffed and buffed 🤣🤣 and ready for my holidays!
Am holiday ready with nails all done! I have no idea why my toes are browner than my fingers but can assure you that, after my pedicure, they were as clean as they could be! 🤣
We spent a few hours on the allotment yesterday (30th November) making sure it’s in good shape for when we get back… most of the beds are now covered over for the winter now with a good covering of horse manure and breathable weed suppressant – all neat, tidy and meeting Mr C’s exacting standards 😊 Ooo, and we had our first homegrown parsnips with our dinner – very nice!
And so, today is the 1st December… cripes! That seems to have come around quick… our last full day in the UK and it’s been a mixture of chucking it down one minute and sunshine the next! I am looking forward to some warmth even though the past few days have been pretty mild… it looks like it will be around 30 degrees hotter in Goa – too hot for some I know but am sure we will soon get acclimatised 😎
I spent most of this afternoon with Mum decorating her room for Christmas and watching her open her pressies… it’s difficult to know what to get her these days as, sadly, at this stage of her dementia, things lose a lot of meaning for her. What I mean is that she would not remember what she was given, by whom, or for what reason 😔 😢 But in the moment, when you see her eyes light up because she’s just unwrapped a packet of her “favourite” chocs, it doesn’t matter!
It’s a shame though as I remember childhood Christmases with what seemed like masses of presents around the tree… my brothers and I all got a corner of our little front room each, and then Dad would read out each label on the card and pass us our pressies… Mum would linger by the door, whilst attempting to get dinner going (probably already on the sherry – I imagine in my head anyway 🤣🤣)… great fun!
God knows how they afforded Christmas with so many of us, but I think we probably got one “big pressie” we a lot of smaller bits and bobs too – we were certainly luckier than some!
I remember getting “Girls World” circa 1977 (I would have been 8!) although I have sadly never been particularly “girlie” – the idea being that you could do the doll head’s hair and make-up… It must have been something I wanted at the time! Looks a bit creepy to me now! 😱🤣🤣🤣
Mum was always a thoughtful present buyer… as I got older, you could never really predict what you were going to get… for instance, in my twenties, I got a wooden Kaleidoscope one year (which I loved but sadly lost somewhere along my life’s journey) and another, I got a “Rain Stick” which I still have today and which has, over the years, provided entertainment to the children who have visited our home!
So that’s our UK Christmases all done… the cards have been posted & delivered to neighbours; the bags are packed and in the car ready for our 3am departure to Manchester; our neighbours have the keys to the house so they can keep an eye on the post (and the house I guess too – thank you Katy Beck!); passports and money are in the rucksack; we have had an early dinner and are ready to go – just need to try and catch a couple of hours sleep before we set out for the Airport… see you on the sunny side! 😎😁
All the gubbins… 
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