My Week in Review by Sue

This is different to my normal schedule through the week, but we have had these few days away planned for a month.

Monday 2nd July. Rob and I got up in the morning about 7.30, washed and dressed, and because we had done all our packing the day before, we left the house at 9.15. Nice early start to the day, but after the rush hour. Took the A34 down to Newbury, along the M4 to Bristol to meet the M5 down to the West Country. I hate motorways, they are quite tedious, not a lot to look at, just cars, cars, and more cars. We stopped in a service station, on the M5 for some lunch and a hot drink. The rain was quite heavy. We went into Taunton, because there was a shop there that we wanted to visit, actually, it was a bear shop called The World of Bears. Our final destination was Bodmin, having travelled through Bodmin Moor. We stayed in a Travel Inn there, arriving about 4.30 pm, needing the loo, only to find that their computers had gone down, and had to wait another 20 minutes until they sorted out which room we were booked into. These Travel Inns have independent restaurants attached to them, this was a Brewers Fayre, which we thought we would try for a meal in the evening. The food was terrible really, awful in fact. I only ate the chips because I needed the carbohydrates, but left most of it.

Tuesday 3rd July. We were awake fairly early, got ourselves washed and dressed and had breakfast in our room. We had bought some food the day before, bread, ham, milk, and weetabix. The milk was off by morning, (there aren’t any fridges in the rooms, they don’t seem to put fridges in hotels or motels in Britain (I expect the posh places have them though), we went to a nice place in Tenby in February, that didn’t have one either). Anyway, left there, did a bit of sight seeing over the Moor again, across to Newquay and Padstow and on to Rob’s sisters place in Menheniot, (she wasn’t actually there) which is by Liskeard. Menheniot is a little village, with a population of under four thousand. Tuesday afternoon, we went to Trago Mills, which is a retail outlet, they sell just about everything, with Rob’s Mum and Dad. Did some shopping, then looked round some of the grounds. Didn’t do much in the evening, it was raining again.

Wednesday 4th July. In the morning we went to Looe, a small, picturesque, coastal town. We went early, well, 9.30, but most of the shops were closed because it didn’t start getting busy until about 11am, so they didn’t open till about 10am. So what was the point of going early, I ask ya. For lunch we headed up past Merrymeet, to a pub which I won’t name. Now, it isn’t that I am to fussy over food, don’t get that impression, and the chips that I had were lovely and crispy, though very fatty and greasy, but it was nothing spectacular. After lunch we went to The Lost Gardens of Heligan near Mevagissy in Cornwall. It was lovely, visit the website, and read the history, it is fascinating. We walked round the productive gardens and the pleasure gardens. There is a tropical area, which is steep on the way down, and steep on the way up again. My mother-in-law waited and watched the chickens and geese, and there antics, while Rob, his dad and I took the difficult root. We stayed there till gone 6pm, then headed back to Menheniot. In the evening my sister-in-laws daughter, Tamsin, came to visit. It had been raining in the morning, dry but windy while we where at Heligan, then rained again in the evening.

Thursday 5th July. We went into Liskeard in the morning, there is an art supply shop there, which Tamsin recommended, called Painters. It was worth the visit. After lunch Rob and I set off for home. We had a couple of stops on the way, for the usual things. Had something to eat in one of the service stations along the M4. Arriving home about 5.30, the house was quite quiet. The house wasn’t in to bad a condition, (last time I went away, the basin in the bathroom, had a brown scum all round it, yuk, goodness knows what they had been doing, kids eh). Another miserable day again, weather wise.

Friday 6th July. Unpacked the suitcases, and the other bags that I had with me, I do try to travel light, but my travelling light is not actually taking the kitchen sink with me. Did bits of housework. When Rob came home we had to do some grocery shopping, then came home and lazed it all evening. How terrible is that?

Saturday 7th July. Did housework all day. I don’t know what it is, but if I go away, when I come home, I feel like I have to spend at least a couple of full days doing housework. Had argument with Rob, but that’s life, making ups fun though.

Sunday 8th July. Spent this morning house working. My son Duncan has gone to Wembley Stadium today, but it’s like getting children off to school, he leaves it to the last half hour to get ready. My other son, Stewart, is at work today. He works in Pangbourne, and commutes by train, but there aren’t any trains this afternoon. The government wants you to use public transport, then cancels it. (I expect they are working on the line or something.) I have been sat at the computer late morning and this afternoon, (between getting lunch, seeing Duncan off, and putting washing out). The weather today is lovely and sunny.

Rob is home and is knocking the shed down, (definitely a man thing), and I am that excited because he has just found my recipe book ( definitely a woman thing) that has been lost for about 5 years, which I thought he had thrown away. This book is two inches thick, I used to use it a lot, and has all my favourite recipes in. I must cut the grass sometime today too. So, that’s it folks and is as exiting as it gets I’m afraid.

The highlight of the week? Living with my two sons, there is always one or both of them in the house, so, the highlight of the week was Monday evening, being alone with Rob.

The worst bit of the week? The two meals that I had in the Brewers Fayre and the pub that we went to on Wednesday.