Driving from York to Preston along the A59 on a late May evening, after a rainstorm with the sun shining low in the sky. It’s a lovely road all the way along and a fun, twisty drive; proper motoring if you will. I’ve sussed a cunning detour to avoid the traffic jams of Harrogate which goes through Nidderdale and rejoins the main road by the giant golf balls. And this evening the view in front of me along that stretch was so breathtakingly beautiful I almost wept.
Husband and older son are away to the USofA for a week. So, to kick off the half term holiday T and I drove my Mum down to London to stay at Northoftheriverbrother’s house. He has just flown to Australia with his wife and younger daughter for a month, leaving their older daughter at home to suffer A-levels. Oh and the dog. Which is why we were there, as Mum is officially in charge of the dog for the next four weeks.
Anyhow, one of the highlights of the trip was a Saturday afternoon visit to Hampstead Heath, which T absolutely loved. Here is a (slightly out of focus) piccie of him making like Julie Andrews.
And another one of him studying a Henry Moore at Kenwood House
And here is one of some swans who had nested right next to a path. The fluffy grey blob is a huddle of cygnets.
That was the only part of the whole trip that we could really spend outside as it started to rain at 5pm on Saturday and as far as I am aware it hasn’t stopped.
But never mind, Sunday turned out to be one of those classic great days packed with events, where everyone has fun. We got up quite early and drove right through the City to visit Southoftheriverbrother and go to the morning service at his church, St. John’s Lewisham . This I approached with some trepidation since, while T is quite used to church at home, he has a routine there and, more importantly, everyone is used to him. But he rose to the occasion magnificantly, sat in the pew the whole time and behaved when I took him up to the communion rail. Slightly sticky moment when he took a curious swipe at the chalice, but no harm done. It was a lovely service and everyone made us feel very welcome.
After lunch in a proper South London caff (T still behaving) we took the DLR to Greenwich Market where I bought one of these plus a funky necklace. T had a little wobble after that so we headed back to my brother’s flat for a brew and then drove back to North London.
But the day wasn’t finished yet as in the evening, T and I went to visit the charming Fitzy from ASDFriendly and her adorable family, who happen to live 5 minutes walk away from Northoftheriverbrother. A very relaxing end to a greeat day.
Monday, the weather was still dreadful. We went swimming with the Fitzies at Archway Pool in the morning, which went very well. But by 2pm, T was clearly getting stir crazy and I was already starting my “IhateLondon” twitch. So we set off home. T screamed continuously from the M6 Toll road to Junction 28 and we were both pretty knackered by the time we finally arrived, But everyone was fine after a good night’s sleep and a mellow Tuesday just pottering about at home.
Well, going by his current habit of running around the house saying “Meep, meep”:
I’ve never really “got” Gilbert and George. But this is just brilliant
And I don’t just mean up Tony Blair’s backside.
I always vote, would never simply spoil a ballot paper, but for the first time in years I am finding myself in a real state of indecision about who to go for this time round. It’s just a Disctrict election with a third of the seats up for grabs, but Preston is a hung council and there are some big local issues at stake.
I’ve had a couple of leaflets, but no canvassers have called while I’ve been at home. Mr BK said someone from Respect turned up while I was out but he told them to politely sod off.
Labour
For - Candidate lives round the corner and has come out very strongly against the bonkers Ribble Barrage idea. I actually support quite a bit of Labour Policy (NHS, Sure Start etc)
Against - Last chance to vote once more against the Blair party and the political machine that has taken us into a disastrous war, is steadily eroding our freedoms and infantilising national life
Tory
For - Boris Johnson makes me laugh -I like their focus on Green issues and localisation. It’s a clear anti-Blair vote
Against - Can’t work out from the website what they are actually standing for at the moment. Need to overcome parental conditioning that the Tory Party is in league with Satan. Also need to overcome creeping anxiety that the fact that I’m even contemplating voting Tory just betrays me As being middle-aged
Respect
For - I hear good things about the work that the existing Respect councillors do round here. Also strongly against the Ribble barrage. Another big anti-Blair message (but possibly not as effective in that regard as a Tory vote)
Against - Not impressed by their SWP-type posturing, particularly on the NHS and the economy - Not sure they have entered the 21st Century politically yet - Struggle with the concept of voting for anyone associated with George Galloway.
LibDem
For - They are none of the above
Against - Can’t say I can think of anything interesting to say about them at all,