Blighty, Cor Blimey!
We just got back from good old blighty. Lorraine had been there for 3 weeks before I got there, and I joined her for the last 10 days; but let me go back a little, because I can't believe it is March already.
Jan (Lorraine's mum) came over in December, with the plan of arriving a couple of days before the new arrival. She was to stay two months, then travel to the UK with Lorraine, and then five weeks later I would bring them back. As it turned out, Lorraine went into labour the day of Jan's arrival and so the wonderful and talented Amy stepped up, picked her up from the airport and whisked her directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200!
The two months flew by, and Jan was very helpful around the house, baby wrangling, etc In fact Lorraine had to tell her off several times for making Cooper too comfortable and not being able to wake him for feeding time. From my perspective, I discovered clothing that I had forgotten, and my wardrobes and drawers became so full they wouldn't close as Jan conquered the washing and ironing backlogs. We work on the principle that at least 30% of your clothing is in the "laundry cycle" at any given time and so when it isn't, it catches you by surprise.
When they left for the UK, Cooper was already two months old, and I can tell you, the house got very quiet, very quickly! I used the time to catch up on repair jobs and DIY, replacing the dark trim work around some of the windows with new white trim, touching up walls and trim where the window installers had dinged them, and any general wear and tear in the other finished rooms. I also painted/stained the bar that I had built last year, to match the rest of the wood work in the lounge.
Fast forward to my UK trip, I unfortunately got stuck in economy, on a full flight, which made for an uncomfortable journey, but it was worth it. I caught up with many great friends, my sister drove 450 miles to come to visit us (well the kids mostly), lots of dinners, lots of golf on wonderfully crisp spring days, and lots of good traditional UK grub, fish 'n' chips, Chinese and Indian food, and of course not forgetting the sweets and chocolate.
One great disappointment however, was the golf course at Chiddingfold. Like many establishments it has fallen on tough times. It was one of our favourite courses over the years, beautiful scenery and views, and with many holes and hazards receiving their own names, like the Tim Jones Memorial Lake on the 13th, or the Chasm of Doom on the 14th. They sold the clubhouse as a private home and built a new little clubhouse to try to raise funds, but I have no idea what they did with them, because clearly none of it has gone towards maintaining the course.
The fairways had not seen a lawn mower probably all winter, the greens had been treated for weeds, but no seed had been sown, plus almost every green had at least 3 or 4 rabbit holes that had not been repaired. When we argued with the owner over payment for such a poorly maintained course, he tried to say that he had forewarned us, which was of course a lie. It really is a shame, but I certainly won't be back there.
Jan (Lorraine's mum) came over in December, with the plan of arriving a couple of days before the new arrival. She was to stay two months, then travel to the UK with Lorraine, and then five weeks later I would bring them back. As it turned out, Lorraine went into labour the day of Jan's arrival and so the wonderful and talented Amy stepped up, picked her up from the airport and whisked her directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200!
The two months flew by, and Jan was very helpful around the house, baby wrangling, etc In fact Lorraine had to tell her off several times for making Cooper too comfortable and not being able to wake him for feeding time. From my perspective, I discovered clothing that I had forgotten, and my wardrobes and drawers became so full they wouldn't close as Jan conquered the washing and ironing backlogs. We work on the principle that at least 30% of your clothing is in the "laundry cycle" at any given time and so when it isn't, it catches you by surprise.
When they left for the UK, Cooper was already two months old, and I can tell you, the house got very quiet, very quickly! I used the time to catch up on repair jobs and DIY, replacing the dark trim work around some of the windows with new white trim, touching up walls and trim where the window installers had dinged them, and any general wear and tear in the other finished rooms. I also painted/stained the bar that I had built last year, to match the rest of the wood work in the lounge.
Fast forward to my UK trip, I unfortunately got stuck in economy, on a full flight, which made for an uncomfortable journey, but it was worth it. I caught up with many great friends, my sister drove 450 miles to come to visit us (well the kids mostly), lots of dinners, lots of golf on wonderfully crisp spring days, and lots of good traditional UK grub, fish 'n' chips, Chinese and Indian food, and of course not forgetting the sweets and chocolate.
One great disappointment however, was the golf course at Chiddingfold. Like many establishments it has fallen on tough times. It was one of our favourite courses over the years, beautiful scenery and views, and with many holes and hazards receiving their own names, like the Tim Jones Memorial Lake on the 13th, or the Chasm of Doom on the 14th. They sold the clubhouse as a private home and built a new little clubhouse to try to raise funds, but I have no idea what they did with them, because clearly none of it has gone towards maintaining the course.
The fairways had not seen a lawn mower probably all winter, the greens had been treated for weeds, but no seed had been sown, plus almost every green had at least 3 or 4 rabbit holes that had not been repaired. When we argued with the owner over payment for such a poorly maintained course, he tried to say that he had forewarned us, which was of course a lie. It really is a shame, but I certainly won't be back there.
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