Nine day catch-up

In such a long catch-up we'll have to resist the temptation of mellifluous descriptions and stick to the facts, for future ref and posterity. This is 2021.

Fri 17th Sep: did a Lateral Flow test then drove to Audrey in Market Bosworth. She was brave as ever but health worse, missing Tony. Terrible traffic all the way up M5 and round M42 - 4 hour journey took 7 hours. Andrew was there when we arrived - good to see him. Take-away chinese for which David & Sue joined us. Stayed at Millers in Sibson which was great. Lovely room, £68 inc full breakfast.

Sat 18th: drove to Kirkcaldy via A1 all the way. No traffic problems, just remember there's nowhere to pee btw Berwick and Edinburgh - the stop at Berwick is right off the last roundabout before heading for the border. Bought huge 9 and 5 helium ballons, almost didn't fit into car. Turned away from La Gondola for the first time ever cos they were full at 18:00. Small fish supper ('supper' means inc chips in Scotland) from Rinaldi's v near Mum & Felix, eaten in the car on the front looking out over grey water. Staying in the Travelodge Glenrothes again because it's functional and you can avoid other people. Watched Strictly opening show, better than previous years.

Sun 19th: Mum's 95th - lovely day with much hilarity, excellent pork roast by Felix (been in freezer for months, needed using), two cakes (choc for Mum & Nic, plain from Lidl for Lesley & Felix). Watched some crazy cat videos, and The Cleaner with Greg Davies which is v funny in a macabre way.

Mon 20th: ano day with Mum & Felix - the pasta dinner this time, always a winner although it makes one sleepy having it at noon. L & N went for a walk while I & F had their customary snooze - Ravenscraig Park (after tiny charity shop in direction of Rejects), as far as looking at entrance to Dysart harbour. Felix suffering from too much/wrong food as we said our goodbyes in the evening, Mum bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from two days of laughter and reminiscing.

Tue 21st: drove to Little Langdale via Booths in Windermere. Discovered the 4th and last of The Westmorland Family service stations, called Rheged and just off the M6 at Penrith J44. Superb, loads of outside space - we only grabbed a coffee as we had sandwiches. Minimising our time and contact indoors, though this one was not very busy at all. Because unusually we left Kirkcaldy in the morning instead of after lunch, we had a relaxed day and still arrived at Ann's by 4pm in time for a brew before leisurely unpacking. We even walked the valley (1 1/4 hrs)  before cooking our dinner on Ann's trusty Rayburn.

Wed 22nd: Cooked breakfast to celebrate arrival. On the drive yday we'd been researching online for where is good & safe to swim in a lake, only to be told by Ann that everyone swims in a neck of the river that can be seen from her kitchen window, just below Little Langdale Tarn. It's very deep apparently. Legend has it that a horse & cart fell in and were never seen again. We walked over, we dove in - no, we very carefully stepped in, and it was absolutely lovely and nowhere as bone-crunchingly cold as we expected. Stayed in about 15 mins, on our own. Energised and smug, we walked to Elterwater via the back route (v overgrown from Ann's gate) and the coffin lane, had a pint and a half at the Britannia with our sandwiches, returned via Chapel Stile and the pretty and more interesting route through the quarry and woods. Bought cake at the farm and picked blackberries in the lane. Perhaps 3 hrs walking total.

Thu 23rd: Back to regular porridge, Ann's super-creamy version, plus toast. Stepping up the stepping, we went for a long one today without going Wainwright-ish. Drove to Keswick, by chance found free parking by the Church, did the Walla Crag circuit from the little Keswick walks map. It said 3-4 hours, we took 5 including stops. The top is a fabulous view over Derwent Water & Buttermere, or it would be in decent weather. The cloud was down, and it rained on us all the way down - and it's a long way down. Thought we'd catch the ferry for the last leg along the lake, but due to Covid it no longer stops at that stage. Felt a bit tired that last two miles. Home in time for a hot bath before cooking dinner.

Fri 24th: v wet weather (glad of it for once, just a little sore in the legs), lazy morning, had a rest upstairs before going out. Ambleside for petrol - not panic-buying because we need it to have a chance of getting home. Food from Tesco, choc-covered marzipan from that shop, 2 DVDs and a William Morris top from Oxfam. Job's a good'un. Purrit in th' van.

Sat 25th: Eleventh Wedding Anniversary. Unconnected, a long day out visiting friends & relations. V early porridge at 0715 because there might be delays at Skelwith due a cycle race (there weren't) and the M6 might be v busy (it wasn't). Got to Lytham in 90 minutes which gave us half an hour to buy flowers for Michelle & Joan, Roald Dahl books for Hugo and Louis, chocs for Joan. High-energy two hours with Matt & family, so much catching up after two Covid years. His shed office and Ronnie's Pop-up Pub with hot tub and the orchard all very impressive. They were off to football, a box at Blackpool, so we had our sandwiches on Lytham front by the Lifeboat station before going into Preston. Spent two hours with Joan and Sarah in the tiny housing assoc house, hearing the horrors of Wayne's deceptions and death, trying to reassure Joan at 91 that her life is still worth living. From there to the different world of Doreen (90) and Bernard (89) in Mountbatten Close where again we had a lot of catching up on family, health, decorating, politics - another two hour session, fuelled by cake & tea. Home in time to watch most of Strictly's first week of dancing.