Surprisingly, unexpectedly, liberating and wonderful.😍
Friday 30 September 2022
Thursday 8 September 2022
Rest in Peace
She swore to serve us for her entire life, and she has been The Queen for my entire life.
I knew it was coming but I am stopped in my tracks - slightly surprised at how shocked, numb and bereft I feel.
We will not see the likes of her again - honour, dignity, grace, integrity - values which don’t seem to count for so much these days.
Amidst all the media coverage and public outpourings it must not be forgotten that her children, her grand-children, and their children too have lost someone very dear.
Rest in Peace, your Majesty.
I knew it was coming but I am stopped in my tracks - slightly surprised at how shocked, numb and bereft I feel.
We will not see the likes of her again - honour, dignity, grace, integrity - values which don’t seem to count for so much these days.
Amidst all the media coverage and public outpourings it must not be forgotten that her children, her grand-children, and their children too have lost someone very dear.
Rest in Peace, your Majesty.
Wednesday 7 September 2022
Wordsworth House, Cockermouth
I should be upfront and say that (in my rarely humble opinion) unless you are a great fan of Wordsworth's writing then I am not quite sure what the appeal of this particular National Trust property would be. After decades of studying Medieval history my interests have slipped back in time and I am now far more likely to get excited about Mesolithic and Neolithic sites although I will grudgingly make time for Bronze Age studies 😁, so this place is a few thousand years too modern for my tastes. But I was determined to do "holiday things" this week and as energy levels (or lack of them) discounted big fell-walking days I thought that visiting somewhere almost on my doorstep would be a good move.
After Monday's unexpected closure I went in early yesterday and the very helpful and professional reception staff thanked me for returning and handed over a guidebook, free of charge, to say sorry for the day before. I admit after flicking through the book I quietly popped it back on the counter on my way out - they can sell it to someone who is really interested.
The house is much smaller inside than the street front would imply and I am sure by NT standards it's very well done. I found the kitchen area the most interesting, and was saddened to overhear part of a guides' tour telling visitors that there were no servant quarters, and that the cook/housekeeper who was known to have lived in the house at the same time as Wordsworth had no room of her own and probably slept on a pallet in the kitchen. It seems that 250 years on and not much has changed - it reminded me the dreadful stories of modern slavery which make headlines.
Despite all my grumbling, it was a pleasant hour and I am glad I made the effort but as far as this period of English literature is concerned I am a philistine and the displays were mostly wasted on me.
After Monday's unexpected closure I went in early yesterday and the very helpful and professional reception staff thanked me for returning and handed over a guidebook, free of charge, to say sorry for the day before. I admit after flicking through the book I quietly popped it back on the counter on my way out - they can sell it to someone who is really interested.
The house is much smaller inside than the street front would imply and I am sure by NT standards it's very well done. I found the kitchen area the most interesting, and was saddened to overhear part of a guides' tour telling visitors that there were no servant quarters, and that the cook/housekeeper who was known to have lived in the house at the same time as Wordsworth had no room of her own and probably slept on a pallet in the kitchen. It seems that 250 years on and not much has changed - it reminded me the dreadful stories of modern slavery which make headlines.
Despite all my grumbling, it was a pleasant hour and I am glad I made the effort but as far as this period of English literature is concerned I am a philistine and the displays were mostly wasted on me.
Tuesday 6 September 2022
A small win and a small fail
Oh dear, been too fully occupied with ordinary life to go on blog-worthy van trips.
Pacing myself so as not to do too much on any one day and then spend the next two or three completely exhausted is working fairly well but it does mean I do not always get as much done as I would like, although on the upside I am tearing through the big "To Be Read" pile at a fantastic pace!
This week I am meant to be in Scotland. It was all carefully planned with a ferry crossing identified, campsites earmarked, and backup campsites if the first choices were not available. And nothing was booked - I had decided to leave it until 72 hours before my planned departure so I had a reasonable idea of what the weather was going to be doing. Rather glad that despite spending hours making plans I had the courage to pull out and say "not this week, thank you" after seeing a forecast for wind, rain, thunderstorms, followed by more wind and rain.
Instead, I declared I was having a 'holiday at home'. Which began yesterday with a small win and a small fail:
I decided to visit the National Trust place in town (Wordsworth’s house) and arrived to find it closed due to lack of volunteers. I shall try again later this week, a fail but only a small one. I did get to wander around the garden for a little while.
With a spare couple of hours I had a long session with the chaps at our tyre/battery place and have ordered a new leisure battery for the Blue Bus. Due to space limitations and the type of battery required it has been hard to find a replacement. Whilst it should not need changing at just over a year old I suspect it has not been well looked after previously. At the weekend I fitted a monitor to it and have proved what I already “knew” which was that it doesn’t hold a charge properly.
Pacing myself so as not to do too much on any one day and then spend the next two or three completely exhausted is working fairly well but it does mean I do not always get as much done as I would like, although on the upside I am tearing through the big "To Be Read" pile at a fantastic pace!
This week I am meant to be in Scotland. It was all carefully planned with a ferry crossing identified, campsites earmarked, and backup campsites if the first choices were not available. And nothing was booked - I had decided to leave it until 72 hours before my planned departure so I had a reasonable idea of what the weather was going to be doing. Rather glad that despite spending hours making plans I had the courage to pull out and say "not this week, thank you" after seeing a forecast for wind, rain, thunderstorms, followed by more wind and rain.
Instead, I declared I was having a 'holiday at home'. Which began yesterday with a small win and a small fail:
I decided to visit the National Trust place in town (Wordsworth’s house) and arrived to find it closed due to lack of volunteers. I shall try again later this week, a fail but only a small one. I did get to wander around the garden for a little while.
With a spare couple of hours I had a long session with the chaps at our tyre/battery place and have ordered a new leisure battery for the Blue Bus. Due to space limitations and the type of battery required it has been hard to find a replacement. Whilst it should not need changing at just over a year old I suspect it has not been well looked after previously. At the weekend I fitted a monitor to it and have proved what I already “knew” which was that it doesn’t hold a charge properly.
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