| Sundae |
07-20-2014 01:58 PM |
So pleased about your Dad, Carr.
Mum is giving me regular weather reports; it's so odd to sit in the park in the sunshine and get a text about monsoon conditions in Aylesbury. For my first six weeks here it was the other way round!
I too had a barcode bangle in hospital. I proudly wore it home. Well, mostly to give other people an unspoken clue as to why I had to concentrate to stay upright, and also so I could easily be returned to sender if I did indeed fall down.
Happy today because as long as the house sale goes through (OMG, seriously? still waiting!) the 'rents are coming up both in September and for Christmas. Depending on Dad's health of course. But Mum says why not have a last hurrah while they still can. She's abandoned the idea of us going abroad; just too much for Dad sadly. And these days they have a gorgeous garden to enjoy with no work to do to it. Ditto house-maintenance. And they live in the centre of town, so even with Dad's poor mobility they can walk to eat/ drink/ relax. It's almost like being on their hols (except for housework).
I got them to join the Victoria Club, which is easy walking distance. There is a waiting list and you have to be proposed by an existing member and pay an annual fee - but it means the drinks (both soft and alcoholic) are dirt cheap. It also has two outside terraces, one where people go to smoke and another further back where they don't.
So I called the Vic Club to ask how to get on the waiting list, how long it was and what the annual fee was. It turns out they're both old enough for NONE of that to count. They have free membership for life and go about once a fortnight. Yay. Something good I did without even having to pay.
ANYWAY. Back to them coming up. Mum says now she "knows" Otley I don't even have to take time off, although it would be lovely to leave Dad in the B&B for the day and go to Leeds market and Yo! Sushi. Dad will be quite happy in a a garden, but we'd put the B&B number in his mobile in case he went out and got lost.
And Mum says Laura is so busy these days with her extended family that she won't have time for them over Christmas (no criticism implied). So she says as soon as the house sells I'm to book for them, to make sure they get a vacancy. Something to really look forward to.
They'll get a taxi across London (arrival station is not the same as departure stations) to cut down on the stress. Like Mum says, this may be the last time Dad gets to travel. Taxis and First Class trains are luxuries, but hardly like buying a luxury yacht, and you're a long time dead.
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