In Between Days

Sunday.

Quite a busy day with a lot of people buying stuff in to watch or avoid watching the England match. *personal opinion here* lucky very lucky that they get through, and I think that's as far as we go. 

Decent enough day. I served my Eeyore man, no Stephen as he was in Saturday because he was playing golf with his son.Val and her husband came in, she has injured her leg and made a right mess of it, I told her to take more water with it, lol. 

It was one of those days buses wise the 58 was late, and got stuck with every red light at every traffic light, and at every bus stop we stopped. We got the Cotgrave, but again every red light was against us and again we stopped at every bus stop. 

There was a lad at the bus stop with all his possessions in bags that Kev got talking to, he had just become homeless and one of his mates in Cotgrave was putting him up for a few days. He had that look on his face that I remember from when it happened to us. That sick with worry, what the bloody hell do we do now look. My heart went out to him, I just wish there was something we could've done to help. I don't care about the reasons for it, but no one should have to be in that position. There should be somewhere people could go to for help. Instead you are on your own, it is so easy to fall through the cracks in the system and just become another person on streets. For every druggie conning people out of money, there is one genuine person with no where to go and no means of supporting themselves. And it could so easily be you, no one knows what it's like until you've been there. We were lucky, we had friends and family that helped us. But if we hadn't have I don't know where we would have ended up. Even then, with help I can remember waking up everyday wondering what was coming next. That poor lad looked exactly like I used to feel, scared anxious, and weighing up whether or not to end my life and be done with it. And as I often say, we were the lucky ones, we got back on our feet with help. Some people disappear and just become a statistic. 

In Between Days

Saturday 

Back to work. Actually a decent day. Nice to see some of my regular customers who kindly asked how my holiday had gone. 

We made the 33 for a change and that meant we got home at a decent time. I showered and changed while Kev did the food. 

Charlotte came round and we watched The Mole. We are rewatching season one as Charlotte didn't see it and we'd forgotten most of it. The new season is on, but only available week by week, so, we will wait until it's all on there.

I went to bed quite early. I ached and my left leg muscle is tight, making it uncomfortable. It looks like I will need to use my revitive a couple of times to loosen it up a bit. 

In Between Days

Thursday.

A little cooler but not much. Grateful for a breeze we went to Bridgeford to do the food shop for the weekend. We took the coolbag I bought in Bournemouth. Well useful.

Other pair of sandals came that I ordered a while back. So I put them on to see how they coped walking just a little. Hard to judge at the moment because my ankle is swollen. But they are nice and light on my feet and have velcro fastening so I can adjust them a fair bit. They are orthotic based ones so I don't need to add my insoles. I'm really hoping that these are the ones that can take me through this summer and maybe even Florida. I'll see how they do and if they stay as comfortable as they were round Bridgeford I'll buy another pair to save for then. It's so hard for me to find some I can walk in. My foot will always turn in, no shoes are going to stop that, but if I can possibly find some that aren't making it worse I will stick with them. I like to think my search for comfortable footwear is  like finding the holy grail if I find a pair... 

Anyway we grabbed a coffee and made for one of the benches on the avenue to make the most of the breeze and gave us chance to cool down.

We shopped in Iceland and M&S and I did treat myself to some sunflowers. They are safe around Willow and I happen to love them. They bring a splash of colour to the shelf... 

In Between Days

Thursday

 I had plans to sort the wardrobe out in the afternoon but with the heat I felt worn out I sat reading instead. I'll try and do it tomorrow, after we shop. I want to put some shoes and clothes on vinted again. I buy lots of shoes trying to find comfortable ones, so a few don't cut it, and after some time trying to make them work for my left foot I end up shoving them at the back of the cupboard. So now and then I have a clear out. There are clothes too that need to go. As soon as the temperatures drop I'll crack on with it. We can't just have pleasantly warm days, they go from freezing to the third ring of hell hot. Lovely last week by the sea with the breezes, but here it's not nice at all.

In Between Days

Tuesday.

We met Sue and Pete for lunch at The Slug and Lettuce. It was very hot. So the air con was welcome. The food was lovely and it was lovely to catch up with them both. 

My feet and ankles were very swollen. No doubt down to the heat. 

So we got our shopping and came home. We are keeping the curtains drawn to stop the room from getting too warm. 

I don't feel like crafting even doing my pages which is unlike me. I'm going to try and do them in the evening when it cools down. 

In Between Days

Sunday.

Nice to be home and Willow woke us up crying, bless her, she was checking we were still there. I got up and gave her lots of fuss. We unpacked, and Kev took the washing over to the centre in the hopes that he would be able to get it done. Luckily after someone else ours went in. He hung it outside along with a few hand-wash bits I'd done. I set too and put the stuff we hadn't worn back away. I caught up on my pages for my dyalog while watching streams we'd missed.

Monday.

Another warm day but cloudy. We dug out the fans and ac units and Kev nipped out to take a parcel and get some more salad etc. 

Apart from that we didn't do much, still reassuring Willow we aren't going anywhere. She seems very relaxed, but checks during the night to make sure we are in bed, by either crying out, or jumping on the bed. She won't sleep on the bed when it's too warm. 

In Between Days.

Saturday.

Travel home day. We had packed what we could the night before leaving only the stuff we needed out, so having got ready the rest went in the case and backpacks and off we set. We got the bus to the station and after finding our correct bay we got on the coach to London. 

This of course is where it all went to pot. 

Protesters in London again blocking Earls Court Road which meant our return bus was stuck in it. And the next one after ours. In the end both replacement buses went at 3.15pm, instead of 1.30pm and 2.30.pm respectively. 

I have been trying of late not to let my anxiety get the better of me, and refused to get angry about it. So we sat in the seats and waited. When the replacement bus and driver arrived we queued patiently and the girl who was sorting it all out, spotted me walking with a stick and came forward and got me on the coach, which was very good of her. 

We settled in to seats as you do, and this rather large girl came up,  barking at us that we were in 'her' seats... We explained that there had been no reserved signs on them, but she waved her phone at us and said she didn't care. Kev got agitated, as I did, because by now there were no double seats available near the front so I could get off easily. A lady sat opposite her offered me the seat next to her and Kev sat in the one in front. So problem solved. Normally I'd be fuming, more from the way she spoke to us than anything, but, you know what? I looked at her, and it was all a bit pathetic really. She was a young lady of at most 20, she took up more than one seat and a quarter of the other. She couldn't fasten the seat belt over her corpulent figure, and she put her tote bag beside her. She had probably had a crap life being taunted about her size, and hid behind being hostile. So instead of giving her daggers, I looked at her pitifully. She continued to eat throughout our journey back... Again probably a defence mechanism. Poor sod. 

I got talking to the nice lady sat next to me, and Kev was chatting to the one he was sat with. By the time we got to Nottingham both of us were chilled out, and it felt so much better that sitting there holding a grudge, or getting wound up about something none of us could alter. That's like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. 

We got off the bus and she went past us, looking definitely at me, and I just smiled at her, again with a touch of pity, she at least had the decency to go red and look away. 

We got on the Cotgrave easily enough and were soon home. With lots of cuddles for Willow, and Charlotte popped round in case we were later back than we thought. 

It's been a lovely holiday and the good thing is we are not back to work until next Saturday, so a nice day with Willow is on the cards. 

In Between Days

Friday. 

Our last day in Bournemouth. We got up and took the bus to the Square, we went to Tesco and got pop and fruit, and Kev had sandwiches and I had a cereal bar and yogurt. 

We went to the park and sat by the brook to eat breakfast. 

It was hot so we went to the land train and rode all the way to Boscombe pier and beach. We hired deckchairs and spent time soaking up all the atmosphere and people watching. We stayed there until 2pm. Then we caught the land train back to Bournemouth pier where we had one last Mr Whippy. Then after souvenir shopping, we went back to the park to sit in the shade. 

We found the KFC and eat, before heading back to the hotel. We packed, showered, and changed before heading downstairs for a bottle of wine in the garden/conservatory. It was a nice way to round off what's been a lovely five days. 

In Between Days

Thursday.

Another very hot gorgeous day it reached 76° at one point.

We left the hotel and went to Maccy Ds for breakfast ( the best meal they do in my opinion) I had a egg mc muffin coffee ( another thing they do right without the high price tag!) Then we went to TKMAXX and bought a cool bag. Kev cleverly bought some cheap ice lollies from Tesco to use as an ice pack. We got some cans of pop and some fruit kebabs, and a bottle of aftersun.

We went to the Oceanarium. I must say apart from the Otters and Penquins I was a bit disappointed, the Sea life one at Brighton was so much better. But it was a lot cheaper to get in,  and at least it might go to help it stay open as it is clearly in need of an update. We went on the land train from one end of the beach to the other ( it's a long beach if you've never been) and return. Lovely little steam driven engine, and made that glorious toot toot sound, we went past some lovely beach huts. I'd love a beach hut. Can you imagine what I'd decorate it like? Spooky little Shack... some were open, and the people who were lazing on chairs and loungers waved smugly ( because apparently they aren't cheap) there were school groups on the beaches as obviously it's coming to the end of term, what else do you do with them? Shove em on the sand and buy em a lolly. So they all waved energetic like. 

We then sat on the pier and had pizza while people watching. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon. In fact, by the time we headed back to the hotel, we were that chilled out we dropped off on the riser recliners in the room. We woke up and decided not to bother going down to the bar and garden, had showers and then bed. That's the sign of a relaxing holiday. No pressure to do anything if we don't want!