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Not Easter Saturday
19 April 2014 19:45


We (we being CGF Sprog 3 and I) did some more gardening on Sunday. A "Challenge Aneka" style task would have read something like "plant 48 bedding plants; 25 bulbs; some herbs; two types of flower seed; some peas and broad beans. Ps the flowerbed doesn't exist yet". So blister-inducing work to dig out a flowerbed, then extend it when we realised we had more plants that would fit; then dig another border when we still had plants left over. CGF Sprog 3 had been reading up on butterfly and bee friendly plants, so had a list of the plants we needed ("they must have small flowers as bees find it easier to land on small flowers").

Monday to Friday we went on our traditional Easter trip (well, we did it last year as well) to the north, staying with CGF's brother in South Yorkshire and with The Aged in the Midlands.

We looked after CGF's nephew and niece Tuesday and Wednesday, which was entertaining and enjoyable. Like most eight-year olds, niece chattered about things that happened at school, who her friends were and what they did - and then tested me to make sure I had been listening (I passed!). And her thoughts on fairy stories, such as Snow White: "she had to be woken with a kiss. If I had to be woken with a kiss I'm not sure who I would want it to be", followed by a long list of who she definitely wouldn't want it to be (pretty much every boy in her school class).

We took them to the zoo - but the zoo didn't want them so we took them home again. It's a pleasant little zoo with lots of space for the animals, and well set out for the visitors. And it had a really good play area (for humans) that I would have liked to go on but wasn't allowed as I was both too old and too big.

We also went to the local outlet village ("I don't know why they call it a village as no one lives here") - a short walk round a (artificial) lake where we fed the ducks and skimmed some stones. There is a Black and Decker shop that I insisted we visited - not because I wanted to buy any power tools, but because it was a Man's Shop and I was going to be dragged into more than enough Women's Shops. One in particular that sells absolutely nothing that I can ever envisage wanting to buy - for me or for anyone else - had a special offer "any ten items for £10". I couldn't see one item I would like to buy.

CGF's father took us out for lunch - dim sum, where I earned brownie points by being willing to try everything (doesn't everyone?) and by knowing how to use chop sticks (an advantage of having a father who did his National Service in the Far East).

Back down to The Aged's for the last part of the week. We visited three National Trust places on Thursday - two were in the same place and one (where we visited only the grounds (and only the bird hide in the grounds)) was on the way back. Our journey there wasn't helped by the Aged's poor navigation instructions - he forgot to tell us about an important right turn. Or maybe he did but I'd stopped listening by that point. And having found the road we wanted I realised I knew a much better route that would have got us there.

We arrived at the first NT place in time for a tour of the house (even better, we arrived in time for a coffee before a tour of the house). We could have had a free tour as the ticket seller didn't ask for proof when we said that we were NT members.

One item of decoration - an elaborately carved border round the fireplace - had cost just over £100 when new in the seventeenth century. That equated (we were told) to around £4000 today. Obviously it would cost far more than £4000 to make today, which shows that you can't really do a straight RPI comparison on historical values.

And finally back home, via a brief stop at Nell Bridge Lock, one of my favourite childhood places. We used to go there on a Saturday evening to watch the holiday makers struggle through the first lock after the boat yard. Always entertaining. Especially the sluice that squirted water into the face of the person who was struggling to open it.


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