Visiting our 'young adult' offspring in and around Leamington is part of the deal and somegthing we want to do - probably every 6 weeks or so. The last trip we made was when Charlotte picked up her keys to her house in late April and time has flown-by to mid June before we knew it!
This next trip started with a call in at Barnsley to see John's mum, dad and brother which was nice. Barnsley doesn't add too much to the journey and with an early start we were there for lunch at the pub with dad and brother, followed by a trip to the care home to see mum. Barnsley is clearly in a different economy to the rest of the UK - four lunchtime meals and drinks for under £40.....
After that we were in Leamington for dinner and staying two nights with Colin (Liz's tai chi tutor and ex-boss) and his wife Ali. That evening Liz headed off to tai chi for her first practice since we moved, and John headed off to the pub for a couple of beers with some ex colleagues. We both enjoyed our respective evenings, although one of us was more sober than the other, topped off with a lovely chat with Colin and Ali over tea and biscuits. They were the most wonderful hosts and looked after us brilliantly and we were given a lovely little friendship plant to bring home.
Next day we started a DIY project at Amber's, lifting paving slabs at the side of the house to help make a little kitchen garden. Pretty quickly we had two loads for the tip - thankfully the staff there helped John lift the 600x900mm back-breaking slabs out of the car and over the edge into the tip. In the afternoon we piled over to Charlotte and Hugo's to help out there - with less physical DIY, like painting and a lot of polyfillering, before a quick swim with Amber and the 'Bluetits' in the river Leam (not John). Dinner was back at Colin and Ali's which was THE best risotto we have ever tasted, followed by a quick drink with Richard, one of Liz's friends, at the pub. A busy day, and by bed time we were reeling at the thought that we had two more days of this to go...
Friday was more of the same. First we stopped at the wood merchants in Leamngton to buy some nice wood to make Amber's raised beds. Four six metre lengths were balanced on the roof racks (zoom in to the photo to see just how happy John is about this!) and driven very carefully back to Beausale, chopped roughly to size and stored in her garden. Amber creasoted the fence, which looks lovely, while Liz dug over the poor soil and lifted more slabs. John also went in her attic and dragged down all the junk left behind by the previous owner. Lots of Christmas decorations and some sad wedding memories that had ben abandoned as they were no longer cherished memories. At Charlotte's we did more painting, swapped some plug sockets and sanded the filler from yesterday.
After that we were grateful for an evening meal at Giggling Squid with Liz's friend Mandy. We met when I used to drive her to her dental appointments and covid jabs as a volunteer driver and we now get on very well. She is a glamourous older lady with a wicked sense of humour and we enjoy her company. It was a lovely evening, invited back to her house afterwards for another glass of wine, we sank into bed gone 10pm, exhausted.
Saturday was a last push with Amber's project and we think some progress was visible - we've left her with a stepping stones path and some grow bags ahead of another bash at it next time we visit. Nicki, Liz's colleague (soon to be ex-colleague!) and friend, brought some picnic fare over to Amber's and we sat, filthy and aching, on the grass and enjoyed a debate on the upcoming election. We managed a couple of hours back with Charlotte, painting the lounge and putting some bike racks and carpet lining on the walls in the garage, ahead of some well deserved pizza and a game of poker!
As ever, we're really proud of both Amber and Charlotte: they have risen to the challenge of home ownership and wanting to make their houses their homes.
Our final morning was sent watching Charlotte run the Leamington half marathon on behalf of Bowel Cancer UK, dedicated to John, and a lovely coffee with Amber and Liz's friend, Nick, in the sun in Jephson Garden's - the first time we have met up since January. Charlotte finished the run in good spirits, with John jogging along side, and below her predicted time, so we were all very happy for her.
We set off for home, tired but happy, feeling like we had added some value, and looking forward to getting back to our little haven. The journey up and down the motorway is just part of the deal to live where we do, and time actually goes quickly once you've tuned into a couple of podcasts!
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