It’s been a funny old week, in all sorts of ways. We knew
when we came that this was not going to be a sight-seeing holiday, although we
have managed a bit of that too, but the main activity was to help Carol sort
through an accumulation of furniture and odds and ends that having been
gathering dust since they first moved from a large five bed-roomed house to a
much small three bed-roomed one. I think most of us have been in this position,
and like most of us, everything that wasn’t outright junk was brought from the
big house to the small one. On top of that, the death of two elderly relatives
saw them acquiring two more households of furniture. It just became too much
for Carol to handle and she was just about at her wits end. So we came to help.
Sunday and most of Monday were a write-off as we struggled to
deal with the after-effects of our marathon drive. It is very annoying that
things keep reminding us that we are no longer as young as we wished we were. However
on Tuesday we were back on track and the first thing we both did was have a much-needed
haircut. After that we could start thinking properly and could see where we
were going!
Since then it has been a succession of trips to second-hand
dealers, the tip and hospice shops, as well as dealing with people who have
responded to adverts pinned up in the supermarkets and on the wall outside. Slowly a dent is appearing.
By Friday we were able to take quite a large load to the tip
which is about a mile outside town. What a lovely drive it is to get there! Lush
green meadows and trees, with cow, sheep and even pigs grazing on them. It all
looks very beautiful at the moment.
Saturday took us off to Blackpool where there is a world
renowned horse sanctuary. They seem to rely on donations to keep going, but are
doing a wonderful job. The horse boxes for the new intake are spic and span and
there are permanently employed girls who do the grooming and mucking out and so
on. They also run a small tea-room which serves light lunches as well, so we
treated ourselves to some of the most delicious baked potatoes I’ve ever tasted
with a delicious salad. Perfect!
After lunch Carol took us down to the beachfront at
Blackpool. The famous Christmas lights have already been switched on for this
year, but of course they are not on during the day, although we could see and
admire the displays. It really is a
place to see because it is like nothing else I’ve ever seen, although people
say that Coney Island in the USA comes close. Let me try to describe it to you.
The road runs along the shore line with a tram line between it and the beach.
On the other side of the road is an endless line of buildings – shops,
amusement parks, hotels and apartments. Hordes of people crowd the pavements
and there is no parking anywhere, so we didn’t join them, but continued to
battle our way through the two way traffic interspersed with horse drawn carriages.
Music and announcements blared out of
many of the buildings, some overlaying others when you got between two of them.
It was sheer pandemonium and I really cannot imagine anyone going there for a
quiet break at the seaside. This all continued for the entire ten kilometres
that the Christmas lights stretch. It was one big sticky candy-floss encrusted,
ice-cream-littered, noisy, over-abundance if kitsch. But for all of that it was
fun.
The weather has been better than we expected with lovely sun
and clouds each day, with a very cold wind however. Today, though we are back
to true British weather and it is pouring with rain. Never mind – the farmers
will be pleased and it gives a good day for doing things inside.
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