We’re now at the start of the meteorological autumn, based on statistics rather than the elevation of the sun. No, I’d never heard of it either. Outside there are martins swooping over the village green, meadow flowers, insects and bees. Gladys, a nearby neighbour, had been unwell for some time, and was whisked into hospital. Annabel had been in to see her earlier to check that she was okay. The lady had previously refused to go into hospital and wanted to die in her own home.We watched a Billy Connolly programme on TV; he was hilarious, a real legend – so pleased we’d seen him live when we lived in Cheshire.

We had planned to take April and Cooper to Barnard Castle, the only town in the country during Covid where Dominic Cummings could book an optician’s appointment! It turned out to be a good choice. The children enjoyed the visit; they were quite happy exploring the grounds and running around like Mary Ellens with their grandma! Builders had been working in their house, in nearby (Cumbrian) Bolton, for several months and most rooms had been improved enormously. Each bedroom now has one magnificent stone wall and we’re hoping to persuade the builder to do some work on our house in the not-too-distant future.

We went out for a day with Tom, Tara, April and Cooper at the Solway Aviation Museum (the site of the seemingly defunct Carlisle airport) to watch April and her friends, as well as Tom and Cooper, take part in a race was. This was particularly watchable when the athletes had to clamber over inflatable obstacles. My gosh, they could certainly run. The only downside was the distance of the athletes from the spectators.

We had a very pleasant three-day break near Hexham, a Northumberland town. That afternoon, we walked around the town and some of the surrounding countryside. On the next day we enjoyed a trip to Hadrian’s Wall, walking along the Military Way but were disappointed that we didn’t see any Italians. We walked through the Sycamore Gap, where the famous tree had been felled and noticed a lot of saplings growing. Hopefully, a new tree will grow in its place. Further along, we visited the Sill Centre which is well worth a visit. We watched house martins catching insects and feeding their young. We enjoyed walking on the roof where there were different grasses and plants. We didn’t visit the nearby observatory, but it might be worth another visit in the future. According to the website it is “sited in the largest gold tier-protected dark sky park in the whole of Europe.” Back at our hotel, I enjoyed sitting in the garden, while Annabel went for a swim. On the final day of our holiday, we travelled to Kielder Water “the largest man-made lake in Northern Europe”. I personally think that women have also contributed! As the weather that day was so pleasant, we stopped at various stages of our journey. On the way back we noticed a vehicle ahead of us towing a septic tank – its number plate was T40 URD!

In the middle of the month, Tom and Tara and the grandchildren came over and we had a meal at the pub. April was able to swap her class from last year and she now has quite a few more friends there. Annabel swapped her convertible VW for a red Toyota Yaris hybrid with a fixed roof. I was a little apprehensive about driving the car solo so, initially, I drove it while Annabel was sitting next to me. It took a little time to get used to it, but I am now confident to drive it on my own. I hadn’t driven either car at night since my eye problems, so we’re going to set off at dusk to gradually refamiliarize me with night driving.

One memory of the garden recently was hearing some bees buzzing, a rare sound until now. The weather has improved and we have spent quite a lot more time outside in the sunshine. For a short while, we looked after Theo, Tom and Tara’s bitzer dog, and took him for a walk to the red cliffs on the river.

Later, we had a cracking day out on the Cumbrian coastal path (now part of the King Charles III English Coastal Path). We had walked a section last year and wanted to complete the whole path in stages occasionally. We parked in Whitehaven, caught the train north to Harrington, had a good look round and a bite to eat, then walked south, back to our starting point. We were able to stop at various places, sometimes to watch birds. We didn’t feel under pressure, unlike last year when we were very conscious of missing the train to take us back to the start of the walk. The weather was very pleasant and not too warm, and Annabel was pleased to see a seal. There was evidence along the coast of past and current industry: fishing, coal mining and quarrying. The following night in the village hall we watched the film “Mama Mia! Here We Go Again”. I found it more entertaining than I thought it would be. After the film we helped to tidy up.

Annabel headed over to Acorn Bank for their apple-tasting day. The orchard holds 175 varieties of apples. This sounds a lot compared with what you might find in your local greengrocer’s or supermarket, but when you ask Google, there are over 2,500 varieties in the UK, and 7,000 worldwide.

Sam makes contact regularly and it’s always good to see him on the phone and hear how the family is getting on. Universities in Mozambique are somewhat limited, so Sam and Zoe have been looking at possibilities in the Netherlands for a university for Harriett and a school for Imogen. If that does go ahead, it will hopefully be much easier to see them more frequently.

Autumn arrived and it was quite warm in the sunshine, but there was a definite chill in the air at times. One afternoon, Tom, April and Cooper appeared on their bikes. When they were shown Annabel’s new car, Cooper was fascinated by the manual handles to open the window, as he’d previously only experienced pushing a button. Tom helped Annabel by linking her phone to the car. It’s a great benefit to us both to have our own tech expert nearby.

On the 23rd of the month we had a rather long day, and one that I will remember for a long time. It started with a simple mistake, which involved going to hospital and not getting home until four o’clock the next morning. Even though I have my five prescription tablets in a dispensing container, I somehow managed to take them all twice. I know, how stupid can that be? (No answers on a postcard, thank you.) A little later, I started to feel a bit ‘woozy’. The doctor in the local surgery saw us promptly and told us to go to A&E in Carlisle, as my heart rate was too low. We arrived there at 2 p.m. A triage nurse linked me up to the ECG machine with sticky connectors on my hairy chest. We waited four hours to see the doctor who took a blood test. I refrained from my usual comment of having an empty arm. He said he would be back in an hour to give me the result. Then I had another blood pressure test. Three hours later, still no results – but a nurse took another blood pressure check – quite high for me. By this time, we were both hungry, but Annabel didn’t want to find some food in case the consultant arrived while she was absent. (I wouldn’t have been able to retain any information the doctor or nurse provided).

We saw three policemen with several men who looked as if they’d been in a fight. They were there for quite some time. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to meet any of them on a dark night – or even in the light. And the prisoners were just as bad.

We had another visit from the triage nurse who supplied us with some biscuits and a satsuma. She also offered me a bed; Annabel said, “only if it’s big enough for the two of us!” She later tried to finalise the paperwork, but we couldn’t leave until the consultant agreed. Eventually, we were released and arrived home at four o’clock.
………. the next morning!!!! We decided to have a quiet day. The day after the quiet day, we both had appointments for a small filling, courtesy of our loquacious dentist.

Annabel had been looking at the possibility of Tom and Tara’s family travelling to Mozambique with us for a holiday. The children were not all that keen, especially considering the time taken for such a long flight. Maybe something they might want to do when the children are a little older.

Towards the end of the month, the weather turned cold and wet again, but I managed to mow the grass in the green lane. And, on the last day, Tom popped over to fit several large hooks in the garage, to create more space on the ground. I’m sure I will find all sorts of things to fill the space (correction, Annabel – ‘she who must be obeyed’ says ‘NO!’, ‘NO!’, ‘NO!’, etc..)

And finally, I drove Annabel’s car in the dusk to collect our order from the chippy van. Fish and chips, especially with fish that’s been freshly caught, is a wonderful meal which requires no preparation apart from laying the table. Our fortnightly treat.

Coming up next month – Autumn and October!

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