I've not been very well for a couple of weeks. It was Laura's Dance Show that did it, Nik and I had to walk from the theatre to the pub, half a mile away, for lunch and a bitter cold wind came up. I didn't have a coat with me and got chilled and, well, the usual thing with my condition - I had an exacerbation - fever, cough up what you don't want to know about, antibiotics.
Anyway, I'm over it now but it was nasty, while it lasted, and it's left me feeling a bit weak at the knees. It didn't help that Nik was on a First Aider's course from work, last week, in Hoylake and was out of the house from 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. She's now a qualified First Aider (practised bandaging on me, she was excellent) and she can even operate a defibrillator if your heart stops, which is comforting except we haven't got one at home so, if I'm going to have a heart attack, I need to go to MANWEB in Warrington so she can save me.
To get back to the point, we needed to go food shopping and I knew I couldn't cope on my own so I said, "Let's go to Sainsburys and we can have lunch in their café." So we did. Nik had fish and chips and Laura had scampi, which she loves. I had soup-of-the-day which was potato and leek and was delicious and we each picked a cake for pudding. I had a slice of hand-baked coffee and walnut cake - I must get the recipe, it was scrummy.
Anyway, to get back to the point, we were standing in line, waiting to get to the order-point, when an elderly chap went past with a trolley, stopped, sidled up to us and put his arm round Nik. I was behind them and I saw he was tickling her, round the waist. I saw Nik stiffen and turn round and I thought - she's going to slap his face - but she turned round, gasped and threw her arms round the fellow and gave him a big hug.
It turns out that the old man was Lennie. About 14 years ago Nik went to work for a tractor hire company in Warrington where she was the only female employee. She worked in the office, being PA (general dogsbody) to the manager, and Lennie was the charge-hand on the shop-floor. She worked there for 6 years until the company closed down. She went to work for MANWEB and Lennie retired. She'd been to see him a couple of times, after Laura was born, but hadn't seen him for about 5 years.
There was a few minutes of "Ooh, you do look well," (he did, actually), "Is this your little girl?" and "I'll see you soon, yeah?" and Lennie departed with his trolley, a big grin on his face. Nik and I turned back to the food counter.
It made my day when Laura, who had observed the whole thing - stranger cuddling mum, mum hugging stranger, nana smiling and nodding - said, gravely, "Mum, did you know that man?"
Anyway, I'm over it now but it was nasty, while it lasted, and it's left me feeling a bit weak at the knees. It didn't help that Nik was on a First Aider's course from work, last week, in Hoylake and was out of the house from 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. She's now a qualified First Aider (practised bandaging on me, she was excellent) and she can even operate a defibrillator if your heart stops, which is comforting except we haven't got one at home so, if I'm going to have a heart attack, I need to go to MANWEB in Warrington so she can save me.
To get back to the point, we needed to go food shopping and I knew I couldn't cope on my own so I said, "Let's go to Sainsburys and we can have lunch in their café." So we did. Nik had fish and chips and Laura had scampi, which she loves. I had soup-of-the-day which was potato and leek and was delicious and we each picked a cake for pudding. I had a slice of hand-baked coffee and walnut cake - I must get the recipe, it was scrummy.
Anyway, to get back to the point, we were standing in line, waiting to get to the order-point, when an elderly chap went past with a trolley, stopped, sidled up to us and put his arm round Nik. I was behind them and I saw he was tickling her, round the waist. I saw Nik stiffen and turn round and I thought - she's going to slap his face - but she turned round, gasped and threw her arms round the fellow and gave him a big hug.
It turns out that the old man was Lennie. About 14 years ago Nik went to work for a tractor hire company in Warrington where she was the only female employee. She worked in the office, being PA (general dogsbody) to the manager, and Lennie was the charge-hand on the shop-floor. She worked there for 6 years until the company closed down. She went to work for MANWEB and Lennie retired. She'd been to see him a couple of times, after Laura was born, but hadn't seen him for about 5 years.
There was a few minutes of "Ooh, you do look well," (he did, actually), "Is this your little girl?" and "I'll see you soon, yeah?" and Lennie departed with his trolley, a big grin on his face. Nik and I turned back to the food counter.
It made my day when Laura, who had observed the whole thing - stranger cuddling mum, mum hugging stranger, nana smiling and nodding - said, gravely, "Mum, did you know that man?"