I don't know why it is, but every time we go away, I wake every morning at the crack of dawn.
Maybe the Seagull alarm clock had a little to do with this.
Tuesday and 5.30 am......I am wide awake.
wasn't sure what the day was going to be like(weatherwise) and really didn't want to be stirring in case Ma was still asleep.
Mind you, I suppose I had had my full quota of sleep, since we were both tucked up by 9pm last night.
I reached out to get my glasses off the night table and Ma heard me and asked what the morning was like...and what time was it?
I got out of bed and peeked through the curtains.......dawn was just about breaking and the tip of the sun was just peering over the horizon.
I told Ma that it looked like being a lovely day.
Good......that meant there was a good chance that the market in Newport would be better than the last time we were there.
It seems like the market traders(who come over from the mainland) look out of their windows and if it is grey and drizzly, they don't bother getting up for the ferry.
I completed my ablutions, and was just dressed and planning on a pre-breakfast walk when my mobile phone rang.
I thought that this would be a message from my sister in Oz......but the phone continued to ring.
Who could be ringing me at 6.45......I checked the screen. It said 'Number witheld'
Oh-oh, this could only be daughter ringing...and if she was ringing at this time in the morning, there had to be something amiss.
In the few seconds that it took me to pick up the call, all kinds of things had gone through my head.
'Hello Mum' she said 'I'm ringing you to let you know that V has died, and dad is too upset to be able to ring you'.....I can't quite remember the rest of the conversation....but it took the thoughts of a sea walk right out of my head.
V is, or was a lovely neighbour of ours...she kind of adopted my hubby after his Ma died....and he thought the world of her.
He helped her with her shopping and ran her all over the place in the car......if V wanted something doing, my hubby was there like a shot. she was 81 but I swear that you would have taken her for late sixties, she was as fit as a flea. It seemed that she had got up in the night and fallen down the stairs.( I later learned that she had suffered a massive heart attack...and it was this that caused her to fall).
I knew that hubby would be devastated. I rang him and he was so upset that he couldn't talk to me. I felt really bad at being so far away and not being able to do anything.
We went down to breakfast and I felt very subdued. Ma tried to make me feel better by saying that she wouldn't have known anything about it...and that this was a better end than having a serius illness.....which I suppose is true.
I kept on thinking of her husband, and wondering how he would manage.
It put a bit of a blight on the lovely morning.
We got on the coach for our trip out and I tried to put this sad news to the back of my mind.
We got to Newport, the Market was 'bobbins'....about ten stalls, and those were nothing to write home about.
We had a browse around the charity shops....I bought Ma three blouses......and tiddler a lovely book.
We went into the Methodist church there and I lit a candle for V and had a few quiet moments of reflection.
It was soon time to move on.
We were going to Yarmouth for Lunch.....and this was good, because we had found a lovely hostelry on our last visit......and we were going to go back there to sample their food again.
By this time the day had greyed over and the wind was decidedly chilly, although pushing ma in her chair keeps me toasty warm......I gave her my scarf to keep the chill out of her bones.
I had recommended the Wheatsheaf to several of the members of our coach party.....and I half expected tha place to be full......but no, no-one had taken our advice, but hey, that was their loss.
I ordered drinks.....Ma succumbed to the delights of a shandy.....well, it was a lemonade with just a suspicion of lager.....I had a half of lager(pushing the chair gives me a bit of a thirst).
We perused the menu......and the specials board. The more we deliberated, the less sure we were of what we fancied.....it all looked, and smelled absolutely delish.
In the end I couldn't help myself. I had to have their version of a cheeseburger again...with Hellish Relish. Now this isn't an ordinary cheeseburger.....in fact it isn't a burger at all......it is a piece of succulent steak topped with melted gruyere cheese and then a slice of crisp bacon to crown it off.....all served on a soft floured bap the size of an elephants foot.. with mixed leaf salad and tomatoes....a hearty helping of chips on the side......and their home made relish. Now doesn't that make your taste buds tingle?
Ma had the same and although she couldn't manage to eat it all she did herself proud......it took another shandy to wash it all down.
We ate lunch in a leisurely fashion, there wasn't much else to do in Yarmouth.
Once we had eaten there was only about 15 minutes to kill before we were due back on the coach.....and off to Alum Bay...and the Needles......and NO I was definitely not hiking up the cliff top again......this time I was going to view these lumps of rock from a lower and easier vantage point.
To be continued.
Maybe the Seagull alarm clock had a little to do with this.
Tuesday and 5.30 am......I am wide awake.
wasn't sure what the day was going to be like(weatherwise) and really didn't want to be stirring in case Ma was still asleep.
Mind you, I suppose I had had my full quota of sleep, since we were both tucked up by 9pm last night.
I reached out to get my glasses off the night table and Ma heard me and asked what the morning was like...and what time was it?
I got out of bed and peeked through the curtains.......dawn was just about breaking and the tip of the sun was just peering over the horizon.
I told Ma that it looked like being a lovely day.
Good......that meant there was a good chance that the market in Newport would be better than the last time we were there.
It seems like the market traders(who come over from the mainland) look out of their windows and if it is grey and drizzly, they don't bother getting up for the ferry.
I completed my ablutions, and was just dressed and planning on a pre-breakfast walk when my mobile phone rang.
I thought that this would be a message from my sister in Oz......but the phone continued to ring.
Who could be ringing me at 6.45......I checked the screen. It said 'Number witheld'
Oh-oh, this could only be daughter ringing...and if she was ringing at this time in the morning, there had to be something amiss.
In the few seconds that it took me to pick up the call, all kinds of things had gone through my head.
'Hello Mum' she said 'I'm ringing you to let you know that V has died, and dad is too upset to be able to ring you'.....I can't quite remember the rest of the conversation....but it took the thoughts of a sea walk right out of my head.
V is, or was a lovely neighbour of ours...she kind of adopted my hubby after his Ma died....and he thought the world of her.
He helped her with her shopping and ran her all over the place in the car......if V wanted something doing, my hubby was there like a shot. she was 81 but I swear that you would have taken her for late sixties, she was as fit as a flea. It seemed that she had got up in the night and fallen down the stairs.( I later learned that she had suffered a massive heart attack...and it was this that caused her to fall).
I knew that hubby would be devastated. I rang him and he was so upset that he couldn't talk to me. I felt really bad at being so far away and not being able to do anything.
We went down to breakfast and I felt very subdued. Ma tried to make me feel better by saying that she wouldn't have known anything about it...and that this was a better end than having a serius illness.....which I suppose is true.
I kept on thinking of her husband, and wondering how he would manage.
It put a bit of a blight on the lovely morning.
We got on the coach for our trip out and I tried to put this sad news to the back of my mind.
We got to Newport, the Market was 'bobbins'....about ten stalls, and those were nothing to write home about.
We had a browse around the charity shops....I bought Ma three blouses......and tiddler a lovely book.
We went into the Methodist church there and I lit a candle for V and had a few quiet moments of reflection.
It was soon time to move on.
We were going to Yarmouth for Lunch.....and this was good, because we had found a lovely hostelry on our last visit......and we were going to go back there to sample their food again.
By this time the day had greyed over and the wind was decidedly chilly, although pushing ma in her chair keeps me toasty warm......I gave her my scarf to keep the chill out of her bones.
I had recommended the Wheatsheaf to several of the members of our coach party.....and I half expected tha place to be full......but no, no-one had taken our advice, but hey, that was their loss.
I ordered drinks.....Ma succumbed to the delights of a shandy.....well, it was a lemonade with just a suspicion of lager.....I had a half of lager(pushing the chair gives me a bit of a thirst).
We perused the menu......and the specials board. The more we deliberated, the less sure we were of what we fancied.....it all looked, and smelled absolutely delish.
In the end I couldn't help myself. I had to have their version of a cheeseburger again...with Hellish Relish. Now this isn't an ordinary cheeseburger.....in fact it isn't a burger at all......it is a piece of succulent steak topped with melted gruyere cheese and then a slice of crisp bacon to crown it off.....all served on a soft floured bap the size of an elephants foot.. with mixed leaf salad and tomatoes....a hearty helping of chips on the side......and their home made relish. Now doesn't that make your taste buds tingle?
Ma had the same and although she couldn't manage to eat it all she did herself proud......it took another shandy to wash it all down.
We ate lunch in a leisurely fashion, there wasn't much else to do in Yarmouth.
Once we had eaten there was only about 15 minutes to kill before we were due back on the coach.....and off to Alum Bay...and the Needles......and NO I was definitely not hiking up the cliff top again......this time I was going to view these lumps of rock from a lower and easier vantage point.
To be continued.
