I’m taking a bit of a step back in time for this post as I wasn’t quick enough to type it up at the time and have been a bit lazy in regards to my blog posts. So this post is about my most recent trip back down south in February this year. I want to continue to write these posts because I’ve found them quite useful when remembering events from years ago to quickly look through a post and confirm in my memory what happened. Plus, i figure why not.
So, on the 14th of February, Lesley picked Kieran and I up and took us to the airport. This time our special assistance was good and the flight was on time. When we landed, Dad and Michelle met us in arrivals. We decided to pop in and see Nan. While we were there, I gave Nan her pillow made out of Grandad’s clothes, which predictably made her a bit teary. After she’d put together a bundle of his clothes in December, I’d sent them off to a small business who make handmade items out of loved ones clothing. I got a special blanket made for myself using lots of different pieces of his clothes plus the fluffy fleece blanket I’d bought for his last birthday, which was on his bed. The blanket turned out perfect, more like a patchwork quilt than just a blanket. When Nan saw it over FaceTime, she was able to recognise every single patch. Since then, Dad has also said he’d like a cushion made, which I’m going to get sorted very soon. After big hugs all round and saying we’d see Nan soon, Dad drove us down to Mum’s, where she had and chili out of the slow cooker and cheesy nachos waiting for us.
On Thursday, Mum made pancakes for lunch as it’d been pancake day on Tuesday. Pancakes are a proper treat for me because I wouldn’t attempt making them myself and don’t like eating them when I’m out. Mum’s were lovely. Afterwards, Harley and I went into town to do Mother’s Day and early birthday shopping for our May birthday relatives: Mum, Dad and Imi. Later on, Mum, Simon and Kieran met us in town so Kieran and I could spend the voucher Kieran had bought for my birthday the year before at Zizi’s. I had aranccini, mushroom risotto and a honeycomb cheesecake. Kieran had calamari, sausage lasagne and trillionaires fudge cake. We both very much enjoyed the food. I was especially happy to have arancini again. It was made even nicer because the staff were so helpful, even guiding Kieran to the loo. Meanwhile, Mum, Simon and Harley decided to have Pizza Hut, where they shared a two pizzas, two sides and two desserts deal. They all said it was very nice and were very full. I was glad that they’d enjoyed theirs but even more that Kieran and I had finally been able to spend my voucher and have a date night. These days, if we have a date night it’s usually a takeaway in front of the telly, which is still nice but not as good as physically going to a restaurant.
The next day, Dad picked us up around half past 3 and took us to Nan’s where Nan, Auntie Clare, Sam and Michelle were. At just after 5, Auntie Clare rang through our order to the fish and chips shop: large battered sausage for Michelle; fish for Kieran, Auntie Clare herself and Nan; an egg and bacon burger for Dad; a chicken burger for Harley; a cheese burger for Sam; two pineapple fritters for me; two large chips and two curry sauces to share. Auntie Clare and I collected the food and everyone seemed to enjoy what they had. After Auntie Clare and Teddy went home. we watched West Brom vs Saints, which ended in a 2-0 win for Saints.
The next day, it was Mum’s time to be in the spotlight as we took her wedding dress shopping. In the morning, Simon drove Mum, Harley and I into town before going to pick up his youngest to join us. Then, the four of us met up with Mum’s maid of honour and headed for the bridal shop. Kieran had already decided to spend the day listening to as many football matches as he could. In the end, the dress Mum chose as the one was the fifth one she tried on. Thankfully, she loved the whole experience of trying on different styles of dress and showing them off to us. Mum can be funny about what she wears and has always been self-conscious, even more so since cancer has changed her body. But she was really confident and pleased with how she looked. Afterwards, we went to TGI Fridays to celebrate the success. Mum and her maid of honour shared nachos, potato skins and cocktails; Simon’s youngest enjoyed chicken tenders and fries; Harley had Jack Daniels chicken strips and potato skins; I had Jack Daniels chicken strips, fries and mozzarella dippers. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the treat. I felt a bit guilty that Kieran wasn’t there because I know he likes TGIs a lot too. However, when we got home he seemed to have had a good enough day listening to lots of football as he’d planned. As well as that, in the evening he and Simon ordered curry and we watched Pointless Celebrities, Casualty and the Jonathan Ross show.
The following afternoon, Kieran and I caught the bus into town and went to The Giddy Bridge Wetherspoons with Sam. She chose a burger and chips, Kieran had sausage and mash and I went for a bbq chicken and bacon panini with chips and a side of haloumi fries. We stayed in the pub for a few hours, having more drinks and a cookie dough sandwich pudding for me. Later on, we went to The Mayflower Theatre to see Romesh Rangernathan perform his Hussle tour. Romesh was very funny and it was quite a different atmosphere to our usual stand up shows because he was supported by DJ Martin Too Smooth who played at the start and during the interval. They were both very good. Some potential quotes for blog post titles included “I’ll bag you off” and “I’m cooking mushrooms”.
On Monday, Dad picked us up around half 12, after picking Nan up on his way, and we went to The Malvern green king pub. It’s only a short walk from their flat so Sam and Michelle were waiting when we arrived. For dinner, I had scampi, chips and mushy peas with a side of haloumi fries; Harley had lasagne with garlic bread; Nan had macaroni cheese; Dad had a big brunch; Michelle had a steak and cheese ciabatta; Sam had a chicken and bacon ciabatta. Sadly, the food wasn’t very nice and most of us came away a bit disappointed. Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day at Dad’s, chatting, with Sam’s music playlist in the background, which provided many conversation topics. A possible blog title quote came when Dad quite casually asked “does anyone want my nuts?” which, because we’re all very childish, we found funny. Later on, back at Mum’s, we watched some Catch Phrase and Limitless Win before putting on the film Whitney: I Want To Dance With Somebody.
The next day, we went into town around 9:30 and had a McDonalds breakfast: breakfast wraps for Kieran and I, McMuffins for Mum and Harley. Afterwards, we went into a few shops. Back at Mum’s, we spent the afternoon and evening watching quiz shows including Lingo, Catch Phrase, Tipping Point, The Chase, Bridge Of Lies, Beat The Chasers and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Mum is very good at quiz shows. For dinner, Mum cooked roast gammon, which was very tasty.
As always, the final day of our visit had come around too fast. We spent the daytime watching Judge Judy, Come Dine With Me, Lingo and Pointless. Mum cooked us belly pork with cheesy mash and carrots so that we’d had a proper meal before our flight. Around 3:30, I started to see news on Facebook that there had been a big crash on the motorway that was causing a lot of disruption and delays. For a while, we didn’t think much of it, thinking it’d be cleared by the time Dad picked us up around 6:15. But as time went on the news reports only seemed to get worse. Dad and Michelle headed out anyway, hoping they’d be able to make it through to get us so we could all head for the airport as planned. Sam was flying up with us to stay for a few nights so we could all go and see Sarah Millican live that weekend. But the time kept dragging on and we received more panicked messages from Sam. Eventually, I called Auntie Clare and asked if Uncle Dave was available to try and get us to the airport, the idea being that Dad and Michelle met us there with Sam rather than trying to get all the way to pick us up. Thankfully, Uncle Dave was available and set off straight away to get us. Although we didn’t think we were going to make the flight, we knew we had to try. Kieran checked us in online and I emptied the essentials out of our suitcase into our hand luggage. We’d already agreed we’d leave the suitcase behind because there was no way we were going to be there by the cut off point of baggage being checked in. As soon as Uncle Dave arrived, we rushed to get in his car, not really having time to say goodbye to Mum and Harley. To be honest, we were all expecting to see each other again that night. Uncle Dave drove as fast as the heavy and at times stand-still traffic would allow. We kept checking Google Maps ETA and willing the cars to somehow go faster. At the same time, I could see Dad just wasn’t moving. We had a rather big decision to make. Of course, the plan was for the three of us to travel to Newcastle that night. But as we approached the airport, it was clear Sam was nowhere near being close to joining us. Uncle Dave dashed us into the terminal building and up to the check in desk. Kieran rushed to explain what was happening and before we’d really had time to thank Uncle Dave, we were being hurried away. Somehow, we got through security in super quick time and although we’d held it up, we were boarding the plane, in our seats, taking off! When I think back to that evening, even now I don’t know how we made that flight. But the biggest thing was that we’d gone without Sam. We both felt very conflicted about it. Of course, never did we want to leave without her and it was a really awkward situation to be in. But we needed to go home. I was scheduled to work the following day and didn’t have my manager’s contact details on me to tell her what was happening. Even more importantly, I didn’t have any more Epilepsy medication. As we flew away, we felt absolutely awful for Sam and guilty that we’d left without her. Friendship and loyalty should have meant if one didn’t make the plane none of us should have gone. But reality doesn’t work like that. If we had the chance, however tight it was in the end, to be on that plane and flying home as planned then we had to take it. Sam was understandably very upset and angry with us, which I totally expected. But ultimately there was nothing we could have done about the situation and in the grand scheme of things our situation was nothing to that of the man who lost his life in that crash or the ripple effects for his friends and family.
Although the end of our trip had been pretty horrific, the visit overall was great and it was lovely to spend time with everyone as always. Plus, it all worked out in the end for us. Unfortunately, this meant Sam spent the Thursday on a train rather than already being with us as per the original plan. But she arrived with us around 5 o’clock and Kieran cooked meatballs with pasta and garlic bread and mac n cheese bites on the side for dinner. We spent the evening watching Kevin Bridges new DVD The Overdue Catch Up. This provoked some rather rude quote suggestions of blog post titles from Sam and Kieran, such as “your dog’s a c**t” or “remember the night we googled cats dicks”.
After I’d finished work early on Friday, we caught the bus into Newcastle and went to The Five Swans Wetherspoons. After being badgered by Kieran and I to try something different, Sam went for the chicken bites basket, which she said she enjoyed. Kieran had a mixed grill and I had fish and chips with a cookie dough sandwich for dessert. Later, we went to the O2 City Hall and watched Sarah Millican perform her Late Bloomer show. She was very funny and definitely one of my favourites we’ve seen live. One of the best parts was when she had a lady, who was sat in the front row with us, removed because she had talked through the first 20 minutes of the show. The cheer after she did it was quite something. There were so many quotes from the show that I could have chosen for this post’s title but I settled on “stage 1.5 knickers” because it made us laugh a lot and was one of the tamer options. Sarah’s comedy has definitely become more filthy over the years. Other offerings included: “snap flaps”, “your pubes are the bouncers to your fanny” and “if your fanny was clean and tidy it would be on your forehead”.
The next morning, Kieran cooked sausage, bacon and hash browns for breakfast. We spent the day watching football: Eastleigh vs Bromley 2-0; Arsenal vs Newcastle 4-1. Later, we watched Sean Lock’s DVD Lockipedia while enjoying a Dominoes takeaway.
We walked to Sambuca’s for lunch on Sunday. Sam had potato skins, roast chicken and ice cream; Kieran chose mushroom soup, roast lamb and ice cream; I had cheesy garlic bread with chicken and mushroom risotto. As always, we all thoroughly enjoyed the food. Back at the flat, we listened to Liverpool vs Chelsea in the Carabao cup final; Liverpool won 1-0 in the 118th minute.
Since Sam’s stay in February, the three of us plus Harley spent the first weekend of this month in London so that we could see Michael MacIntyre live at the O2. Apart from Harley really not liking the height of our seats, it was a great show and a really lovely weekend overall. We enjoyed a lot of nice food, including yet another Wetherspoons at the O2, a meal at Pizza Express and a Premier Inn buffet breakfast. We spent the Saturday at Westfields and laughed at the fact that the only shopping we did was in Primark. We even had 100% success transport-wise, using the trains to their full advantage. So the last few months have been packed full of comedy shows, nice food and good times with family. I already have 5 more trips home scheduled and so many comedy shows I’ve lost count. I’m very lucky that I’m able to spend so much time with everyone and go to so many good shows. Next up, a concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Mum to see Train for the second time.
A5Ramblings 