roundup of weekend

Along with negotiation on where to place all his stuff, we’re also in discussion about holidays…. The current plan is to fly to Bangkok end of October, with 2 weeks split 3 ways between Bangkok, a beach in the south and a visit to Angkor Watt in Cambodia. There’s so much to do and so little time, that we’ve had to cut out some options that we’d both over to try, but otherwise we’d end up spending the whole time travelling and no time having fun and relaxing. I’d also like to go to the River Kwai and Phnom Penh but I can’t see us managing it all in one go.

I’ve been looking into the beach part and, having started by being delighted at the good quality hotels you can get for tiny process, have now raised my expectations to such a point that nothing short of absolute luxury will do! Methinks I may have to temper my ambitions somewhat and accept that my life will still be complete without the existence of an infinity pool and a bar in the middle of the swimming pool…..

Anyway, any tips from those who have trod these shores before us would be very welcome.

Back to the real world, well work is quiet due to holidays so time is dragging. Unfortunately I don’t have any spare days to take otherwise I would join em. We had a fab weekend over the bank holiday, which started with popping into the Greenbelt Festival on the Friday evening. Now the last time I was at Greenbelt, I think, was when I was 17 which (depressingly) is nearly half my life ago. Things have changed, not least that it’s now in Cheltenham not Northampton, and it all seems to have gone a bit middle class. I guess the organisers themselves have grown up, along with myself, and their desire to sleep in a comfy bed at night has led them to hold the festival somewhere closer to more sturdy accommodation than a flimsy tent. Although I do recall that my tent (along with another Lichfield) was the only one out of about 10 remaining standing one year in a large gale…..

I suppose that the onset of festivals such as V and T in the Park have changed the profile of Greenbelt. When I was 15 it was the only possible chance of getting to a festival that your mum and dad wouldn’t loose sleep over, as Glastonbury was the only real alternative and that was never going to be an option! I fondly remember it consisting mainly of groups of teenage friends with the occasional adult to keep a (poor) eye on us. This time it seemed much more an adult event, with younger kids, and less of the teenage bracket. Then again, maybe I was just viewing it from a different angle, or I no longer have an innate need to identify cute 15 year old boys so was less responsive to my surroundings…. Either way the atmosphere certainly felt different. But not necessarily in a bad way. Things have to evolve to survive and I guess it’s true in this case. That said I feel very privileged to have experienced the Greenbelt of old – I have some really fond memories. And it wasn’t all change – good old Martyn Joseph was still there, fantastic as ever. Just a shame I missed Cara Dillon who I’d really been looking forward to, and that Maria McKee sang such depressingly dull songs.


So, onto Saturday. Having gone for a quick run, and had a lovely massage to treat myself after having (finally) been paid in my new job, Paul and I drove up (well actually he drove, I slept) to his parents and then onto Coleshill. Paul’s brother is in a brass band and were performing an open air “last night fo the proms" style concert, with flags, fireworks, picnic and everything1 we were wrapped up warm and expecting the worst in terms of the weather but were really lucky and it only rained on us for about 2 minutes. The music was excellent, and we really had a fantastic evening. They had clearly worked really hard and all the effort was well worth it, hopefully they raised a decent amount too…

So onto Sunday morning and Paul and I left his parent’s and drove north (well actually he drove, I slept – sensing a pattern here…?!?), via Ikea car park to pick up Sarah.

We arrived at the cottage in Wales just after lunch and were rewarded with fantastic weather all afternoon. The cottage was owned but my great aunt (or as close as) and is now being renovated by my cousins/wife/uncle and they are doing a brilliant job. The view from their garden is breathtaking and the whole family basically sat around drinking, eating, gossiping and relaxing until well in the evening. There was also some den-making activity, engineering discussion about water systems and drainage, men doing BBQ’s etc etc. Lynda and Mike did a great job on the food and what looked like enough meat to feed the 5000 was pretty much scoffed away. So much for the progress on the diet.

At this point I have to mention my Auntie Ros who avidly reads my blog to live vicariously. Luckily her and Mike didn’t tease me or dad about Paul moving in within each others earshot so I was spared any awkwardness. Cheers guys. She did let me down however, by not discussing liberty bodices or being abandoned outside the Vimto bar by my dad and uncle. I had promised Paul that these delights would be forthcoming. Oh well there’s always Christmas….

Those brave ones among us camped overnight and spent time on Monday morning at the local village show admiring the dogs in the dog show and trying their hand at circus skills (not so good on Paul and Laura’s part as a large Diablo ended up giving Laura a big bump on the head….ouch). sadly we didn’t stick around for the “potato in a bucket” or “best straw bale” judging competition but headed off to Ironbridge for lunch. There we stopped for a pastie, watched the hoardes of tourists (it’s a bit like Matlock Bath for the brummies) and then drove home (well actually Paul drove….. yeah yeah you know the rest)


Arrived back wishing we’d taken more time off and explored more of the surrounding area. Started to discuss next holiday. Tried to unpack but boxes already everywhere…. And I think this is where I came in…….