We dropped the dogs off at the kennels on Tuesday morning. It's a relatively remote farm and is reached crossing a very steep hump bridge and I swear that Scamper knew where she was when we went over it. Since it was the day after the bank holiday it was packed with people waiting to collect their little darlings and it was like being a Heathrow again seeing the happy families reunited.
The last time we had to use kennels these were unavailable. They are small and very expensive but it is obvious just how much better they are than anything else we have seen. It was Billy's first time ever in kennels and I think he was a bit cowed by all the activity (the farm has plenty of large horses which were being moved into horse boxes as we arrived). He behaved beautifully and meekly and I heard one of the staff congratulate him as she led him off (little did she realise what a handful he would become once he had found his confidence and having just watched one of them being dragged across the yard by a small black lab bitch eager to be reunited I knew they didn't stand a chance).
Once I had said goodbye (waving to their backs as they waddled off all thoughts of me gone from their heads) I returned home and we set off for Scotland. It's a six hour drive and the days of just keeping going are over because we need to stop and feed Her Majesty so now it takes seven hours at least. But we made it in time for dinner and Harriet was as good as gold. As soon as word had got around that we arrived my sister Anne, Lynsay (my neice) and Ona (Lynsay's other Gran, Iain's mum) arrived. Also looking in was Karen who stays next door with John. Karen looked after Scamper and Pip a lot when they were with my parents (and loved Pip, not quite so keen on Scamper for some unfathomable reason...)
My uncle Stuart and his partner Rose were desperate to come and they arrived at 9.30pm after attending an auction. They brought Harriet tartan slippers, a teddy and a crystal dummy. Then they had to go off to their shop to unload the stuff but luckily we could could then go to bed.
The next day was the big day of visiting. My mother had arranged for everything to take place in her house which saved us an enormous amount of travelling and effort. The roll call was:
9am - George and Alison (my brother and sister-in law, who were working from 11am so had to get in early)
10am - Isobel and Wullie (my aunt and uncle)
12pm - Anne Nicholson, Julie-Anne, Betty L, Dee (the 'hospital girls', my mother's friends) and Dean, Dee's son
3pm - Mona, Julia and Margaret (my mother's cousins and their friend)
5pm - Maria, Elaine and Carys (Maria is Anne's twin and wife of Kenny my driving instructor..., Rachel is her daughter and Cary is her two year old daughter)
5.30pm Agnes (next door neighbour)
6pm - Dorothy and Betty S(my mother's friends, Dorothy is the prodigious knitter who made such wonderful things)
6.30pm - Anne Wilson, Caroline and Milly (Anne knows my mother through having had Caroline at almost the same time I was born and Milly is Caroline's daughter who had taken her first steps the day before)
xxxpm - Anne, Lynsay and Iain have arrived at some point and are blending in)
7pm - Ryan and Jaquie (my nephew and his girlfriend)
8pm - George and Morag McKenzie (ex-next door neighbours)
It was an incredible day and although it was a little bit packed at times it was such a pleasure to see everyone and for everyone to have the chance of a hold with Harriet. The presents continued to arrive so our thank-you list started expanding again despite us managing to clear some of the back-log. My mother had prepared a large buffet that kept everyone happy and Harriet behaved beautifully despite not having a decent sleep all day.
The next day was mercifully much quieter. In the afternoon Kathleen came (another of my mother's friends) and later on it was Eileen, Donna and Rebecca (Eileen my aunt, Donna her daughter and Rebecca Donna's daughter - Donna is due in five weeks and was looking great). We delivered one other thank you letter and had another photo opportunity with Nan and John (my sister's neighbours) and waved at a distance to more friends Rose and Willie (Rose had shingles so was out of bounds).
In the evening my parents took us for a meal out at Benny T's before hitting the sack at a respectable 9m.
We've just arrived back after another long but mercifully uneventful drive and are now looking forward to a weekend of rest (well, that and ordering a shipping container to keep some of Harriet's stuff in).
Friday 17 April 2009
Sunday 12 April 2009
The Grand Tour - Part One
I have two weeks of paternity leave so we are off touring the country to show off the new arrival. This week we travelled up to the Midlands to see Jay's family and also to retrieve Arto from storage and take back Daisy from her holiday with Ash.
Arto (unlike the Land Rover) started first time and it was soon restocked with the new essentials of our life on the road - the steriliser, nappies, SMA Gold ready mixed cartons, dog chews, ready meals, beer and wine.
The first night we took her to see the family Lomas (Kev, Amy, Josh, Toby, Jack, Tom and Chester - Jay's brother and family). She was not on her best behaviour - it had been a nightmare car journey up and she needed to sleep - but everyone loved her of course no matter what mood she was in. Typical of the trip I forgot the camera so there were no pictures alas. Gill and Chris as so often provided us with a delicious meal.
The next day it was off to see Sue and Graham (Jay's Aunt and Uncle) who were looking after Jade and Molly (Sue and Graham's grand-daughters) so they got to see Harriet and we got to see Jade and Molly's fabulous new house. The lack of wires coming from the many large screen flat tvs was particularly noted (... Chris's handiwork we were admiring there). Even Graham, who allegedly prefers not to handle babies so young and fragile, had a hold and Jade and Molly did too under orders from Sue. No camera again so you'll have to take our word for it.
In the afternnon we took Granny and Gramps out for a meal in a pub in Barton, which was extremely delicious and well above average for pub food.
In the evening we visited Michael and Anne (Jay's Uncle and Aunt) at home and they cooked a fabulous meal. Such was Michael's commitment to seeing Harriet that he even missed Manchester United for it (he did run out the room every now again when it sounded like something had happened but the conversation just carried on without him). Michael has a keen interest in genealogy and he has already added Harriet to the family tree and amusingly put me down as the mother without realising that is exactly how I am treated on the birth certificate (well, in the final version I am "Mother/Parent2"). No photos again.
The next morning we visited Carolynn and Graham (Jay's sister-in-law Amy's mother and father). This time I did remember the camera so at last we have so photographs! We had a tour of their beautiful garden and but the stars of the show (other than Harriet) were the extremely addictive chocolate chip cookies which we couldn't stop talking about thereafter.
In the afternoon we made a pilgrimage to Branston Water Park. We have walked round this (Jay more than me admittedly) many, many times pushing Jessica's pram and we wanted to do it again but this time with our own. The mission was accomplished but sadly the pub had shut for the afternoon so Chris and I, unwilling to face an afternoon without a proper beer, walked back along the canal with Megan and Billy so we could stop off at the pub in Barton. It was a perfect walk although we did save ourselves a bit of time (to make up for the second pint) by crossing the A38 which is a bit hairy and only to be attempted with a maximum of one dog each.
The next day was Jay's birthday and in the morning Kev and Amy came round so we have some pictures of them with Harriet at last. In the afternoon Sarah, Rob and Jess came round with Milly. So Rob, Chris and I set off with three labradors (Billy, Milly and Henry), one golden retriever (Megan) and two west highland white terriers (Samper and Pippin). There was no danger of us attempting the A38 with that merry lot so we used the flyover but it was still a superb walk unmarked by incident despite us needing to walk through a field of cows and as a short cut crossing the lock gates (I was particularly proud of Pip who traversed the lock gates several times and even Billy managed it across unaided, we won't mention Scamper or Milly's poor show).
In the evening we were invited round to Sarah and Rob's. Gill and Chris had bought the food - the centrepiece being an enormous salmon - and Sarah and Rob cooked it. It was stunningly good and sadly we could only do justice to half of it. For desert we had of course the birthday cake although that was with only a token candle since fitting the actual number on is a bit tricky these days.
We returned home the next day very happy. Next stop - Scotland!
Arto (unlike the Land Rover) started first time and it was soon restocked with the new essentials of our life on the road - the steriliser, nappies, SMA Gold ready mixed cartons, dog chews, ready meals, beer and wine.
The first night we took her to see the family Lomas (Kev, Amy, Josh, Toby, Jack, Tom and Chester - Jay's brother and family). She was not on her best behaviour - it had been a nightmare car journey up and she needed to sleep - but everyone loved her of course no matter what mood she was in. Typical of the trip I forgot the camera so there were no pictures alas. Gill and Chris as so often provided us with a delicious meal.
The next day it was off to see Sue and Graham (Jay's Aunt and Uncle) who were looking after Jade and Molly (Sue and Graham's grand-daughters) so they got to see Harriet and we got to see Jade and Molly's fabulous new house. The lack of wires coming from the many large screen flat tvs was particularly noted (... Chris's handiwork we were admiring there). Even Graham, who allegedly prefers not to handle babies so young and fragile, had a hold and Jade and Molly did too under orders from Sue. No camera again so you'll have to take our word for it.
In the afternnon we took Granny and Gramps out for a meal in a pub in Barton, which was extremely delicious and well above average for pub food.
In the evening we visited Michael and Anne (Jay's Uncle and Aunt) at home and they cooked a fabulous meal. Such was Michael's commitment to seeing Harriet that he even missed Manchester United for it (he did run out the room every now again when it sounded like something had happened but the conversation just carried on without him). Michael has a keen interest in genealogy and he has already added Harriet to the family tree and amusingly put me down as the mother without realising that is exactly how I am treated on the birth certificate (well, in the final version I am "Mother/Parent2"). No photos again.
The next morning we visited Carolynn and Graham (Jay's sister-in-law Amy's mother and father). This time I did remember the camera so at last we have so photographs! We had a tour of their beautiful garden and but the stars of the show (other than Harriet) were the extremely addictive chocolate chip cookies which we couldn't stop talking about thereafter.
In the afternoon we made a pilgrimage to Branston Water Park. We have walked round this (Jay more than me admittedly) many, many times pushing Jessica's pram and we wanted to do it again but this time with our own. The mission was accomplished but sadly the pub had shut for the afternoon so Chris and I, unwilling to face an afternoon without a proper beer, walked back along the canal with Megan and Billy so we could stop off at the pub in Barton. It was a perfect walk although we did save ourselves a bit of time (to make up for the second pint) by crossing the A38 which is a bit hairy and only to be attempted with a maximum of one dog each.
The next day was Jay's birthday and in the morning Kev and Amy came round so we have some pictures of them with Harriet at last. In the afternoon Sarah, Rob and Jess came round with Milly. So Rob, Chris and I set off with three labradors (Billy, Milly and Henry), one golden retriever (Megan) and two west highland white terriers (Samper and Pippin). There was no danger of us attempting the A38 with that merry lot so we used the flyover but it was still a superb walk unmarked by incident despite us needing to walk through a field of cows and as a short cut crossing the lock gates (I was particularly proud of Pip who traversed the lock gates several times and even Billy managed it across unaided, we won't mention Scamper or Milly's poor show).
In the evening we were invited round to Sarah and Rob's. Gill and Chris had bought the food - the centrepiece being an enormous salmon - and Sarah and Rob cooked it. It was stunningly good and sadly we could only do justice to half of it. For desert we had of course the birthday cake although that was with only a token candle since fitting the actual number on is a bit tricky these days.
We returned home the next day very happy. Next stop - Scotland!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)