Woke up late but couldn't wait to get home. Weather had come in cold and wet. Everything grey and muddy, back to the all pervasive smell of rot. Had the sense of being finished with the place although I've got to come back in two weeks time to take Nan to the hospital for the final checkup. I think Nan may have been glad to see me go. I'm often short with her which is not fair, my only excuse is that its impossible to have a proper conversation what with her hearing. Often there's so much emotion its smothering and I long to get out. This is not a new thing.
Mum wanted me to see Fred & Steve's old workshop before it gets demolished. All of the tools and posters have been taken away by Dairyland. They will make it into an exhibition. I didn't feel much, just a little sadness when I saw they had taken Fred's swivel chair, but not his bench. The chair had been fixed to the floor so it was the perfect distance from the bench for him to work the leather. It was a treat as a child for me to swivel in that chair. Mum said there was a note hidden behind a poster "I love you uncle Fred. Delia. 1983" It was in Stephen's handwriting. Fred died in 1977 and I would have been a teenager by then anyway. What did it mean? Who could say?
I got further held up by lunch and agreeing to take Mum's husband to his place in Par. The weather worsened, and I took a wrong road so that I ended up driving via Plymouth. This is more than ever the long way. By that time, I was frightened by the driving conditions so that my fingers got sore on the steering wheel. The wind was up, water deep in the road so that it held the car back at times. I thought about stopping at a motel but pushed on. By the time I stopped off 30 miles off the M42 I had driven out of the storm.
8pm at motorway services was calm and removed from the world. There were only a handful of customers, the staff were leaning on furniture, gossiping with maintenance staff. I rested and read a paper, eating Wimpy hamburger, enjoying the thousand island dressing they still use. I felt more relaxed than I had all weekend.
Got home to a warm welcome and sudden onset of cystitis. I tell by the food left for me, and by the way his arms fell around me that Nick had missed me horribly. He said he had worried about me because I had sounded stressed all the time I had gone. We both fell asleep feeling better.
Mum wanted me to see Fred & Steve's old workshop before it gets demolished. All of the tools and posters have been taken away by Dairyland. They will make it into an exhibition. I didn't feel much, just a little sadness when I saw they had taken Fred's swivel chair, but not his bench. The chair had been fixed to the floor so it was the perfect distance from the bench for him to work the leather. It was a treat as a child for me to swivel in that chair. Mum said there was a note hidden behind a poster "I love you uncle Fred. Delia. 1983" It was in Stephen's handwriting. Fred died in 1977 and I would have been a teenager by then anyway. What did it mean? Who could say?
I got further held up by lunch and agreeing to take Mum's husband to his place in Par. The weather worsened, and I took a wrong road so that I ended up driving via Plymouth. This is more than ever the long way. By that time, I was frightened by the driving conditions so that my fingers got sore on the steering wheel. The wind was up, water deep in the road so that it held the car back at times. I thought about stopping at a motel but pushed on. By the time I stopped off 30 miles off the M42 I had driven out of the storm.
8pm at motorway services was calm and removed from the world. There were only a handful of customers, the staff were leaning on furniture, gossiping with maintenance staff. I rested and read a paper, eating Wimpy hamburger, enjoying the thousand island dressing they still use. I felt more relaxed than I had all weekend.
Got home to a warm welcome and sudden onset of cystitis. I tell by the food left for me, and by the way his arms fell around me that Nick had missed me horribly. He said he had worried about me because I had sounded stressed all the time I had gone. We both fell asleep feeling better.
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