Wellingborough, England

Wellingborough

Ok, 15% on the ipad, surely that's enough battery left to give me time to write something....no more excuses. Problem I have with the UK is the super cheap paperbacks you can find in the supermarket, qualities not great but if I've got something to read, nearly everything gets put second ....hence the not having written anything for nearly a month, so thinking cap on, what did we get up to.

We had a wonderful week being looked after by my Dad’s cousin Margaret and her husband Dave. It was full of chatting, reminiscing and laughter. It's so wonderful to make connections and hear stories from the past. Margaret is the spitting image of my Dad’s mum, Rose (Sarah's name sake). Grandma was such a wonderfully loving and open woman, and shared these qualities with her older sister Grace, Margaret's mum. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my memories of my Grandma with Margaret and hearing of Margaret’s recollections of my Dad and Aunties and Uncle when they were all children together here in the UK. It's always so very special to spend time with family, to have a connection and a shared history.

Margaret and Dave have a cruising boat for use on the rivers and canals in the Midlands. We visited their boat club and had the opportunity to have a look on several canal boats, or narrow boats. They are delightful caravans of the river, with their owners taking much pride in them. At the boat club each member has a chalet, which is essentially a dressed up garden shed, on stilts for when the river breaks the banks. It was fascinating to hear from Dave the rules of the river, the way the locks work, and how when mismanaged the river does indeed flood with water levels rising, or sometime sinking if the water is let out of the locks. It's all quite a complicated process, but I'd love to try it one day. Although not when I'm actually trying to travel somewhere, due to the locks and the convoluting river it takes about a day to travel the same distance you can cover in about half an hour in the car.

Hugely grateful for the week, hoping Dave and Margaret get over the onslaught of us all soon xxx