I woke up this morning after a pretty good night’s sleep to what comics in the past would have a day that was ‘scorchio’ ie hot all day. The first thing I did was to consult my phone where I had received an appreciative text from the husband of my niece who showed me around Harrogate and for whom I had purchased from Oxfam a cricketing manual. It looks as though this might be a delight for him which is a source of much pleasure. I then consulted the train timetables to find the frequency of a train to Knaresborough to see my sister again today. I found a good timetable and I was also taken to a site where I could book my ticket which was cheap enough and the return fare made it even cheaper. I paid for my ticket and then get the QR code installed on my phone (as my son showed me how to do the other day) so this really does make things like travel so much easier. Moreover, I have an ‘open’ ticket so I can linger in Knaresborough as long as I like and am under no time pressure to return. But in Harrogate I indicated to my favourite cafe owner that I would return for another meal and I am going to follow his recommendation for what to eat today. So far, my Yorkshire trip is fulfilling all of the objectives that I had intended for it and I have been indicating to my Yorkshire family that any member of the extended family can stay with me in Bromsgrove for a few days if they wanted a holiday break and, in return I feel I will probably return to the ‘Crown’ hotel in Harrogate on a regular basis. Meanwhile, the joys of rapid communication as I have pinged a few emails across to one of my former Oxfordshire friends and my son and my relatives. My Oxfordshire friend is telling me that the Teachers Pensions’ Agency may take months to process the continuation of Meg’s pension which is just the not good news I wanted to hear!
After breakfast, I picked up my newspaper and set off in plenty of time to catch the train to Knaresborough but as the walk to the station took less time than I imagined, I caught a train half an hour earlier than anticipated. I stopped off at a Costa Coffee on the High Street in Knaresborough and the very helpful young assistant helped me to navigate the way to the residential home where my sister is lodged. I had a little fishing about to do with cutting through some narrow ginnels off the High Street but found it without too much difficulty and arrived at my sister 20 minutes earlier than planned. I had taken a iPad along with me and although my photos are rather a jumble, I managed to find some family photos and others of interest to my sister and so we spent the morning until lunch time. At this point, I was going to leave to catch the train back to Harrogate and my sister was going to dine as she generally does in the dining room where she has a bit of company. But the care staff persuaded me to stay as they said that they had plenty of food for lunch so I dined with my sister in the beautifully appointed dining room. Towards the end of the meal, I was throwing out ideas how upon the occasion of my next visit to see my sister, we might take her out for tea or lunch somewhere. At this point the assistant manager of the care home hove into view and I asked what I thought was rather a bold question and whether on the occasion of my next visit, we might take tea in the gardens of the home. We worked out the occasion of my next visit would probably be on the occasion of my sister’s birthday. which is at the end of August and on a Sunday. The manager said she would be delighted to organise this for us and, even if it is wet, they had another little area where with the rest of the family we could have a little celebratory tea party. So I was delighted that I had actually asked the question and even more delighted that it looks as though a little celebration will be easy to arrange. I can now disseminate this news round the rest of the family when I see them over the course off the next day or so and we all have time to make space in our diaries for this. Then I made my way back to the station and thence to Harrogate which was a very straight forward journey and the journey to the hotel is largely downhill which was useful. Then I got some supplies from the little shop across the road and had a quiet afternoon resting before I see more family this evening.
The evening turned out to be an incredibly intense emotional experience. Firstly I met my nephew and his wife in a hotel bar just across the way from where I am staying and we had several drinks here. Then we repaired to a local fish restaurant which was nearby and which my relatives had wanted to patronise for a long time and not quite got round to it. We all had superbly good fish meals and shared lot of family background with each other which all four of us found fascinating and illuminating. Finally, we called back at my hotel and I managed to show my relatives some memorabilia of Meg which I particularly wanted them to see and we finished off with a spirits nightcap. So all in all, it was a most intense evening of remenisciencies which I would not have missed for all the world. We have seen so little of each other over the years that we all of us had a great deal to catch up on. I am hopeful that the wider family can come along to Worcestershire so that I can entertain them and the house is certainly large enough for us to have an excellent party. It could well be that in the years ahead, I visit Harrogate much more often than in the past and I hope that, for their part, they can be entertained in my house when they can take some vacations.