Thursday 11th: Pack up and away in fairly good time; stop at London Colney for fuel and a bit of shopping; some discussion as to the route to take: Rachel had recommended M1 and Woodhead to get to the first destination Stockport, avoiding M6, but others including M’dame said take M6 and M’sieur gave in. Perhaps we would take the toll; not worth it, SHE said. After lunch SHE was driving and decided the M6 Toll might be a good idea  after all!

Hmmm….

After that M6 was s l o w; crawl, stop, crawl, move a bit, crawl … Maybe Rachel was right, but it didn’t matter, we had plenty of time. Only on meeting Daniel to take him out for ‘tea’ did THEY realise THEY had no back seat! M’dame pushed things around a bit and squeezed in amongst the baggage.

Hmmmm …..

THEY enjoyed an excellent Chinese meal and after taking Daniel back to the hospital – DON’T PANIC! He works and lives there! – We set off ‘over the hill’ to Wakefield. A section of M62 was closed and SATNAV did some weird stuff after we left the motorway to get to Sharlston Common, so the journey took a bit longer than expected, but we made it by 10.30.

There was a warm welcome from ALL the residents: 

Oi! Scratch MY head, not yours!

Friday 12th: Rachel and Sean left early for their meeting in Darlington, and we were with Megan for most of the day. We had lunch at the nearby garden centre then made our way to ‘Xscape’ where the chosen activity was to be bowling (10-pin, not crown green!). There was going to be a bit of a wait for a lane so we walked (an uncomplaining) Megan across to B & Q where Carol bought some paint and I would have bought a shelving unit for the kitchen at Sunejo, if it had been in stock –

I’m glad it wasn’t!

We might still get it at another branch.

M*rde alors!

I’ll ignore that …. By now Rachel and Sean were back from Darlington, and it was agreed that Sean would join in the bowling while Rachel went shopping. Well, we were out of practice at first and the middle and young generations won the first game convincingly, but those who grew up in the sixties found form  and Carol set a good scoring rate for the second game;  however, she faltered towards the end and with a ‘strike’ at the 9th frame SKT came through to win. The pictures are hopeless, but here’s a sample:

Feb 2025: The photo that was here has vanished, and I can’t find any pics of bowling at all!

The day was rounded off with a Pizza supper at Oakleigh Court*.

Saturday 13th: We went round by the motorway to get to Golcar where, by coincidence, a Garden Centre was the proposed venu for lunch. This was a garden centre with a playground and some animals to look at, so Sean and Nina were well catered for.

I heard that M’dame and Michelle walked back up the hill, but the old man with (he says) the dodgy leg took the bus with Dad and the children.

I do have a dodgy leg! After tea and bedtime, it was cards-out time and we were pleased to level the score following the defeat at bridge that C & M inflicted on us last time.

I believe there was some discussion as to who was going to drive back to Wakefield. M’sieur had taken a bit more of the ‘bubbles’ during the card game than M’dame, but he was saying he would be OK, and if necessary he would use one of the alco-tests which I carry all the time, as required by French law. Then his son handed him a mug of ‘something’ and said ‘Dad, have some of this and let her drive’. M’sieur thought it was water or cold tea or something; it turned out to be whisky! That settled it – M’dame drove back. M’sieur sulked.

I did not.

Tu en avais l’air: you gave a good impression.

Sunday 14th: En route again soon after breakfast (café-croissants, yummy!) , heading for Newcastle to visit Florence. THEY were able to admire the recently presented MBE medal:

And Florence enjoyed the latest photos of Sunejo and the families. So it was soon back on the road to get to Oakleigh Court* in time for evening Sunday roast.

To come: South to Mudeford, treatment for the leg and back to Surbiton before crossing the Channel ….

*Someone (or sometwo) have got their Courts and Closes muddled up, and others who might have commented either didn’t read the post or didn’t notice! It is, of course, Porton Court, in Surbiton, and Oakleigh Close, in Wakefield!