Let’s begin this post with thanks to Chris & Michelle for their hospitality last week. We remember the regal roast beef, the stunning stir-fry, the licious chicken pie, the succulent salmon and the chumptious chilli. Then, of course there was the brilliant breakfast on Saturday morning.

We left the family after lunch at the Garden Centre on Saturday afternoon. Then – Harry?

Ja?

What happened next?

We went to Wakefield.

He does not want to tell you, because he’s being a nuisance again. He keeps letting you down and costing money. I  don’t do that; je sius très sage, moi.

Yes, you are, very good.

So you’re selling the wrong one!?

We’d love to keep you both, but we have explained why we think we can’t.

I will tell the story; we set off from Golgar with Harry pulling me –

Dass war schwer – hard work up that hill!

Then we joined the motorway and went over to Yorkshire. Suddenly – bang! Big Harry had blown his top!

Well, our first thought was that the main skylight had blown off. We pulled onto the hard shoulder and and called the highways agency. Fortunately there had been no sign of damage to other vehicles or accident caused by swerving, so the nice man on the phone said he’d treat it as debris on the carriageway and a crew would come along and try to retrieve the skylight if possible. The fact that no other driver had reacted to the incident should have been a clue as to what had  really happened, but for now we waited till the patrol vehicle turned up and said they hadn’t seen it.

We re-joined the carriageway, with the internal blind drawn across the space – that was silly! – then another bang, knocking and the blind was shredded! But the skylight was still on the roof – it hadn’t blown off, it had ‘flipped’. Damaged beyond repair, it was retrievable from inside, with only a little bit still attached, which quickly gave way.

Now the main thing was to get to Oakleigh Close and see what could be done before the rain set in. Rachel and Sean weren’t there, but we let ourselves in as planned and found a ladder in the garage. It was starting to rain.

Now, I’m a bit of a wimp where ladders are concerned, and kneeling on Harry’s roof in a heavy shower trying to secure the remnant of the skylight and a bin bag with tape that wouldn’t stick to the wet surface. I did both as much and as little as I could, then tried to get down ….. well, I did get down, but not without some difficulty.

Rachel, Sean and Shannon arrived as the rain eased off; equipped with towels to dry the roof and some stronger bags, Carol went up the ladder (she’s tougher than I am – and doesn’t have a dodgy hip) and did a more thorough job on fixing the skylight.

Sean took a picture from his office window:

Not quite the easy transfer from Golgar to Sharlston we had anticipated

Sunday morning and Shannon joined us for breakfast:

Later on, a lively service at Destiny Church was to have been followed by a ‘family sports day’ and picnic. Everyone had set up their picnic furniture in the nearby park and was watching the games, when we were treated to another of these April showers (?) and a mass retreat took us back into the church building (a converted theatre) for the picnic. I thought it was time to take a picture of the proud parents instead of The Baby:

But that didn’t last!