This morning was church, as always, which I had to rush to get to after my alarm, set for 8.30, failed me when I needed it most! I sat with the Butler family while big JB preached an excellent sermon about us being a church in the New Testament sense of the word - united as a group of God's people, rather than getting caught up in the politics - ie the church building. During communion I found my hand stuffed with a huge piece of broken white loaf, so large that it would almost have done for lunch if accompanied by a sneaky slice of cheese!
Afterwards I spoke with Matt, making plans for a cycle this afternoon, Simmo and also Richard Thomson, who has requested my help in getting him started with his brand new computer. I agreed to pop round on Friday afternoon. My pigeonhole contained information about our upcoming trip to Soul Survivor, as well as the obligitary C of E newspaper for Mum and Dad. I was also asked to write an article for the church magazine about the activities of the church yoof, so a busy morning all round.
Back home Dad made a hash of re-hanging the dining room mirror while Mum treated us all to a lovely Sunday dinner. Matt arrived at 2.30 ready for our cycle ride and, in consultation with my rather battered route map, we carved out a spontaneous ride which eventually led us around both roads and cycle tracks between Marchwood, Ashurst, Totton, Hounsdown and Dibden. The cycle paths between Marchwood and Ashurst proved only to be a good bit of exercise as they ultimately circled an area of forest in a large loop. Fortunately, unlike on our ride a couple of weeks ago, these tracks were mainly flat and thus were a pleasure to cycle on. The path between Ashurst and Totton was also fairly fast, although we did get a bit of surprise after emerging next to the dual carriageway going into town! The only really nasty part of the journey was when the heavens decided to drench me for the third time this week going back towards Marchwood, though the sun soon returned to dry us off ready for the final uphill leg on the way home.
Once I was home and recovering I retraced our route on Google Earth and was surprised to find it totalled nearly 20 miles! Not bad going for just a few hours out on a Sunday afternoon! At this point Mum had gone into work to finish a few things off before her holiday this week, Dad had gone to the evening service at church and Lydia and Ernest were too busy canoodling to be much fun so I decided to drop in on Nanny, having been unable to do so while with Lydia a couple of days ago.
It turned out that Nanny had been down in Worthing visiting Joyce with Sue, Janet and Kevin over the weekend, so she told me all about her trip along the coast while I got her up to speed with events in the McGill family, as well as looking ahead to the birthdays this coming week. Apparently Sue, Janet, Jean and Charlie will all be able to make it to Lydia's birthday on Tuesday, which will certainly add to the atmosphere! French fancies were lurking in Nan's larder, which was obviously an offer too good to miss, and these contributed to my staying for nearly an hour and a half before heading home in time for another popcorn-fuelled Top Gear.
Ern, Lydia, Dad and I all viewed in the lounge together, surrounded by giant bowls of microwave popcorn. Mum arrived home halfway through and, despite being tired from the extra hours of work, very kindly made us all some sarnies for tea. Top Gear featured another cheap car challenge, where the presenters each bought a rear-wheel drive car for less than £1500. The punishment for breaking down was having to drive an old Morris Marina, which was a source of much mirth for us as Mum and Dad used to own one back in the 1980s!
After this I fancied a trip to the pub so me, Ern and L bundled into Nice Fat Motor and headed for the Bold Forester. Here we chatted to the landlords for quite a while about their holiday desires (of all things) before escaping to enjoy a good hours' chat and jollity. Much fizzy and crisps were downed and Ernest took great delight in pointing his camera at anything that moved.
We stayed til past last orders, leaving me hardly any time in which to write this blog. In spite of this, it has naturally overflowed into a huge, rambling mess so I think I shall leave it here for now and maybe edit in the morning, if I have time. Which I won't!
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