And it seems that readers of this blog don’t like being left on a cliffhanger, especially one that has gone on for over two weeks. I have been flattered by the number of people who have said to me (including some I had no idea even read it): “So, what happened next?”
As I left it, we had gone to bed in our hotel in Belfast after a meal in a pub during which I had wondered to myself whether Karen’s fish looked fully cooked.
At 2.30am I lay there bitterly regretting my decision not to say anything as I listened to Karen being violently sick in the bathroom. Why, oh why, hadn’t I spoken up?
She was quite poorly and eventually got back into bed until around 4am, when she brought the rest of it up.
At 6.30am she decided that perhaps some tonic water would help to settle her stomach for the journey home. I went down and asked Reception to get some from the bar for her.
At 8am I went down to breakfast with Kevin, whilst unsurprisingly Karen said she couldn’t face it.
At 9am we walked down the long corridor to check out. The walking clearly upset Karen’s stomach again and, caught between racing back to the room or heading down to some toilets near Reception, she managed neither. She brought back up all the tonic water she had drunk in the corridor. Fortunately, it was just the tonic water, but still not nice for her, us or the poor cleaner who was nearby.
I apologised profusely to the poor cleaner who tried to help and then, without any fuss, started to mop and scrub the carpet. We got Karen down to Reception, where we checked out and ordered an Uber to get us back to the bus station.
Karen was very brave and was determined she would make it home without further incident. She just had to make it through an Uber ride, a bus journey, a flight and then a drive home. These types of days are bad enough without worrying if you are going to be sick again at any time.
She made it without further problems and, indeed, seemed brighter by the time we got home.
It then took her another 24 hours to fully recover.
And yes, I feel so bad about the fact that I should have prevented it.
I had just 48 hours at home before I was off again for my now annual trip to South Ockendon to play golf. We had a great time, although the less said about some of the quality of the golf the better. I will choose instead to remember the company and the quality of the food.
Then, 48 hours later, I was back driving to London again, this time taking Ellie with us to see Paddington the Musical. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. Every character was exactly how I imagined. There seems to be no end to Paddington’s talents. I still maintain he is one of the most underrated actors of his generation, but now he can also dance and sing! Heartwarming and lovely.
We also enjoyed a Candlelit Concert in the Assembly House by the Chaos Collective. It seemed expensive for what it was, but perhaps that is just because I am annoyed that I never came up with the concept in the first place. It is a real money-spinner for someone, with performances apparently taking place concurrently in 300 venues across the UK.
Our annual ‘bowls’ match on the cliffs at Gorleston took place. The match itself was good fun, although rather than just concluding with a draw at the end, I suggested we double-check which final ball was closer by using the laser measure on an iPhone.
I would have been happier leaving it as a tie and felt bad (and still do) when it turned out Graham and I had won the match by being 1 cm closer. I just hadn’t thought through the consequences if we were actually closer.
Sorry again to the two Ian’s!
And the football – oh dear. We didn’t deserve to lose the WBA match, with the most blatant handball, but on TV against Millwall we deserved the hammering we got.
Finally, onto this trip – our third trip to The Poplars in Thirsk. With the hot tub switched off ready to be emptied, and no prospect of refilling it due to the hosepipe ban, the forecast seems to be lovely on the day of our drive up North. Then, when we are there, the heavens are forecast to open.
This is probably why we prefer to take our holidays somewhere where the weather is more reliable.
