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Where did May go?
Friday, May 29th, 2015 02:57 pmWell, May has been an odd month.
At the beginning of the month, I went back up to Shrewsbury for a couple of nights so that we could scatter Mum’s ashes and say our final, final goodbyes. She was only a small woman, but there were rather more ashes than you would imagine. Heavier than you would expect, too. Anyway, we took half of them down the coast to Tywyn, where she and Dad had a caravan for so many years, and scattered those on the beach. We didn’t stay long; the weather wasn’t great and without a base to work from, a day out at the seaside in damp, windy weather is not recommended. Had it not been for the fact that it was the weekend nearest what would have been her 87th birthday, I might have suggested we change it to a warmer time of year.
Next day we drove up to Wem, where Dad is buried and- rather surreptitiously, dug a small hole on his grave, added some more ashes and then planted a fragrant herb on top. I wish we hadn’t had to have been so furtive, but the council wanted over £200 in interrment fees and we only wanted to add a few ounces of ash so that they could be together. Afterwards, on something of a nostalgia/remembrance kick, we drove to Telford where I finally got to see Nan and Grandad’s grave 40 years after they passed, and found time to seek out Uncle Des and Auntie Dot’s grave in the same churchyard to pay our respects, too.
It was all rather emotional.
Once that was done, it was back home to the Gin Palace, which we had to clear so that the replastering and redecorating of the living room and stairwell could be started and completed. We had allocated a full 10 days (including an allowance for the plaster to dry) to get that done and dusted.
Silly, naive us.
As I type this at the end of the month, we are still in a state of disarray. The builder is coming back on Monday to do more work. Hopefully he will need to put in no more than 3 days in total, but are having to try and work from home in rotation, to ensure someone is there while the work is happening. This is complicated by the fact that I have to take another couple of days to go to a funeral (this time my Good and Deserving Aunt Margaret, Dad’s younger sister, who had cancer…). So although I am working from home on Monday, I can’t really do that again for a while as it will start looking as though I’m taking the piss.
Better do some work now: reflections on the General Election (possibly) and the story of How Bryan got a tattoo (probably) over the next couple of days.
At the beginning of the month, I went back up to Shrewsbury for a couple of nights so that we could scatter Mum’s ashes and say our final, final goodbyes. She was only a small woman, but there were rather more ashes than you would imagine. Heavier than you would expect, too. Anyway, we took half of them down the coast to Tywyn, where she and Dad had a caravan for so many years, and scattered those on the beach. We didn’t stay long; the weather wasn’t great and without a base to work from, a day out at the seaside in damp, windy weather is not recommended. Had it not been for the fact that it was the weekend nearest what would have been her 87th birthday, I might have suggested we change it to a warmer time of year.
Next day we drove up to Wem, where Dad is buried and- rather surreptitiously, dug a small hole on his grave, added some more ashes and then planted a fragrant herb on top. I wish we hadn’t had to have been so furtive, but the council wanted over £200 in interrment fees and we only wanted to add a few ounces of ash so that they could be together. Afterwards, on something of a nostalgia/remembrance kick, we drove to Telford where I finally got to see Nan and Grandad’s grave 40 years after they passed, and found time to seek out Uncle Des and Auntie Dot’s grave in the same churchyard to pay our respects, too.
It was all rather emotional.
Once that was done, it was back home to the Gin Palace, which we had to clear so that the replastering and redecorating of the living room and stairwell could be started and completed. We had allocated a full 10 days (including an allowance for the plaster to dry) to get that done and dusted.
Silly, naive us.
As I type this at the end of the month, we are still in a state of disarray. The builder is coming back on Monday to do more work. Hopefully he will need to put in no more than 3 days in total, but are having to try and work from home in rotation, to ensure someone is there while the work is happening. This is complicated by the fact that I have to take another couple of days to go to a funeral (this time my Good and Deserving Aunt Margaret, Dad’s younger sister, who had cancer…). So although I am working from home on Monday, I can’t really do that again for a while as it will start looking as though I’m taking the piss.
Better do some work now: reflections on the General Election (possibly) and the story of How Bryan got a tattoo (probably) over the next couple of days.