Robert Laurence Binyon

Monday

Today was intended to be a later start which in the end turned out to be even later due to two road traffic accidents blocking the route. Now the larder units are in place around the fridge freezer with one of them fully fitted with draws.

Whilst all this was going on I was wresting with technology in order to book a hair appointment. My hairdresser stopped trading on Christmas Eve due to circumstances beyond her control. I like to use Wella products and tracked down a salon that uses these. I had hoped to talk to someone over the phone but I got an answer phone message suggesting I could book online, hence my struggle with technology.

After the fitter left for the day we visited mum who was hearing voices telling her what to do and other strange things. We then dined in The Wickets Inn which serves good honest pub food.

Tuesday

The kitchen units arrived and were stacked around the house, both inside and out. Shortly afterwards the plumber arrived and worked miracles with the piping under the sink. It now looks much neater than it has ever done before.

Next the wall and floor units were installed ready for the finer tuning. During the afternoon whilst one of the cabinets was being fitted to the wall the ceiling light winked out and refused to work again. This reminded me of ‘the case of the flickering lights’ which occurred several years ago due to a loose connection where a ceiling extractor fan had been fed off a light fitting.

Our kitchen fitter pointed out that the existing fan was not connected to the hose extractor and on closer inspection it looked as if it had never been connected. No wonder we had been having problems with the extractor fan over the years.

We visited mum to see how she was before dining out. Our intention was to go to The William Withering but we flexed the plan at the last minute and went to the Cock Hotel instead because I knew that the festive menu was still available. I chose spicy carrot wellington with all the roast trimmings. It was delicious.

One of our friends arranged a breakfast gathering because her family were over from Germany for a few days.

There was much fun and laughter and the extensive menu options proved a challenge for some. For me, the small vegetarian breakfast hit the sweet spot.

All too soon it was time to part ways leaving Mr C and I in the ‘not quite’ ready to go home mood. We eventually settled on a visit to Bridgnorth where we had fun on the recently re-opened cliff railway.

We took the train down the cliff from high town to low town and enjoyed a delightful walk along the river bank where I saw my first goslings of the year. One of the goslings was so cute and funny, climbing up the steep river bank then slipping and rolling back down, only to be determined to reach the preferred spot for grazing.

As we made our way back to the cliff railway to ascend into high town Mr C helped a young jogger who tripped over a curb and hurt herself.

Back in high town we sought out ‘cake’ and settled on Violet’s Tea Room, where we knew we could sit outside and soak up the rays even if it was a little chilly. We both chose ginger and lemon cake which was delicious.

After our ‘naughty cake’ indulgence, we headed off home in time for our usual Sunday pre-dinner aperitif with Mr C’s parents.

Today’s walk wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I set off. I planned to visit a secret garden, but decided to walk to the Peace Gardens first where I lingered on a bench watching the world go by.

Whilst I was taking photos near to the Peace Gardens a gentleman noticed me and told me about the previous uses of some of the buildings nearby. I had no idea that one of them used to be the fire station or the local butchers shop. There is so much interesting history within the town of Wellington.

I arrived at my planned destination, the secret garden of Wellington station to find a red warning sign ‘Staff Only’. I was a little confused because there was a fence and a gate with the warning sign where previously there had been no barrier. The temptingly open gate to the secret garden was behind the barrier. The garden has recently been transformed from rustic to formal leaving me to wonder why access was denied.

When I got home I found that the opening of the garden has been delayed until October…

After driving my mum to a couple of appointments I walked to my local Parish Church to see floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth II that had been placed on a commemorative stone in the Garden of Rest. The garden was created in 1953/54 to mark the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the stone marks the occasion.