The Old Bakery however goes on..................

I am in trouble with Alison for in all the excitement of getting out of hospital I neglected to report it here and in so doing (I am told) I have given the impression that I was still suffering in hospital. Well friends (and I include Sally and Helen whom have graciously consented to be 'followers' of this rather meandering blog of mine) I am neither in hospital nor suffering, thankfully. I was released on the third day and have been on antibiotics since to ensure that this virulent bug is killed off. My big, big brother (I have two) is a bio-chemist well to be exact he is a Ph.D. Senior Associate Dean, GSBS, Professor and Chair of Pharmacology and Physiology, Infusino Endowed Chair of the University of medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School. But I just call him Andy. 



Now bearing in mind that he is in-charge of "Medicine and Dentistry" you'd think that he would send home some free pills or at least recommend a good dentist! But nothing, just some boring 'ground breaking research' on diabetes or such like. At least when I worked in the supermarket I got to bring some cheap rotisserie chicken home when it was left at the end of the night!


My diseased ear has got better (I don't wish to seem to be harping on about it but this is no thanks to my big, big brother who is, incidentally, also a Dr.but that's a con 'cause I haven't even ever seen him with a stethoscope). The ear is no longer the pretty twin to my other ear that it once was, no, now it is more of a long lost cousin who travelled on the 'bad side' of the road and we don't talk of.

Thanks by the way to Claire, my daughter, third 'follower' writer of the last blog and now a working Speech and Language therapist, for giving such a helpful "users guide to Michael Thomas". Your patronising was a work of art.


Claire has earnt herself a career as a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) in a school way down in Somerset and last weekend we moved her down there. I should have considered being a 'removals' guy as I have had extensive experience in doing this job having moved my children in and out of different accommodations at least 11 times. Some years back I traded in a fantastic 4x4 Toyota Landcruiser for a Previa people carrier. At the time my children could not understand why I should trade in a cool car for what they called a "loser Cruiser". The reason was a simple one of practicality as whilst the Landcruiser was a big beast it's 6th & 7th seats were only any good if you were a dwarf (are we allowed to call short people Dwarfs? or should it be midgets?) and the storage space for luggage was terrible. The Previa on the other hand had full size seats in the 6th and 7th positions and further more all of the seats could be removed turning the car effectively into a small van.

It was this ability that allowed me to move my children so often from flat to flat as they progressed through University. FURTHERMORE.... this extra space enabled us to go on long holidays to Europe including a brilliant tour ending up in Venice. Admittedly the car did break down on one of the highest roads in Austria but that was not the cars fault, uh-ha, no it was totally the fault of the incompetent driver who had not read the manual and whom burnt out the brakes as a result. I don't even understand why they groan on about that incident so much as they were treated to a brilliant 'wild ride' back down the mountain around superb hair pin bends whilst sitting inside our car actually on top of the rescue lorry. God did it bounce around! Claire particularly has never forgiven me for this lapse in judgement, have a look a the video....

Anyway last weekend we moved Claire out of The Old Bakery and down to somerset and I managed to get most things into the Previa. I crammed in..... A 6' tall full size Fridge Freezer, A large two seater sofa, A large dining table and two dining room chairs, A book case, Books for the said book case, A large 3'x18" coffee table, A tall light, the equivalent of four large Pickford's removal boxes full of Kitchen pots pans and equipment, all of her SALT reference books, a full length mirror, a waste bin, a portion of her clothes, a collapsible table, table lamps and shades, oh and a TV and a DVD player..... Oh and four handbags and a laptop plus cushions and other assorted bits of 'stuff'. So don't tell me that the Previa is a loser cruiser, no sir-eee, quite the contrary it is more like the bloody TARDIS!


On the way back (a journey of some five and a half hours) I was struck with firstly how many places I had visited in England during my life, mainly because of the many holidays that my parents took us out on and then secondly how many places I have not visited in this England. Claire has been consumed by a book that she got second hand about the most enchanting and wonderful places to visit in England, see her blog. It got me thinking just how lucky we are in this Country to have so many interesting places to visit and as I drove towards home I passed such delights as:


1. The Somerset Levels, flood plains where literally thousands of Starlings put on a performance in the evening like dancing clouds of locusts prior to roosting.
2. Glastonbury Tor.
3. Cheddar Gorge and its caves.
4 The Wookey Hole Caves.
5. Weston Super Mare with one of the longest sandy beaches in the UK.
6. Bristol with its remarkable Suspension Bridge and in its shadow the SS Great Britain an amazingly brave design by Brunel who used iron to make the hull. It was only meant to be a prototype but it went on to sail 32 times around the world, nearly a million miles!
7. In the distance I could see the two Seven Suspension bridges, the first was built when I was only 6 years old.
8. Bath, well just Wow, what a City everyone should visit it.
9. Swindon with its massive Steam train heritage and the infamous Magic Roundabout junction...

The magic roundabout Swindon

10. Henley On Thames.
11. Windsor Castle (and Lego Land).
12. St Albans with its Roman Theatre.
13. Epping Forest.
14. Cambridge.
15. Newmarket races,
16. Ely Cathedral.
17. Castle Acre.
AND.... Hindolveston


The point is that England is full of really interesting places, absolutely FULL! I've still so many to see.






The Old Bakery however goes on and my next 'project' is to try and sound proof the rumbling boiler as the deeper bass sounds reverberate around the cottage in the background. So far no one has complained but I want to stamp out the problem before it becomes an issue. Once again the loser Cruiser comes up trumps as I squeeze into the car a massive piece of polystyrene 4" thick and 4' wide and 8' long!


At the moment the cottage is busier than the B&B but when the weather improves and the threat of the petrol tanker drivers striking has gone then hopefully things will pick up again.






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