Mid May 2013 and, not only did we have a wedding to prepare for, but we had to get the house ready for a guest. Commando Senior was recovering from a broken hip and was going to be staying with us for a while. Logistically it was a bit of a nightmare and I was a little concerned he’d find the hustle and bustle of our house a bit of a culture shock after the peace and quiet of Commando’s sister’s farm. There was also a final walk through the deserted Bargate Centre.
18 May 2013
The day started early after more walking dreams. This time I was walking round London, there were square blue and white markers hidden on walls amongst the road signs, each had a little motto on and I had to find them all. It had a frantic, slightly panicked feeling about it and I woke with a start, almost breathless as if I’d really been powering along the London streets at top speed. It seems like the feet aren’t doing any walking but the brain sure is. How odd. As I was awake it seemed silly not to get up so I did.
Anyway, I had a lot to do. At the end of next week Commando Senior is coming to stay for a week. He’s been recuperating from his broken hip at Commando’s sisters farm but they’re going on holiday. He can’t go home yet because he doesn’t have a downstairs bathroom so he’s going to be using our gym as a bedroom. Next week we have to get the bed from the farm and sort out the gym. Once we get the bed set up, with the shower room and sofa it’ll be a bit like a little flat.
Most of the hard graft will be done by Commando, of course. My job revolves around the practicalities of food, as it usually does. The meal plan took a while because I had to consider what Commando Senior might like to eat, not just what we like. The weekday meals also had to be things I could make in advance and freeze so Commando could just bung them in the oven as I’m still at work when he needs to eat. Then there was a shopping list to compile. It was a long one. Thankfully CJ was back from his course in time to come up the Big Hill with me. He did con me into buying some cat treats for Fluffy though. Although she’s technically next door’s cat, no one seems to have told her that and she thinks she lives at our house. It’s a bit of a worry because I don’t want to fall out with Topol and his loud, confrontational wife but I have a feeling the cat treats are not going to help with that situation.
After the shopping, I put some washing on then went out to empty the bins. Coming back past the mini greenhouse the red cabbage seedlings still sitting in the seed tray all alone distracted me so I stopped there and then to pot them up. Given it is going to be a while before there is space in the garden I figured they would be better off in little pots rather than a half empty seed tray on a little island of soil. Probably should have thought about that yesterday really. Fluffy the cat joined me for a while until she realised there were no cat treats to be had.
The khol rabi, radicchio and beans seem to have survived the night. Maybe the slugs haven’t done their rounds yet and don’t realise I’ve planted out a nice meal for them to munch on or it could be that the slug defences are working. Either way I think I’ll get some slug pellets (organic or course) soon. Better safe than sorry and I really would like to actually eat some khol rabi. The garlic doesn’t seem too upset by its house move which is good. Slugs don’t like garlic so it’s the one crop I can rely on not to get eaten by anyone other than us.
Commando came back from his Park Run just as I was finishing off. For anyone who doesn’t know about Park Runs, as I didn’t until quite recently, they are 5k events held in parks all over the world every Saturday morning. Once you’ve joined up you can simply turn up at any of the participating parks, get a timing chip and run. Commando usually goes to The Common. Normally when he comes back I’m still eating my granola and staring into space so he was surprised to see me up, dressed and in the garden. He’d also beaten his personal best for 5k for the second week running. Surely there has to be a limit to how many times you can beat your PB without meeting yourself on the start line?
While Commando had his shower I got on and made a sausage and bacon pasta bake to put in the freezer for Commando Senior’s stay. All very well but I hit a bit of a problem when I went to put it in the rectangular Pyrex dish. These dishes are great for pasta al forno for the three of us and they have a handy plastic lid so they can go in the freezer. At least the one Commndo didn’t put in the oven with the lid on does. For four people they are not so good, the pasta just didn’t fit, not if I wanted to put a lid on, there was a big mound of pasta that wouldn’t squash down. In the end I covered it with cling film but a new dish will have to be bought before it’s cooked or the bottom of my oven is going to be covered with pasta sauce drips.
Luckily Commando was going to town shirt shopping for Philo and Sirona’s wedding so I cadged a lift with him and CJ. We parked up in the Bargate Centre, a soon to be demolished* shopping mall, right next to the historic Bargate. This is our normal parking spot but it’s only a matter of time before the car park closes so we’re going to have to find a new one shortly. Today we discovered the lifts have stopped working which was not the best of news for the knee seeing as we parked right at the top.
There was a time when this was a thriving, bustling place to walk through. Depending on the floor we’d parked, we’d stroll through the arcade with its bells and noisy machines with an inevitable stop for CJ and Commando to try to win a toy in the machine with the little grabbing claw by the exit. Surprisingly they won a few over the years. On another floor there was the club where children swapped pogs or collectible cards, then an exhibition about the Titanic that we never got round to visiting. Now it’s all empty, deserted rooms.
There were always knots of teenagers hanging around the skate boarder shop, the video games store and the shops selling dark, gothic clothing, not to mention Shakeaway, where they’d make you a milk shake with your favourite sweets. Recently, there’s been the SOCO music project where teenagers can get tooether to make music. Sadly, the last of the shops has now closed and everything is looking very run down and shabby. Walking past all the deserted shops to the street was quite eerie and filled with memories. Looking down to the ground floor at the Internet cafe with its two Egyptianesque statues guarding the entrance I remembered our first internet experience. We didn’t even own a computer and CJ was small enough to sit on my lap. Neither of us had any idea what we were doing but we paid our money and CJ pretended he was an expert because he didn’t want to ask for help. We ending up spending the whole hour with me watching him play a stupid video game.
It felt quite sad to be walking across the glass floors with their blue neon lights past emoty shops for what is probably the last time. Those glass floors always made me feel uneasy and I’d skirt them, preferring to walk on solid marble. CJ, Bard and Philo would laugh and try to push me into them. It became a bit of a game. This time I braved them without being pushed.
Walking up through the Above Bar precinct I noticed strange woollen jackets round all the trees and the benches. There were green paper tags on them so I had a closer look but I’m not really any the wiser. They seem to be something to do with the homeless charity, Society of St James and I did Google it but all I found was a Facebook page with photos of them. Apparently this phenomena is all the rage and it’s called yarn bombing but exactly how this it’s supposed to help the homeless isn’t clear. Maybe it’s just about raising awareness but perhaps the wool would have gone to better use knitting nice warm blankets or hats and scarves for the homeless. Very strange.
So while Commando and Mini Commando went off in search of shirts, I went off to John Lewis in search of Pyrex dishes. There was also a quick stop to get a wedding card for Philo and Sirona and some window shopping for handbags. Commando will tell you I already have far too many handbags but then he’s a man and they just don’t understand these things. After that we all met up for lunch in Burger King. Don’t say a word, I know it could hardly be described as a healthy lunch.
The rest of the afternoon was spent sorting out the freezer to make room for meals for Commando Senior’s stay and putting together some Quick and Easy Cheesy Garlic Chicken. Methinks we need a bigger freezer but I will just have to go with what I’ve got and squish things in the best I can. Life would be so much easier if I didn’t have to work and I could cook meals every day and put them straight on the table but the days of stay at home housewives are long gone, not many people can afford to live on one wage these days. Besides, I’d probably go mad being at home all day. It was one thing when the boys were little, they kept me on my toes, but there is only so much cooking, cleaning and gardening you can do. Then again, think of all the walks I could fit in.
We went up to the farm to visit Commando Senior, run the menu by him and finalise the details of the big move. At the moment the biggest problem seems to be getting in and out of the car but unless he walks the twelve miles or so between there and here there doesn’t seem to be any way round that so I guess he’s going to have to get some practice in quick smart. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a bit of a culture shock living in our manic house with the crazy upside down life we lead after the peace and quiet of the farm. Boredom will most certainly not be a problem round these parts for sure. I think I might try and talk him into starting a blog!
* So far the Bargate Centre is still standing empty but this was the last time we were ever able to walk through it.