So, there I was, in the middle of the local town centre (about 15 minutes drive from our new house) minding my own business when a voice nearby
called for help. I turned to see a tiny, very elderly lady bent double, walking slowly with her two sticks and carrying a big bag hanging heavily around her neck, pulling her down. She wanted support to cross the busy road.
She was a very cheery soul, chatting excitedly about her life of 96 years, as I escorted her across the road and to the bus station where she was heading. She talked about starting work as a young maid in a big house when she was no more than a child. She told me how she now lived alone but was never lonely as the ghosts of young children playing happily in her house kept her company. I listened avidly to her interesting and amusing tales and she repaid my interest by telling me that she had met me on the way to heaven!
Apparently the doctor had told her she shouldn't go out alone, but she felt she didn't want to be housebound and on a beautiful sunny day like this she couldn't see why she shouldn't to go out and catch a bus somewhere.
She told me she had just done the "silliest of things" – she had seen some lovely curtains in a charity shop so she had bought them. Unfortunately they were so heavy that when she put them in her large bag she told me, the weight pulled her head towards the ground. In order to illustrate this, she re-enacted what had happened and suddenly her chin was no more than a foot above the pavement! Because of the weight of the curtains, she had decided to leave them at a nearby shop for a family member to pick up at a later date. The silly thing was, she told me, that she didn't need curtains, she had plenty! Furthermore she had done another "silly thing" – bought 2 small pictures in the same shop. "I have a house full of pictures, I don't have room for pretty robin and blue tit prints either" she told me. She asked if I would like them or the pretty curtains for my new house. I told her I didn't have room either.
Some time later I left her at the bus station perched on a little wall, with a six foot drop behind her. She was insistent that she was safe and wouldn't fall. She had an hour to wait for her bus, but didn't mind. I said I would wait with her, but she said she didn't need me to. She asked a woman at the bus shelter if she would help her onto the bus when it arrived. The woman said she would but asked why she didn't have family with her to help. At this, I thought she was about to hit the woman with her sticks, but she kept her cool and told the woman that she had brought her children up to be independent, not to spend their time looking after an old lady like her. As she sat on the wall, she pulled out a wrapped tray of fish & chips from her bag and happily sat eating them. Her bag was still around her neck, but was now weightless as it rested on the wall. I left her, thinking that one slight move from the bag in the wrong direction and it would have pulled her tiny frame by her neck head over heels backwards into the brambles six feet below!
Apparently the doctor had told her she shouldn't go out alone, but she felt she didn't want to be housebound and on a beautiful sunny day like this she couldn't see why she shouldn't to go out and catch a bus somewhere.
She told me she had just done the "silliest of things" – she had seen some lovely curtains in a charity shop so she had bought them. Unfortunately they were so heavy that when she put them in her large bag she told me, the weight pulled her head towards the ground. In order to illustrate this, she re-enacted what had happened and suddenly her chin was no more than a foot above the pavement! Because of the weight of the curtains, she had decided to leave them at a nearby shop for a family member to pick up at a later date. The silly thing was, she told me, that she didn't need curtains, she had plenty! Furthermore she had done another "silly thing" – bought 2 small pictures in the same shop. "I have a house full of pictures, I don't have room for pretty robin and blue tit prints either" she told me. She asked if I would like them or the pretty curtains for my new house. I told her I didn't have room either.
Some time later I left her at the bus station perched on a little wall, with a six foot drop behind her. She was insistent that she was safe and wouldn't fall. She had an hour to wait for her bus, but didn't mind. I said I would wait with her, but she said she didn't need me to. She asked a woman at the bus shelter if she would help her onto the bus when it arrived. The woman said she would but asked why she didn't have family with her to help. At this, I thought she was about to hit the woman with her sticks, but she kept her cool and told the woman that she had brought her children up to be independent, not to spend their time looking after an old lady like her. As she sat on the wall, she pulled out a wrapped tray of fish & chips from her bag and happily sat eating them. Her bag was still around her neck, but was now weightless as it rested on the wall. I left her, thinking that one slight move from the bag in the wrong direction and it would have pulled her tiny frame by her neck head over heels backwards into the brambles six feet below!
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We have a drive leading up to the front of the house, to a turning circle which through lack of use had turned into what appeared to be a well kept lawn.
The reality is that during wet weather and through proper use (ie being driven on by vehicles) it turned into a mudbath which proved difficult to drive on. Will and Richard worked tirelessly to dig up the grass with spade to get down to the hard core. But despite their effort there was very little to see for it. So Will hired a mini-digger for a week to help clear the drive and turning area of grass, soil and mud with a view to helping drain the area. Will's brother and nephew visited for a few days and together with Will and Richard they were in their element, enjoying a 'boys and toys' time with the digger. When they left, other friends arrived for the weekend and the digger was well used and the drive cleared.
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We are lucky to have an abundance of interesting walks, long or short, easy or strenuous, inland or coastal from our front door.
During a walk with our visitors along the coast and back up through fields, we came across a rusty old metal bedstead which didn't appear to be doing anything useful. So at my request the 'men' graciously carried the heavy lump of iron back to the house.
It has now very nicely patched up a hole in the fence, but is no deterrent to greedy sheep and goats who wrongly suspect that my garden has delights galore.
Another walk took us to an old granite quarry which sits quite spectacularly behind our house, overlooking the sea. The clouds were low, and the mists swirling around the buildings gave it a very mysterious and eerie feel.
Once (approx 1850 - 1960) this would have been a VERY busy place as would have the local, now sleepy, villages which housed the quarry workers and their families as well as visitors from abroad who were well paid for their work. Now unused, it has become as much a feature of our landscape as the mountains and sea which surround it.
Next Blog - We move house and the builders start work.
Next Blog - We move house and the builders start work.
Loving the gate :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ludders - I'm on the lookout for more!
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