Milestones and mysteries part 2.

Where was I? Oh yes, the Midland Hotel. The rest of the afternoon was spent admiring the view from the balcony, followed by an act of utter selfishness. Despite the discrete card saying shower instead of bath I ran the deepest bubble bath, in full view of the world and lay in it admiring the sea view while sipping champagne! (The champagne was a wedding present that we had saved for a n other special occasion.) 

Then it was off to the Rotunda bar to sip cocktails before our three course dinner in the hotel's restaurant. The food was fantastic, although I couldn't eat everything on my plate. After coffee we were so stuffed we thought we had better take a slow walk around the hotel to aid digestion. We ended up going to bed so full we both felt sick. Oops. 

As you will have seen from the photos yesterday the weather was overcast, but what the photos don't show is the temperature. The only way we could sleep was to have both the sliding doors open which meant I fell to sleep watching the lighthouse across the bay twinkle. 

I awoke at 6:30 to this:

Bright sunshine and a large number of oyster catchers, what do you mean you can't see them? Trust me, I got out the complimentary binoculars and checked with the R.S.P.B., they are definitely oyster catchers at the water's edge. 

After a lazy breakfast we did the usual seaside things, walked up the beach, stared into rock pools, had an ice cream, before a final cuppa outside the Rotunda before travelling back to Lancaster where we ate before our journey home.

We arrived back home just before 9:30 p.m. to find my daughters had been up to no good.

My daughter obviously bought the wrong candle!

Yes that is an inflatable walking frame! The lemon drizzle cakes are to die for though, so I might forgive them. 

Milestones and mysteries part one.

Please don't tell anyone, but Tuesday was one of those milestone birthdays. Mike was being extremely evasive and secretive over the weekend, in fact had been for weeks. I knew he was up to something, but I had no idea what. 

On Monday morning he drove us to the station with a small suitcase. I still had no idea where we were going. Now I've caught enough trains from our station to know what direction the trains go from a particular platform, so as we didn't go further than platform 1 I knew we were heading north or possibly east. Was it Manchester or Liverpool, Borth or Aberystwyth, Glasgow or Edinburgh? Endless possibilities. I felt like I was being kidnapped without the blindfold and gag. 

I waited patiently until eventually Mike said "this is our train." The announcer informed us that the train now standing on platform 1 was the 10:37 train to Glasgow, calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District, Carlisle and Glasgow Central. OK, still so many possibilities. Were we changing at any of the stations? Was it the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales? 

Eventually Mike told me we were getting off at the next stop, Lancaster, but that it wasn't our final destination. Ah ha, we were changing trains. Another wait and more musings until the train to Morecambe was announced and we made our way over the bridge to where the train was waiting.  A mere 10 minutes later we were by the sea. 

Mike suggested we had a short walk from the station to see how the restoration work on The Midland Hotel had turned out. We had passed through Morecambe in 2005 when the magnificent Art Deco building had  been boarded up while plans to restore it were already in the pipeline.

Urban Splash did a fantastic job.

We strolled down the stone jetty and back up again and Mike suggested we should go and find our B+B. I asked which way we had got to go as the Midland Hotel is pretty central as regards guest houses. Mike searched his pockets to find the directions.

"Hang on a second I'll have a look. Well according to this it isn't far." Mike started to pull the suitcase and I quickly caught up and walked alongside him, straight up the ramp to the front door and into the Midland Hotel! I just burst into tears and called him a silly b*****d. I stood in the reception area speechless and vaguely heard the young man on the desk say yes the room definitely had a sea view. 

Into the lift and up to the third floor to our room. 

Note the 2 full length opening windows onto a balcony!!

Yes the bath has a full length window overlooking Morecambe Bay.

The view from the bed. 

Mike in his complimentary bathrobe!

Part 2 tomorrow!

Cottoning on

I would like to say that this post was about a marvellous piece of sewing, but it's not. In fact I have sold my old machine on eBay and it is being collected over the weekend. 

I would like to say I have knitted a wonderful cotton top, but the knitting is still sitting in a bag under the coffee table, untouched for quite some time.

It isn't even about a cotton-tailed rabbit, which is just as well as Toni would have put paid to it by now. 

No today is our cotton wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary darling, your cotton socks are in the post. 

If you didn't laugh you'd cry.

I know I'm 50 next week, but I still reckon Boots are taking the p....

One thing is for sure, Paula would have howled with laughter at my expense. 

Memories.

You look at the clock and remember where you were a week, a month, a year ago. I remember we were in Liverpool a year ago. I remember we held a very special lady's hand all night long and watched over her while her true love snatched a few hours rest.  We will never forget how precious those last few hours were, how privileged  we were to share them with Bernard. I know it sounds "wrong" but we both really feel privileged to have been there.  
I cannot begin to express how sad we are going to feel tomorrow, but for tonight we will remember how we felt sitting up all night with Paula. How grateful for life we were as we sat there and how guilty I feel that Bernard, Karen and so many more spouses whose names I will never know, are now alone. In truth the guilt tonight is fleeting, I am proud to say I held Paula's hand, kissed her and told her how much I loved her. I also told her how much I was going to miss her. 

I still do.

When life gives you lemons.......

....... Make limoncello! 

Mike and I are off to a rather special birthday bash in July so being extremely good guests we decided to go down armed with a lashings of home made limoncello and mountains of cakes. The cakes can't be be made this far in advance, but the same cannot be said for limoncello!

By the time the party arrives in July there will be a gallon of limoncello ready to be bottled. The good news is that it keeps for a couple of years, so if it doesn't all get drunk we will be able to keep it until Christmas.

Now what sort of cake? 

Jumping June

Now where on earth did the last 5 months go? June is upon us and what a busy month it is going to be. I just hope the weather starts to improve. I think everyone feels so much better when the sun is shining. It doesn't have to be a heatwave for me, just nice to have the sun on my face while I walk Toni and do odd jobs outside. 

I am also going to try (yet again) to blog more frequently. Luckily with so much going on I should manage to think of something to say.

Mike and I have a new hobby, eBay and car boots. There's nothing better than selling something that you thought no one else would want, although I usually wish I hadn't sold the item when I actually come to wrap it. If you've seen the TV programmes about hoarders you'll know how compulsive hoarding can be. I'm not at that stage quite, but I can empathise with them. 

Today I have sold this: 

A rather fetching green vase. I just hope I can let it go when it's new owner collects it later.