Winter 2023/4

Since mid-October last year, our lives have been rather busy which explains the absence of any new Posts since that time. Many apologies if you have missed us and if not, well here we are with an update anyway!

We headed for the UK in the middle of October and our first port of call was Birmingham where we spent the weekend. It is a city which neither of us knew well and as we had a few clear days before moving on to a University re-union at Keele, it seemed like a good opportunity to get to know it better.

Despite the fact that many of the sights that we wanted to see, were closed for renovation and the city was in the process of going bankrupt, we had a memorable time, starting with a trip to the Alexandra Theatre to celebrate Sheila’s birthday. The show was ‘Calendar Girls – The Musical’ which was extremely good.

There was an interesting audience too with a large number of ladies of a certain age enjoying an evening out with their female friends. Suffice it to say that there were not many men around but those who were there, like me appeared to enjoy themselves!

We did manage to visit the cathedral but the stained glass windows which we wanted to see were mostly away being cleaned and restored

so we had to make do with replicas! The newish City Library was also interesting

and we particularly enjoyed the hidden garden on an upper floor. Lunch by the canal at Gas Street Basin was another highlight

as well as a visit to Woverhampton Art Gallery by tram,

We also travelled to Uttoxeter by train to see our Kavousi neighbours, Mark and Anca in their house there, where we had a delicious lunch and subsequently ended up buying their car.

Then we moved on to Keele for a University re-union

which was very enjoyable

despite the fact that quite a few of our number had died since our last get together some years ago.

Keele has changed enormously since we were there in the mid-1960’s – then there were only 800 undergraduates, now there are over 8,000 but some of the old buildings remain, including the nissan hut that some of us lived in, in our first year. Unfortunately it rained a lot while we were there which meant that we did not get to see as much as we might otherwise have done but the lecture on what the University is doing as regards sustainability was both interesting

and the outcome impressive, with much of the energy used now being ‘home produced’ on Campus.

Then it was time to move on to Cornwall where our granddaughter and her family awaited!

It was great to see them all and we soon settled into our flat in Newquay to await the arrival of our new grandson, who was fashionably late appearing at the beginning of November.

It took a while for a name to be agreed but eventually, we learned that he was to be named Ted Magnus and how it suits him. He was and remains an extremely large baby which meant that from birth he was perfectly formed. No wrinkles or Winston Churchill looks for our new boy – he was a topper from the off!

Our next jaunt was to Uttoxeter again, to pick up a car provided to us by our Cretan neighbours, Mark and Anca. It is seventeen years old but has a very low mileage and we had some doubts as to how it would cope with the 250 mile journey to Cornwall but cope it did and has transformed my life.

It also came equipped with a car seat so we could be of use in occasionally picking-up granddaughter Isla from her nursery.

So, we spent the next six weeks or so trying to be as useful and helpful to Rosie as we could, which often just meant being on hand to look after Isla, when she needed to take Ted to the midwife or doctor for check-ups

or providing some company at the play park,

celebrating John’s birthday,

doing shopping or picking up Isla from her nursery. All good though as we re-established contact with our granddaughter after a long break.

During this period, my brother Tim and his wife came to stay for a weekend in November to view the new arrival who was beginning to grow like the proverbial Topsy. It was a bit unfortunate because Sheila had a bad bout of flu while they were there but we managed and again the car came into its own.

So, we had a good time in Cornwall despite the weather which was awful from day one – rain virtually every day, very little sun and some very strong winds at times!

However, all  too soon it was time to return to Crete for Christmas. We were hoping that the weather which had been great in Crete would keep fine for our return but guess what – it was raining, although it soon perked up and for the remainder of our stay remained dry and warmish.

We soon got back into our Kavousi style life and had a number of taverna evenings catching up with friends whom we had not seen for two months or more. Then there was a round of festive parties to attend and the day itself

which we shared with Mark and Anca – they with their vegetarian option and us with juicy steaks!

We also enjoyed a New Year’s Eve Party at Pauline and Chris’ house where I managed a shaky ‘Gay Gordons’.

Then at the beginning of January, we returned to the UK and resumed our Cornish lifestyle which soon involved trips to the Soft Play Centre where Sheila entered into the swing of things with Isla by zooming down slides and scaling climbing frames etc.

I pushed Ted around when he needed some entertainment and generally kept out of the way!

Rosie had given me tickets for a Rod Stewart Tribute show in Truro soon after our return, so Sheila and I duly turned up to find an audience of people all of our age ie grey-haired and in their 70’s, many of whom were in wheelchairs. My initial thought was that I had not seen as many people my age in one place since I was at university! But boy were they keen and as the show went on, they were up bopping, including the one-legged man at the end of our row! The guy playing Rod was pretty good in the role and all in all it was a great night.

Our next jaunt was to a streaming of the opera Rusalka by Dvorak in Redruth from the Royal Opera House, where a select audience enjoyed a really great performance and this was followed by a streaming of the play ‘Skylight’ from the National Theatre with Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy, in Newquay, which was brilliant.

Then, later in January, we set off on a short trip to visit Liz Turner in Wiltshire

and my brother Tim and his wife Liz, in North Devon. Good to see them all and our newly serviced and welded car, again gave us brilliant service.

After that, it was back to serious child care duties in Newquay with lots of trips to the play park,

 

soft play centres and collecting Isla from her nursery, plus the occasional session of being ‘in loco parentis’ with Isla when Ted needed to go to the doctor for shots etc, which we enjoyed but Ted did not!

During February we also had two visitors to stay. Phil came for a few days and we were able to plan our next Greek Island Hopping adventure in June as well as visiting St Ives and taking in the Tate Gallery and Barbara Hepworth studio there.

Later in the month, son James came from London and was soon doing his bit of childcare

and the weather improved enough for he and Sheila to do some walking along the cliff tops.

We also had a trip to St Agnes to look at the remaining ruins from the tin mining industry followed by lunch at the Miners’ Arms at Mithian, one of our favourite pubs in the area, where we had the snug to ourselves – good food and good beer added to the occasion.

We also had a visit from Gillie all the way from Deeside who was staying in Newquay for a few days and she and Sheila were lucky to have the best day of the winter to walk from Newquay along the cliffs northwards to Mawganporth and beyond.

Our final visitor was Jane from London. She was less lucky with the weather but we had a good day out in St Ives repeating earlier visits to the town’s artistic attractions despite the rain

and she and Sheila did manage a few short walks while dodging the showers and she also did her share of childcare.

It was good to see them all and great that we were able to offer hospitality from our Cornish base.

On our last weekend, we visited a National trust stately home – Lanhydrock near Bodmin, with Rosie, Ed and the children.

Then it was time to say goodbye to them all and we will not see them now until the autumn when hopefully they will come to Crete. It had been a great winter with lots of happy memories and two beautiful grandchildren to love and admire. Well done Rosie and Ed!

John