Something on television the other night turned our conversation to wife-swapping parties, the kind where everyone throws their car keys into a bowl and then takes pot luck.
"I suppose you've been to lots of those parties?" I said (joking!)
He looked thoughtful.
"Yes, but the trouble was, I never managed to get a decent car."
So, how do we break it to him that that really isn't the point of the exercise?
Washing up - or not
Picture the scene: a bowl of washing up water still in the sink. You can tell it's washing up water by the bubbles floating on the top. On the draining board, four inches from the bowl, Keith has placed his dirty plate - not in the bowl, but four inches away from it on the draining board.
WHY??? I ask.
He answers:
"Well I wasn't sure it was washing up water, you might have been bleaching the sink" (Not sure how osmosis was supposed to occur between bowl and sink, but I let that pass.)
"Well, the water might have been there for you to wash your socks in." (Wot???)
It is clearly a man-thing, so if any male reader can explain to me why men find it totally impossible to put dirty dishes in the right place, I would greatly appreciate it.
Mind you, at least he now leaves them on the right side of the kitchen - progress of a kind.
WHY??? I ask.
He answers:
"Well I wasn't sure it was washing up water, you might have been bleaching the sink" (Not sure how osmosis was supposed to occur between bowl and sink, but I let that pass.)
"Well, the water might have been there for you to wash your socks in." (Wot???)
It is clearly a man-thing, so if any male reader can explain to me why men find it totally impossible to put dirty dishes in the right place, I would greatly appreciate it.
Mind you, at least he now leaves them on the right side of the kitchen - progress of a kind.
Mobile Keith
One of the drawbacks of Keith having foot and leg problems is that he can't walk more than a few yards at a time so walks together are out. If we are on holiday, we get as close as possible to the local chateau or other attraction in the car and then I nip out and take myself of on a quick tour round it, while Keith waits in the car. However, before we took our caravan on its maiden tour at the weekend, he bought himself a folding bike.
(Here he is having a quick practice.)
So, we packed our bags and set off on Friday for a very nice caravan park two miles outside Barmouth, in spite of the worrying weather forecast, which actually proved to be not nearly as bad as predicted. It is amazing how being only fifty odd miles away from home seems just as much of a break as being much further away and we had a lovely, peaceful weekend, not doing very much but enjoying not doing it - if you see what I mean. This caravan site was only a few minutes walk away from the sea and from the promenade, which goes all the way into Barmouth, which meant that Keith and I could walk Paddy together, me on Shank's
He's not quite ready for backflips yet though!
(Here he is having a quick practice.)
So, we packed our bags and set off on Friday for a very nice caravan park two miles outside Barmouth, in spite of the worrying weather forecast, which actually proved to be not nearly as bad as predicted. It is amazing how being only fifty odd miles away from home seems just as much of a break as being much further away and we had a lovely, peaceful weekend, not doing very much but enjoying not doing it - if you see what I mean. This caravan site was only a few minutes walk away from the sea and from the promenade, which goes all the way into Barmouth, which meant that Keith and I could walk Paddy together, me on Shank's Pony and Keith on his bike. For the first time in four years, Keith is mobile!
He's not quite ready for backflips yet though! Two people and their dog
On a day which rapidly deteriorated into something that would have given cause for concern in mid-November, our two intrepid travellers and their little brown dog set off intrepidly into the Great Unknown. Travelling east, they were, into the hitherto unexplored (by them) territory commonly known as North Lincolnshire.
"Dunno why you want to come all the way over here to see a caravan," had been the comment of the person at their destination. They had been intrigued by this direct, acerbic reaction. Short and to the point, could this man possibly be a closet Yorkshireman? And, given that reaction, did he really want to sell his caravan?
As we had researched the whole, complicated topic of touring caravans in great detail and had subsequently decided that a Swift Sandymere (Harrington Special Edition) two berth was just what we wanted and as there seemed to be only two at the price we were willing to pay in the whole of the UK, then, yes it was necessary to go all the way over there to see a caravan. And so we set forth, courageously braving the torrential rain, flooded roads and shafts of lightning which dominated our journey.
We cunningly underplayed our delight at finding the twelve year old caravan in absolutely pristine condition and quickly struck a bargain which was probably more to our liking than to the owner's and we saved our whoops of joy and mutual congratulations until we were back on the road, homeward bound with our new treasure rolling merrily behind us.
And so begins a new episode in the everyday lives of those chez Jennyta.
It is to be hoped that there might just be a little sunshine and fine weather left in the dog days of this so-called summer in which we might venture forth to enjoy the odd long weekend or few days away, but that remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, just watch this space - I might just start having something to post about again!
"Dunno why you want to come all the way over here to see a caravan," had been the comment of the person at their destination. They had been intrigued by this direct, acerbic reaction. Short and to the point, could this man possibly be a closet Yorkshireman? And, given that reaction, did he really want to sell his caravan?
As we had researched the whole, complicated topic of touring caravans in great detail and had subsequently decided that a Swift Sandymere (Harrington Special Edition) two berth was just what we wanted and as there seemed to be only two at the price we were willing to pay in the whole of the UK, then, yes it was necessary to go all the way over there to see a caravan. And so we set forth, courageously braving the torrential rain, flooded roads and shafts of lightning which dominated our journey.
We cunningly underplayed our delight at finding the twelve year old caravan in absolutely pristine condition and quickly struck a bargain which was probably more to our liking than to the owner's and we saved our whoops of joy and mutual congratulations until we were back on the road, homeward bound with our new treasure rolling merrily behind us.
And so begins a new episode in the everyday lives of those chez Jennyta.
It is to be hoped that there might just be a little sunshine and fine weather left in the dog days of this so-called summer in which we might venture forth to enjoy the odd long weekend or few days away, but that remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, just watch this space - I might just start having something to post about again!
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