This morning I took the 3 hour train journey down to Dorset to spend a couple of nights with more friends, Jo, Rob and their two boys Aled and Ben. It was great to see them at the station on arrival, but the first visit was to the local doctor to try to find out why I was feeling so rough. He felt it should get better in a few more days without more medicine, so I continued on. Jo and the family were very kind as I spent my time here between snoozing on the sofa and sleeping on the bed. What a fun guest!
A train from Micklepage took me up into London for a night at Liz and Terry's, my aunt and uncle. I've been feeling increasingly ill with this viral infection but I'm hoping it will improve in time for my friend Krista's 50th Birthday party at which there will be a lot of people I know but haven't see for many years.
This morning I took the 3 hour train journey down to Dorset to spend a couple of nights with more friends, Jo, Rob and their two boys Aled and Ben. It was great to see them at the station on arrival, but the first visit was to the local doctor to try to find out why I was feeling so rough. He felt it should get better in a few more days without more medicine, so I continued on. Jo and the family were very kind as I spent my time here between snoozing on the sofa and sleeping on the bed. What a fun guest!
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...Micklepage is a simply gorgeous 11th century farmhouse rented out for a few days each year by a group of friends from my College days. Along with their husbands and increasing numbers of children we descend from around the country for walks, sports and evening games. I've not been able to join in fully this time, because my viral infection getting worse in the last day or two, but I've been well looked after and "allowed" to head off to to bed early as necessary! Still, it's been great to meet up with my old friends after so long, and get to know their children as intelligent and articulate young adults rather than toddlers, etc! There have been a lot of big changes in my College friend Vix's life over the last four years I've been in China. She's now the high-powered Maths advisor for West Sussex, moved house, travelled to 30+ countries and... something of a shock... found herself a boyfriend. Visiting her and meeting Dave for the first time was great. We had plenty to catch up on and share before heading off to Micklepage... I'm staying at my brother Andy and Ali's house this weekend. I've not seen their house before nor, indeed, their kids, apart from a brief, jet-lagged "Hi" at the airport a month ago. It's good to catch up on their busy lives over last four years. Harry, Andy's 11 year old son, has also been here and had shot up in size and personality since I last saw him - lovely lad. Unfortunately, our planned zoo visit had to be cancelled due to the rain, and a return of my viral infection which has left me wth swollen gland and a temperature. Still, the main reason to be here is for my niece Daisy's 2nd birthday [see photo]. She's a real cutie and gets on well with her brother Louie too. My good friend Miki visited today, before rushing off to the West End on her bike where she works her backstage magic on shows such as Mamma Mia, Spamalot and Dirty Dancing. We first met in China, some 15 or so years ago (as strangers on a bumpy bus to Xiahe Monastery) and have kept in touch ever since. She's been to visit me in China a couple of times too, but has more recently been focussing on Masters and Doctorate qualifications (in 18th century French and Polish political philosophy, no less!). The photo shows her presenting me with some cow and pig products... with Miki being a vegetarian, it wasn't quite what I expected! One of the main jobs facing me during my time back in England was to condense down the amount of "stuff" stored in my parents attic. So, for the last two weeks, illness allowing, I've been pulling down boxes to be sorted into, "Throw Away", "Donate to Charity/Relative", "Keep in the Attic" or "Take to China". The last category has been the smallest, although I have found my missing driver's licence and various certificates. So at least I can now prove to the Chinese authorities that I'm qualified to teach and drive! I finished the sorting today and the picture shows the remaining half dozen boxes of storage - about a quarter of what I originally stored there four years ago. It's been a hard, but somehow therapeutic, task to throw away things which hold memories. Yet cassettes and videos are fast going the way of reel to reel tapes and vinyl records, so what can you do? I used to work with Ally when I was doing computer training at Futurekids, some ten years ago. After that she worked for Virgin for a while and used to gift me free air tickets to Japan, USA, South Africa etc! Since then, she's gone on to even bigger and better things. She has a high-powered Training Management job, does voluntarily bereavement counselling and has a marriage planned for next year. It was really nice to finally meet up with her for a meal tonight after 4 years and catch up on our news. I started supporting Everton when I was about 9 years old, as all my school friends were into the other Merseyside team, Liverpool FC (who were doing very well at the time) and I wanted to be different. Bear in mind this was all way down south in Kent - none of us were exactly scousers! However, I've followed them to this day though, despite never having seen them play live. That is, before today. My brother Dave managed to score a couple of tickets and drove me 3 hours into the wastelands of Liverpool today to watch them play Wolverhamption Wanderers. The photo shows me trying to look like a hooligan - where have the thugs all gone these days? Dave and I were really surprised to find that Everton's "Goodison Park" ground is only 10 minutes' walk from Liverpool's "Anfield", separated only by rows of boarded-up terraced housing. The Goodison ground was smaller and older than I imagined (no wonder they are trying to raise money to build a new ground) and our seats were on the very back row. Still, we had a good enough view and the rain held off. Despite dominating the game, Everton fell behind from a freak goal by Wolves. But we equalised towards the end with a majestic, sweeping move, despite Wolves' continual fouling and shirt-pulling. In the last 15 minutes we deserved a winner, and one of their players was sent off. but it wasn't to be and it ended 1 v 1. Still, to have seen a live match was, in itself, a highlight of this year and, having seen my team up close, I'm now full of hope that we will be top three in the Premiership by the end of the season. Come on you Toffees!! I'm spending a few days with my brother Dave and his family (Wife, Sarah, and kids Esme and Joshua), in their lovely house in Hereford. It took me 7 hours to get here yesterday by car, train, underground, train and car. Great to see the family - the last time was a year ago in India. We're off to a Chinese buffet this evening and then to see Everton play a Premiership match tomorrow. I spent this weekend at my parent's house, as I was too ill to get down to my brother Andy's as planned. The attempts to walk to the shops or retrieve a stored box or two from the attic left me tired, dizzy and tight-chested, so I haven't done too much except watch awful TV - so many channels and yet such rubbish on offer! My parents arrived back today, so at least the quality of cooking will improve sharply. After the next doctor's appointment on Wednesday, I have the prospect of watching an Everton match in Liverpool to aim for. I'd be totally gutted to miss that. Fingers firmly crossed.My parents often see signs of foxes having been in the garden overnight, but it's a rare sight to see one wandering around during the day, as I did this afternoon. He was right outside the house when I saw him, but had sidled to the back of the garden by the time I got the camera out. He did look hungry though! I was due to get a lift with my parents down to my youngest brother's family in Winchester this morning for a long weekend visit, but a nasty attack of chest pains and dizziness saw me back at the local hospital's "Accident and Emergency" department yesterday evening. As ever they couldn't really find anything wrong (the tests thankfully all show my heart in good shape) and just suggested taking medicine for excess stomach acid in the unlikely event that it's what's causing the upset. So after some discussion, my parents and I decided I should stay at their house for the weekend after all while they headed to my middle brother's for a long-standing baby-sitting appointment. very frustrating to have to give up the visit to Andy and family - I was all packed and tickets bought. I feel a little better today, but these things come and go. It was a nice surprise however to have one of my best friends Krista visit this morning, and again this evening, on her way to and from visiting another friend. She bought sushi for lunch (has she ever met me before?) as well as some crisps and sandwiches (phew! that's better!) and we had a good, long chat. I'm back to see the doctor on Wednesday, when I sincerely hope someone can start to make more headway with a diagnosis - I've been suffering with it for 4 months now. About 3 months ago I bought a ticket online to see my favourite NBA basketball team - Utah Jazz - play the (rather more popular) Chicago Bulls in the "02 Arena", formerly known as the "Millennium Dome" in London. Last night was the night. It's a remarkable venue [see photo], especially lit up at night. My seat was way up high, but afforded a good view of the court, the game and the "pre-game" and "time-out" performances (mascots, cheerleaders, trampoline dunk teams, Chinese juggler). I did seem to be the only person cheering for Utah though. I've supported them since visiting their home stadium in Salt Lake City 20+ years ago. Unfortunately, despite a close game, I felt increasingly unwell during the first half. Maybe it was the height of the seating, the ear-bursting noise, the flashing lights? Certainly it had something to do with the viral infection I'm still battling with. Anyhow, I very regrettably left after watching the half-time display and made my way back to my parents' house and straight to bed. I found out this morning that the game was decided with a last second score which, although my team lost, would have been fantastic to see live. I just hope I'm going to feel better when I go to watch Everton play in a few weeks. Yesterday was Mum's 69th birthday. Dad and I arranged a little collection of posters, banners, cake and cards for Mum to find in the morning. (Unfortunately, Dad picked up the "Happy Anniversary" banner instead of the "Happy Birthday" one!). After church we had lunch with Derek and Gill who Dad and I had visited in Uganda some years ago when they ran a HIV/AIDS centre there. In the afternoon Phil and Betty South - old family friends - visited for a chat. By then I was feeling very unwell though and went to bed to rest at 5pm. the next thing I knew it was 9am this morning. I would head for the doctors immediately, except it's pouring with rain... I'm gradually working my way down a copiously long list of "Foods that must be sampled on return". Today was the classic British dish, "Fish and Chips". [see photo] Delicious, although when I lived in the UK I was more of a "Sausages in batter and chips" man. There's time for that option, too! Yesterday Mum cooked roast lamb and, of course, I've been indulging in an overdose of pork pies and home-made cakes. And bear in mind I've only been back two days! We had planned to have a full English fried breakfast at a nearby restaurant this morning, too, but I woke with a headache and swollen neck glands. So I decided to rest up instead. The scrummy food will wait for me, no doubt. I saw my Grandad today. When I left for China four years ago, I really didn't think he'd be around when I returned. But he's made of sturdier stuff than that! Although frail, his mind is still razor sharp and he can be as sarcastic and jokey as the rest of us. After he started telling us about what he remembered about the Dalai Llama and his flight from Tibet my Mum casually remarked, "You're such a clever old chap". Quick as a flash he replied, "Hey, less of the old!". He's 98!! He really is an inspiration to everyone - the carers in his home, his fellow oldies there, his friends and family. I look forward to seeing him more often before I return. What a chap! My journey home didn't start too smoothly, when Ava's car refused to start. But a taxi, two planes and a car journey later I arrived at my parents' home. Door to door was 18 hours of travelling and my body was telling me it was 3am by the time I got here. It was lovely to see my parents at the airport, wielding some very embarrassing welcome signs [see photo] and a great surprise to find my youngest brother Andy and his family (wife Ali, kids Louie and Daisy) sneaking up behind me in Arrivals too. I haven't seen the two children before, so it was a real treat to meet them in the flesh so early on in my trip back to the UK. Now I hope to get some sleep and awake refreshed enough to "shop 'til I drop". |
AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
February 2024
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