Ella and the wee ones

Even after 58 years of marriage Mr C can (sometimes!) surprise me. Last night he said he’d provisionally booked us on a cruise. This is the last thing I thought I’d ever hear him say as he’s always hated the idea of it, especially on a big ship. What attracted him was that we’d fly direct to Barbados then get the ship to the Amazon and then back to Barbados via French Guiana and several Caribbean islands. However it has 687 passengers which I know is a small ship by today’s standards but big to us. Nor are we are interested in on-board ‘entertainment’. Also it will be filled with Americans which leaves us nervous in case they are loud Trumpeteers. (We’ll watch out for Maga caps!) The result was I had a nightmare about Americans on the ship doing a Battle of Hastings re-enactment while I tried to fight my way out of the room amid overflowing plates of food and dripping puddings. (I had on my podcast about B of H). Anyway we have a couple of days to think about it. It would be nice to be away in Jan / Feb.

My knee gets worse by the day. I can’t stand for longer than a few minutes and walking is seriously painful. I’m doing the exercises of course.

I had a hair appointment in Morpeth and in Rutherford’s I got a linen mix summer dress. Then we went to town to deliver manure to #3 daughter’s allotment then on with her, Luke and Nathaniel to watch Ella play Mrs Brown in the Paddington show. She loved it because she had to help the little girls around, dance with them and generally keep an eye on them. One wee girl cried when Ella said goodbye to her. Ella thinks she’ll stop ChimneySweep as she’s the oldest there but she’ll do a week in summer with Nathaniel, Thomas and James.