It’s
been a strange week at Chateau Midden.
Our
usual weekdays go:-
Monday: Ferretfingers to Day Centre on minibus;
Thunderthighs to the gym then with me for the big shop.
Tuesday: Ferretfingers and me to Ouseburn then to
Sainsbury’s for his tv magazines; Thunderthighs to work experience in the
afternoon; Fester to the Mining
Institute.
Wednesday: I take Ferretfingers to the Day Centre; Thunderthighs
goes to work experience in the morning; Fester to the Mining Institute; I fetch
Ferretfingers home and pick up the good bread.
Thursday:
morning Ferretfingers out with Emil; Thunderthighs to the gym; Fester to the
Mining Institute.
Last
weekend we were woken by Thunderthighs screaming at his laptop, he later
demanded I take him to Monkseaton Computers asap.
“I
can’t, I’m taking the car in for its MOT on Monday. You’ve got legs at the end of your feet and
can work the metro. You can do it yourself.”
Which
he did.
Tuesday was the only morning everyone could attend an important meeting at LDNEand I’d arranged to leave Ferretfingers at Ouseburn and join him in the
afternoon.
But
the car failed its MOT.
“I
won’t need it on Thursday, so I can bring it back then, or at the weekend.”
“No, it's got to stay here.”
“But
the old MOT doesn’t run out until February.”
“It’s
invalid now, and we can’t let you take it with those brakes, it’s not
safe. I can start work on it tomorrow and
it should be ready by Thursday.”
I phoned
a nearby committee member to give me a lift to and from our monthly WI members meeting.
First
thing Tuesday I phoned a local taxi firm and got through to the computer.
It
was fine for arranging a taxi from here to Ouseburn but couldn’t grasp the
concept of a forward journey on to Wallsend and eventually said (with a sigh?)
“I’ll put you through to an operator who can help you.”
I’d
have much preferred to speak to a human operator from the get go.
She
was very helpful.
So
was the driver, once he realised I wanted to go the LDNorthEast not Aldi.
The
meeting proceeded and once it was finished I said I’d get a taxi back to
Ouseburn.
“What!”
says a fellow trustee “You can go on the bus; 301 or 22. You’ll be there in twenty minutes and it’ll
only cost you £2.50.”
“It’ll
cost me nowt ‘cos I’ve got me bus-pass, but I don’t know where the stop is.”
“I’ll
walk you to the stop.”
Back
at Ouseburn I discovered Ferretfingers in the craft shed totally engrossed in
crystal art. He seemed to have missed me
not at all.
At
home time I asked if he wanted to get a taxi or walk up the hill to the bus.
“Bus”
So
up the hill we trudged and got the bus home.
Thunderthighs
came bursting in from his work experience screaming.
“Have
you seen what they’re doing to the car?
It’s up in the air and they’ve taken the wheels off!”
On
Tuesday morning, when only he was in, Thunderthighs had answered a phonecall
from Monkseaton Computers about repairing his laptop. By teatime he’d been to get the money out of his building society account. So
Fester didn’t need to put his hand in his pocket.
After
tea Thunderthighs went out and got the tv magazines from the Esso Tesco shop.
I
facebook messaged Earth & Fire at the Rising Sun and asked the baker to
deliver the bread this week.
I’d
planned that on Wednesday, after dropping Ferretfingers off, I’d go to the
recycling event the council were having in a local community centre car
park. It’s a great idea. Instead of people having to make an
appointment and drive to the main centre, they set up in a car park and people
can bring their unwanted household goods to them.
It happens about twice a year. I had a printer, scanner, massage chair and
various bits of broken little electricals all ready to go. I put out an appeal on Facebook and, God
bless her, Ms Marx offered to pick them up and take them along.
Not
having to get up to take Ferretfingers out on Wednesday morning felt like a day
off. Things got done, like washing,
washing up and wiping down.
I
gave Ferretfingers a soapy spray and microweave duster and got him to clean the
greasy black hand marks off the bannister rail.
Monkseaton
Computers rang to say the hinge on the laptop lid also needed repairing so it
would be a few days for the parts to come in.
He assured me that Thunderthighs had been charming both in person and on
the phone.
At
teatime KwikFit rang to tell me the car was ready, I said I’d pick it up first
thing this morning.
Last
night (Wednesday evening) I went to the People’s Theatre with Pearl and friends
to see an excellent production of Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Cracked. They staged it very well. With a familiar Agatha Christie whodunit the journey
is more important than the destination.
When
I got home and looked on Facebook I discovered my mobile had phoned
Mrs
Treasurer, seemingly when it was turned off in the theatre.
To
bed and then at 00.20 the text message alert went off.
Kwikfit’s
computer telling me the car was ready.
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