Childish

Another relatively undisturbed night followed by early brekkie followed by a later drift off. T was up and around in the night scavenging the fridge and kitchen for food. I have to watch him like a hawk, otherwise he snacks on all sorts of sweet things and then does not want the meal I cook for him.

Memo to self : buy fruit not mince pies or biscuits. Better for both of us. He is actually a good fruit eater. I’m not sure what happened to the five bananas I bought on Friday… mere conjecture.

I was all but ready to walk H, when T announced he would like to come. I won’t be offering him that opportunity again in a while. If he comes walkies with me, ever again, it will be short ones to the local Rec and back. Definitely no car to be involved.

It started badly with instructions about how to drive the car. Mis-instrictions if there is such a word. Positively dangerous advice and misinformation was fed to me. I ignore it. Or try to. We drove into Goring in the hope of finding a relatively mud free walk. His refrain was ‘why are we coming here?’ Or ‘You can’t be thinking of walking here.’ ‘You must be mad!’ My ears had had enough and I had nearly bitten my tongue in two. Never again, I thought to myself.
We eventually parked at Streatley Rec where we were in a minority of one. The grass was alright but the grass free bits were greasy and slippery. The towpath was safe enough. Phew!
On the way back, T took to wrecking the countryside by pulling trees and other vegetation apart. It’s so long since we have had a walk together where that is possible, that I had forgotten all about it.
When I ‘explained’ ( in no uncertain terms) that the thistle heads were not welcome in the car due to their hooks sticking better than Velcro , and that the half tree, (with yellow leaves) pretty as it was, was also unwelcome, a 76 year old tantrum followed. ‘Well you can go home on your own then.’

Oh if only! He stormed off. I got into the car and manoeuvred it out of the parking area and he had disappeared into thin air. It was at this point, I was sorely tempted to drive home. But I started the hunt and discovered in my rear view mirror that I had gone the wrong way and he was lurking in the lane behind me. I turned round, by which time had carried out another disappearing act.

Ridiculous childish behaviour. I found him sitting at the children’s playground with his velcro thistle and half a tree. He compromised and carried them in the front of the car with him. Some of the velcro has attached itself to my handbag and the half tree has moulted a leaf or two. But he has removed it all from the car and laid it carefully with his pile of rotting sticks. The half tree is in a pot with a rose bush. Sitting pretty you might think. For about half a day.

Before we went walkies, I had booked us lunch at the Red Lion in Cholsey. A new venu to try. Perch and Pike was top of the list but they had no space. The Red Lion indicates prices a fraction of the Beetle. We shall see. No river to watch and no cormorant to snap, catching a fish as a local did the other day!

Well… The Red Lion did us proud. Huge dishes of freshly cooked vegetables ( Al denté) accompanied the main dishes. Five a Day in one meal.
The dining room started off almost unbearably noisy – mostly due to a large and noisy family party and also to a group of 4 women whose cackles were irrepressible. Once the large family group received their food, they shut up. But the 4 women had either eaten or were just there for the wine, because they never did quieten down. Until they went.

As we finished, we started chatting to a couple on a neighbouring table. They sail a lot. In Greece. Round various islands. The lady is also heavily involved in Greek animal charities. Particularly, one on Kephallonia and one on Paros. So it was a good chat involving shared experiences and interests. They live in one of the flats or houses on the Fairmile site.

H was pleased to see us when we arrived home and even more pleased as she benefited from a doggy bag full of gravy soaked left overs. I may have fallen asleep at this point, waking up unsure of the time of day. T clung to me as though he was the Velcro thistle. Couldn’t get rid of him at all. Even in the loo.

My watch was flat so was unable to record all the vigorous activity that I did late in the day. Hmm.

Thought for the Day