And, we’re back! A great few days in Felixstowe (much to our surprise) and a new addition to the family. It’s been an action-packed couple of weeks since we saw you last.
As related in a previous correspondence, we were off last week to Felixstowe in Suffolk, Britain’s largest container port. That doesn’t exactly shout “Holiday” to you but we were very pleasantly surprised. Adam and Ava had wanted to take Jessie (and Julieta) to the seaside and invited us to come along. Adam found a couple of apartments, one above the other, right on the seaside along Felixstowe beach. Thankfully, the container port is around the corner and was out of sight and out of mind.
The situation was perfect. We were about fifty metres from the beach, a combination of sand and pebbles, and there was a long promenade stretching about a mile in each direction. And, the weather was terrific. Every morning Adam, Julieta and Penny would stroll along the promenade while Jessie rode her bike along the pathway. Meanwhile, Ava would get a lie-in having been up with Julieta several times in the night and I would get a lie-in because I am a lazy git.
Almost opposite the apartments was a Fun Fair with numerous rides and every evening Jessie was allowed three rides. It’s clear that Jessie is an adrenaline junkie – she seems to have no fear. She went on the Big Wheel with Penny and while Penny was gripping the safety bar with white knuckles, Jessie she sat nonchalantly with her hands in her pockets. Adam drew the short straw and had to accompany her on the Waltzers and the Twisters and I think everyone but me joined her on the centrifugal swings which whirl around and swing you out until you are almost horizontal. As she spun round we could hear her telling Ava not to panic, it is all OK.
During the days we had a couple of outings. We drove up the coast a few miles to Felixstowe Ferry so that Jessie could have a little boat ride across the estuary. It wasn’t the greatest of days weather wise – cool, breezy and misty – but we all clambered aboard the ferry and the captain kindly took us across to the other side where just about the only thing of interest was a café. As we sat sipping our teas and coffees, the fog rolled in and it became almost impossible to see the other side of the river. This was, potentially, a bit of a problem as the only way to summon the ferry for the return trip was to wave a bat until the boatsman saw you. Since we could hardly see him, I did think we might be stranded on the “wrong” side of the river for eternity. Eventually, the mist cleared sufficiently for him to see us and we were duly ferried across again.
There are some lovely areas in this part of Suffolk and we ventured out on one day to one of the Areas of Outstanding Beauty. We had taken Jessie’s bike and while she cycled, we slowly meandered along the forest trails – lovely. We also popped in to see Sutton Hoo, a collection of Anglo-Saxon burial sites, one of which was the burial site of King Rædwald of East Anglia. Rædwald was part of the ruling Wuffing dynasty who claimed descent from Woden, the Germanic god who sacrificed his left eye for knowledge. Some of you will have seen the film The Dig with Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes which is based on the excavation of this particular burial mound.
We had a round of crazy golf just down the seafront from the apartments. Thankfully we didn’t keep score but Jessie proved to be remarkably good putting Grandpa to shame.
We had some friends over for lunch on Friday – as usual, Penelope’s catering was outstanding. After lunch we wandered down the road to Thenford Gardens for a pleasant stroll around Michael Heseltine’s estate. You may remember Penny and I went there in February for the snowdrops which were sensational. Our friends had never been and this was the first time we’ve been this early in the year. A lot of stuff was still to come but there was one stunning display of tulips in the walled garden which was worth the price of admission on its own.
The big news of the week is the new addition to the household – last Sunday we trotted across to a farm just the other side of Chipping Norton to acquire Miss Daisy, an absolutely gorgeous Golden Retriever puppy. Most of you know that we’ve had golden retrievers forever but we lost our last one, Molly, just over five years ago not long after we had moved to Moreton Pinkney. Since we were visiting my folks a lot in those days we decided that we would be dogless for the time being. The “time being” expired on Sunday and she is an absolute delight. Penny, of course, is the alpha dog in the pack and Daisy follows here around like a shadow. I am of modest interest if there’s nothing better to do. It’s another couple of weeks before she can go out but we are simply enchanted with her – how could you not be?
Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, be careful, wear a f**king facemask in crowded places and keep your distance. And keep safe.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg