My first full week off of work since my knee operation in February has come and gone in the blink of an eye, and tomorrow I’m back to the grindstone. I had wanted to have a more relaxing time in order to recharge the batteries, but we needed to go back to the house in Liverpool to make a start on the packing.
Luckily I managed to catch up with my mate Colin while I was there, so it wasn’t a totally utilitarian trip. The bulk of it was spent sorting and packing, though, leaving the house in a more accentuated state of limbo than usual when we left.
I thought it was kind of neat that the house was ready to live in each time we went back, like a summer house or a retreat, albeit a low budget one in a less than desireable area. Now it’s a shell full of boxes awaiting the day when we can ship out. No idea when that’ll be – first I need to get the funds together for removals and whatnot.
The drive back up on Saturday was pretty much like the drive down on Wednesday – wet! Honestly, Kevin Costner’s daily commute when he was making Water World must have been less damp than the first two hours on the road last night. Lashing rain, standing water – I was amazed we didn’t see any accidents.
As bad as the journey was, I’m glad we drove back to Helensburgh last night – it meant I could enjoy the final day of my holiday with the beautiful day we had here. At lunch time we went out to watch the QE2 arriving on the Clyde, but it had already done so when we got to Craigendoran Pier. Even from across the water, it was clear the ship had faired better than the pier over the last 40 years – I can imagine it looked majestic when it was launched on the Clyde, back in 1967.
Later in the afternoon I stuck the deep tread tyres back on my mountainbike and went for a ride up through the woods. It wasn’t quite as muddy as I’d expected, but a bit too wet for the semi-slicks, so I’m glad I made the change. Once I’d done my usual route I stopped to take some pictures on the riverside on the way back. It was such a warm and beautiful day today, it’s hard to believe it’s October.
I’ve spent my evening relaxing, following the NFL and doing a few odds and ends on the laptop. I’m not sure when I’ll get another break, so I might as well make the most of what’s left.
