That’s right. Battleaxe hasn’t done Granny duty for a couple of years. I think this post was the last time? As readers will know, daughter lives in Portugal, and grand daughter is not like others of her age. She’s unique – a one off. I know it’s incredibly fashionable to be neuro-divergent now, and I do wonder if some of those who say they are ‘on the spectrum’ truly understand the real challenges others face, and also understand the challenges faced by their relatives. I’m sure it is all life-enriching, but it is also tiring… We picked them up from Gatwick last Tuesday. Daughter went off on a R and R break – but also to do some professional exams in London. We kept GD until Saturday, although daughter returned on Friday afternoon. By the end, I was exhausted. Battleaxe and Philosopher are not getting any younger…
On the first full day, we took GD up to Beachy Head. She has always loved it up there since she was a tiny child – the quiet, and the wide open spaces must have a calming effect. She used to enjoy the open-top bus but have you seen the prices recently? They don’t take senior bus passes and for three of us it would have cost £30! Sorry? Having a laugh or what. Anyway, up on the top she runs and runs, which suits us because she might tire herself out, but then she could also run off the edge of the cliff… I don’t know how we’d explain that to her mother… Walk was necessarily brisk to try and keep up with her.
Anyway, she didn’t come to any harm, and we had a good lunch at the Beachy Head pub. For once, the service was OK and the grub was reasonable. After lunch, Granny Battleaxe walked all the way down to Eastbourne with her, while Philosopher took the car down. The views were fantastic…
At home, GD spends much time in her room, doing what she calls her ‘activities’. She reads all our art books, writes and draws. Don’t ask me what she writes and draws…
The next day was shopping in Hastings. We did an exceptionally brisk walk down to town, gave her a sum of money and said she could choose what to spend it on, either books from Waterstones, clothes, or a mixture of the two. Choices need to be a bit limited – too much choice is too daunting. That went OK, and Philosopher took her for her lunch dish of choice – a cheese and ham toastie. I went to my WI Book Club.
Day Three was Rye Harbour. Yet another brisk walk, with a stop in the Visitor Centre for coffee. GD was happy in there because as well as arty things she likes science, and there is much science/nature stuff for people to inspect.
I think that’s all for now… Battleaxe is in a bad mood because I am currently embroiled in a series of disputes with Booking.Com. Firstly, I booked two hotels on my usual Nothing to Pay now basis, and they charged me all the money up-front. Secondly, they mysteriously cancelled a flight I had booked, and maintain they have refunded me the money, but they have not… Thirdly, they have refunded me for one of the hotels where they charged me up-front in error, but not the other… and maintain they have paid…. Grr. I can see this will run and run. They used to be reliable, now they are not. What is going on?
Just to finish: My novel has been featured on a book review site, ‘Dru’s Book Musings. I had to write ‘A Day in the life of Caroline Cosgrave’. Here is the link:
Whatever the circumstances, how wonderful to have spent time on Beachy Head which, judging from your photographs, looked absolutely wonderful. As for the cost of the open top bus……!
congratulations on the publication of your novel. Our post of today is on a very similar theme!