The end of a great holiday

Ben and Luke up Helvellyn

 We returned from our two weeks break in Cumbria yesterday, a long seven hour drive though not so hard as the drive up, when both the M6 motorway to the west and the A1 Great North Road to the east were closed due to accidents.

The first week, sharing the house and the wonderful, warm Autumnal weather, were Edwin and Andre (see A Whimsical Return). Andre had been at the hospital with his eye infection for 12 hours, not returning till 4am once he'd been assessed, and had to return next day for an appointment with the ophthalmologist who was Brazilian, so they conducted the consultation in Portuguese. They finally left with instructions to attend for follow-up at West Suffolk Hospital. There, the referral letter was missing, so they had to repeat the whole performance just for a checkup.

The children enjoy the gardens

On Sunday, other family members came to share tea and the good weather; Matthew and Rosie with the two little ones, and Lucy and Andy with Theo. Ben and Luke also shared time with us; earlier they climbed locally to Mallerstang, a Celtic name meaning bare hill where we were staying, but with rain and a gale blowing. Yesterday on their last day, they tackled Helvellyn, the third highest peak in England before setting off on their own return. All in all, a very worthwhile two weeks, with the potential for a romantic retirement, if we can ever summon the energy.