As I'm off work with my back pain at the moment, being active is the best thing for me and on the Tuesday, Sandy, the kids Joey and Jennifer, Christin and myself went to Dickens World, a new attraction in Chatham, Kent. It was all indoors and was a reconstruction of streets and houses at the time of Charles Dickens' life.
The staff were in costume and played with typical toys of the time. Christin and I went on a boat trip through the streets which wasn't that great - firstly you got to the place when you get in the boat and they tell you you are likely to get wet! They provide you with a plastic mac type thing which is already soaking wet, and the seats on the boat are also wet. So trying to manoevre yourself with a bag and camera and ensuring you don't get a soggy bum was quite difficult. It wasn't very impressive and the part where you get splashed, they turn the boat around and put you down a ramp backwards. We meandered around afterwards, then went to see a 3D picture show about Dickens' life. We only saw about 10 minutes before Jennifer (who is 9 months old) was getting a bit loud and so we left.
At £12.50 per adult, it's not great value for money. It's what I would call typical of the English to come up with a potentially great idea, then not follow it through and make the best of it.
Nandos was right next door so we all had a late lunch. Everyone was starving by that point. Note to self: DO NOT have 'medium' spices on my veggie burger in future. Fire extinquisher required.
On Wednesday, Sandy had already planned to go with Christin to the Pottery Barn at Barleylands Farm, Basildon. She invited me along too for a spot of painting your own pot....or plate or whatever was available. Although I am creative in many ways, painting just ain't my thing! I've always been pretty useless at it. However, for the sake of getting 'out of the house', I went along. Sandy had also invited along a friend of hers who had a toddler and so with 3 children in tow, off we went. I've never been to Barleylands before and was surprised that it was quite a big complex. Loads of craft type places, shops, a kids' area with trampolines, toy tractors, pets and sheep. In the Pottery Barn, there were shelves upon shelves of pottery already made, ready for someone to paint. Each item has a price and you pay an additional £6 for use of the materials. I ended up with a thin vase and started off painting flowers, then sunshine and decided on some ladybirds. Then the fire alarm went off! Everone had to evacuate and go into the children's area and wait. When we were allowed back, as it was lunchtime, decided to have a bite to eat at the cafe before continuing with our art. I could see that by painting individual bugs and flowers on this vase was going to take me ages, and because it was rubbish anyway, I decided to scrub it all out and start afresh. Something simple I felt, so ended up with multi-coloured wiggly stripes instead! I even got bored with that and having been sitting down, had to stretch my back so Christin finished it off for me. Christin did a mug with a picture of a nurse on it and the words 'Nurse Chistin'. Can you guess what she does for a living?! It was really cool though...or should I say 'neat'? They keep your finished item there for firing in the kiln and Sandy will be collecting them this weekend. I'm sure I'll find a great place at the back of a cupboard for it!!!
Sandy dropped me home and a short while after, Alice came round straight from work for a bit of a chin-wag. It was lovely to see her and catch up with stuff.
Thursday morning, Sandy, the kids and Christin came round for breakfast. John was doing afternoons so was there to cook his famous fry up. I told Christin to come on a very empty stomach because it would be a humungous plate full. That it was, but she managed to eat every morsel! Christin was now going to stay with us for a couple of days so Sandy went on her way, and I cleared up the mess the kids had made...soggy bread on carpet etc.
Christin very much wanted to go down the seafront as it's all very typically English, so her wish was my command. I really didn't care what I did as long as I got out and about. We parked just past the pier and went for a walk along the front. It was high tide so it made a change from looking at mud, and the weather was pretty muggy too. Christin roped me into a game of mini golf so I obliged and of course whipped her arse!! (Only kidding Christin, there were only 4 shots in it)!!
Christin will probably kill me for posting this photo, as all I kept hearing was "my face is so fat. my face is so fat".
We didn't know whether we'd make it to the end of the pier but thought we'd give it a go anyway. I couldn't believe that we had to pay £2.50 each for the 'privelege' of walking on those wooden planks! Goes to show how long it's been since I've been on there! We took it slow and the end looked a long way away even at the half way point. However, we kept chatting which makes you take your mind off the walking and so we made it! I suppose you can say "I've walked to the end of the longest pier in the world". We sat and had refreshment and then went and took some photos. On the way back to the train, Christin spotted a kiddies' ride which was Paddington Bear in a taxi. She had to stop and have her pic taken, but managed to get a bit stuck attempting to get inside the taxi next to Paddington! We did have a giggle. (see pic below) That made us a bit late for the train so I started running. Christin still had some diet coke and couldn't run with it so just left it on the boardwalk and ran after me! Litterbug! Anyway we JUST made it, and the first carriage I ran into was full of school children and nowhere to sit! Better than waiting another 30 minutes I'd say, especially as the weather had turned a but cloudy and breezy.
I made Christin have a little paddle in the sea, because, well, I dunno really...just because it's what you do at the seaside! You should have seen the fuss treading on the 'rocks' as she called them!! "They're only pebbles" I replied sarcastically!
She ended up washing her feet with our bottled water after only about 30 seconds in the sea. What a wimp!
Christin always wanted to go and take some pics of beach huts and so on the way home, I stopped near Thorpe Bay Yacht Club for that opportunity. Shame that some people don't keep them nice and more brightly painted but she got her wish anyway.
We stopped as Asda to pick up a few bits and also had a look in George. Christin tried on a dress which she's seen in Basildon but was undecided on. Seeing it was on sale she tried it on again but it was a little tight and they didn't have the next size up. Shame. Back home, we made sandwiches - a very late lunch as it was now 4pm. I suggested we looked at what was on at the cinema and other than Pirates of the Caribbean 3, I didn't fancy anything. Christin had already seen it in the States but was very keen to see it again and so that was what we did. The next showing was at 5pm so that was perfect. When we got there, I said I'd buy the tickets and Christin could go and get some popcorn for us to share. When I joined her she'd already got a large tub of salted popcorn which I didn't like so she asked for some of the sweet variety as well - a small portion for me though! The movie must have been two and a half hours long but we still couldn't believe they put an intermission 90 minutes into it! I've never enountered that before unless you're going back to the 70s! Anyway, it was a very good movie; I would say the last hour of it was the best, and definitely better than the second Pirates movie. Johnny Depp was gorgeous as per usual but I had to remark to Christin how yummy Orlando Bloom looked at the end of the film with his culy hair, bandana and a bit of facial hair. I've always had a weak spot for deep brown eyes but never had any attraction to him whatsoever before; but suddenly he looked very hot indeed!
Couldn't find mentioned yummy pic of Orlando!
Yesterday (Friday), we chilled out at home and in the garden (the weather couldn't make its mind up). John was on mornings today and so was home by 2pm. When we were on the seafront yesterday, Christin expressed an interest in the go-karts. I told her that they were useless and that there was a proper go-karting centre in Rayleigh. John goes quite regularly with his brother Chris and was more than happy to take Christin and talked me into it as well. I've never been before and have no interest whatsoever but for Christin's sake, I went along. When I saw the track and how fast the karts were going, I was really nervous and given the choice, would've backed out of it. Christin, however, was so up for it! We got into our overalls, gloves, balaclavas and helmets - my head is small but the smallest size helmet was too small and the medium size was too big! And so it wobbled and didn't feel right. Thankfully, the man in charge allowed us three to be the only ones on the track together. It wasn't that busy and after waiting for two other parties to finish, it was our turn. As I fully expected, I was absolutely useless at it!!! The accelorator was a bit stop/start, nothing in between, the steering was a bit stiff and every time I turned a corner I felt like I was gonna fall out! You only have eight minutes on the track to do as many laps as you can. I only managed to complete ten laps so I was really slow. John averages 27 seconds per lap; I started at 51 seconds and my best was 41. I was getting the hang of it on the latter few laps but came off feeling really nauseous. Never again for me! Christin, on the other hand, got the hang of it straight away and sped off way ahead of me. She absolutely loved it and we had a photo session afterwards.
That evening was spent playing Buzz on PS2, eating, drinking champagne (why not?), playing cards and watching some TV. Just generally chilling out.
Today, Christin had to return to St Albans where she was going to meet up with her cousins. It wasn't goodbye completely though, as John has booked for us to go to the theatre to see Mary Poppins on Tuesday evening and so we're meeting up with her in London for a meal and then the show.
It's been a really lovely week. It's just so nice having people stay with us. We love having company and it's a shame Christin wasn't with us for longer. However, next time she comes over, it'll be a bit more 'planned' and hopefully she'll stay with us for a week and we'll take her to Cornwall or somewhere she hasn't been before.
(Posted 16 Jun 2007)
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