It has been a day of waiting.
This is not because we have spent the whole day hanging about sighing and looking at our watches, because we have not and I can’t wear a watch anyway because of being allergic to anything with nickel in it. Watches always have nickel in them, even if it is only the little tiny winder bit on the side, and it makes me scratch like a stray dog on a hot day.
It is because any day takes ages to pass when something exciting is happening at the far end of it.
Our day was not very long anyway, because we worked all night and did not get up until two in the afternoon. Even this was not enough sleep, and once my sister called to let us know what time she might be arriving, we sloped off back to bed and slept for another hour before she arrived.
The time in between was entirely occupied with not making a mess. This is harder for Mark than it is for me, and was especially hard because he was inventing something on the table in the conservatory.
I do not know what this is except that it has got a circuit board and a wiry thing wrapped in electrical tape, some little things which might or might not be resistors, and he thinks that it might improve the fuel consumption of the camper van.
I was sceptical about this, mostly because it was a lot of clutter on the table and also I did not have a clue what he was talking about. In the end he said that it would only work on the good vibrations caused by the users’ positive energy and that if I did not stop being cynical I would spoil it.
He might have been making this up.
It has not cost anything and so I do not mind, he can do what he likes with it, although there are so many vibrations in the camper van that I do not know how a bit of circuity would be able to spot a negative one amongst all of the rest.
I had just brought the washing in when my sister appeared. She has got a little camper van, almost just like ours only smaller and without rust or vibrations or paintings, and they have parked it in the alley behind the house.
She has got my nephew with her, who looks to be about twelve, although I would not swear to it and it seems impolite to ask in case I have missed something and he is just a very small fifteen year old. He is a musical turn of mind and has a drum kit at home, although regrettably he has not brought this with him.
It was very nice to see them.
Especially it was nice because she made all the right admiring noises about our home-made conservatory and home-built kitchen. This was very kind because she has got a country farmhouse with a garden stuffed with useful sheds, a large kitchen with a wooden table and an Aga, and other middle-class attributes. I would not swap because hers is too far away from the Co-op, but apart from that it is very beautiful.
We had a cup of tea and went to have dinner at the Indian restaurant. We had to go to the one in Bowness in the end, because the one up here is shut for Ramadan. I do not think the owner believes in Ramadan very much, he spends too much time drinking and dancing in the local nightclub for that, so he must have been under some pressure from his mother.
Anyway, we ate lots, and I drank more than I should have done, because it turns out that red wine gives my sister migraines, and Mark was driving, so it was just down to me and Oliver. Oliver is a rubbish drinker, so I had to compensate for them all. You will be pleased to hear that I managed this fairly well.
I am very glad that wine does not give me migraines, I would be spending half of my life lying in a darkened room stuffed full of drugs. I do get migraines occasionally, although I do not know why, but it is not wine, which is a good thing.
They are going to stay for a day or two and come out for a walk on the fells with me tomorrow. We offered them Lucy’s bedroom but they have declined and gone to sleep in their camper van outside.
I understand this entirely.
I would have done exactly the same.
