Finally got rid

Well all the stuff I offered on Freecycle has finally gone this afternoon.
None of the people that replied to my offers actually turned up so I gave it all to a guy that is collecting for a project for disadvantage kids and families.
At least I know it has all gone to a good cause and instead of getting all mouldy in my cupboard it is being used for good.

The waiting game

As I mentioned in the last entry, I offered a lot of stuff from my cupboard under the stairs on Freecycle. I had lots of responses and had to choose who to say yes to.
Once I decided who should get my offerings I emailed them with my address but now the hardest thing is sitting around waiting for people to turn up on your doorstep to collect their freebies.

It is much worse than waiting for the Gasman/Cableman/Delivery van because while I am waiting for them to turn up, the said items are littering up my front room. If I put them away somewhere then It will then be a hassle when people do turn up to find the blasted stuff.

Someone has had the right idea. I noticed this morning there is a post on there by someone who has posted that if you don't give a time you are coming you don't get the stuff. I wish I had thought of that!

A feeling of accomplishment

For ages now I have been promising to clear out the cupboard under the stairs.
It is a huge space yet it was so piled high with junk that you couldn't find anything in there or fit anything else in. With Christmas coming up I really needed to fish out the decs and sort out what needed chucking and what would be OK to use again this year.

I knew it was going to be a long hard job so I had provisions on hand .
I couldn't believe the rubbish I had stuffed in there. I found old bills and empty envelopes, broken toys, junk mail, brochures, magazines and empty boxes. I filled 2 black bags of rubbish and both paper recycle bags.

I got out the bags from last Christmas and found 3 years worth of leftover cards in boxes. This is because every year I don't sort through the leftovers, I just buy new ones. There is enough paper/cards/tape/gift tags in there for me to not have to buy anymore for at least the next couple of years but I bet I do.
I also chucked out a few old decorations and bits and pieces that I bring out every year and don't use so I decided as they were just taking up space it was time for Bye-bye!

By the time I finished, I only put 1 box of junk back in along with the Christmas bags and now it is possible to walk right in to the cupboard and all the way to the back wall. I doubt it will stay that way for long but I now feel cleansed.

A lot of the stuff I pulled out from the cupboard is all the children's clothes stock from when I used to co-own a market stall. I have decided to give all this away on Freecycle. Apart from 1 or 2 things I am going to try and sell on eBay and a few things I am saving for DNs for Christmas pressies...there is no point in keeping it and I may as well let it go to people who really need it.
I have also sorted out all the old kiddies toys from when DNephew used to stay here and have advertised that on Freecycle too.

I don't want to do this anymore

This being sitting here staring at whatever particular wallpaper happens to be on my computer screen wondering what to do next. My enthusiasm for anything seems to have evapourated into the ether. I can't even drum up the excitement to go and work on my store.

This week a limp attempt at a gig announcement was made by the Griffin team. Some would think it was just a token gesture and he didn't even want an audience as it was like getting blood out of a stone trying to find out any kind of details. Then again if you really want to be there then you will find a way.
There once was a time when I would be jumping up and down through hoops and running round like a blue arsed fly trying to make sure I would be there. Sadly though I have burnt all my bridges for people to go with or to book my ticket or my accomodation or make travel arrangements for me.

It's Thanksgiving Weekend in the States though now so I am going to tie myself to this chair and get some work done as this is when all the holiday sales start and I am going to need the money to pay off all my Christmas debts

Major Catch-up

I am sorry it took me so long to blog the whole of my holiday. I struggle to get on here these days and because I hadn't written anything down while I was away, I was struggling to remember stuff most of the time.

I haven't been around much in the past week because last Friday (10th Nov) I started to get a really bad headache. I took loads of painkillers but it was still there when I went to bed. I just lay there hoping that by morning it would have faded away. Then I went to bed Saturday night hoping it would be gone Sunday morning.
When I went to bed Sunday night I told myself that if this headache was still there Monday morning I would definitely go to the doctors. This isn't just any headache either. I knew It was sinuses because I could feel it in my face. My temples and my cheeks felt like someone was continually passing hot pokers through them. My nose was very tender and have you ever seen that Capital One add where the bloke has a woodpecker on top of his head?

Monday morning I dragged my sore head out of bed to crawl along to the Docs and on confirmation from him that my sinuses were indeed severely swollen, I was put on a course of Anti-biotics.
Monday turned out to be the worst day yet. I crawled back home and went straight back to bed and then I spent most of Monday night throwing up in the bathroom.
I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in bed and only started to feel the pain easing when I got up on Thursday.

The pain hasn't gone completely even now but hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer. I do keep getting sudden pain in my temples or eyes every so often but that is pain that I am used to as I have a long history with my sinus trouble but I have 1 week left of my anti-biotics and another 6 weeks of my awful nasal spray that always makes me cough and sneeze.

On a lighter note - I am looking forward to Children in Need tonight especially Celebrity Scissorhands on BBC where our 5 intrepid celebrities will be making up the stars before they go on stage.

GOOD LUCK! To Scott Mills!!!

That Friday feeling

Last day of the holiday and I wanted to make the most of it.
I thought the best way to spend our last full day up North would be to catch the bus into Filey to see the sea for the last time and spend the remainder of our money (well maybe not all of it)
The only problem was that it was a terrible day. The wind was swirling around andthe rain was on and off. As I said in an earlier entry DS had fogotten his coat and his trainers were falling apart. I had planned to buy him new ones during the week but just hadn't found anything to suit. Once in Filey we had a look round a couple of Charity shops to see if we could find some cheap trainers and a cheao coat that would at least keep him dry but no luck. The kids both bought some rock for their friends back home and I bought a couple of gifts and we ventured down to the very cold and wet beach front.

We had some time in the arcades (I know we were addicted) however After a week of it I had just about worn out any enthusiasm I had at the beginning of the week.
We had another wander around the lifeboat shop and I bought DS another little badge to replace the one he had bought the last time we were there.
I don't think I mentioned it before, He had bought himself a little pin badge and lost the back of it before we had even walked 100 yards from the shop.

As we were waiting for DS to buy some nougat from the little stall I noticed that thre was a little cafe up some stairs and suggested we have our last lot of Fish and chips - Only we didn't end up having Fish. We all had Burger and chips instead. Proper massive burgers with loads of chips and salad. I was so glad that we had come in as we certainly wouldn't be hungry for the rest of the day.

I managed to get DS a little waterproof jacket for a couple of quid and I got him an umbrella too so although his feet would be soaked through, his body and head would be dry.

After walking around the town for a couple of hours and the little market that was at the back of a pub we went off to catch the bus. It was Curry night in the camp restaurant and I wanted to be early before it all disappeared and get into the showroom early for the last night of the character show and party dances as well as the second show of 2togo.

Once we got back to the caravan, everyone else was already off to the showroom so I just had to get changed and we were off out again.

Unfortunately as I had eaten that big lunch, I couldn't face the curry. I ordered a jacket potato instead with Chilli filling. We had to wait for ages for it to come and I was disappointed that we missed the last character show. We did make it for the party dances though.




The final variety show of the week was a great parody of the movie Fame It was a very condensed version of course but it showed what great actors the group are and included the great hit from the TV show off of the early 80's... Hi-Fidelity.

Unfortunately for the second night running DNiece wouldn't settle so Ange, Rob and DNephew left quite early and for the second night running we styaed later than they did. However, It wasn't that later, We stayed for the end of the Party dances as DS really enjoyed them and then we met the others in the arcade finishin off all their 2ps. I did get back to the caravan before them though as I ran out of change and the change machines were all empty.
There was also a very dubious couple of 20s chavs kicking all the machines to get the money out of and I didn't like the atmosphere.
The others weren't far behind though and they caught me tucking into my Candy Floss that I had bought from Filey.

Thursday - I see the sea - The sea sees me...

Thursday was my favourite day of the week if I am honest. I didn't want to spend another day just hanging around the park and after our couple of hours in Scarborough on the Tuesday I wanted to go there again.

Me, DD & DS caught the bus from outside the main entrance. It was quite cheap at £8 return for all of us and it was a lovely journey as the bus stopped at all the other holiday camps on the way. We also got to see the sea for the latter half of the journey too. The view over Scarborough is Gorgeous. It is a long time since I was lucky enough to enjoy the wonderful English Landscape. I made many trips up to the North Yorkshire coast during the Griffin years and I was spoilt for great views and being on this bus brought that back home to me.

Once we got off the bus in the town we followed a sign to the beach with lead us to ask this question...What is the obsession with Hills? I mentioned that in Filey you have to go down a steep hill to the front and I know that there are some very famous steps in Whitby that take you down to the beach and here we are in Scarborough with a massive hill down to all the attractions. It is OK going down but you know going up is going to be much much worse.



We wandered down the street going in and out of the arcades and shops.



I managed to pick up a little denim handbag for DNiece's birthday as she has nicked her mum's bag to play with. As it was getting on for the end of the season the pusher machines were loaded up with prizes. So if you were lucky you wouldn't only get 2ps falling down into the tray but you may get a prize or 2 as well.
There were tons of keyrings on offer as well as little trinkets, watches, 50ps, figurines wallets, purses and in the 10p machines there were actual mobile phones. I can't imagine they would ever fall but it entices you to play all the more just to try and win one.
I was very lucky. I won 5 keyrings altogether. DD won a few too but unlucky DS wasn't as lucky and nothing seemed to fall for him.

For our lunch we went in a lovely little cafe and had toasted sandwiches. They were absolutely gorgeous. DD and I had Cheese and Ham and DS had Tuna. We went next door in the chocolate shop for a drink so that we could get a good whiff of the chocolate...Unfortunately I couldn't really afford any of their fantastic Chocolate creations so we went and bought treats and rock from the Rock shop further down.

I had to make sure I bought some fresh fish while by the sea so I bought some fresh boiled Crab and some Crab stix to make sandwiches for going home on Saturday.

We also made sure we made a visit to the Lifeboat station again and I actually remembered the picture this time.



Time was getting on and so we decided to find our way to the town centre and have a look round the shops. I realised that I had absolutely no idea about where to catch the bus back as we walked back through the town a different way to the way we had come. The first obstacle was to get back up that hill. I had to take it in stages and it wasn't untill we were halfway up that we noticed there is a lift from the beach to the top and we could of so easily caught that but at least we had got plenty of exercise.
We did find the bustop quite by accident in the end but we were certainly ready to go back by then.

Wednesday, Wednesday Wednesday

Wednesday turned out to be one of the most miserable days of our holiday. It was raining heavily all day and the wind was horendous.
I got up early and decided to go for the paper and some Bread and Milk. It was a battle and I came back wet and windswept. As with all mornings once DNiece heard me moving around, she was up and about with me. It made me laugh how she would carry all her blankets and her cup and teddies with her too and as with most mornings she went in the fridge and helped herself to a Cheesestring, had a couple of bites and left it lying on the floor.

This was actually one of the worst days of the week. I had exhausted the excitement of the arcades and other than that there wasn't much else to do on a wet day. I found it really hard to look enthusiastic. Added to that it seemed that my sister was getting a bit fed up of us being around. We all sat in the restaurant as they had some lunch and she told me their plans for the rest of the day were to go back and shower before going out to the club so I thought I would give them some space and stay away from the caravan for a few hours...Easier said than done as I said there wasn't too much to do.
We sat around a bit but I couldn't stand it much longer so I just had to go back to the caravan to get warmed up.

The weather didn't get any better, if anything it was getting worse - added to fact that DS had forgotten to bring a coat on holiday with him and he had pnly brought a pair of trainers that were falling apart so every minute out in the rain meant he got absolutely drenched with squelchy feet too.

I had bought some pasties from the camp shop in the morning so once the others had gone off to the club, I cooked some pasta and noodles and we had those with the pasties for tea. DS wanted to go up to the club so he took DD's coat because she wanted to stay back with me.
I did think in the back of my head that if the rain died off I would take a walk up there later but it never did so Me and DD had a quiet night in.

Tuesday - A very nice man, A very very nice man

We got up Tuesday morning and it was a gorgeous day. The sky was Blue the Sun was out and it seemed that the wind had died down a bit.
Ange decided that it was too good a day to waste and suggested that we all get in the car and take a trip to Scarbro. So we all piled into the 7-seater. DS and me in the back then DD sandwiched in between the 2 little ones and their car seats in the middle. Once we were all ready Rob turned on the ignition and...nothing. There was this clicking noise but apart from that nothing else happened. He tried a couple of times but it was no use the battery was completely dead.
So it was all out again and the AA had to be called.

Eventually the very nice AA man found the problem and sorted it but he said that in order to charge the battery fully, the car would have to be running for 45 minutes. Ange and Rob decided it was worth still going to Scarborough as otherwise the whole day would be wasted. So off we went.

I was surprised how close to Scarborough we were, it seemed to take no time at all to get there which was a good job really as we only had a couple of hours as Ange would have to get back to the camp-site to queue up for a table for the evening.
We did have a good couple of hours walking along the front and going into all the arcades which were highly superoir to the ones in the camp or even in Filey. We got rid of a lot of 2ps. We also sampled some of the local fish. I decided to buy a fresh Crab salad sandwich for me supper later and Ange bought a little variety plate of Cackles, mussels, crab stix and shrimps. The best part of going to the seaside for me is the huge array of fresh shellfish.

Of course I can't mention Scarborough without mention my favourite attraction of all...

Our trip to Scarborough was over all too quickly and before we knew it the time had come to all pile back in the car and get back to the caravan. I did promise the children that we would go back before the holiday was over as there was lots we missed out on.

I had kind of planned that I wouldn't stay long in the club that evening. If I am honest, I didn't want to miss CSI on the TV so I planned to stay till 10 and then go back to the caravan for teh TV but I seemed to be enjoying myself so much that I didn't realise the time go by and ended up staying till the end again.
The best thing about the show nights was that you could nip out and have a go on the arcades if you were getting bored. I must have poured loads of money into those machines but it passed the time.

When we got back to the caravan I had my gorgeous Crab salad sandwich for me supper as I had planned and it was most enjoyable. I couldn't wait to get back to get more...although I haven't even mentioned the fish man that comes round the club each night...

Monday Evening - Yes I shall go to the Ball

As we got back to the caravan the rest of the family were just getting ready to go out.
We ate our oversized cream cakes and got dressed to meet the rest of the family in the showroom.

A new influx of Half term week holidayers meant that the room was absolutely heaving and there were suddenly about 3 times as many children as there had been the previous 2 nights. It also meant much longer queuing at the bar. In the room there was also a Children's bar named the Wonderbar (Or as the sign said 'Wonderbra') where you could purchase slushes and Milkshakes and a variety of kiddies sweet things. Even the queue at the Wonderbar was huge.
I arrived just in time for the Party dances with the Funstars and the jungle characters. Now even though I may have protested, this was my favourite part of the night. It was also DS's too as he would always be down there on the dance floor joining in.

The entertainment this evening was the Panto - Cinderella - performed by the resident group MP3. It was very good and highly interactive. They had the traditional girl playing the Handsome prince and performed recent chart hits. There was lots of Adult humour in it too. Highly amusing and very enjoyable.

After the Panto I decided that I didn't fancy the Magic show. I was also quite tired from our day out and decided to go back to the caravan. I planned an evening of TV but managed to fall asleep as the next thing I knew the family were coming back. All excited and of course telling me all about what I had missed. We all had Hot chocolate and toast before heading off to bed.

Monday - Fish & Chips by the sea

The plan for Monday morning was to get up and go have cooked breakfast in the camp restaurant.
It was a pretty good deal. A full English breakfast or a full Veggie breakfast for £1.95. As always DD didn't fancy owt to eat but DS had the Veggie which consisted of Omelette, hash brown, Mushrooms, tomatoes and Beans. We had to wait a while as the Omelettes were cooked fresh to order and it took them so long that they forgot that I had asked for no beans. He left the beans but he loved the rest of it.

My Full English was 2 rashers of Bacon, 2 Sausages, scrambled Egg and Beans. I really enjoyed it and it set me up for the day.

After Breakfast I decided it would be nice for me and the children to go into the local town of Filey and have our first visit to the beach to remind us we are actually by the seaside.
We had a lovely stroll through the town. It is only a small town and could be covered in less than half an hour. There wasn't a lot to see so we decided to find our way to the sea-front. It was a very long and windy hill but we finally saw the beach. The sun had come out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I had put my big coat on but I was sweltering as we walked along the front. There were lots of people on the beach. It wasn't quite sunbathing weather but there were lots of kiddies in their wellies with their buckets and spades building big sandcastles.

One thing I always had instilled into me was that we must support the RNLI. My Mum grew up in a small fishing town on the Norfolk coast and I know that she lost many friends through the Lifeboat service. Both my mum and my Nan would always make sure that we gave to the Lifeboat service when traveling to any seaside town. So I made sure that I passed this onto my 2 as well. We had a look round the tiny Filey Lifeboat shop. I bought a pen as a souvenire and DS bought a pin badge. DD also bought herself a Pen too.

There was quite a good amusement arcade next to the Lifeboat station so we went in there for a while (Of course I had fogotten my bag of 2ps)

We were getting pretty hungry by now so I offered to get Fish and Chips from the gorgeous smelling take away stall next to the arcade. Me and DD had Fish and DS had a battered Sausage. We sat on a wall on the front and looked out to sea while we ate. It was a fantastic afternoon. The tide was out though and you could walk for miles without meeting any water.

Before long I knew I had to face the steep hill back upto the town if we wanted to get home.
We had another look round the town to but rock andsouvenirss. I also had to write my postcards and send them to make sure they arrived before I got home.
We found a Birds cake shop and I treated us to cream cakes. DD and DS also got themselves Cheese & Onion pasties.

Sunday - A change is as good...

I didn't mention that Saturday night it became apparent that we had no gas in the caravan so we couldn't put the fire on or get any hot water. So my first job Sunday was to go find out what was wrong and also to get myself a key. There is no way we could have coped the whole week with only 1 key between us.
DD and I went along to reception and they were more than happy to give me the key to the 'backdoor' of the caravan. The gas problem was also quickly solved as all they needed to do was change the gas bottle.

We spent a little time in the arcades and whilst the rest of the family went to see the afternoon show, I decided to take the chance to have some time to myself and went back to the caravan. It was weird only having 5 channels on the TV so all I could find to watch was the X factor re-run from Saturday night. Hence the change is as good as a rest title. Ange and the rest of the family got home just in time for the results and then it was time for everyone to get ready to go out for the evening. The only way to get a seat for the evening entertainment was to go early and queue.

We went to Burger King for our tea. As it was the end of the season they didn't have everything on the menu but they did have our old faves. Whopper with chees for me, Double Bacon cheeseburger for DD and Chicken for DS.

My plan was just to go for a couple of hours and maybe a couple of pints and then spend some more quality time in the caravan on me todd. However the entertainment was very good and I ended up staying till chucking out time. The Variety show was the lads and lasses of the Funstars (Haven's equivalent of the Red coats) and they did a show called Chartbusters. A trip through the ages of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s with all the costumes and top tunes of the decades.

The evenings cabaret act were former X factor contestants 2 to go. As I never watched the first series of X factor, I hadn't heard of them but I thought they were really good. They are Emma and Pete. I thought Pete was amazing as not only is he blind but he plays the keyboards, sings and plays Sax. They announced that they would also be doing Friday night so I was looking forward to seeing them again.

Another feature of the Haven holiday experience is of course the Tiger club with its chief member Rory the Tiger along with all his other jungle friends - Bradley Bear, Anxious the Elephant, Greedy Gorrilla, Naughty Ned and Polly. every night the kids get to join in the party dances with the Funstars and the characters. Although you try hard not to, in the end you can't help but join in and although I probably shouldn't admit it, I remember all the moves to them all.