Drops of Jupiler.....

2014-08-28, 9:28 p.m.
THURSDAY

Weirdly, just a few hours after I posted that last whiny rant about needing joy, my Sis phoned. We were supposed to be arranging a day for me to drive down and visit her but it had been looking ever more likely that this wouldn�t happen as she had to work and then I had stuff I had to do and then, and then and then, so I was kind of half expecting it when she said that she�d managed to get a few days off work but that she and BiL were planning to go over to their house in Bruges.

What I wasn�t expecting was that she said ��and you could come with us�.

Of course, there was no way that I could go, what with the piles of laundry everywhere and no food in the house and Jooj coming back from Edinburgh and L�well, being L and Treacle being at that stage where she has to be sent back to change before she�s allowed to leave the house Every. Single. Day����.

Except that I could. So now Im writing this from Sis�s kitchen table in Bruges and very nice it is, too, thank you.

Obviously, because of the way my stupid life is, nothing was ever going to be simple about me coming here and I ended up with only about an hour to pack and get myself to the train station (a half hour walk away), but I got the first train with a minute or two to spare and didn�t even have to change platforms to get the second train. I stood on the platform at Fareham, watching the second train come in and chatting to Sis on the phone about how hilarious it was that I hadn�t really packed with a great deal of care and I might have to wear pyjama trousers as�err�trousers and yes, I�d remembered my toothbrush and I had a coat and a little bit of money and a book and a couple of t-shirts and it would all be fine and�..as I was stepping onto the second train and the doors were closing behind me, with a sickening jolt I realised that I had forgotten my passport.

In order to get the 4pm ferry from Dover, I had to be at Sis�s by 1pm. It was now midday and I still had a half hour train journey ahead of me. There was no way I could turn around and go home and fetch it. Sis was all �don�t worry, we�ll think of something� but I was dying inside. You know that feeling where you really REALLY want to cry but you know you have to do something really REALLY REALLY important instead and the crying will have to wait?

What�s that film where they can take a pill and their thoughts go a million miles an hour and they can fix stuff and make things happen? I metaphorically shoved a handful of those badboys down my gullet and had a brainwave. I phoned Jooj (fresh back from Edinburgh and all shiny-eyed cos she met Joanna Lumley), she grabbed my passport and headed off for the station to catch the 12.30 train. The 12.30 train would get to Sis�s at 1.30 and, if BiL drove like Sterling Moss�s speedier brother, in a hurry, we could still make the 4pm ferry.

Yeh. Jooj is a thinker, not an athlete. And the station is a half hour from our house if you�re a determined fast-walker, not if you�re a woefully unfit hippy who�s been up since 4am (early flight from Edinburgh) and was planning on staying in bed for the rest of the day. She phoned me at 12.32. �I missed it, mum.�

Now it was Sis�s turn with the handful of Limitless pills (I remembered!). She phoned BiL, explained, he said �we�ll think of something� and then she did. She phoned the ferry company and changed the booking to the 6pm ferry.

Jooj sat in Costa with a coffee for an hour (Me: Get a cake! I�ll pay!), caught the 1.30 train, we met her at the station with sandwiches and chocolate for the return journey. She handed over the passport, I hugged her enough to let her know I really was grateful but not enough to actually start crying (which was still bubbling under, tbh) and then she said �get away from me, you mad woman� and got on the train going back.

On the ferry we saw this ad.
 photo DSC_0007_zps6034795e.jpg

Nobody else had seen it, apparently, as there wasn�t a queue right around the ship, so me and Sis made good use of their stocks of whisky and gin respectively, and even BiL had a small brandy (�We haven�t got brandy, we�ve just got whisky, gin, Malibu, Tia Maria and Kogg-nack��What?....Oh! Is it?....How do you say it again?.....Conn-Yack? Ohhhhhhh *grins*).

And now Im in Bruges and its all lovely, except my laptop charger isn�t working so its only a matter of time before I have to stop typi�.


edit: Have got more to say about this wee trip but I really did run out of battery so I havent gotten around to typing it up yet. There's photos and pathetic puns aplenty and I hope you wont have to wait too long for their true patheticness. Oh, and tomorrow Im off to see the boob-correctors for a pre-op consultation and another chat with the Clin Psych just to make sure I havent gone mental since the last time I saw her.

later
s
x



back - forth