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Published: September 18th 2018
Life is full of what ifs. What if this and what if that? What if we had done something different? What if we had never done it all? The days were slipping by. Another week of the year had disappeared into the realms of what ifs. The mornings are getting colder and the thermostat is just on the edge of firing the boiler up. The Lavender in the garden has gone over, the leaves of the trees are crinkled and brown. It feels as if there will be no blaze of Autumn colour. The hot summer has put paid to that. The elderberries and blackberries turn the hedgerows a deep purple and the Hawthorns are covered thick with red berries. An early feast for the birds. Autumn is just around the corner.
We make another tentative call to SMC. Expecting nothing . Imagine our joy to be told it was in and we could book Gabby in to have it fitted. We had to wait 10 days . Can you imagine just how slowly time moved? You know what it is like when you are waiting for something to happen. We spent the time looking at another house. Right place,
right price but a shed load of things that needed renovating. It looked good. The camera never lies does it? A brick and white bungalow set in a cul de sac. Quiet with a largish drive - big enough for Gabby. A small front garden. Next door a caravan. It looked as if it had never had any upgrading for years. We guessed the owner had passed away or gone into a home. As it turned out she was in a home and the sons were selling it. The hall was small, needed cupboards removing and a new electrical system and fuse box fitted . It needed a new gas heating system. Why is it we leave a house with new boiler , new windows and the person buying it can move in and live in it? . Yet when we find a property we find all the ceilings need plastering, it needs a new kitchen and bathroom, the garden needs a complete makeover and the conservatory is not as nice as we first thought. I guess going to see it set off the what if we bought it? How much money would it take to bring it kicking and
screaming into the 21st century? What if the neighbours hated and complained about Gabby? Answers we would never get to unless we sold our property and took the plunge.
The days passed by very slowly but eventually the morning of the fitting came round. We unhooked Gabby from her umbilical cord and set off for SMC. As we drove along we asked ourselves the questions "What if it was the wrong screen?" "What if they had not booked us in?" The closer we got to Newark the more what ifs came to mind. Arriving the first of our what ifs was answered. We were welcomed, they picked up the paperwork and told us that the job would take about 2 hours. We headed off for our first coffee of the wait. A lovely small cafe in the square where the staff were friendly and the atmosphere resembled a french cafe. Half an hour later, free WiFi and we were onto our second beverage of the day. Two pots of tea. It was near to lunch time we ordered our lunches, a chicken dish for Glenn and a welsh rarebit made from four cheeses for me. What a fine welsh
rarebit that was. Cheese never tasted quite so good. Our what ifs had disappeared as we realised that if it was the wrong fly screen or they had broken it whilst fitting we would have heard by now. Lunch arrived and we drank another coffee.
So what to do with the rest of the afternoon. A visit on the cards to the Civil War Museum next. It was like a rabbit warren. We paid up our £7 per person entry and then the phone rang. Gabby was fixed and we could pick her up and take her home. Before that we had the museum complex to walk around.
The first room on the ground floor had an exhibition of Civil War armour and helmuts, guns, muskets and cannon balls. All found in and around Newark. During the English Civil War the town fell to the Parliamentary forces and had to be relieved by Prince Rupert in what was known as the Relief of Newark. There were a number of visitors to the museum and we had to squeeze our way in to take photographs of the exhibits. All behind reflective glass and photos taken on a phone camera.
The museum was like a tardis with exhibits crammed into displays. Stairs going up and down, Rooms opening out. A real Aladdins cave of treasures. All reminding us of our ancestors who must have led interesting lives in an interesting time. Families split by politics. Parents favouring the old regime of catholic monarch all wielding power coming down from God. Children railing against them wanting a new order. A protestant clean out of a corrupt system. Brexit sounded like it all over again.
Upstairs were more items from the civil war and exhibits from other periods of Newarks history. Pre-historic man was represented with flints, flint tools , fragments of bone and a tooth from a woolly mammoth. Sion was excited as he was sure it was from one of his best friend Woolly Mammoths relatives. Pictures and photographs of old Newark, a printing press, medical instruments and items from the first world war. An eclectic mix and the top floor was no exception. The colours mauve, white and green covered the floor , uniforms of suffragetes, badges and brooches, pamphlets and pictures. Newark was celebrating its connection with the movement to give women the suffrage.
It was though time to leave the museum and pick up our girl. We talked about servicing and habitation checks which all would be due shortly. SMS were more expensive but seemed more thorough so we bit the bullet and booked Gabby in for when we return from our Autumn break.
Our last stop a trip to the garage to fill up with LPG. But that is another story for another time.
To quote Sri Swami Satchidananda "If you have a happy mind your face and body will reflect that happiness". Right now we grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
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Jackie Harrison
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Taking the Plunge!!
We took the plunge - sold our house in Bristol and bought a bungalow on outskirts of Newport that needed total renovation including a new garden!! It was hard work, was homeless for 6 months, did the bungalow one year and garden this year! Now I love it and its all up together when I get back from travelling!! We are currently in Spain!!