Time Out

I spent a few days last week visiting my parents in Northumberland. It was great to see them as my mother is between operations to resolve a long standing issue with her knee and is more or less housebound during this period. My father is totally dedicated to looking after her and is blessed with good health and a positive attitude, both great things for a man of 79.... and that was the excellent thing as I was able to be with him for the first time on his birthday for many years. We celebrated with a Chinese takeaway from Alnwick, eaten in his kitchen overlooking the Northumberland coast as the light faded from the day.

I do visit the North East on a number of occasions each year, but it struck me on arrival that it has been a long time since I had done so in the springtime, let alone the precise date of my father's birthday! The plants in the garden that were flowering gave me a slightly strange feeling as I was not used to seeing these particular varieties and it gave such a familiar sight a slightly alien feel.

I very much enjoy the company of others, friends, family, associates and the new people who constantly touch my life, but one thing I love to do when I visit is to walk alone on the coast close to their house. The mind opens and matters can seem so much clearer from the reflection this enables. The view from their house stretches from the Farne Islands to the north as far as Dunstanburgh castle to the south and there are many variations to choose from in this area to stretch the legs. My favourite walks are along the dunes to the south ending up at Dunstanburgh or further to Craster, world famous for its kippers; or as on this occasion, north to Newton-by-the-Sea with views back across Embleton Bay to the south. This is how it looked on the morning of Wednesday 6th May :-

A lovely couple of days away and I also saw my good friend Andrew who is a farmer and has had a very busy time with the lambing season over the past weeks. It feels good to still have a close friendship going back 33 years to our first year at senior school, with all the experiences and memories that have been made in that time.

As one is never too far from the outside world these days, work continued while I was away and the result of one particular conversation I had just as I was about to leave will form the subject of my next post....