Birthday parties and other things

Saturday:
Next Wednesday (7th September) is my father's wife's 80th birthday. To make it easy for everyone, they had a party at the weekend, so we travelled down to Sussex to attend. My brother came from Cornwall, with his girlfriend (haven't seen him for 18 months, though we do speak on the phone from time to time, and never met her before) and my aunt came from Norfolk. It was good to see everyone. Flo spent the entire evening on her feet and as far as I saw, didnt eat anything or drink either. Her daughters organised the party, so she didn't actually have to do anything, but there are some people who cant help being up and doing all the time, whether it's necessary or not.

We camped overnight at Mitchelswood Farm. It's a new camping venture, but they have been around some time as an equestrian centre. When we arrived, there was no-one at reception, so we had to call someone on the phone and they said just to pitch the tent 'anywhere' as long as it was on the campsite. It's a C&CC registered site which usually means no facilities at all. This one was a stage better than nothing at all - they had installed a portable loo and shower.

We got back to the tent at about 11pm (party wasnt too late and had started at 6pm). The site was slightly sloping, so in the middle of the night I had to turn round 180deg as my head was lower than my feet. It wasn't by much, but I couldn't sleep and was getting heartburn! That was when I realised just how noisy everything was. First there were owls - two or three different types, screeching or hooting about the woods (not a problem - I like owls); then the horses harumphing in the field next to the tents (I quite like horses too); then there was the party at the pub, with the heavy thump thump thump of the music - just far enough away so you couldn't actually make out any tunes! After that was the nearby A272 - cars were still running up and down and they could be heard quite clearly. And after that was the wonderful sound of being under the flight path to and from Gatwick. Not the most comfortable night we have ever spent!

Sunday:
I went to see my mother's grave this morning. Still no headstone - something her husband was sorting out. Will have to contact him and see what exactly he is doing or intends to do. It is after all 18 months and her grave looks very lonely being surrounded by headstones while hers is still bare.

When we got back to the campsite, we packed up the tent and again the reception area was unmanned. So we rang the number we had. A young girl answered but didn't know what to say to me, so kept me waiting 5 minutes while she got someone else to speak to me. The second person said that I needed to speak to someone else, but she would call him on his mobile and get him to come down. 10 full minutes later he finally arrived. We had been packed up for ages by then and were just waiting to leave. Had he been any longer, we were tempted just to drive off and pay later. I mean he was friendly enough, but you expect a certain level of service and we weren't getting it.

After that, we went to see Dad and see how he was coping with the morning after the night before. We arrived about 11.30, just as they were finishing breakfast! He had taken delivery of a compost bin for me, so we collected that and then were on our way back to the frozen north. We had been warned that it was getting cold overnight, but the temperatures were higher there at night than they have been here most of the day! Well, they dont call it the frozen north for nothing!

In the evening, I joined in an online party with some internet friends, which was novel but fun.

Monday:
This morning I was expecting an estate agent to visit at 11am. We have decided that we want to sell part of our garden as a building plot, but we also want to discuss whether it is worth renovating the house, or selling that as part of the building plot too. Basically we want to maximise the income from the property as we really want to move, for several reasons, not least being Hubby now works 70 miles from home which, while it is a pleasant journey which he doesn't mind, is very costly and time consuming.

By 12, the estate agent still hadn't turned up. So I rang the office. The receptionist told me it was in the diary for 2pm. Funny, she told me 11 when we discussed it the other day! I was not impressed. I was less impressed when she said the diary can sometimes automatically change times and dates all by itself - it shouldnt, but it does, she explained. Hmmm! She asked if I was still available at 2pm, which I am, but that's hardly the point is it!? When I repeated the conversation from the other day, she accepted that the appointment had been booked at 11am but the agent who is coming apparently always had it down as 2pm.

This is their second error and we haven't even asked them to market the place yet! I wonder what service their actual clients get? The first mistake was when I rang up to ask a question, which the receptionist couldn't answer. She told me someone would ring me the next day (the Friday) or the following Tuesday (after the Bank Holiday Monday). When neither happened, I rang them again and she was very apologetic. Apparently the estate agent had given her a message in response to my question, but she hadn't called me to pass it on. Retraining perhaps? Or just sacking?

When we do sell then, it is unlikely that we will be selling through this particular agent.

Meanwhile, I await 2pm with bated breath!