Bletchley Park visit and goodbyes

And off they go in the rain!

On Saturday, after multiple hugs we said goodbye to Liz and Barry, and we moved the boat over to the Visitor Mooring - the git gaps were empty and the git who'd moored between them had moved off...

We had sensibly planned the trip to Bletchley Park for the Saturday to take advantage of not boating on a rainy day.

We went there by mini-cab - mistake:

• the company had no idea where Campbell Park was and we had to walk around trying to find a building to direct them to as they didn't recognise the roundabout names or intersections ...
• the driver who eventually arrived did not know where Bletchley Park was - but didn't say so. He found the suburb of Bletchley but the Park was not in his frame of reference and he hadn't entered it into his GPS properly
• And he didn't have David's card details from David's cab ride the night before, so Olek and I were out of the cab in the rain waiting for the situation to be explained in full by a certain person to the driver and to the office in two phone calls - well, maybe one phone call but a certain person and the driver took turns doing the talking.

However, the visit to Bletchley Park was a success. We set off independently as David and I view exhibits and displays in a vastly different manner (I read pretty much everything and am slow at moving on), and I wanted Olek to see things at his own pace and consider aspects that were informative and interesting to him.

Why skills in maths are important - they increase both the facilities mentioned herein through understanding of concepts and through practice

One of the good things is that the ticket lasts for a year, so I think David and I will return next year to see even more.

Now we are back, blobbing (Olek), blogging (me) and I am about to construct a cheese tart - David has grated the cheese and chopped the onion.

After the yummy cheese tart had mostly been consumed (some has been saved for lunch for one person), Olek noticed that the magpies on the grass were alternately being pursued by and pursuing a rat!! He then went out to investigate and see if he could see the rat off. Knowing that if you can see one rat, there are a couple of thousand nearby, I was a bit disconcerted and made a note to ensure the boat external doors were fully latched overnight ... Having ants come on board is one thing, but rats? AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

A game of 5 Crowns before bed - I won, and David lost by about 100 points.
 

Olek asked that I record him as a dweeb - anything to oblige my grandson!

In the rainy morning on Sunday, Olek and I went for a walk through Campbell Park and around and about - MK certainly has amazing park spaces and walkways. He showed me the huge open grassy place across from the boat that he'd seen on Friday, and thought "BALL!!" , came back to search from top to bottom, bow to stern but there isn't one on the boat anymore, dammit!

Olek has gone back to Manchester now. We are sad he is gone, but know we will see him again soon - if his father is a dutiful son, he will make sure of it!

Doting grandparents had to go down on to the platform to see him off. Long suffering grandson allowed that - such a gem! Next year, I bet he won't though ...

A bit of shopping outside the HUGE MK malls which seem to stretch over several blocks and totally confuse me - Argos for a new shaver for David and a soccer ball for the next time the boys come to stay. Then a walk back to the station - we thought it was easier than finding an appropriate bus stop - we had a LONG wait for a bus and then back to the boat: Google said we could have walked it faster than the wait and the journey combined.

The boat seemed quieter and less joyful without the grandson, so we consoled ourselves with dessert (David), G&T (David), and chardonnay (me). And an early night was called for. I cheered myself with the novel I am re-reading 'The Straight Man' by Richard Russo. He is a great writer.