HOLIDAYS END AND MY FAVOURITE QUEEN

So, the holiday is over and we are all back to normal. For anyone who has read ‘Walking over Eggshells’ and knows a little about my background, you may guess that it was a bitter-sweet visit. It was absolutely brilliant to meet up with all my cousins for the first time since we were children, but also a fearful trip down memory lane.

We ‘did’ Wexford

and Waterford

and stayed at Fawlty Towers, a nice hotel with clueless staff. I had my doubts even before we landed, since I’d read the reviews with horror. On arrival, after traveling non stop for over 12 hours, I was desperate for a coffee, (would DH stop for refreshment? Not a bit of it, we were in super space flight mode as usual), so by the time we crawled into the bar I was caving in at the knees. (Note we’d had a delay at the airport since we couldn’t find out how to open the boot (trunk) of the hired car, nor get it to start).

It also took some time to photograph all the scratches, dents and bumps and then the next day the hire company helpfully sent us their pics of the scratches, dents and bumps ringed nicely in red – and we’d not noticed half of them!

Back at the hotel, the bartender, his hands hovering over the beer pump, looked quite disappointed when he informed us the coffee machine was broken.

“You have water?”

“Yes.”

“And coffee?”

“Yes.”

Then, I paused for dramatic effect, “Could you fill the kettle on the shelf behind you and make coffee the old fashioned way?”

Light bulb moment. I got my coffee, a whole pot of it.

Despite the enormous sign swinging outside the front door announcing they served food 24 hours 7 days a week, they closed the kitchens after breakfast as it was still out of season (in June?) and we had to traipse miles for food. But I must add that I could not fault the spread they put on on the Saturday night for the party which was a roaring success.

On to Dublin

and I visited my father’s grave for the first time. (They helpfully sold me a map for one Euro and suggested I return the next day when a staff member would help search for a further ten Euro).

Initially I couldn’t find it and I was devastated, but eventually, in a neglected area of the cemetery, there it was, undisturbed for over 60 years. As I laid the flowers, I realized with a shock that I am not precisely sure where my mother’s ashes have been placed. One day I will make that pilgrimage as well and lay the final ghosts to rest.

From death to birth, as I sent my new baby out into the world this week, to some wise, kind and clever people, to be mauled, criticized, corrected, mangled and all the other things which help to improve her. It’s a very worrying time for a new mother who has given birth, and now Amie 2 must be knocked into final shape before she has her coming out party in July or August.

A huge thank you to all those people who have taken the time and trouble to write a review on Amazon, I can’t tell you how grateful I am.

So, back we go in time and I have just popped into my last blog to see how far we have traveled together with our history lesson and noticed an ENORMOUS mistake. I cringed when I read it, but then, thinking out of the box, instead of correcting it, I thought why not offer a free file of one of my books to the first person who spots it? That’s the way you turn adversity into opportunity. So if you want a free read, just pop back and check. This will also tell me if

a) anybody is reading this rubbish and

b) if anybody is paying attention.

We now move on to my favourite queen and I share her name. No, not Queen Lucinda but the great Queen Elizabeth I.

She was affectionately known as Black Beauty or Brown Bess. She was also applauded for riding to Tilbury on a large white horse and encouraging the soldiers … but history sadly doesn’t tell us how encouraging she was, or quite how she did it.

But there they all were, standing around on the windswept cliffs, (which played havoc with her hair style), all waiting for the arrival of the Spanish Armadillo. It was only because this great and glorious queen was there that the English were victorious once again.

The saga continues next time….