I do have an excuse for missing yesterday’s post, I was at a wedding. This seemingly uncomplicated statement , when unravelled, turns into a more complicated tale. It involved leaving the house by 9.00, which should have been quite simple, but by the time I had persuaded my joints to move, got my trousers on etc, we were close to that. Then one of us, and I am not one to utter public criticism of anyone, had to sort the contents of her handbag, as she does. I mention no names . . .

Yellow flowers in need of identification

Then, I noticed the satnav was forecasting a journey time of nearly three hours, where my original estimate had been a little over two. Suddenly my plan of two hours plus an hour for all eventualities started to look a bit thin. This was particularly noticeable, as the estimated time of arrival showed a tendency to become a minute of two later every time I checked. I stopped checking, but that didn’t stop the advance of time.

Progress was impeded by a number of slow lorries and by intermittent rain. It was further made to seem slower  by the flat and not particularly pleasant countryside. Don’t get me wrong, I used to live in the Fens and can appreciate a piece of scenery that stays flat all the way to eternity, particularly when dotted with the occasional tree and derelict building, but there’s something about the Norfolk side of Peterborough that has always failed to thrill me.

Meadow flowers at East Leake

Then we got onto the network of small roads in Norfolk. Reasonably picturesque, but bereft of place where public toilets are to be found. That led to to a tricky few miles, particularly with the clock ticking on. Eventually we arrived with about ten minutes to spare, and parked in the staff car park, despite the notice about it not being for visitors. There was an “accessible” (the new term for disabled spaces) space and we decided that a man with two sticks (I had bought new sticks for the wedding) should be able to park there anyway. So we did. You could tell it was “accessible” because it had a sign saying so and so yellow lines. Apart from that, it was an odd shape, in a tricky corner and not particularly easy to use. It was, however,  conveniently situated by the back door of the Registry Office and we arrived in time.

The journey back was quicker, though the traffic was heavier and the weather took a turn for the worse towards the end of the journey. When we were about ten minutes from home someone decided to pull out in front of us. An emergency stop in the rain seems a good place to stop the account of the day.

More will follow.

Wild flowers