1804.02 IT'S EASTER!

It's that time of year when we celebrate the rebirth, when colour returns to the land and new life starts to appear everywhere. When we crawl out of our holes to embrace the great outdoors - it's Easter.

1704.16 HOPPY EASTER

So take away the religion and Easter is an almost perfect festival. Perhaps it's everything Christmas should be?

1704.14 EGG-CITING TIMES

As usual at Easter I find myself in the liar of my Mother-in-law as my family travel south to stay for the weekend. I've been lucky in getting Easter off pretty regularly, I'm guessing not that many at work are that bothered about it to compete. We drove down last night which was pretty uneventful, the roads were fairly clear and we made it down in good time.

1603.28 EASTER BUNNY AND THE GHOST

Our break in St Neots continued into Easter Sunday with a jet lagged wake up following the clocks going forward at 2am.

We met up with friends who are getting married later in the year to visit the church they will be using. Later we sat down to a family dinner and then relaxed for the rest of the day. I do love the fact that all the shops close on this day.

I have an After Eight egg that I will be enjoying over the coming days.

Now I'm going to digress a little to give a little background to something that happened this afternoon. Morticia sometimes comes and stays at her mother's without the rest of us, she does this once or twice a year. She has often spoken of a disturbing presence in the spare room (not anywhere else in the house). She says she feels uneasy and has on occasion woken up feeling as if she is been held down in the bed. This has never happened when I am there, and she says she feels at ease then. This story has been around for many years and on Sunday morning is the first time it has changed.

This morning whilst we were all sleeping Morticia woke screaming. She said later that she had felt that same presence holding her down briefly. I wasn't affected by any of this at all and apart from the noise of her scream. In the afternoon Rags was feeling tired and went up to bed for a nap. She yelled for me about an hour later, I dashed up and she was looking shocked and confused. She told me that she had woken up after feeling that she was being held down, then feeling her arm being lifted. She told me she saw a figure briefly before she called out.

Both are unaffected from the events and are not put off sleeping in the room.

Sunday night Storm Katie raged outside, we had a relaxing evening in front of the TV. The bank holiday is our last day and hopefully the weather will allow us to leave the house.

Storm Katie ravages the country

Monday started late for everyone (except me, I was reading from 9am). When we did go out we drove down to a local chilli farm. The cafe there was closed but Morticia bought a few chilli based condiments. We then visited a nearby garden centre. I'm not a fan of garden centres, they're full of stuff I can't afford and we usually end up buying expensive tat we don't need. We enjoyed a much needed cuppa before venturing on.

We had tea in town at the local Wetherspoons (The Weeping Ash), I'm a big fan of Wetherspoons.

Then after packing up our stuff and a number of cups of tea later it was time to head back home. A1 northbound.

1603.27 THEY TALK FUNNY DARN SOUFF

Like most Easters of late we travelled down to Morticia's mother's for the weekend. We drove down around dinner(lunch)* time and although there were a couple of hold ups along the way, the journey was without note or incident. The day was bright and sunny and we enjoyed the drive, our car has a glass roof so we can really make the best of these nice car trips.

St Neots is a town just off the A1 just below Peterborough and not far from Cambridge. It's a place I've become familiar with over the years and have developed a fondness for the place, even if the people talk funny!

They (the town) have recently acquired a small cinema and with it a couple of chain eateries. Friday night we went to Frankie & Bennys. The service was dreadfully slow and the servers didn't even know their own menu (we had to point). The food when it arrived was poor quality and in the case of Morticia's salad, wasn't as described. The cost I found was on the high side for this type of restaurant, in hindsight we'd have gotten better food at better value at a Wetherspoon's (I'm a big fan of Wetherspoon pubs). A twitter complaint went in as soon as I got back.

Saturday we went into town. It's a small but pleasant shopping centre that's easy to traverse (it's one street and a market square). We had a late dinner/early tea in the cafe in the square (as we usually do) which in all our opinions was better than the meal last night. The town recently (this week) acquired a B & M Bargains store in the small retail area on the edge of town so we were obliged to visit. I watched the locals traversing the store in wonder as I smugly smiled to myself (we have 2 withing 5 minute drives of our house). We got back to Morticia's mother's house just moments before storm 'Katie' unleashed. I spent the evening relaxing whilst doodling cartoons and sipping a bottle of beer.

I went to bed with a slight headache which stayed with me throughout the night. I dreamed that my bike had been stolen (the bike in my dream however wasn't my bike in reality). Maybe this was withdrawal and I was aware of the ride I'd be missing Sunday morning?

*I think it's a northern thing but I call lunch=dinner and what everyone else calls dinner is either tea or supper depending on the time.

1104.24 EASTER EGG

So the big bunny came and I had the best Easter in a long time. No tension, completely relaxed. Perfect.

Yesterday I mentioned my purchase of a couple of books from a charity shop. One of them was 'Adrian Mole- The Prostrate Years' by Sue Townsend. I remember being 14 and reading the original Secret Diary and follow up Growing Pains. I was never very comfortable being a teenager and identified with the character. I couldn't resist the book when I saw it and started reading it as soon as I got back. I've ended up reading it within 24 hours (something I haven't done in a long time). Although I don't share much with the character I do find myself still relating to him. A boy who becomes a man who always feels slightly out of sync with the world around him. I feel like that often. Sue Townsend is a genius that somehow understands the male mind.

This evening Morticia, her mother and the girls took a walk to the local pub for a pint. It was the first time since I've been coming down here that I've visited any of the locals. I had a pint of Wells Eagle IPA in the Cambridgeshire Hunter. It was getting cold so we headed back (plus Rags was getting tired).

We go home tomorrow which is a real shame since I'm so relaxed at the moment. I'm currently settled on the settee enjoying a pint of real ale.

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1004.06 END OF EASTER

That's it, Easter is done for another year. I'm lucky since I've got another couple of days off to spend with my family. We've now returned home from our weekend with Morticia's mother and it is time to get on with it. I have just one out of my two eggs left, seems everyone in the house got loads more than me again.

Today the general election was confirmed as 6th May which is Morticia's birthday and the day after mine. I guess it's gonna be a dull old April.

1004.03 THE EGGS-FACTOR

The year rolls on and before we know it it's Easter. It seems only yesterday it was Christmas. Maybe it's a symptom of getting older.

It's the Easter weekend and I find the period so much more enjoyable than Christmas. A time to relax and spend time with family without the commercialism of the festive season. A few Easter eggs and a good meal await tomorrow.

Yesterday was relaxed which culunated in the beginning of a new series of Ashes to Ashes. Today promises to be just as relaxing with a new series of Doctor Who this afternoon.

I can put my feet up and forget my worries.

Happy Easter everyone!