October 10th.- Storm Force Winds!

I’ve not been travel sick since I was 10. Certainly never in a stationary vehicle but I came close last night! The wind was incredible and although fairly confident, there was a niggle at the back of my mind that The Goddess might get blown over. Also, not knowing the tides and the strength of the Sea Defences, the fact that our site did seem on a level, if not lower than East Fleet, the other side of the dyke, made me wonder how good their alarm system was. I’d already mentally planned a wade to the nearby amenities block and clambering on the roof.

Morning after the storm and the tide is in, where did my lovely beach walk go?

We had planned to book in another couple of nights, as we really loved it here but the forecast was for more of the same and a serious risk of coastal flooding. It was disappointing to be leaving Pinewoods, which, with good weather and out of season, would be hard to beat, anywhere.

We’ve yet to unravel the mysteries of the TV Satellite system, so with excellent WiFi, it was an added bonus to be able to watch TV via my laptop, not that we watched anything other than BBC Breakfast because, after weeks without, it seemed deliciously quirky to catch up with the news and weather, while sorting breakfast and planning our day.

We decided to move to Stonham Barns, as a more sheltered site, which is just round the corner from Mike’s Mother’s beautiful thatched cottage that she lived in, until a few years ago. It was heart wrenching for all of us when she had to sell up and move to Newport Pagnell but, time and tide waits for no man and as she is now 94 and unable to drive, there is no way she could have remained here for much longer.

We are on our way to Chelmsford and plan to be there Saturday. We are going for Mike to catch up with his half sister, Kate. It’s her birthday on Monday. Kate will be 56, yet we didn’t know she existed until July of last year. To say we were shocked is putting it mildly.

Mike’s Mother has made it clear that she wishes to have no contact with Kate and due to the circumstances, we do understand that. So Mum doesn’t know we are in touch with her youngest child. We respect what we have been told, that she wishes there to be no contact between her and the daughter she gave up at birth. However, we are old enough to do what we like. Mike has already met Kate, once. Spoken to her on the phone, several times. 

I’ve met up with her for dinner and in May went to stay with her and we went to London to see Muse together, which was one of my best ever concerts.

I refuse to keep Kate a secret, I just don’t, at the present time, choose to tell Mike’s Mum that we know about her.