A trip down memory lane! R wanted to visit the church known as the Cathedral of Milton Keynes so I found it on Google maps and off we went. First off, we passed MK hospital, less than a five minute walk from the boat. My last memory of here was linked to my one and only out of body experience. We moved to Deanshanger, 6 miles from MK, when we were first married and expecting our first child. She arrived very fast in the middle of the night at Milton Keynes Hospital. In fact so fast that I remember being on the ceiling looking down at her birth. She was a breach delivery and I was lucky to have her without a ceasarean being necessary. No time! She was tiny and early and popped out like a champagne cork!!
Next off we tried to follow the very simple grid system to get to the chuch but I still managed to muddle the horizontal and the vertical so that a half hour walk took nearer to 2! We passed a Sikh mosque which you don’t see very often, especially where we come from. And we did have a fortuitous break en route. I was beginning to feel a bit peckish, bemoaning my lack of forethought of bringing some food with us. Suddenly we saw a Zizzi which looked surprisingly open even though the opening hours said differently. A member of staff saw us peering through the window and came out with a menu. A truly welcome sight! We shared the most delicious vegetarian pizza, probably made more so by the quantity of cheese on top! I realised very early on in my pizza making days that, unless you use a substantial amount of cheese you are never going to emulate a restaurant bought pizza. Infact that is why I treat myself so rarely to a pizza – visions of what that cheese is doing to my internals. And I have to say, ever since my mother in law described a pizza as a cheese and tomato open sandwich!!
Fortified we continued on until reaching the ‘cathedral’ which, surprise surprise was shut. Or at least not open to the public. There was an open door but we think it might be being used as some sort of medical centre so didn’t venture in. We were intrigued to see that it was opened in 1992, 4 years after we left the area. That would explain why we don’t remember it, even though it is right next door to the main MK shopping area, which I remember very well! Or to be more precise, I remember John Lewis. If I paint the picture – we bought our first house in a small village called Deanshanger and so excited was I, I did not notice the artex on the walls that meant it was like being surrounded by a snowy icing scene from the top of a Christmas cake. We spent hours and hours trying to remove it from the walls in addition to renovating most of the house. Scenes such as nails being knocked into water pipes come to mind and the consequences thereof! I was heavily pregnant and knew noone. R was commuting to London so it was fair to say I was, when not exhausted from painting, bored of my own company. Many many an hour did I spend in JL buying things for our new home and the baby on the way. Many days I would just be looking, but it was such a novelty, after the traffic congestion of London, to hop in my bright red Nissan Micra and be at JL and this massive under cover shopping mall within a 10 minute car ride. In Surrey the ‘church’ of John Lewis has been replaced by the ‘church’ of Costco which has now been replaced by the ‘church’ of Elsan and all things boating!
James rang to talk about the boat repairs. The icy weather has delayed him a bit so we agreed to wait until after the vaccine date before we meet up. He knows our Marina well and could recommend the fastfood but said he thought it just as well the pub’s shut. Not only is the food a bit hit and miss but it sounds like some of the regulars are as well. J likes a game of darts so spying a dart board he asked for some darts and was told he is very welcome to bring his own but due to a dart throwing competition between pundits, rather than at the board, the pub had to remove all its own darts from the premises! Reminds me of our youngest moving into his big brother’s bedroom at the tender age of about 8 where there was a darts board at the head of the bed. I had hidden away all the darts and thought no more of it until the day after a friend of his came to tea. The mother approached me in the playground saying N had enjoyed coming to play but was full of fantastical tales. One being that P had got N to jump up and down on the bed whilst P tried to throw darts at the board. ‘It’s alright mum he said, because I had my glasses on and they took the hit!’. Unbeknownst to me P knew exactly where all the darts were. That story could have ended very differently! The same occasion N told his mum they had been on the trampoline unsupervised. Infact C, P’s older sister by 3 yrs, was watching but I realised how lax I became by the fourth child. Not helped when his friends were only children or top of the pile!
As it’s Ash Wednesday we had a reflective Zoom service and then in contrast, watched ‘Vera’ and an episode of ‘Mum’. Think we only have one episode of each left to view – we can give them up for Lent!
NarrowboatTLC 