The Chaise Guest House, Sunderland

When we arrived at The Roker hotel for the night’s stay, the hotel representative came on board and told us he would call out our names, give us the keys to our rooms, dinner would be at 18.00hrs in a restaurant next door and breakfast would be served in the hotel. 

We were called off the coach alphabetically and we followed the previous couple, also named Brown, and we were then asked to wait by the coach. 

All the other coach passengers were called, given their keys, and went into the hotel.  I had to leave my husband outside to seek warmth and seating inside the hotel.  After five or so minutes, the wife of the other couple came inside to get warm and seated.

After everyone appeared to have left the coach, the two Mr Browns were told to wait in reception for their keys.  There was quite a gathering round the desk so we had to wait to ask about our room, eventually we were told that they had the key there and then - a gentleman came down to say he had no electric supply in his room.  This was dealt with, in as much as the young lady behind the desk appeared to go with him to see what she could do about it.  We again asked about our keys; having woke at 04.00hrs in order to be at the coach collection point on time, I was exhausted.  It was now 17.15hrs ish.  

the Chaise on the left

our Restaurant on the right

After a time of waiting, we were then told that a young man would show us to our room.  He waltzed off out of the building with Mr D Brown in tow.  His wife proceeded to follow him while my husband waited for me to get up and follow.  By the time I reached the exit, I could see no-one outside but fortunately my husband spotted the other three several yards up the road (See the X above).  We followed and the hotel person waited until my husband arrived and then left.  

The proprietor (John) of the Chaise Guest House was embarrassed but very helpful and sympathetic for our predicament, especially as he had not known about our arrival until that morning.  John had been told he would have a party of four, named Brown; we had only just met each other and I, for one, did not intend to spend the night sharing a room with strangers!

There were two rooms available, one family room (obviously) and another room on another floor which was not en-suite.  I prepared to go back to the hotel as neither room was really suitable but John asked us to wait while he tried to sort different rooms for us.  The re-arranged rooms were beautiful and very pleasant. 

View from Bedroom window

We managed to change and go back to the hotel for our evening meal, out into the cold night air with wet hair – dinner was at six and we had to walk back to the hotel.  We then found out that we had to go out of the hotel again, to another building for our meal (see X in second picture), to which a young lady showed us.

There was a birthday party taking place in the restaurant, which meant our meal didn’t start to arrive until 19.15hrs.  The main course meat was served and eventually we had vegetables brought to go with it.  I would like to point out that the waiters were wonderful; they provided extra delicious sauce for the main course, exchanged chocolate ice cream for vanilla while being cheerful and helpful.  They certainly knew about Customer Service and we thanked them personally for all their help.  We then walked back into the night air to reach our room. 

the view along the front

the view down to the beach

The next morning we had our breakfast in the Guest House, a fantastic meal in good company.  Our stay at The Chaise could not be faulted in anyway BUT we understood at booking that we would be in a hotel.

Our coach parked outside at exactly the right time, we still had time to have a look around and were suitably impressed.  Having passed a marina on our way into the hotel, it would seem that Sunderland has a lot to offer!  

surfers in the sea!

surfs up ......

We arrived at the National Railway Museum with a full six hours ahead of us - see the next post.

BTW  I sent a letter to the holiday company as I thought they needed to know what had happened....copies to the hotel and the Chaise.

Scenery on the way ...

The Prince of the Pagodas - Ballet

This day dawned cold, sunny and dry.  Today was the funeral of R's Mother, I cannot tell you of the pain that has led to this day, suffice to say that Chris had suffered so much, fought so well and still managed to be the strength of her home.  The well of her love for all around her never ran dry and the turnout for her funeral service reflected that.

The tickets for the show were bought last year, we had been looking forward to it for a long time and R was adamant that his mother would have wanted us to go.
While PJ went to Birmingham University for an evening of stargazing, C and I went into town for a meal and the show ...  this show .....

This is a 'proper' Ballet show  and we have only ever been to see the 'Nutcracker' which I consider to be a children's show.  We were about to find out if we liked Ballet proper.


The show opened with the Fool coming to sit at the front of the stage, there was much miming and laughter then it was curtain up and we were at the court of the Emperor.  The courtiers performed the opening number then the Empress came down and danced with the Emperor .

The Kings of the North, South, East and West were introduced and danced their solos. 

Then came the Salmander who attracted the Princess so she left with him and flew away to his land.  Then the ballerinas in their toutous came on.


The rest of the story was related in the dance, the costumes were marvellous .... and the ingenious flash of lightening - a metal streak which came down over the curtain and then had a spotlight flashed onto it so that it really did look like a flash of lightening.

Brilliant!!
It was an absolutely beautiful performance, we were enthralled.  I cannot wait to see our next show - La Fille mal gardee - in June.

The Story: -

Perched on the edge of the stage, at the opening, the Fool introduces the orchestra and guides us through the royal court where we meet the wicked Queen.

The young Princess Sakura is in mourning for the death of her brother and the disintegration of her once powerful father, the Emperor of the Chrysanthemum Throne, who allows his evil new wife to take control of his kingdom.

Spurning several suitors, Sakura accepts a scaly Salamander Prince and they embark on a fairy-tale journey to his magic kingdom. They travel through earth, air, fire and water complete with charming sea-horses and even an octopus! In true fairy-tale style it’s only when she arrives, that she learns of his true identity and the spell he endures. In the battle of good versus evil there are beautiful pas de deux and to the delight of the children in the audience a martial arts showdown.

The final section is an elongated, pantomimic curtain call with enthusiastic applause for Momoka Hirata as Princess Sakura and Joseph Caley as the Salamander Prince while Elisha Willis makes such a good baddie as the Empress, she’s actually booed !

Visiting Durham Town

Would you like a piece of very good advice?
If you are going to visit somewhere then please check it out on line ....

We visited Durham this past weekend and did not have a Plan B!!!
We were going to visit the Trains as Shilden but were having a few hours to explore the City of Durham.
We met the coach at 05.00hrs - yes! there is a five o'clock in the morning - six of us waiting in the dark.  Our driver was James and he was nice and chirpy, early too so that set the scene for the whole trip.  We collected from around the country, as one does on a coach trip, and our last stop was Derby.  We pulled into the services five minutes later, but James explained that some of us had been travelling since five, and everyone was ok with that.

Narrow streets uphill & downhill

We then travelled on to Durham, James gave us full instructions before dropping us all off.  PJ and I were looking forward to a river cruise again, it took us some time to find the river dock mostly uphill and down.

While seeking the ferry boat we spotted these monks, apparently they are carrying St Cuthbert's coffin  ..... 

.... up to the Cathedral ..... 

So as we stood by the muddy river bank, looking around for the boat, we realised that the cruise was not open .... oops!

The Market Square

We walked back to the shops and had a cup of coffee while we tried to work out what to do.

The Market Square as we saw it.

The Castle and the Cathedral were out of the question as they were too high up the hill for me to climb.

We walked around the town, the market, the shops and then made our way back to the pick up point. (We found out later that we could've caught a minibus from the square to the Cathedral  ..... )

on those metal chairs, in the sun ....

On the way round we found a superb cafe and sat outside in the sunshine - basking....

All too soon it was time to leave and go to the hotel so we climbed aboard the coach and set off.
An hour or so later we reached our destination - Sunderland.  After our last visit - Bruce Springsteen Concert - we were a bit wary of the weather but we knew the people would be great.
The hotel was on the sea front and we hoped that we would have a sea view room but more about that later .....

New Garage?

The end of our garage has been slowly disappearing over the years .. we would 'fix' it up and carry on.
PJ has decided enough is enough!

Can you spot the end of the 'Garage' in this photo?

it's the tatty bit behind PJ.  It has the bath being stored in front and peeks behind the yellow trellis.

Not any more ... PJ is changing things round here ....

He measured the wood he had removed from the old Railway Shed (see Bothy Dismantling) and then cut the wood to size.  One piece just fits into the opening of the garage,  We should have enough wood left to make flower boxes for the replacement Bothy at the Railway.



..... and remember the patio from a few posts back? .....

Need a sign saying 'Man at Work'.

But then again see what is appearing ....

well worth all the upset and mess .....

How God moves, His wonders to Perform!

I always say that God provides for all our needs ... it's Scriptural and it's true.  

There are often times when I wished that I could have more, not just my needs but my wants - I know it is being greedy but there are times ....

I have experienced the times when God inundates me with more than my needs, I used to worry about how He did it .... it was quite frightening to have the confirmation that He is watching over me at all times and is aware of my needs.

Since my illness, and all this bad weather, I have not been out very much and PJ is doing most of the shopping.  He buys the necessities .... and a few doughnuts here and there!!!

When N went shopping for us while we were in bed, she bought some bananas, as well as the flowers, and we were grateful - especially me - for the fruit.  

I am not an addict, well, maybe a small one!!

I love fruit!

All fruit really ... I love to try new fruit as well.

I am missing my fruit quite badly now, not just for pudding but for the snacks as well.  I said to PJ earlier today that I would really, really love a banana.

Our Brother in the Lord popped in this evening, on his way from Manchester to a friend down south.  As usual we exchanged presents and he gave us a plastic carrier which I placed in the kitchen, thinking it would be some Jollof Rice.

After O had left our house and moved on to his next visit, we opened the bag and found ... it was full of fruit!!

Bananas, oranges, pears, apples, kiwi fruits and .... and .... some satsumas!!!

This is amazing!  

Even to satsumas - my favourite, not clementines but satsumas!

I cannot believe that this man has walked into a supermarket, not el cheapo but a good one, and bought fruit for us.  In the natural this does not make sense.  No man buys fruit - chocolates or flowers or cake or biscuits, yes but not fruit.  

I give God the praise for using this man to supply our needs, not just our needs but my wants. We would never have bought this food because where we shop, some of these fruits are not sold ....

What a mighty God we serve!!

There's Flowers and then there's Flowers.....

When I was poorly N fetched some shopping for us and then picked up a bunch bouquet of flowers.
I was feeling so poorly I just dumped them in a vase and there they have remained!

BUT





In among the flowers was this beautiful gerbera .....

... and this photo of the lilies does not do them justice ... 

....they are a beautiful dark sunset colour.

I only have the white Chrysanths left now .......

The Greengrocer's Shop

Way back long ago .....
After I was left with a daughter to support, I worked in a Greengrocer's Shop.

It all came about like this ....  I used to collect my maintenance from the Law Courts, notice the doorway up the sidestreet in the photo marked in red, inside it was like a Post Office - a desk with grills which were labelled alphabetically.
The door opened at 13.30hrs precisely, I usually tried to arrive about half an hour earlier as there was usually a queue of ladies waiting to collect some monetary support, and we waited outside in all weathers.  As this doorway opened onto a narrow street, the wind enjoyed unhindered travel along it and not always warmly!
Once the door opened it was a crush to get to the counter first!  Many a time, after my name was checked against the list, I was informed that no payment had been made in my name, and so I returned to the street.  This meant that I was penniless and would have to travel to my parents to ask for some money to last me until I could arrange a Social Payment.  I would have to give my name and address to the busdriver, which meant that the Bus company would send me an invoice for the fare, which then had to be paid at the Bus Garage.

King Edward VII

When I arrived at my parents house they always managed to supply me with enough money to pay for my busfares and buy some food.  I had to go and visit the local Social Services office, wait to be called and then request payment in lieu of the missing maintenance payment.  My daughter only knew that we went to the Post Office by the Park.  Years later she remembered the park, a certain statue actually, and I had to explain what had happened.
The people at the Social would reluctantly hand over enough money to keep me for the fortnight, I would go back to my parents and pay them the money I had borrowed.  This tended to happen frequently as I said.
I think that my Mother became a little tired of all the toing and froing involved, and one day when I arrived to visit, she told me she had spoken to the local Greengrocer who had a vacancy. Mother had put my name forward, spoken with Dad and they would look after my daughter while I was at work - apart from the interview it was all sorted.  I went up to the shop and spoke with the owner who appeared to think that I had accepted the position!!!

Not really!!!

These shops were local, nearly all the families in the roads around used the shops and there was quite a familial feel between the customers and shop owners.  Most of the shops were owned by families as was this one, the son lived above the shop.

Shutter down

I worked afternoons of Monday, Thursday and Friday and all day Saturday. Saturdays were a bind as the front of the shop had to be opened up, the steel shutter pushed up into ceiling, heavy and cold.  I know this was done every morning but I only worked afternoons .....

Imagine no windows, all open

Once the shutter was open, and hopefully before customers started coming in, we started to lay out the front.  it was hard in the winter but the Summers were great, lovely and cool and lots of soft fruits - until the wasps found us!!!  During the winter I wore a maxi skirt, long and woollen, keeping the wind from round my legs.  Often the 'girls' I worked with would be wearing trousers and froze, but I was lovely and warm.  I loved working in that shop, we would weigh out the produce and add up the cost in our heads. The shop was laid out so that the customers started with potatoes, carried on round the vegetables, onto the fruit and then the salad goods. By the time we arrived at the till we knew how much they had spent totalled in our heads, and it often came as a shock!!  Good Mental Arithmetic was a necessity.
On Saturdays in the summer just before closing, Mr Willis would call me to the front of the shop and ask me to 'get rid' of the soft fruit.  He left it all priced up and he said he didn't mind what I sold it for so long as I got rid of it!!!  He would then go home and leave me to it, I loved it .... shouting out the price, begging people to buy ....  About 6 o'clock he would return, moan if I hadn't sold everything and then help me close up, cash up and lock up.  When one of the ladies had to have time off, I was asked to do her shift and then ended up working full time.  Mam and Dad looked after my daughter all this time, I don't know who enjoyed it more.  I think when I left the shop to get married (again) everyone was a bit upset, me included!
They truly were the good old days!

Date with David Essex

Sometimes life has a habit of colliding from all directions.  Today was one of those days.

As I sat eating my breakfast I remembered it was WOYWW - What's On You Workdesk Wednesday - so I arose and went into my 'office' and took the compulsory photo, all reported on my other Blog.
I spent some time visiting a few of the other desks and then the collision happened.

I had a phonecall from C to say that R's Mother had been taken to the Hospice and C didn't know what to do.  We talked, made various suggestions and then, late afternoon PJ took her to R's house to be with him.  He had been to the hospice to visit his Mother and had left to get some sleep (as if ...)
A few minutes later, N came to collect me to go to the theatre to see David  Essex in a play at Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
We chatted on the way into town bringing each other up to date with happenings and C's news.

We went into one of the local to Brindley Place restaurants for our tea, which was very enjoyable.

.... and very filling!!!


As we walked back to the theatre, I checked my phone and pondered on C&R and what was happening.  Here we were going to the theatre and there was that family who were about to be devastated.  I offered up a prayer and continued to wonder as we walked into the theatre.

The play was very different to any I have seen before .... funny in a dark way ... but entertaining.  David was good but then so was everyone else - both of them!!!  Sounds awful doesn't it, three men on one stage with one set - a kitchen - but it wasn't.  How they managed to remember their lines I do not know.  David's lines were quite profound at times and this is an outline:

Emmett used to be a high flyer in the City until the financial crisis abruptly changed his life. He was used to dining upstairs amongst the glitterati but today he’s back with a new career – as a dishwasher.

Alongside his new colleagues, dominant self-appointed leader, Dressler, who’s been happily scraping and scrubbing for over 30 years, and the decrepit Moss who’s about ready for retirement, Emmett attacks the endless supply of crockery that descends from above.

A good night was had by all and it certainly gave us something to talk about on the journey home.

The collision was still on though, so many different lifestyles going on all the time, this evening has left me deep in thought and prayer.

During the night R's Mother went home to heaven ......

Into February ....

So the tablets are finished .... and I managed to get back to the Docs for more medication and see a Doctor!  Maybe I will get better after all, then fit and then .....
As we have spent these last few weeks in bed ... suffering ... coughing ... sneezing ... wheezing ...aching .... feel sorry for us yet?
As we have spent some time in close fellowship, we talked of travelling by bus as it could work out much cheaper than driving, and less stressful, so we thought of going where??
To see big sis!  That's where.  So off we set ...
We travelled down to London and managed to get there by bus and coach.... it's very easy to have adventures even in this day and age!!
Waiting until the first bus we started off on our journey down to Digbeth Coach Station.

This new coach station has made travelling by bus a lot easier, it's clean, the staff are helpful and we sit inside waiting for our coach.

Our nice, clean modern coach with a geordie driver - comfort and fun!

Where did we go to?

Victoria of course!  In London I think most meeting places have a Victoria or Albert in the title!  We found a super snack bar so, as we had an hour to spare, we had a samosa, a coffee and a laugh!

Eventually the next coach arrived  .....  loads of them all to leave at 14.30!  

So we troop out, PJ is usually first in line, or close second!!! Our ticket is checked and on we go, front seats again ..... which pleases me as we are now going to venture to places I have never been ... excited, excited......



We went near to Vauxhall Bridge, and my heart skipped a beat ..... but we couldn't drive over it so I could only look.

Here's the bridge - lots of statues....





... and this building of course .....
.... I won't mention Skyfall, M and Bond!!!  



There were beautiful buildings along the way .... we drove through Streatham and Mitcham, Colliers Wood and onto Sutton.  By now it is getting dark and raining.  Raining very hard!  


Thankfully when the coach drops us off we find that we are at the right bus stop, so we just had to wait.

In the rain.  

At this bus stop.  

Cheerful people helped us pass the time till the bus came.

We arrived at Big Sis' house a bit wet and cold ... alright very wet and cold.  She gave us a warm welcome and into the warmth we went.  We spent  a lovely evening chatting and eating and chatting.
Next day we got to do the whole thing in reverse - except in daylight for the first part and on the first coach .... in the company of young Italians who had been skiing - chatter, laughter and good fun!!
Guess it couldn't be all good though, it started to rain as we neared Birmingham so we arrived home in the dark a bit wet and cold ... alright very wet and cold.
But it had been all good fun, loved it lots.
Thank you PJ for organising it all.