The weather prospects for Northumberland over the Easter weekend were rain but we knew that alone wouldn’t stop us enjoying ourselves. On the A1(M) some real ‘lads’, got road users attention as they showed off their penchant for dangerous driving and did well to avoid ending up in oblivion.. I suspect their driving techniques were fuelled more by stupidity than their desire to meet their maker before the rest of us.
Once at Seahouses, the car park was rammed with holiday makers, blast, our secret holiday location was no longer secret. We asked S to pray to God for a parking space, acknowledging that His track record for answering our pleas was pretty good, (apart from the full-time job for Daddy that is!). God graciously answered, not only with a parking space near the RNLI station but with a free parking ticket that would last us all day.
After an hour or so, wandering aimlessly around the gift shops, we moved lock and stock into our holiday accommodation, a two bedroomed bungalow in Beadnell, the sleepy neigbour to Seahouses.
Inside number 77 the decor was welcoming, the kitchen appeared smart, the bedrooms well presented and comfortable, (I should be an estate agent!) and the kitchen cutlery upon its usual holiday inspection was dirty at best, so out of a sense of hygienic duty I delved deep into the cutlery drawer. (Not literally you understand). I quickly found the missing forth fork along with a plethora of well used and well soiled pizza slicers, a rusty knife, cheese graters of various sizes and grades, and scissors that must have disappeared from sight before Indiana Jones had set an intrepid foot anywhere. These were then unceremoniously emptied into the washing up bowl to be sterilised, so as to be ready for ‘service’.
Problem. No hot water.
Both the kitchen and bathroom taps were tried and the timer switch settings checked. Thankfully the kettle worked so I was sorted, coffee-wise at least. The problem was reported at 4pm to Mrs K our ‘hosts’.
While waiting for the owner (Let’s call him Mr K) to arrive, I trotted off to catch our evening meal, fish and chips, which were freshly cooked and possibly freshly caught. After twenty minutes someone ahead in the queue who had ordered haggis was called to the counter. This, as it happened also indicated that my order was on its way.
Back at base, I sat down to watch ‘Final Score. Chelsea had taken a commanding 4-0 lead over Bolton only to mysteriously then concede three goals in quick succession. At least ‘we’ didn’t lose. Sadly other main contenders for the Premiership crown this season also won,
Fish and chips demolished, our two boys started rigorously dancing (if dancing be the correct expression) to Leftfield which made us smile. The whirling dervish display thankfully concluded without injury moments before our special visitor, (Mr K) arrived at 8.20pm with his tool kit.
He’d been in the Cheviot hills when the call got to him, and was unable to respond immediately, but joined us now to ‘see what he could do’. He duly fiddled with fuses in the kitchen and garage then disappeared into the loft space to fiddle with something else… The net result was… that he would spend much of his Easter holiday weekend, tracking down a new heating element for the water tank and preparing to fit it. I added further to his woes when I advised him that the dvd player in the lounge was kaput, with the disc tray jammed shut. Nothing to do with us guvnor, honest. He apologised profusely and trundled home.
Mr K had reacted rather well for a man who’d spent the whole of his day walking in the hills, and was obviously tired and drained. Later, during the weekend we were offered by way of compensation a few days extra day holiday. Sadly we needed to get the boys back to continue their education on the Monday, so we had to declined their initial offer. As an alternative, they contributed sixty pounds to our holiday funds, which would prove to be a great help. After the Bank Holiday weekend, Mr K with a plumber would return.
Meanwhile, we would have to smell, and hopefully anyone who came within range of us would take kindly upon our families personal hygiene issues. By the end of Wednesday we were back in hot water, literally, the broken element and split hot water tank had been replaced and hot water was available for the first time on holiday. Hurrah, baths for everyone! Well done Mr K.
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