Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 14 degrees, warm and sunny.
Friday marks the end of the working week, and this one was among the craziest days I’ve experienced in a long time.
I got up early, had my daily morning chat with Julie, exercised, and skipped— the first time I have skipped for more than a week. Now that I am recovering from a bad cold, I am not yet at 100%, but I am gradually returning to my exercise routine that had been on hold.
I also posted my blog, which I was quite happy with. I thought about going to the cafe after my 11:00 class to write, have a coffee, and see Julie. However, my mother had other plans. She suddenly dropped on top of me the need for me to take all the things that she had separated to throw away, to be thrown away today.
This drives me mad and reminds me a lot of Nalva, who would suddenly tell me about something that needed to be done urgently, the night before, or on the same day. I told my mother that she expected me to drop everything to attend to her needs at that moment. I have also noticed that my mother often gives me something to do right before I am about to go out, which is very frustrating.
After some discussion, I put everything she wanted to donate, give away, or throw away into the boot of the car.
The first was at West Brom Building Society again, for the second time this week, trying to withdraw money. My mother dropped me off almost right in front of the branch in Kingswinford. She went to wait in the car around the corner. I entered the branch, and when it was my turn, the manageress came out of her hole, the meeting room at the end of the room, and asked me to come into her office once more.
What the fuck!
When I entered, she sat behind her desk. Chelsea, one of the cashiers, sat beside her to the right. I remained standing, and then this woman started telling me loads of nonsense about procedures, etc., blah, blah, blah. It literally went in one ear and out the other for me. She asked when I would be returning to Brazil, and I immediately told her that it was none of her business.
I loved it!
I was a little nervous, but I was also trying to control myself so as not to explode. She was talking and talking, and I said, “Can I or can I not withdraw my mother’s money?” I stopped her in her tracks and asked if I could then go to the counter. She said yes, and I went. The atmosphere was tense. I kept my feelings to myself, knowing I was right, and that made everything feel okay.
I left and found my mother in the car. Now it was time to go to Wordsley Green to deliver two large sacks of clothes and some boxes to one of the charity shops there. There are two on Wordsley Green; however, my mother doesn’t like one because they were allegedly a bit peculiar with Roger when he was ill with cancer.
We also needed to dispose of some items in the public drop-off for old clothes at the back of the green area behind the library in the car park, where Julie and I sometimes go for a kiss. I handed the bag of clothes and the boxes of belongings to the charity shop, and they thanked me. Then, I threw away a bag of very old and dirty clothes into the deposit.
On the way back, I passed the café, saw Julie, and asked everyone about the Stourbridge tip. They said you had to book, but Jim mentioned that for the Kidderminster tip, you didn’t need to, and you could just turn up. I thanked him, gave Julia a quick and discreet kiss, and, back at the car, I told my mother about the rest of the stuff, explaining that we would either need to book online or go to Kidderminster.
I entered my cell phone’s GPS, set the destination to Kidderminster tip, and we set off. It was relatively straightforward. In 20 minutes, we reached the refuse centre, the tip, and in less than 10 minutes, we were leaving with the car now empty.
We were on our way back when my mother unexpectedly chose to stop for lunch at The Anchor Pub in Caunsal, a small village not far from here. The Anchor is an old traditional pub famous for its baps—large burger buns filled with sandwiches of cheese, ham, pork, or beef, served with a small side salad.
The pub is very well known in the region for its baps, and it does not disappoint. It is a charming old English Tudor pub with a large beer garden and car park. When we arrived, the street was packed with cars parked along the road for the pub, and we couldn’t find a spot inside—only in the beer garden, which confirmed its reputation and fame.
I had a bap with roast beef, cheese, and ham, which was slightly excessive, but I didn’t know what I was ordering at the time; it was new to me. My mother ordered a ham bap. Both came with a small side salad. The baps were enormous. I drank a glass of wine, and my mother had a fruit juice.
Becky, the barmaid, told us that the lounge was full. Luckily, it was sunny and warm by British standards. There were other tables with couples and groups of friends eating outside, making it quite pleasant. It seems that when the first ray of sunshine appears, English people rush out to make the most of it. Whether it’s cold or windy, they want to be outside with fewer clothes and more bare skin to enjoy the sun.
We enjoyed the warmth of the day before heading back. My mother was driving more slowly than usual. I suspect it was deliberate; she knew Julie would be finishing work soon. As we entered Wordley, I asked my mother to let me off at the corner of the green. I could tell she didn’t like it, but it wasn’t my concern.
As soon as I left the car, I sent a message to Julie. Coincidentally, she called me at that exact moment. She had already left work and was in her car in the car park. She told me to come, and within a minute, I was in the car, deciding what we would do.
The first debate was whether first to pick up Austin and then decide what to do afterwards. I wanted us to collect Austin and take him somewhere. Julie agreed. I thought of Kinver Edge or Harvington Common. Julie preferred walking along the canal, so we went to her parents’ house, and I stayed in the car while she went and got the little man.
When Austin saw me, he went wild. I opened the door because I was worried he might hurt himself or run into the street. He immediately jumped onto me and tried to kiss me. As soon as he had calmed down, we headed to ‘The Old Wharf’. At the back, there’s a small marina full of narrowboats, a free car park, and it marks where the canal begins in Stourbridge.
The plan was to take a short walk with Austin along the canal, then go to The Old Wharf Pub for something to eat. We didn’t think we needed a reservation, but later found out we would.
It is a Friday evening. The sun sets late, so it stays bright into the middle to late afternoon. Julie, Austin, and I enjoy walking along the canal. We even spoke to two fishermen who were quietly waiting for bites until we arrived. As we talked loudly, sometimes shouting because of Austin, the late afternoon sun blended with the spring colours of the flowers and the greens of the trees, making everything truly beautiful.
Continuing along the canal, we met the owner of a greyhound on the way back, who had recently adopted Hovis from the same greyhound shelter we had visited a couple of weeks earlier. I, of course, asked many questions to clear up any doubts about adopting one. What was funny was that when I petted Hovis, Austin was jealous. It became increasingly apparent that Austin was making Hovis nervous, which could be dangerous for Austin.
Greyhounds are sight hunters, and a small dog becomes easy prey if stressed. Since Austin did not like me petting Hovis, Julie was beginning to worry, and if Hovis had suddenly attacked Austin, it would have been disastrous. Luckily, nothing happened, and Richard, the owner, was very patient in answering all my questions. It was truly very kind of him.
We parted ways, focusing on getting something to eat since we were both starving. We didn’t even stop at the car to pick up anything; we went straight to The Old Wharf pub, located on the corner at the entrance to the entire Wharf and Marina area.
When we entered, the pub was already lively, with all the tables marked with reservation tags and names. Dan, the barman we knew, was working, and we asked if we could eat there that evening. He asked another waiter, barman, who said it was impossible. We understood, but I told Julie to ask if there was an available slot for lunch the next day.
The barman looked at his tablet and confirmed, “Yes, at 2:15 p.m.” Okay, confirmed, now we will need to organise something else for tonight, but lunch at The Old Wharf is booked for tomorrow. We had a drink even though we weren’t eating. The problem was that the place was so full, making it a little awkward with Austin. We stayed in the pub for about 20 minutes and then left, thanking Dan on the way out.
Walking back to the car, we wondered where to eat. After much deliberation, we decided to leave Austin and her car at Julie’s parents’ house and walk to the nearby Balti restaurant for a curry, which is precisely what we did. Austin was unhappy about being left at home; he wanted to be with us, but it was impossible.
We bought a bottle of Desperado on the way to the restaurant. The restaurant wasn’t full; Zac was in charge as usual and greeted us very well. Julie ordered a lamb Balti, and I a medium chicken Madras, which was very, very hot. Even though I asked for a medium Madras, Madras being the hottest curry in India, I knew it would still come very hot, but I was prepared, or so I thought.
We drank and laughed a lot. It was a very pleasant evening. It had been a long day, and I was beginning to get tired, but it was still very enjoyable. We paid and left, and I walked Julie home. In just over 20 minutes, I was home. I had done more than 25,000 steps today. And it was still relatively early, only 9:30 in the evening.
I spent 20 minutes with my mother before going to bed. I was done for the day.
Julie quickly called me. I told her that she had almost killed me with so much walking and action today. She loved it and thought it was quite funny.
We said our goodnights, and I was in a deep coma in less than a minute.
In bed by 10:30 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
