Sally-Part 82. DO GO TO NEWBIGGIN ANYTIME !

I WANT TO LIVE IN A HOUSE ON THE SEAFRONT AT NEWBIGGIN !

Huge rain drops smashed against the windows, driven by storm force winds and the horizon disappeared behind malevolent scudding clouds which had been smashed to pieces by nature's colossal forces as I sat down for the first time in two weeks to garner my thoughts for this Blog .

 " Oh ! The tap's doing that thing again! ", Shirley mentioned, expecting me to know what 'that thing' was!

 And although part of the reality of life, it was not what I wanted to hear at that  precise moment !

I re-focused only to be slightly disturbed again by the sound of a salad dressing being over-whisked; by my standards of whisking anyway !

Then as what Shirley calls my 'camp' fingers hovered over the keys I was asked, being nearly two feet taller than her, which means she is unfortunately not tall enough to reach the microwave which sits on a shelf five feet high whether, if I hadn't started writing, I could get up and reposition the rotating baseplate !

I keep my face and breathing very calm at such times, unlike some men or women who I think would explode with uncontrolled fury !

Life's to short for impatience to play a part and I'm only too happy to be asked to help around the house at any time or to have my grandchildren unannounced for eight hours whilst Gemma gets her 'Brazilian' trimmed or a loose eyelash reattached !

Finally, just as I was composing my usual dramatic opening, my words were scuppered by the sound of a duet as Ronan Keating and Shirley performed 'Life Is A Roller Coaster' !

But being presented with two slices of thickly buttered, well, thickly margarined sticky toffee cake did help restore my concentration !

Ah cake! The great comforter !

But why, when I'm in a restaurant or cafe and the gateau  looks so delicious, each layer swamped with chocolate cream and crowned with friuit does it have to be so dry that it sucks the saliva out of my glands, taste hideously of chemicals and cost a fortune for a sliver ?

But NOT in Newbiggin on the Northumberland coast !

GETTING THERE IS SO MUCH EASIER THESE DAYS, SINCE THE TOWN  BUILT AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RIGHT ON THE BEACH ! THE CAFE IS THE GLASS BUILDING BEHIND THE TAXIING JUMBO JET.

Well almost no-one knows where Newbiggin is but if they found  out and went there on a sunny afternoon and ate in the Lifeboat Station's Museum seafront cafe, they'd phone their friends and insist that they drop everything and drive  there immediately!

WHAT A SETTING ! IF CHILDREN SCREAM LOUDLY ENOUGH THEY GET AN ICE CREAM BEFORE LUNCH ! GEMMA AND SHIRLEY COULDN'T DECIDE WHICH SCRUMPTIOUS THINGS TO EAT FIRST !

That's what happened yesterday, the 17th September 2012 when I had a few hours to lose after dropping my car off for it's first service which at £194 was daylight robbery for an oil change and 'visuals' !

I took Daniel who's nearly three and who like my first grandson, Dylan,  needs a poo wherever we go, including this car dealership !

Ah! Life's little realities !

And after scooting to the local industrial estate's pond which was full of wildfowl and swans and their five grown up sygnets but not a single bench, we headed off to the seaside which sits about three miles north of Blyth and  thanks to me, my market stall signs and my blog, everyone in the world knows where Blyth is !

Anyone who has read even a few blogs has learned to expect misery from me but that's only because misery is what I experience !

Just try 'Even Fish and Chips......' Number 70 a few blogs ago if you need to realise how poor the English are at 'service'
.

GREAT CAFE ! GREAT LIFEBOAT MUSEUM ! GREAT BEACH ! GREAT PROMENADE !

But yesterday I discovered what I've been searching the world for.... on my doorstep....a fantastic venue with plate glass windows and comfortable chairs directly overlooking the beach, delicious, home-made and very reasonably priced food and lovely staff, especially the charming, smiling, helpful and very pleasent young lady serving !

You will not be disappointed.......trust me !

This lifeboat museum, like all lifeboat stations, was full of displays of utter bravery and gallantry and with old films of the village womenfolk in action, running from their homes to grab the long ropes and launch the boat by hand, was fascinating and Daniel had me going back in several times, if only for him to play with the plastic crabs and lobsters filling the heap of lobster pots whilst he wore a lifeboatman's helmet and bouyancy jacket !

And Newbiggin, still with traditional fishing boats called cobles but pronounced 'coe  bulls' lining the shore and house gardens reaching right down to the half-mile-long promenade, is a treat !

A TRADITIONAL COBLE . THIS ONE'S BEEN TREASURED FOR GENERATIONS !

The high street retains that old-fashioned feel missing almost everywhere else and the old church which has stood solidly on the headland  for generations has acted as a beacon for thousands of  fishermen and is a landmark for shipping for miles around.

ROCKPOOLING HEAVEN ! JUST MAKE SURE YOU HOLD YOUR MOTHER'S HAND TIGHTLY SO SHE DOESN'T FALL !

And over the four hours that I was there an entire coffee and walnut cake got scoffed, though not entirely by me !

POST SCRIPT: If you haven't liked my new 'PLEASANT' style of writing, don't worry, normal service will be resumed in Part 83, 'ANOTHER WOMAN MARRIES AN IDIOT ! '