Scribblings from the Mitchy Side

It was Aunty Eve's 95th birthday today. 95. Wow. I wanna be like my Aunty Eve when I grow up :)

In honour of the occasion, I caught a train to Rainham to visit her, over her mild protests that it was too expensive. It wasn't, I booked early and got a cheap single day return :) I haven't caught the train to Rainham for years, not since I was a kid, so it was practically a new journey for me, as I couldn't remember any of the previous trip at all. The run down to London Victoria was painless, mostly because I hopped off the train at Finsbury Park and took the Victoria line. This made it simple! There was a 25 minute wait at Victoria for the train which gave me just enough time to scoff a Burger King breakfast and acquire tea to take onto the train.

I was well impressed with the train but then I guess the South Eastern area has had a lot of money pumped into it as it's now the main line to Dover and the Chunnel. Very swish carriages with comfy seats, much nicer than the WAGN trains I'm used to, so I was quite happy to settle into a seat and stare at the scenery in comfort for a while. The train was pretty long but apparently it actually divides at Faversham (two stops after Rainham, so I didn't have to worry) and some of the train trundles off to Dover and some of the train goes to *blanks* umm, somewhere else :) Wonder how many people manage to miss the frequent announcements and electronic noticeboard messages and end up on the wrong train?

By 10.40, we were at Rainham and it was but a 15 minute scamper to Aunty Eve's house from the station. She was thrilled to see me. I tell you, it's humbling to realise that seeing me makes her so happy. I had better get my car back soon so I can go and see her again before Christmas.

She's not been well recently, having coming down with a truly shocking cold and she isn't a 100 per cent yet, having been left with a nasty cough. Bah. However, she seems to be on the mend and she assured me that she was much better than she was a week ago. I wish she'd told me, I'd have gone down last weekend too and looked after her for a couple of days. She gets so breathless at the best of times and with a chest load of cold? Not so good. But then she hates fuss and probably would have worked herself into a right two and eight if I'd suggested it. Ah well.

Anyway, we were going to catch a taxi to the restaurant but Aunty Eve's neighbour, Marian, very kindly gave us a lift there. She also, very sneakily, bought a cake and I saw her having a whispered conversation with the staff. It wasn't hard to guess what was being plotted but I said nothing and distracted Eve with talk. Eve had, btw, threatened me with death if I organised anything. I felt, however, that this didn't count :)

We had a lovely meal, as usual, as The Snoring Owl really does have very high standards. (If you're ever in Kent, make an effort to visit Gore Farm and the restaurant, you won't regret it). I had pork tenderloin stuffed with apple with vegetables and Aunty Eve had the roast chicken, Yorkshire pudding and veggies. Both meals were excellent and neither of us could finish it all. This did not, however, deter me from having the apple crumble for dessert, they make the most gorgeous crumble :) It also gave me an excuse for pretending I didn't want to move too soon after the meal and keep Aunty Eve sitting down while the staff hastily gathered, put a candle on the cake and all came out in a wedge singing "Happy Birthday" :D Eve's face was a picture - she claimed it was really embarrassing but she was quite pleased, I think, that Marian had gone to that trouble.

The staff also very kindly called a taxi for us after my mobile flatly refused to get a signal. Stupid thing. Once back home, we paused only long enough for Eve to cut two slices of cake before we went next door. Partly this was so Eve could thank Marian for the cake and present her and her hubby with the slices but mostly it was so I could see their latest acquisitions - two GORGEOUS tabby kittens! Oh they were ADORABLE!! Silver tabby on their backs, one stripy, one spotted, with large patches of white on their undersides. They were about 12 weeks old and totally adorable :) They've been called Leo (for leopard cos he's the spotted one) and Tigger (stripy :) ) and I fell in love! They helped this process by decided it was nap time and snoozing on or next to me for about 15 minutes, purring like tractors. Adorable. You forget when you have an adult cat how small they are when they're young. Sadly, I couldn't stay forever nor was I allowed to catnap the kitties, so we said our goodbyes and went back to Eve's for a mug of tea before I had to leave for the train home.

Aunty Eve assured me she'd had a lovely birthday and it was good to see her. I'm really hoping to have my car back by the weekend of the 16th and if so, I'm going to go down and see her again. She's such a dear.

The journey home was pretty uneventful and I treated myself to a taxi back from WGC station because it was bloody cold and I was tired. It also meant I got back just in time for Robin Hood. Bugger. Didn't think that one through!

It mattered not because I had a great day and it was worth the effort of getting there to see Aunty Eve again. She's wonderful :)

95. And still mentally with it and reasonably active. *shakes head* We should all be so blessed.