Sat in the lounge, off and on today, where the router
(’rooter’ in England, I must remember) is located – so I could get the
internet. From this vantage point, I watched as pretty much all the guests –
some of whom have been with us since that very first coach arrived, 10 days ago
– plus all of Loraine’s extended family members, made preparations for leaving.
As I observed the interactions there, I could see that in this ‘home away from
home,’ between guests and family members –Loraine with her kids, the staff –
the atmosphere is one of ‘one big happy family.’ Kind of nice.
Several hours later and the last of Loraine’s
family have gone, as have the ‘over New Year’s’ coach crowd. Whew! (What am I
saying? Time to perk up - now the real work begins!) We spent the morning
stripping beds, washing and ironing bed linens, laundering and folding towels,
cleaning bathrooms, emptying bins, and on and on. Me – I’m just one of the
peons! (Actually, as Loraine has determined not have any coach groups for the
month of January – though there may be the random guest – she cuts back on her
regular staff and wanted me to learn the ropes so I could pitch in when needed.)
Oh, yeah, and then there was taking down the
Christmas decorations, scattered throughout the hotel (having been made good
use of, seeing as how they’ve been up ever since I first visited here back the
first weekend in November) – in the bar, lounge, and dining areas. (If you know
me at all, you will be aware that this is NOT my favorite job!) And then, just
in case I forget to mention it, the task I liked best of all was ‘hoovering’! Hoovering
– you know, as in you grab the closest, archaic, amazingly heavy, ‘does the
trick every time (been doing it for ages)’ Hoover vacuum and go to town! (While
a Hoover vacuum is an upright, we also have some smaller canisters that I’ve
come to discover are the male counterpart (heavier duty) to the one Leah has–
the red ‘Henry’ to her pink ‘Hetty!’ By the way, (but shhh, don’t let on to mom),
I never have minded hoovering – er, I mean vacuuming!
Man – did I get in some good exercise today! Down
at the gym! (Just kidding.) I mean going up and down those stairs - had to have
been a million gazillion times.
As the hotel is pretty much vacant now, I get to
change rooms again: this time to one
that will be more permanent, hopefully – maybe even for a whole month! Wow, lucky
me – THAT would be pretty amazing! (3pm, still unassigned – but who’s worried?
There’s always the bunkroom!)
Photos_
1- the Shelmerdine family: (from the bottom left,
up, then down to the right_ Leslie, Loraine’s sister, Loraine herself, brother,
Bryan, Leslie’s husband, Pete, Loraine’s favorite older brother, David, above
his partner, Karen, high-spirited and playful (who, coincidentally, is about three-four inches taller than
he is), and last but not least, Bryan’s wife, Anita.) A really fun group!
2- with three of Bryan and Anita’s nine children,
plus their daughter’s friend (oh, yeah, and Yorkie - who couldn't keep still)
3- Hoovering - as opposed to ‘hovering’ (Word© is
NOT happy with this word – insists I don't know what I'm talking about and changes it whenever my back is turned!)
4- Henry – who ever could have imagined a vacuum
could be SO cute - how can one resist hovering ALL day long! (see Day 109 for pic of Leah with Henry’s
mate, Hetty)
