Monday
I woke before anyone else and made a coffee for Maggi myself and anyone else who might appear. I gave Maggi a cup and continued with my breakfast.
Eventually people started to appear and the day began. Maggi decided to go out with Alex on some walk on which I was excluded. I therefore remained in the house.
I started to read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck and on the first chapter the quality of his imagery struck me as fantastic. I started to read it to Alex but suddenly Maggi interrupted me. “You never let me read to you.” Effectively she blocked me reading anything to anyone.
It really pissed me off. I decided that I wouldn’t go with them to the Pumpkin Patch. I’d rather spend the time alone. Before Maggi left she provided detailed instructions on how to test whether it had cooked or not and how to remove the banana bread from the oven. I received further repeated instructions 10 minutes later. At the same time she asked me to send her a picture of the cake. See below.
After a bit of lunch I set off on a walk up Dravus to the top and the down past 15th Ave and over the railways and then back along the canal. I sat for awhile watching the passing canal and its inhabitants, ducks geese, canoeists and pleasure craft. I then walked on.
Whilst down by the canal I received a call from Maggi to say she and Al had just left the Pumpkin farm and could I meet her at Safeway in Queen Anne. I agreed.
I headed up there and sat waiting in a cafe with a cup of tea for a call. It eventually arrived and I walked along the road to find Maggi at Safeway unable to pay for the groceries she had ordered with the money left on her Monzo card.
We finished the shopping and walked to Bar Miriam where we had a drink at a ridiculously early hour of 4:30 pm. Alex joined us for a glass of wine and gave us a lift back.
We spent the evening in the house. Maggi made a sausage dish with vegetables. We dispersed to various rooms around 8:30 while Greg drove off to pick up Sadie.
Tuesday even quieter
While Alex had a day off yesterday. Today she returned to work and set off for the office with the idea that we should join her at midday to have a look around. Greg left the house fairly early declaring that he would be back some time in the afternoon.
A spanner in the works. Carrie didn’t feel well and wanted to stay home. It sounded like a very mild cough, but her parents gave her permission to stay. Of course, Alex and Greg relied on Maggi and I to be at the house and look after her. We hung around the house in the morning until 12 noon.
At midday Paramount + had Arsenal v Lille in the Champions League on one of their channels. I tried to watch it on the TV but that proved a problem. Greg helped me out by giving me his username and password so I could watch it on my laptop.
Our stay in the house continued into the afternoon. By now I had become a bit fed up. I suggested that I walk into Queen Anne and buy some gummies to help us recover from jet lag. Maggi finally left the house and met me in Queen Anne and we walked home.
Neither Alex of Greg had made any effort to organise food for the evening meal. Instead we had the cop out and drove down to Galer St, Queen Anne for Via Tribunali and their pizzas. Six of us squeezed onto four tables. The young waitress served us with a smile and enthusiasm but not much skill. She served us with four glasses of wine instead of a bottle and four glasses, didn’t know what some of the ingredients of the pizzas. At the end of the day all that could be forgiven if they had served good food. The pizzas arrived and they tasted awful. The soggy dough underneath the tasteless contents meant I couldn’t eat more than one-third of the horrible offering. Maggi felt the same.
We returned to the house and watched the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin, which Greg, Maggi and I have all seen before. Alex disappeared possibly to do some work of read upstairs. She never explained.
Wednesday
Our last day in Seattle and we fly home in the evening. Greg drives both girls go off to school this morning and Alex stays in the house to work from home.
Maggi and I mess around packing and then I suggest we go out and drive along the coast on the Lime Bikes. We found two suitable bikes near the Seattle Pacific University and clocked in with our phones. We cycled down to Lake Washington Ship Canal and turned left. This cycle route led under the bridge that leads to Ballard. We continued to Gilman St crossing over the numerous railway lines and then turned left again.
This path follows the railway lines and leads down to Cruise Terminal and Puget Sound. The trail is a mix of industrial works and parks as it proceeds into town, but we cut off in order to make our way back up to Queen Anne. To get to the shopping area we needed to cross back over the railways and then climb up. At one point my bike ran out of the ability of its electric motor to cope. I needed to dismount and push the very heavy bike up the steep hill.
We eventually stopped and parked our cycles. We received the message that we had risen for 1 hour 20 minutes and spent $43 each.
We walked over to Safeway’s to buy some soup for lunch and we subsequently walked home. Post lunch Maggi and I took Bennett for a walk back down to the Ship Canal along the path and round Hashtag and back. We stopped at Two kicks for a rest and a cup of coffee.
When we arrived back Lee, the house manager, had not returned from his shopping trip. I must say that he likes to talk more than he prefers to work.
Alex took us to the airport and we waved her goodbye until maybe July.